The digital world can be overwhelming. Billions of people are online every day, but how do you find and reach your specific target audience? This can be especially difficult in the competitive world of healthcare marketing. Inbound marketing in the healthcare sector makes it possible to enhance the relationship with the consumer.
What Is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy by which you drive prospects to your website rather than outwardly advertising your products or services. The idea is that bringing potential customers to your website will familiarize them with your brand and offerings. Ideally, you’ll make a good impression—thus making it more likely that your prospects will go with your product or service. Healthcare touches every single life in one way or another — sometimes in painful and vulnerable moments. All of this means that there is likely an immense pool of potential customers for whatever you’re selling. You will want to expand your audience, capture new leads, and grow your revenue with trust as your guiding principle. With the right inbound marketing principles and strategies, healthcare businesses can stop paying for inefficient, outdated marketing that never seems to deliver the results you’d hoped for.
Examples of inbound marketing:
- A blog
- An infographic
- A whitepaper
- A webinar
- A podcast
- A video series
- Search engine optimization
Why Is Search Engine Optimization So Important?
At the most basic level, inbound marketing is really simple. It starts off with the basic premise that the internet has changed the way people buy. People nowadays begin by typing in questions and looking for information. They gather their information online and they do this with the help of a search engine. If you learn to do inbound marketing properly (and follow the basics of search engine optimization), you can direct these searchers right to your company’s website.
Producing The Content Of The Website
The content is what provides answers to your customer’s questions. This could be in the form of blog articles, eBooks, FAQ pages, videos, podcasts, or more. The content you produce will show up in search results. When a potential customer clicks through, they’re brought to your site. For example, if they search “What is the alternative to missing teeth” in Google, your article could be the one that pops up to explain what their options are, what those options will cost, and how they can determine what option would be a good fit for them. Inbound marketing differs from traditional marketing because it avoids self-promotional content. When facts and unbiased content are provided, the potential customer begins to build a relationship with the company that published the information. After reading a few blogs on the website, your healthcare company becomes a brand they recognize.
To Start Your Inbound Marketing, Answer Your Buyers Questions With Written And Video Content
You have all the knowledge you need, the information of your healthcare company and your customers. Developing a long-term content strategy is a process of market research, keyword research, and customer insight. Just focus your content efforts on answering the questions your customers are asking. Answer on your website the same as you would answer your customer in person, with honesty and transparency.
Topics That Drive Traffic And Bring In Leads
When it comes to any purchase, buyers are interested in the same information. Whether they’re looking at billing software for their medical practice, equipment for their outpatient facility, or treatment for their back pain, they all want to make sure they’re getting the right thing at the right price. If they find content on your website that answers their question, they start to move forward as a customer. If your blog information is the source of information they are looking for, they will begin to trust your brand.
Answer Their Questions, Even If The Content Can Be Touchy And Complex
You must see yourself as an educator, not an advertiser. You need to build trust and candidly answer all questions. For example, you must be willing to address cost, potential drawbacks, and your competitors. Answering all questions means undergoing a mindset shift. Consumers want to put things side by side to know how they stack up. Providing these head-to-heads can help demonstrate your expertise and make your potential customers feel informed to make the best choice possible.
Be sure to include the following information:
- Cost: First on everyone’s mind, of course, is cost. Sure, it’s hard to say exactly how much something might cost but customers want to have some idea.
- Problems: When consumers make a purchase, they want to know what might go wrong. Worst-case scenarios help prepare us for whatever might be thrown our way.
- Reviews: Connected to problems are reviews. Research shows that 91 percent of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews, and 84 percent trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. And they make that decision quickly — 68 percent form an opinion after reading between one and six online reviews.
- “NearMe”: According to research by HubSpot, from 2013 to 2017 there was a 900% increase in searches with the phrase “near me” included. Thus, you can imagine that searches like “best dentist near me” and “best general practitioner near me” are very popular.
- Comparisons: Consumers want to put things side by side to know how they stack up. Providing these head-to-heads can help demonstrate your expertise and make your potential customers feel informed to make the best choice possible.
How Do You Address These Topics In The Healthcare Field?
