As a medical practice owner or manager, you are always looking for ways to grow your patient base and see new patients and quality patients. So the question is, how do you attract your ideal patient to keep your practice consistently booked with patients willing to pay for your services? While there are many ways to attract patients, you must consider your target market and what will appeal to them. Let’s explore how to identify and attract your target market, as well as how to qualify patients for your practice.
Identifying Your Target Market
The first step in attracting qualified patients is to identify your target market. When considering your target market, there are several factors to consider, such as age, economic status, concerns, wants, hobbies, etc. It is essential to consider all of these factors to create targeted content that will appeal to your ideal patient. Once you have a good idea of your target market’s interests, hobbies, wants, and needs, it’s important that what you offer appeals to them. If the types of patients you want are younger, interested in biohacking, performance, and body optimization but all you show on your website is treatments for chronic illness and recovery chances are they will go to one of your competitors based on what you’re offering. When patients come to your website you have around 15 seconds to capture their attention so it’s vital your website’s design, messaging, and treatments appeal to them. The next thing customers will look at is your reviews on Google, and your social media accounts. If a customer believes you’re a good fit they will usually call next or do some more digging and comparing your treatments vs your competitors. This is where its especially important to show the benefits, outcomes, and lifestyle improvements they can expect after your treatment. Make sure on your website the types of imagery and messaging is geared towards the types of patients you want to attract.
How to Attract Your Ideal Patient
Now that you have identified your target market, it is time to start thinking about how you can attract them to your practice. There are a number of ways to do this, including creating targeted content, using social media, advertising, and implementing both organic and paid efforts. All of these methods can be effective in attracting qualified patients to your practice. The first question you may ask yourself is what types of patients want or need a specific treatment? We suggest breaking down your top 4 treatments then identifying what types of patients may be interested in each of those and why. Once you have done this it becomes much easier to understand what type of patient because the focus is more specific based on the needs of the patient and the benefits of your treatment. If you try to market to a wide gamut of patients or try to simply promote your practice in a general sense you may get lost in the sea of other options available to patients in your local area. The key is specificity, the more pinpoint you can make your marketing the easier it will be to attract specific types of patients. Once you have listed out all the possible wants and needs of a patient for a specific therapy you can then focus on the possible objections they may have and help them focus on the outcome and benefits of your treatment. This way when a patient sees your treatment online or on social media they can easily say “yes thats me.” The next step is giving them bait. Your goal is to present them with an offer they cannot refuse. Something that gets them in your door for a fairly low cost but provides significant value. Then once they are in your practice and have experienced it thats the ideal time to show them your higher-tier offer when they can discuss it with you in person.
How to Qualify Patients
Once you have successfully attracted patients to your practice, the next step is qualifying them. There are several ways to qualify patients, including considering their budget, the amount of time they are willing to commit, and the results they hope to achieve. By taking the time to qualify patients upfront, you can save both yourself and them a considerable amount of time and effort in the long run. The single most efficient way to properly qualify patients is by using a well-defined landing page that clearly explains the treatment, expectations, and involvement of the patient. You can also add costs associated but its not always necessary to display this information. We recommend showing an entry level offer so patients can at least understand a ball-park idea of cost. The next thing you can have on your landing page is a video that clearly shows and explains the treatment. This helps patients quickly understand a treatment that may be more difficult to fully explain in a few paragraphs. Lastly, a Q&A section at the bottom of the page that answers the most common questions about a specific treatment can help the patient gain a solid understanding of the treatment.
Nurturing Potential Patients
The final step in attracting qualified patients is nurturing and converting them into paying customers. This process typically takes 8-12 communication touches before a prospect is ready to engage with your practice. There are many ways to nurture prospects, including providing valuable content, staying top of mind, drip campaigns, and building relationships. By taking the time to nurture prospects throughout the process, you can convert more leads into paying customers. One of the biggest mistakes we see most practices make is they do not follow up with patients who have inquired or called. Working with your office staff to follow up with potential customers is vital to growing your practice. This can be done through both automations and reminders scheduled throughout the month. When we work with practices we setup automatic emails and sms text messaging that place prospective patients into a nurture sequence that helps educate patients about everything relating to your practice and treatment offerings. We continue this process until the individual converts by making a call and scheduling an appointment.
Attracting qualified patients is essential for any successful medical practice. By taking the time to identify and attract your target market, as well as qualifying patients upfront, you can ensure that you are seeing the right patients for your practice.
At MedBrain Marketing, I’ve hand picked my team all with backgrounds in medicine and marketing, making it easy for us to fully understand the conditions and treatments you serve at your practice. We also understand the best strategies for getting more traction and revenue for your practice. If you would like help attracting qualified patients or have questions about how we can help grow your medical practice, don’t hesitate to contact us today!
