Digital marketing for healthcare is a practice that grows more and more. Whether to attract new patients or retain existing ones, digital marketing strategies are essential for the visibility of your medical clinic. But do you know how to position yourself digitally? What strategies should a health institution adopt?
This is what you will discover next, read on, and check out the tips we have prepared.
Importance of digital marketing in healthcare
The popularization of the internet has transformed the habits of many people. Before the technological boom, it was necessary to search telephone directories and other printed publications, such as covenant guides, to find specific information about clinics and doctors. Nowadays, whatever the user’s interest, the search process is much simpler. Just open a search engine, type in the desired terms, and a multitude of sites that address the topic are listed. This alone would be a sufficient reason for your clinic or health establishment to expand its presence in the virtual environment.
But it is not enough to be on the internet. You need to ensure that your site stands out among so many others in the same niche. And that’s where digital marketing in healthcare comes in. Next, understand how to implement this strategy!
Steps to define your strategy
As we said earlier, it is essential that your health institution is present in the digital environment. However, it is necessary that strategic positioning is made, with assertive actions for its target audience.
The following are some important steps to build the best strategy for your business. Check out:
Define your persona
Defining the persona should be the first step in any digital strategy. After all, the whole strategy must revolve around it, that way; you make sure you are taking your content to the right person for whom you want to reach. The idea is to understand, who you deal with daily, and find out what is the best way to communicate with them.
After this definition, it will be possible to create much more assertive and specific content. It is possible to have more than one person; however, it is not recommendable creating more than 4 profiles. Don’t be too general in that definition and not too specific find the middle ground.
We have separated some questions that can help you in defining the persona:
- Who is your potential patient (physical, demographic and psychological characteristics?)
- What kind of subject is he interested in?
- What are the most common activities he performs (personally and professionally?)
- What kind of information does it consume, and in which vehicles?
- Who influences your decisions?
- What problems do they face daily?
Adapt your content to legal requirements
The second guideline for those who intend to invest in a digital marketing strategy in the health area is to adapt it to the legal guidelines published by the Federal Council of Medicine, in a document called the Medical Advertising Manual.
The body that regulates the exercise of the profession recognizes the importance of this strategy, but on the other hand, condemns some practices, such as the express guarantee that the treatment will have the expected effects. Despite medical advances, the intention is to make it clear that different people react in different ways to the same treatment. For this reason, there is a veto to some expressions, especially those that have a sensationalist, alarming, or excessively self-promoting nature. Thus, terms such as: “the best treatment” or “the only one capable of”, “guaranteed result, as well as any other similar ones are prohibited.
Likewise, it is also forbidden to use the image of patients in advertising materials, even though they have granted authorization. The exception, in this case, is for scientific events or works. Other relevant prohibitions are the disclosure of prices or the clarification of doubts on the internet.
Relationship phase
After all, how to create a relationship using digital marketing for health? Many healthcare institutions do not invest in this relationship; they do not maintain contact with their patients. It is essential not only to attract the public but also to have tools to retain them.
Lead nutrition is an essential step in establishing authority, a reference in the medium. You need to talk to people, make yourself present. In that way, WhatsApp is an excellent relationship tool, and you can take advantage of tools that will automate this process. Besides, email marketing is one of the main digital marketing strategies for the health area. With it, it is possible to create flows according to your customer’s behavior.
Conclusion
Digital marketing encompasses a series of strategies that will attract audiences. Among them are content marketing, email marketing, social networks, own application, and others that will make your business stand out on the internet. The health area has several opportunities for digital marketing to be well applied and vice versa. Focus on the best performance based on your responsibility as a professional in the area, and be ready to see your business consolidate.