What do you need to do in 2018 to move the needle for your practice? Set aside a budget you can afford to spend to jumpstart your practice, but before you invest one dollar, conduct a thorough analysis.
So, what strategies and tactics can deliver the best ROI? For most aesthetic practices, it will be an investment in boosting their digital presence to attract the right audience in the right channels at the right times.
First, do a deep dive into how you are doing right now. Start with a comprehensive digital marketing audit to determine where you are, what is working, and what needs more attention. Measure the results you are getting across all channels on a monthly and quarterly basis. Take a good hard look at your website and measure how it has been performing for the past 6 months. It can be a sobering exercise. All websites require frequent updates and overhauls to stay current and fresh. Maintenance should be an ongoing process, including a long-term investment in search engine optimization (SEO). When was the last time you added new content? Is there enough content on every treatment offered in your practice to get picked up by search engines? Is your blog being kept up effectively with timely content? Is there outdated content about products or treatments you don’t provide anymore taking up valuable real estate on your site? Do you have a sufficient gallery of real patient photos to keep patients interested?
Next, institute a system for social listening. Monitor your ratings and reviews on every site that matters to your practice. Set Google and Yahoo alerts to make sure you are keeping up with what is being posted about you online. Implement a strategy to generate more positive reviews internally to protect your practice against the negative reviews that may pop up. Get the whole staff involved to identify happy, enthusiastic patients who may be candidates to do a review about their experience in your practice.
Then, take the time to review all of your social media activity and engagement per each channel you are active on. Is it time to consider branching out to expand your reach? For instance, are you doing Facebook Live and Instagram Stories to connect with followers? Have you assigned someone in the role of community manager? Does your staff need additional training to take your social media up a few notches? Do they have enough time to devote to social media marketing or should you look to work with a marketing agency that has expertise in the healthcare sector?
Determine where your new patients and leads are coming from and devote more of your budget to boost those tactics. For example, if you plan to add a new piece of capital equipment, design a plan to leverage this new range of treatments to generate interest among current patients and attract an audience of new ones. Lastly, consider designating a marketing director to manage your digital content strategy and take it to the next level in 2018.
Contact us to find out more about how these authority marketing strategies can elevate your profile Anne@wendylewisco.com.
