There was a time when being a medical professional was a privilege. Those days are over. Now you need to be a business major to complement your profession.  As a health IT consultant, I felt like writing tit  takes a lot of money and effort  which can be put to better use. Free medical marketing requires dedicated time, consistent effort and a lot of imagination. You  spend so many years working hard   in med school, learning practice managementhis article after a recent visit to my dermatologist, who spoke to me of her anxiety about enhancing her social media presence as it’s getting extremely hard to consistently attract new patients. There are many ways to do this,  such as paid online advertisements, search engine optimization, and billboards in the neighborhood. However, it takes a lot of money and effort which can be put to better use. Free medical marketing requires dedicated time, consistent effort and a lot of imagination. You spend so many years working hard in med school, learning practice management, acquiring CME’s to deliver quality care, and yet from a business standpoint that is not enough.

Here are some tips to smartly increase the social media presence of your practice, without spending a dime:

Create Quality Content

As SEO and Google search has taken over the world, you really need to stand out in the crowd. Whether it’s your LinkedIn profile, your blog,  your website, or figuring out ways to get positive patient reviews, a medical marketer needs to put deep thought into making it original, creative and related to patient’s needs. Not only will your patients truly appreciate it, but it will also display your enthusiasm for and focus on patient care. Research shows that 66% of patients research their physician and treatments online, before booking an appointment. To enhance your online presence,  it’s always a great idea to introduce how your practice has revolutionized care delivery by adopting advanced techniques and lifesaving technology.

Showcase your true self

Content also means vlogs. Video content not only grabs attention quicker it also interacts with the audience in a way that the written content does not.  Videos have become the gateway to success in many industries, including the healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry. People get to see you, which increases trust in your ability to help them. Vlogs can be uploaded on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, as well as your website. This indirectly increases patient traffic because a lot can be conveyed in a video – your emotions, empathy, professional skills, and the look and feel of your practice.

Related Article: Is Your Practice Perfect or Does It Need Improvement?

Videos are a shortcut to reading, and some people are better listeners/viewers than readers. Having a selection of videos to show the level of care and precision with which you and your staff perform multiple treatments is a brilliant way to go about marketing your practice, and also for fostering your own brand.

 Be Good to Others, and They Shall  Be Good to You

This may seem like a quote taken directly from a book, but it holds so true in marketing your practice. If you help other practitioners; that is, refer them, and effectively build relationships with them, they will do the same for you. I recently read a story where a doctor let his colleagues use his new ECG device to see if they too wanted it,  by providing them access to online ECG reading. It turned out to be a good tactic, and it grew his practice substantially. Referrals are also quite important. If you refer to certain patients, they are likely to reciprocate.  Similarly, helping your colleagues, and asking them to reciprocate is another way to cultivate traction.

Read More: Online Reputation Management

Patient Centered Approach

Another good idea is to develop patient-oriented marketing. Following up with your patients after visits, periodically checking on how they are doing is a great way to know about their experience at your practice. Asking them for feedback and permission to share their stories, is another awesome way to keep things interesting. If you can tell others about their story, it could benefit so many similar patients too. Nothing gets more patients coming to you like friends’ recommendations. Adding testimonials of your patients on social media will also help in letting more people know about you and the treatment offered. Including your staff in it will also show empathy and teamwork, which is great for long term growth.

Keeping in touch with your patients, and tracking their well-being long after their visit is likely to increase patient volume through referrals. They will continue visiting you rather than switching providers.

These are some tips you can try for free. While they may be time-consuming, but they are super effective in getting organic patient traffic.

Notes: Text in the image needs to be corrected to: “Be good to others and they shall be good to you”.