When medical practices are considering running Google Ads campaigns, one of the biggest questions we hear is what kinds of keywords they should be bidding on. That can vary depending on a practice’s goals with the campaign, budget, competition, and search volumes of particular keywords. Sometimes, a practice may also consider running paid search ads for searches where they already “own” the organic results. Often, there are questions on whether or not that is a smart way to spend marketing dollars. There are different schools of thought on whether or not it makes sense for a medical practice t ..read more

A key component of effectively marketing your practice is understanding what your patients are looking for. Often, we see practices that are fixated on telling patients the message they want them to hear, whether that’s showing off awards, new technology, research studies, etc. However, that doesn’t always align with the information potential patients want to know before making an appointment. And when practices don’t consider what patients want to know, we’ve found that those marketing efforts aren’t as fruitful as practices would like them to be. That isn’t to say that you can’t ever share t ..read more

Our medical practice clients often ask us whether or not we think it’s worth it to do what we call “traditional” media–print ads, billboards, sponsorship banners at sporting events, etc. While we’re naturally a bit biased toward online media, it’s a valid question. Before online marketing evolved to what it is today, print advertising and other traditional media was the main avenue for getting the word out about a small business like a medical practice. The truth is, like different types of online marketing, not all print ads are created equal. Each vendor will have different processes, public ..read more

“If my practice launches a new campaign / website, what kind of results can we expect to get?” It’s a question we hear quite often when clients are considering adding on a new marketing service. It makes sense–if you’re going to invest money in something to help your business, you’d like to have at least some sort of idea of what to expect.   Unfortunately, when it comes to online marketing, there really aren’t any definitive answers we can give in terms of how long results could take, what kind of ranking you might achieve, how many new patients you might get, etc. All of these thin ..read more

In healthcare, there are a lot of complex terms and concepts that are not familiar to the average person. Do you know if you are explaining things well enough for your patients to understand?  It’s a topic we broach fairly often with practices we work with, especially when it comes to writing content. Most physicians and surgeons are used to writing for medical journals–a very different and much more technical style of writing than what patients are used to reading. It’s great for sharing information with your peers, but not so much when you are trying to make sure your patients have enou ..read more

At P3, we talk a lot about the importance of content on medical practice websites. But content is more than just written words–it’s also video and images. The right video and images support and enhance your written content to illustrate the points you are making. We’ve previously discussed video strategy for medical practices. Now, let’s look at how the right images can help enhance your marketing messages. Limiting the Use of Stock Photos Stock photos definitely have a place on medical practice websites, but we believe they should be used sparingly. We see a lot of practices relying heavily o ..read more

Unless your practice has a very large or unlimited marketing budget, you’ll likely have to prioritize where to spend your marketing dollars. There are so many methods you can use to market your practice, so there are a lot of different ways you can divide up your marketing budget. It’s important to be strategic about how you spend those dollars, rather than just spending a little here and there until your budget runs out. We recommend focusing on your core marketing needs first, and then expanding out if you have leftover dollars. When we’re advising practices on how to prioritize their budget ..read more

If patients are traveling from other cities, states, or even countries for your unique treatment approaches and expertise, there is an opportunity to market to this group of patients and potentially attract more of those who are willing to travel for the right surgeon or specialist. When patients are considering traveling for surgery, they will likely have different questions for you than local patients might. Providing the right resources on your website to answer those questions makes it easier for patients to decide if surgical travel is the right choice for them. You can also provide infor ..read more

As we’ve mentioned before, patient testimonials are a form of social proof that can help to enhance your practice’s marketing. However, if you really want them to make an impact, you need to use them strategically. It’s common for practices to have a Testimonials page on their website, or sometimes a scrolling function for testimonials at the bottom of webpages or in a sidebar. It’s certainly easy to implement, but it’s not necessarily the most impactful way to use patient testimonials. If patients are looking for reviews about your practice, they’re more likely to consult a third-party review ..read more

Social proof is the concept that people are influenced by the opinions of others. It’s used a lot for marketing in other industries, but it can be applied to healthcare too. In the case of a medical practice, social proof means feedback from actual patients of yours. Social proof from patients can enhance and strengthen your marketing because it backs up your claims. How Does Social Proof Work in Healthcare? You can tell prospective patients that you’re great, but that only holds so much weight. What medical practice/physician/surgeon isn’t trying to position themselves as the best choice for ..read more