James SpillaneIt used to be that staying in practice was enough to stay in business for many health providers. But, in the new world of online marketing? It’s simply not enough.
Healthcare providers and practices have never faced more competition than they do now. And the best way to separate yourself from the pack is customized, online content marketing.
Online content makes an office feel more personal. And in a city of qualified, impersonal health professionals, it’s the qualified personable professional that will get the business. Utilizing a content marketing strategy for a health practice makes sense for two important reasons:
Content Marketing for Attracting New Clients
First, when patients seek a new doctor’s office, they are looking for an office that stands out from the crowd. The most efficient way to stand out is to stand out where they look first: online.
By establishing a professional, friendly social media presence and an active, authoritative blogging rhythm, the first impression you give your clients is one of familiarity and confidence.
Attracting New Hires with Content Marketing
Second, highly-qualified employee prospects turn first to their personal network and second to their online network. When you seek out and make contact with these prospects online to see if they could be a good fit, your prospect is also assessing your company.
Nothing speaks to job searchers more strongly than a professional presentation that is regularly updated.
Staying up to date on best practices and new medical developments and hiring and retaining excellent staff members is enough of a time commitment, let alone following the news on healthcare updates and billing policies. If you’re struggling for a new approach to generating interest and new leads for your facilities, helping new clients choose your facilities over others in the area, and recruiting highly-specialized talent for your immediate and ongoing hiring needs, look no further than strategic content marketing.
Looking for a few ideas to get started with your company’s online presence? Get in touch with Greesonbach Creative today.
This article was written for Business 2 Community by James Spillane.
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Great post Sarah! Content marketing can be an incredible asset to a healthcare professional. You’ve hit the nail on the head with your point that having a strong online presence can cause a business to stand out from the crowd and attract new clients. I have seen this in my own experience and our clients often end up adding some sort of Q&A tool for this… to both create an interaction with the customer and utilize the questions they are asking as valuable content. This could be huge in healthcare as a professional could field questions on symptoms, medications, their practice, etc. They could then take the most asked questions and build content from this. There are some easy plugins for Q&A… Answerbase, Qhub, and Shapado to name a few. Have you ever explored Q&A as a resource for this?
Thanks for sharing Sarah!
Thanks for your comment, Blake! Q&A and FAQ sections are a great way to engage an audience and display a sense of thoughtfulness and engagement with prospective healthcare clients. The underlying understanding is, “If they’re this friendly on a website, I imagine I’ll be very comfortable in their office.” And who wouldn’t choose that health provider over another?
Of course Sarah! Understanding that concept is key to marketing, and can relate to many fields, including healthcare.
Thank you for sharing such good points, Sarah. For professional service firms with inevitably limited time and resources, many wonder who has the time for content marketing. But, key audiences (including patients, new clients and potential candidates) rely on connecting with companies on a more personal level in the digital world, one in which engaging branded content is crucial. Another tip: Instead of writing to sell your services, write content that solves a problem, or fulfills a need that your clients come to you for. It’s being known as the trusted go-to source that will lead to more clients and stronger recruiting.
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Thank you for your comment, Lisa! That’s an excellent point — there should always be a purpose behind every piece of content, and that includes website copy!