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Boosting a healthcare practice or MedSpa’s bottom line often begins with attracting more patients. These days, the most effective way to do this is to create a robust web presence complete with detailed business and healthcare listings, a premium website, and a significant number of positive reviews.
As you might imagine, prospective patients don’t exclusively use a single source to look for information about healthcare providers in their area. For example, one person could look for providers on Healthgrades or Vitals.com, while another uses the search engine Google.
To increase the chances your practice will be found by patients, claim your practice listings on popular business and review websites.
Once you have claimed your listings, you can add accurate business and contact information, photos, your biographical information, and information about the aesthetic services you offer.
Another way to increase your web presence is to use paid search advertising like Google AdWords. Paid search works similar to an auction. For your ad to appear in search, you bid on keywords that prospective patients might use to find your healthcare practice. A MedSpa in New York City that offers non-invasive lipolysis using the Cynosure SculpSure laser, for example, could bid on [sculpsure midtown]. Whether your ad appears depends on how much money you bid, as well as a few other factors.
Many providers underestimate how great a role their website plays in attracting new patients. A premium healthcare or MedSpa website has the power to rank highly and be found more often in search engine results. The more often and the closer a website appears to the top of search, the more visits it receives.
A premium website has a modern, streamlined design that allows visitors to focus on important areas like a provider’s biographical information. A premium website is also responsive, meaning it fits the screen of whatever device a visitor is using, and it’s still easy to read the content and navigate the site.
According to Google, more than half of searches in the U.S. take place on mobile devices, which is why the search engine favors responsive websites in its results.3
A premium website is made up of individual pages for every service offered at a practice. This includes new aesthetic services. Also known as ‘siloing,’ this process organizes content into distinct categories, which boosts search engine rankings.
Finally, a premium website features online scheduling. According to a PatientPop survey, about 42 percent of patients would rather make appointments on a website or mobile app than over the phone.4 Healthcare practices or MedSpas that do not offer online booking could miss out on these prospective patients.
Online reviews can be the deciding factor in whether prospective patients select your practice or MedSpa.
85 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.5
To attract patients interested in aesthetic services, you must acquire a significant number of positive reviews.
A good way to increase your number of positive online reviews is to ask satisfied patients to share their opinions on their review site of choice. About seven out of 10 consumers will leave a local business review when they are asked, according to BrightLocal.6 You can also automate the review process using a practice growth platform like PatientPop.
Also, feature the most glowing reviews on your website pages. If you receive a positive review for one of your new aesthetic services, add the review to the service’s dedicated webpage.
Many providers focus so much of their attention on attracting new patients that they forget to market to current patients. This is a big mistake. According to smile.io, a repeat customer is 60-70 percent likely to buy again.7
To increase revenue for new services, promote them to existing patients in your practice and online.
Adding colorful signage or creating take-away flyers is a simple way to promote new specialty equipment and services to current patients. You can also instruct your staff to discuss new practice offerings with patients, as appropriate, before or after their appointments.
In both cases, you’ll want to highlight the benefits of new services and the type of patient who is the best candidate for the services.
Email is also a great tool for promoting new aesthetic services to current patients.
More than half of people prefer to receive updates from brands and companies via email than by direct mail or other communication vessels.8
You can send a single email that announces new services, or you can incorporate the news about added services into an email newsletter you send regularly. Either way, emails should feature high-quality photographs — perhaps before-and-after photographs — and detailed information about the aesthetic services to entice recipients to schedule appointments. Make it easy for readers to book with you by including a link to your online appointment calendar.
Rather than emailing all of your patients at once, create smaller lists of people who are most likely to respond to your message. A dermatologist who has recently purchased the CynoSure PicoSure laser, for example, might choose to email patients who have previously received Botox treatments.
Providers who are regularly active on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media websites can use their profiles to update current patients about new aesthetic services. You can do this by posting or tweeting about the new services or by updating your profile or cover photos with information about the services.
To ensure your patients see your updates, consider purchasing social media advertising. On Facebook, you can advertise to users who have viewed your website in the past. Thanks to cookies — little digital breadcrumbs that keep track of our online whereabouts — Facebook knows exactly what websites its users have visited.
Possibly the easiest way to get your current patients to try a new service is to offer a discount or other reward. Though discounts reduce the amount you make for services performed, they can be the incentive hesitant patients need to give a service a try.
Set parameters for discounts that work for your healthcare practice or MedSpa, and then advertise them to current patients in-office, through email, or on social media.
Attracting new patients is essential for healthcare practices or MedSpas to recoup the cost of high-end equipment. Providers who need help attracting new patients online can work with PatientPop to start seeing results.
PatientPop is a proven all-in-one practice growth platform that empowers healthcare providers to thrive in the digital age. PatientPop combines all the tools healthcare providers need to attract more patients, modernize their patient experience, and streamline their front office in a single easy-to-use solution.
For more information about PatientPop and how we can help you promote new aesthetic services, visit us online at patientpop.com.