- Cost Is Always Number One: Costs can vary widely, with tests, treatments, equipment, services, and products that yield strikingly different charges in different situations. Time Magazine, notes one test cost $13.94 with medicare and $239.00 in other settings. CT scans can range from $300 to $12,000. After all, if the range can go from a few hundred bucks to more than $12,000, consumers want to know what they should expect to pay — especially if they have no insurance or a high deductible insurance plan. Organizations that openly address costs will drive traffic to their sites and serve customers at the same time.
- Addressing problems: Writing blog posts about problems in the healthcare field can be particularly tricky, but it offers a chance to be candid with your audience. No matter what’s being bought or sold, customers want to know what might go wrong. Break down a complex topic with a more digestible approach by going in-depth on a topic that needs addressing in detail.
- Adding A Review Section To Your Website: Studies have shown that merely adding a review aggregate to a product listing will increase sales dramatically. As buyers, we want to know the experiences of those who came before us. We value the experience they can offer us. Beyond building trust with buyers, review-based content can help weed out bad-fit prospects. An honest discussion of products, services, and patient testimonials can be highly beneficial to your audience — and social proof is always useful when it comes to patient acquisition. Personal reviews leave readers feeling more informed about their options.
- Offering Lists Such As ” Best Of” And “Near Me”: Just as buyers are drawn to content about problems, they also want to see what their best options are. Searches for “Top Spa near me” or “Best small business software” drive hordes of traffic to websites that offer such content. Research has proven there was a 900% increase in searches with the phrase “near me” included.
- Making Meaningful Comparisons: Consumers are naturally drawn to content that promises a head-to-head comparison — whether it be roofers or healthcare providers. When buyers see various attributes compared to similar products, they get into the nitty-gritty of what puts one option ahead of another. You do not want to make the decision for your customer. You want to present the information so they can make the best decision themselves. Choose your service and another competitor’s service and give data to prove your comparison. Give a clear explanation of each, then offer a thorough comparison.
Other Strategic Directions You Might Want To Explore
Typically, inbound marketing strategies are more cost effective and will generate a higher rate of return in the long term. These strategies include attracting qualified prospects, offering a more targeted approach, and using helpful, relevant interactions and content to generate leads.
Other Options To Explore:
- Include A Video: Any great content strategy must also include a video. Website visitors increasingly expect to see videos. When it comes to building trust, video is a game changer. When we see and hear a person speak, we start to feel like we know them. In turn, we begin to forge a connection through the screen. The days are gone when you could create a website with 5 pages of bad content, no formatting, or graphics, and pray that it would drive patients through your door. Patients want great content that teaches them to live better lives, and if you want to grow your practice, you better have a plan. To set yourself apart, it is wise to have videos that showcase not only your facility, and your staff, but guides on how to improve patient health and explanation videos for procedures that are confusing and require additional education.
- Email Marketing: Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. As you build your database, engage with your audience through email marketing. But when you do so, focus on being helpful! Don’t use the high-pressure “salesy” approach. Remember to think like a customer. What kind of emails do you want in your inbox?
You Do Not Need A New Website To Begin Inbound Marketing
If your website can do these three things, you’re probably good to get started:
- Can you publish a blog?
- Can you interlink between blog articles or use a tag system to organize content?
- Can you use CTAs and a landing page to capture leads?
If you need help with your process, contact a social media marketing firm and choose the best social media marketing expert for your medical inbound marketing. They can help fast-track your digital marketing and boost your online presence. You want to convey professionalism and expertise on your site, so an updated website might be a good investment — it’s just not a prerequisite for getting started with inbound marketing.
Grow Your Web Presence With An Inbound Marketing Strategy
Whether you’re seeking new patients or new customers, inbound marketing is a great way to grow your web presence with helpful, user-centered content that helps your visitors become leads and customers. Inbound marketing engages with an audience by connecting them with useful content through organic means, such as search engines and sharing links with friends. For example, a skillfully crafted blog post about a blogger’s favorite product will speak to this potential customer in a way a banner ad can’t. Right now, your potential customers are out there typing questions into search engines. If you can provide the answer to their question, you can begin to form a relationship with them.
Contact us (859-904-8035) today to get started!
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ABOUT MAIN STREET MARKETING
Since 2006, Main Street Marketing has been creating Internet Presence Solutions for small businesses mainly in the Cincinnati – Northern Kentucky area. Main Street Marketing uses internet marketing, search engine optimization, social media, lead generation, and video to create a true Internet Presence for its clients. When integrated correctly, this core group of services provide results together that none of the services could provide on their own or in phases.
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