With finances still stretched tight for patients and physicians, it's critical that practices not only keep up their marketing efforts but also pay close attention to ensure they are effective.
A recent article in DOtMed News provided the following tips for achieving marketing "fitness" in the new year:
- Save money by piggy-backing your marketing messages to your community's existing resources. For example, if your local grocery store is offering a healthy eating class, offer to provide your expertise with contact information for some of the class handouts.
- Let local news outlets know you're available to comment on health and community-related topics. Press outlets will not be interested in promoting your practice directly, but getting your name in print may spur potential patients to look you up.
- Leverage communication technology. Most local businesses have yet to harness the potential of Internet marketing, even though 73 percent of all online activity is related to local content, according to data released by Google. Therefore, pediatric practice administrator Brandon Betancourt recommends practices take advantage of Google's free service, Google Places, which allows businesses to share with the community what makes it unique by posting not only contact information but also photos, videos or news about upcoming events or promotions. Users also receive analytics about who is searching for them and where they are coming from, Betancourt notes.
To learn more:
- read the article from DOTmed News
- see the post from Pediatric Inc