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What is Digital Marketing to Doctors?
People today, even before voicing their concerns or speaking out their problems out loud for themselves, would go to Google or browse websites and type it out. If you are having a mild cold and cough, hair fall issues, heartburn, acidity, a stomach ache, or anything under the sun, you will find your answers on Google. What might have caused the problem, what medical care you should opt for, the doctors or clinics near you, the side effects of the potential medicines that you might take, and others are available with just a click and within seconds. Humans today are devastatingly dependent on browsing websites for their issues and concerns. Hence, it has become critical for doctors as well as clinics and hospitals to have an online presence.
In this article, we will be diving deep into what the potential benefits are for doctors having an online presence.
Digital Marketing and the Healthcare Industry
The healthcare industry is at its peak because of the damaged and deteriorating lifestyle habits of individuals. We are eating wrong, working wrong, sleeping wrong, and, in a nutshell, living a self-destroying life. Hence, with the healthcare industry and its services, we can make the pain go away. Now coming to the point of digital marketing Marketers and doctors have to understand that the majority of consumers today are on their screens apart from the 7 hours that they sleep. For them, the digital world is the real world. Newspaper ads or radio spots might have worked with the boomers, but today's millennials and Gen Z have a habit of searching everything online. According to Google Trends, "hospital near me" is getting searched for around 86 times every minute on March 3rd, 2023. This shows the activeness of the users on the internet when it comes to their health concerns. According to the survey by Real-time Report, we found amazing figures like −
Digital marketing activity increases patient engagement by 81%.
Digital marketing activity increases the conversion rate of patients by 59%.
Digital marketing activity increases patient loyalty by 46%.
Digital marketing activity increases patient experience by 73%.
Digital marketing activity increases brand awareness by 35%.
Digital marketing activity increases patient retention by 52%.
Digital marketing activity increases brand perception by 52%.
Benefits That Doctors Can Attain by Having a Strong Digital Presence
Have a wider reach − the pandemic has made it possible, but even before that, we saw people taking healthcare consulting services online. Conducting consulting services not only saves the patients' travel time and the burden of waiting in line but also allows them to connect with doctors across the globe and get the best healthcare consulting in the field. If doctors do not have a digital presence, they surely are going to lose out on those customers. The world is moving towards digital, and consumers are getting addicted to convenience. You have to enter the market to ensure that you are not left out.
Consumers are mostly present on their screens − We see that the average working employee or student spends more than 10 hours a day on their laptop or phone. For them, these devices have become part and parcel of life. Hence, for targeting Gen Z or the millennials, it is better to have a presence online. Consumers might get a glimpse of you and your services on social media and then go on the website to book an appointment or read more about the cure. Currently, Divija Bhasin, a mental health specialist, has more than 178k followers, a verified account on Instagram, and is doing great in her field. There are many other clinics and hospitals with a presence on the social media network, like Fortis Mental Health, Get Me Therapy, and other centers.
There is no shaming or inferiority − Not all patients are comfortable enough to share their problems with their close knits or relatives. They want someone who can help them secretly. With digital marketing of doctors, one will have an access to an online database of doctors for all medical needs. One can book an appointment, consults doctors sitting at home and order their medicine online and start the curing process with ease.
It is a more cost-effective form of communication or marketing − Getting your ad in the newspaper or on the radio might be a very costly affair, and here is where digital marketing comes in. With Google, even individual users can easily create their profile or website and start uploading content. If you are a nutritionist looking for patients on social media platforms, you can start by uploading small tips and tricks for a healthy diet, engaging with your followers, and when they have developed trust and a bond with you, you can start your paid services. It could also be a glimpse of your effectiveness and knowledge, like the small trailer videos. If you are good with digital platforms, you can do this on your own or hire a digital marketer with intermediate knowledge to help you grow.
It becomes easier to engage as well as interact with the patients − Doctors have to understand that today's consumers are spoiled with choices no matter which industry we are talking about, and they prefer convenience and bonding over brand names and cost. Being digitally available for some time can help them gain your trust. With Zoom and other video call platforms, they can have sessions in no time, and doctors can charge for the same.
Improves online reputation − Patients will not remember the medicine that they took, the injections that they took, or the tests that have been conducted, but they will always value the experience they had while meeting with the doctor and the effectiveness of their course. Doctors can target the right audience through social media and can have a website for themselves or get themselves registered on the hospital’s website to show their genuineness.
Helps you compete with competitors − Your competitors are there in the digital marketing world; it is time that you sell your essence and be better than them.
All the great hospitals, clinics, nursing centers, and doctors of today have registered themselves on browsing websites. With digital marketing, they can help patients find the right doctor and treatment for themselves. They do not have to disclose their problems to the world to understand who would be the best consultant for their problem; they can search on the internet and go for the same consulting.
We completely understand that healthcare has become a business sector, but the underlining motive of this sector is to help patients and our fellow human beings. We should not be monetizing every aspect of healthcare, but with this, the point of being updated with the latest trends also comes into the picture. If as a doctor you are not giving space to new technologies, treatments, or medicines, you will not be able to treat your patients better.
Every day we are becoming better than we were, and hence it is critical for doctors to enter the digital world. With the digital world in hand, doctors can cure more patients effectively and efficiently. Not everything can be done online, but most of it can, and as a doctor, it is your responsibility to help your patients. Digital marketing will help you have a wider reach; you can treat more patients in a limited time frame, and there will always be this relationship of trust between you and your patients.
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