Forbes Business Council Member

Strategic Marketing in the Digital Age for Healthcare Organizations

Greg Caesar Forbes Councils Member
Forbes Business Council
COUNCIL POST| Membership (Fee-Based)

Greg Caesar, Senior Director and Partner at Medfluence Advisors, a bespoke healthcare consulting firm.

In today’s digital age, patients increasingly turn to the internet to find medical procedures and providers. Having worked in healthcare both domestically and abroad for two decades, I’ve engaged in hundreds of conversations with physicians, practice owners and medical device manufacturers about the “best way” to quickly boost their presence online. The short answer: There isn’t a “fast” way to grow relevance. Businesses are built with intentional and deliberate plans executed over time. Sure, you can execute a tactic and secure some wins, but healthcare, even in the digital era, is a human business built on trust. Trust, even in the digital world, must be earned over time—not overnight.

My aim within this article is to simplify the complexity of the digital ecosystem and empower healthcare leaders to focus on how to establish and optimize their business’s digital presence and thrive in the digital age. To do that, let’s look at the five building blocks of the digital presence pyramid.

1. Establishing An Online Presence

A well-designed website serves as the virtual front door of a healthcare business. When designing your website, make sure it is easy to navigate, informative and optimized for search engines. Provide “schedule now” buttons that offer online scheduling options. Include photos and background information introducing you, your staff and your practice location(s), as well as a list of services offered and an “accepted insurance” page. Additionally, consider establishing a Google Business Profile and investing in a listings service; this can help you ensure accurate practice details and build a strong local presence.

Pro Tip: A good website is often a nice marriage of effectiveness and economy. You can certainly overspend on website features like video that may slow the user experience. In modern healthcare, convenience is key—67% of patients prefer booking online.

2. Building Trust And Engagement

According to research, 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation, and 90% use online reviews to evaluate physicians. I’ve found that patients are more willing to leave reviews when a provider asks for one, so consider incorporating software that securely connects to your practice’s EMR and automatically sends a review request to completed patients. Consistently request reviews from patients to ensure you collect real feedback. While everyone loves a five-star review, less glowing reviews can help you identify areas for improvement.

Establish and regularly update your social media accounts, as well, linking new and existing accounts to your website. A strong social presence for healthcare providers is less about the newest TikTok dance and more about helping you engage with patients and humanize your brand while showcasing your expertise.

Pro Tip: Within the workflow of your practice, incorporate an intentional request of patients for an honest review. However, avoid offering “incentives” for reviews, as these go against Google’s policies.

3. Enhancing Visibility And Reach

Search engine marketing (SEM) includes search engine optimization (SEO) and pay per click (PPC) advertising. SEO involves optimizing your website to secure high visibility on search engine results pages. A good SEO program should address on-page and technical SEO. On-page SEO can make your site more rewarding for users by optimizing title tags, content and internal links. Technical SEO implements adjustments that can improve areas like site structure, page speed to affect crawling and indexing of your site. Both on-page and technical SEO can improve your organic search ranking and drive traffic.

PPC advertising extends your organic efforts and further refines the audience you want. PPC campaigns are typically most effective with a starting goal, like increasing site traffic or generating leads. This goal fuels how you select your target audience and identify keywords likely to lead to your desired conversion. Build a PPC campaign that has clear objectives, identifies a focused target audience and operates within keyword groups that align with your ad objectives.

Pro Tip: Be cautious not to build your keyword categories too broadly; appealing to too wide an audience can lead to your paying for impressions that have a low likelihood of converting to an actual client.

4. Targeted Advertising And Conversion

A great organic post on your social channels may reach hundreds, but an ad with proper investment fueling its exposure could be presented to hundreds of thousands. Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are primarily paid-advertising platforms and don’t benefit from content receiving viral exposure. Complementing your organic efforts with targeted advertising on social media to capitalize on the “pay-to-play” nature of social media can increase reach and drive conversions.

In addition to paid social media advertising, placing paid display network advertising on prominent platforms can yield significant results in terms of patient awareness and, ultimately, acquisition. Display Network ads can be targeted to engage your audience across millions of websites and can build awareness of your brand. However, these ads are not tools for conversion but rather a great way to begin the modern patient journey.

Pro Tip: Data fuels all marketing campaigns in the digital age. When possible, use first-person data to define your ideal patient type before investing in targeted advertising efforts on social media.

5. Continuous Optimization

Undergo regular performance analysis, and consider collaborating with marketing agencies to help you achieve continuous optimization of your digital presence. (Full Disclosure: My company offers these services, as do others.) Emphasizing the speed and accountability of digital marketing can enable your practice to adapt quickly and effectively in the ever-evolving digital landscape. When seeking an agency partnership, look for one with proven expertise and experience in your specialty. Many claim expertise in “healthcare” but lack access to first-person data and deep knowledge to maximize your return.

Pro Tip: Don’t assume the campaign or your representative agency will automatically measure and adjust your efforts. Marketing in the digital age still requires human input, no matter how much AI insight an agency claims to have. Provide candid feedback on the results you see to ensure you’re making the most from your marketing spend. Your agency needs to know if, for example, all the leads you receive show no interest in scheduling an appointment. Good agencies will check in regularly and adjust as needed to ensure you feel the improvement.

In my experience, building a digital presence for a healthcare business requires a multifaceted approach encompassing website optimization, social media engagement, targeted advertising and continuous optimization. By implementing these strategies, you can enhance visibility, build trust and attract new patients in the digital era.