As a doctor or wellness professional you wear many hats, personnel director, real estate agent, billing administrator, supplies manager and much more. You also need to be a marketing director and implement programs that market your practice and services so that patients know about you. But what are the components of healthcare marketing that need your attention?

Healthcare marketing typically encompasses various elements to promote a healthcare professional, medical practice, or organization.

Here are eight of the most common elements to consider:
  1. Know your target audience: In healthcare marketing, and all marketing, a first step is to define the audience you wish to reach and influence. This will drive all your other marketing decisions.
  2. Branding: Here the objective is to create a clear and consistent look and feel for all your communications. This includes selecting a memorable name, logo, and tagline, that effectively communicates the organization’s values, mission, and unique selling points.
  3. Advertising and Promotion: There are more channels today than ever to advertise and promote your medical practice or healthcare organization. Enhance your branding with an ongoing advertising campaign to stay top of mind for your audience.
  4. Public Relations (PR): This channel offers yet another opportunity for you to manage your practice’s public image and reputation. By being quoted in the media regularly, on a wide variety of topics related to your expertise, tells your target audience that you are a thought leader and subject matter expert.
  5. Content Creation: Don’t get lazy about your blog or website. Keep it fresh and current with new posts and articles. This will help you rank higher in Google search and it will also show your audience that you are on top of your game.
  6. Digital Presence. Have a thoughtful, educational, well-designed and user-friendly website. Make it easy for prospective patients to find you and contact you. Leverage social media channels as well to engage with your audience on things related to your expertise.
  7. Welcome Patient Feedback. Everything you do in managing your medical practice should focus on delivering excellent patient experiences. This will promote patient satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth. Keep this top of mind in all your communications, patient interactions and patient education.
  8. Track your results. If you are running advertising campaigns or responding to media requests for commentary, keep track of it all. This way as you decide on where to invest more time and energy, you’ll have the data to point you in the most effective direction.

An effective healthcare marketing effort will include some or all of these elements working together to help raise awareness, build credibility, attract and retain patients and lead to ongoing success.