Your job as an ophthalmologist is quite hectic and sensitive. This does not give you time to think over marketing strategies to implement growth for your business. But to optimize your ophthalmology practice, you need to stand out in this cutthroat competition. For this, you need to implement both online and offline marketing practices.
Online Marketing Practice
In today’s digital world where most people go online searching solutions for all their problems, it is a must for you to have strong visibility on the Internet. To begin with, you need to have an interactive and dynamic website. Your website is the online face of your business. Thus, it should be user-friendly, updated with relevant information, easy to search and scroll, highlighted with your contact info and accessible on all devices.
After a user-friendly website comes its content. Remember, when talking about digital marketing, Content is King. Genuine, short and crisp content is in vogue. It should be easy-to-understand for readers. Your website blogs should have links to other relevant websites and vice versa, for searchers to learn more about your practice and enhance their knowledge related to different health issues. Also, it’s imperative to update the information present on your site with the advent of new technology, diseases or cures in your practice. Try to present information using different forms of content such as video, audio, slide share and infographic.
Once you have uploaded good content over an intuitively designed website, it’s time for SEO. Here, you need to select appropriate keywords to redirect your newest set of patients on your website. Before bidding for the required keywords, here are some questions to ask yourself:
- “Is the keyword pertinent for my practice and website?”
- “Will the searcher be able to reach the destination page with this keyword?”
- “Will the keyword get me more conversions and financial gains?”
If your answer is “Yes” for these questions, go for bidding. For better optimization, incorporate keywords in your page titles and headings.
But, how to grab the attention of other prospects who aren’t directly searching about healthcare services? Advertise your services with Google AdWords. You can have a simple text ad campaign or a banner ad campaign. To create a pay-per-click (PPC) ad, you need to:
- Have a Google AdWords account
- Have different sets of ad groups according to the campaign launched
- Select term-specific keywords of following types:
- Broad Match Modifier
- Phrase Match
- Exact Match
Avoid broad match to stay away from bad traffic.
- Have creative and crisp ad copy with a correct URL
Similarly, you can organize social media campaigns on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ and create your page on LinkedIn. To learn more about paid campaigns, read here: How to Get More From Your Physical Therapy Paid Campaigns.
Another powerful tool for online marketing is YouTube. Post videos on the YouTube channel related to:
- Services you offer
- Cataract or other major operations performed by you
- General tips for healthy eyes
Offline Marketing Practice
In addition to online marketing, you need to put some effort into offline marketing and updating your old record.
Talking more about offline marketing, you need to get referrals from your existing patients in return of your good service. Also known as word-of-mouth marketing, this method is the biggest marketing tool to capture consumers of all age groups, especially the elderly who suffer the most with eye problems and don’t trust online reviews. To encourage existing patients’ visits, you can launch some offers with monetary benefits, such as a discount on the next visit, free medicines, free eye checkups, etc.
In addition to digital media, you should try print and electronic media to augment your ophthalmology practice. Get your articles and ads published in the local newspaper and magazine or broadcast your short TV commercials to increase your patient base exponentially.
Don’t hesitate to be a part of social events to boost your networking. Meet other doctors and people for offline reputation-building. This will let people in your locality learn more about you and your services. Networking, whether offline or online, is a great way to build trust.
Additionally, you need to keep a keen eye on advancements and modifications occurring in the medical system and their implementation. Thus, you need to revisit your old records and complaints and keep them updated according to present standards. Implement new technologies to attract more consumers and give efficient results.
To beat the heat of competition in ophthalmology, you need to amalgamate digital and offline marketing tips and optimize your practice. You need to stay at the forefront of consumers’ minds so that they always approach you whenever in need of your services – and recommend you to their friends and family.