The Doctor - Patient Connection
Your opportunity to connect with your patient community with your digital footprint
Emerging Patient Connection
• Social Media Marketing
• Content Marketing
• Engagement
Connection – Old vs. New
• No more yellow pages
• Finding docs – a few clicks or a few friends
Today - A Few Clicks
• Google• Facebook• Twitter• Blogs• Linked in• Other communities
Research & Information
• Today: patients do research before setting up appointments – 80% find information online
• Have a large thirst for information and knowledge
• Exposed to a doctor’s electronic information first
• First impression is very important; more so than before
Patients are Consumers
• Today patients are consumers
• Many choices today
• Consumers shop, compare, refer and share
Ways to Create a Good First Impression
• Creating and publishing high quality content on your digital properties: social media, websites and blogs.
Content Marketing Goal
• Be visible to your target market in a positive, helpful, relevant, valuable way
Content Searched For Online
• People who search online are looking for:
• Relevant information that can solve their problems• Information to Teach them something new• Valuable Information
Examples of Content Searched For
• Information on different medical procedures
• Preparing for various kinds of treatments
• What to expect from a particular healthcare provider
• Information for self diagnosis
Providing Content
• Is a competitive advantage, especially in a local setting
• Allows for increased awareness and value with a higher number of potential patients
• What’s this worthto you?
What is Content Marketing?
• Information that is of interest that draws target market patients to you to get that information; usually online content
• Distribution of the information – make it available
• Engage with the audience – content = connection
What Content Marketing is Not
• Bland, repetitive content written only for SEO
• Sales pitches
• All about me
Why Content Marketing
• Caters to potential patient’s/patient’s desire for information they want (when they want it and in a form they like).
• Search engines love it – relevancy
• Lets your target market know who you are and why you are the preferred choice
Why Content Marketing
• People choose Doctors based on:• Google search • Doctor’s website• Facebook/Twitter postings• Blog postings• Comments from previous or current patients
Benefit of Content Marketing
• A steady, consistent, helpful, valuable stream of information linked to the practice/doctor can overcome any negative content by one unsatisfied past patient
Benefit of Content Marketing
• You can control your online reputation more
• Establishes expertise and positioning
• Cost per lead is 30-40% lower than paid search
• Value is cumulative
Competitive Advantage
• A doctor/practice who wants to dominate online search and become visible to more potential patients who are doing research online rather than reading print media, needs to have a different mindset, approach and strategy.
• Content Marketing is the answer to that
How to Market with Content
• Establish a hub – website or blog• Subscribed and Shared• You own it (not like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn)
• Establish social media accounts/pages• Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest….yes I said
• Plan It
Content Marketing Plan
• Define target market
• Define what questions they have
• Define what problems need solved
• Answer questions in an interesting, compelling, valuable and engaging way
• How do they want content delivered
• What content that you have can be repurposed?
Content Creation
• Decide on the content• Research information from on and offline sources• Responses to polls and inquiries• FAQ’s• Research competitive information sharing• Outsource content development –
quantity, quality, consistency• Concentrate on the target audience –
interesting and of value
Developing the Content
• Write it
• Repurpose offline and other content
• Outsource the development
The Content
• Accurate & Complete
• Informative & Useful
• Valuable & Relevant
• Trusted – you are the “go-to” source
• Understandable
• Shareable
Other Content Marketing Thoughts
• It’s a long term commitment and process
• You cant do it all
Outsourcing Content Marketing
• Al Lautenslager – Content Marketing Expert, Strategist and Enthusiast
• 630-740-1397
• http://www.socialmediamedicalmarketing.com
• http://contentmarketingofficer.wordpress.com
Available to Speak at Your Conference
