205.721.8660Patients today are taking an active role in their healthcare by accessing the many resources they have available which typically means the content that they find online. They’re researching the latest procedures and what cutting edge technology is being used to deliver the best outcomes for their treatment needs.
To win new patients your practice needs to meet new patients where they are and that’s online. Consistently creating and publishing content on your website is an effective way to engage potential patients, build trust, and establish your practice as a leader in this space and blogs is a great way to do this.
Google stats indicate that the average patient will visit 12 web properties before choosing a healthcare provider and the Content Marketing Institute indicates that 61% of consumers will make a purchase after reading a blog.
Why Engage in Content Marketing?
Position Yourself as a Thought Leader
Blogs allow you to be a thought leader by showcasing how you’re delivering great outcomes for your patients, what their expectations should be for certain types of treatment, and insight into the patient experience that your practice delivers.
Nurture New Patients
Consistently publishing new content (we recommended 2-3 times a month) helps nurture new patients. You can address Frequently Asked Questions, dispel common misconceptions, and highlight patient testimonials and outcomes. Blogs can also be distributed across your social profiles, through email newsletters, and even through paid channels like Google Ads.
Improve Your Search Rankings
Finally, consistently publishing relevant content can also help your search rankings. And the better your organic rankings are, the more traffic you’ll get to your site and the more consults you’ll ultimately book and that will help you win more new patients.
Where Should I Start?
So having a content marketing strategy is important for driving practice growth. Now you may be asking where should I start?
- Know Your Audience. Who’s your ideal customer?
First, know your audience and that means developing your ideal patient profile. Start with your best patients’ demographics. Are they male or female? Where do they live? What are their health inclinations or characteristics? And what is their financial situation?
- What problems do you solve?
Next, you’ll want to define the problems that you solve for your best patients. What specialty are you most known for in your local market? What problems do your high value procedures solve for patients? Why are they looking for these services? And ultimately what is your unique offering? In other words, why do patients choose your practice?
- What motivates your patients?
Finally, you’ll need to understand what motivates your ideal patient as they decide on a healthcare provider. What are their needs or desires? Why are they seeking treatment? What questions do they typically ask on their path to decision? What do they value most when choosing a provider? And how do they typically first engage or interact with your practice?
- Develop a Content Calendar
Next you’ll want to develop a content calendar. Once you’ve developed your ideal patient profile, you should really have a good understanding of who your best patient is, the problems you solve for them, and what ultimately motivates them to choose a provider. This should serve as the foundation for the content you will create and give you a good base of ideas that you can write about. Our recommendation is to build out a calendar for 5 or 6 months starting with the most common questions that your ideal customer will ask.
- Just Start Writing!
Finally, you need to start writing. Don’t worry about editing as you go. Just get your primary ideas and thoughts on paper. Once you have the main topic down, you can go back and start to refine the content. And don’t feel like you have to go it alone. Bring in other team members to help with grammar, typos, and even finding additional resources to support your topic. When you finish the piece, publish it.
Following these steps will help you develop and execute a content marketing strategy that will position you as a leader in the market, help you engage potential new patients, and ultimately drive growth for your practice.
Generate more leads, book new patients, and grow your practice. 205-721-8660
