Healthcare Marketing is often overlooked by professionals in the industry, especially those used by insurance companies and personal referrals to keep new patients flowing.
But, we know that nowadays, it is no longer like that and that the way of attracting and retaining patients has changed. In this context, Healthcare Marketing Agency is a necessity.
This post will demystify some of the myths on the subject and show how online strategies are essential to keep up with the competition.
1 – Marketing in the health area violates the CFM Code of Ethics
A very common mistake is to think that healthcare marketing is unethical. But don’t worry, we’re here to clear this up.
Digital marketing agencies in the sector strictly follow the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM). Do you know?
It is a manual that details all the advertising and advertising criteria that must be followed by individual professionals, private institutions, and medical services offered by the Unified Health System.
The manual prohibits, for example, the disclosure of procedure prices and possible concessions of discounts to establish a differential in the quality of services.
However, you need to make sure that your healthcare marketing agency respects and follows all the recommendations in the document.
2 – Ads on Google and social media are unethical
The CFM Medical Publicity Manual also sets out specific rules for publicity and advertising.
In this way, if they are done conscientiously and ethically, following all the recommendations in the manual, the announcements can be incredibly beneficial for the institution.
This is because paid traffic made with ads made by Google Ads, for example, can optimize your digital marketing in the health area and make your brand appear among the first results in the search engine.
Clutch. Co’s Search Engine Marketing: Why People Click on Paid-Search Ads article, published in 2018, has interesting data about Google ads.
“A third of people (33%) click on a paid search ad because it directly responds to the search query,” the article points out.
Furthermore, the material also reveals that people are more likely to click on a paid search ad on Google (63%) than any other search engine such as Amazon (15%) and YouTube (9%).
The idea is to invest in digital marketing in organic and paid health, enhancing your results in the investment.
3 – Being present on social media is enough
This is not just a myth but also a very frequent mistake among managers of health institutions. Is being on social media enough? The answer is no!
Of course, social networks are an important relationship tool with your patients. You can strengthen relationships with your patients and be present in the network through them.
However, it is not on social media that your patient seeks health care. Instead, it does it on Google!
Imagine the following: a person has leg pain after a run and has decided to seek more information about this symptom and what it may represent. Do you believe he will look for this information on social media or Google?
For this reason, social media is not enough to strengthen your brand and make your services found.
You need to create a good Google strategy, so when Google searches for treatment, symptoms, prevention, or any other topic related to your specialties, your website and content will be one of the first to appear.
4 – Healthcare marketing is expensive
Most (or nearly all) of your patients are online. This is a fact, and there is no denying it. Whether on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Blog, or Google, they are online.
Investing in more traditional channels like TV, radio, and billboards can be much more expensive than running some ads on Google, for example, where you will often reach 1,000 people for less than R$5.
Of course, traditional channels have their relevance, we are not saying otherwise, but in terms of investment, a digital strategy can bring the return you expect in less time, costing much less.
Not to mention that it is possible to metrify the results through digital strategies.
5 – Marketing in the health area guarantees a full agenda
Attracting more patients is undoubtedly one of the biggest marketing goals in healthcare. However, it alone will not guarantee an always full schedule.
The marketing strategy must be combined with other actions to help you conquer and retain patients.
You need to consider several factors: customer satisfaction with your online service, reception service, quality of medical care, post-service relationship, etc.
In other words, attracting the patient to the appointment schedule is insufficient if the remainder of the work is substandard. Therefore, you need to ensure a good experience.
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