A Prescription for Marketing and Branding Your Medical Practice
As a physician you’ve spent years becoming credentialed and learned about your medical specialization. Now you’re finding
that sustaining and growing your practice requires you to enter into competition with other offices to get new patients and
referrals. You’ve realized that you have to learn about marketing and branding your practice. Just as you are prepared to
treat your patients, a quality marketing and advertising agency is equipped to brand and promote your practice. A sound
marketing and branding plan can help keep existing patients happy by making them feel confident about your practice.
And a sound sustained campaign will help grow your practice.
This article will give you a comprehensive overview of branding and marketing your practice, so you can work confidently with
the best design and marketing team you can afford.
Twelve Simple Steps to Success
Step One – Define your practice. Decide what kind of an image you want your practice to portray to your patients and/or
referring physicians.
Step Two – Define your "unique selling proposition" (USP)—the element(s) of your practice that differentiate you from your
competitors. This is also a good way to become familiar with your competition. Test your USP by imagining it as a print ad
headline. Does it capture the best part of your practice? Is it unique to your practice?
Step Three – Design a strong logo and develop graphic standards for fonts and branding colors.
Step Four – Prepare for marketing. But first, what is marketing? Marketing is the process of getting your practice out in front of the
people that will sustain your practice–either patients or referring physicians. Marketing requires a plan and then action to follow the
plan. Organization along with consistency will help your campaign achieve its goals. And, of course, you will need a budget. Typically
5% of your gross goes to branding, marketing, and advertising. If you are in a growth spurt, anywhere from 5% to 10% of your
gross should be used to grow your practice.
Step Five – Design cohesive / matching corporate collateral: business card, letterhead, envelope, prescription pads, signage, etc.
Step Six – Design your printed marketing collateral. Cohesive and matching marketing materials build trust with patients, other
doctors, and the community. Sloppy or poorly designed materials reflect poorly on your practice. People don’t have time to read
loads of information, so employ short paragraphs of text and bullet points. It is recommended that you have a separate short
branded brochure for each specialized service you provide and a general one for the practice. Patients and referring physicians
alike will be able to easily get the information they need about your practice with this method.
Tip: You can send referring physicians a branded brochure to pass along to their patients as a great marketing tactic. Make sure
your brochure is "something of value" with quality information.
Take note: Remember that it will be the combination of all your marketing and branding efforts that will yield results. That being
said, more or less, you will only go as far as your budget will allow.
Take note: Your main brochure should contain all the basic information such as office hours, a map, your Web address, and
services. Not only will this help market your practice, it can free your office staff from answering frequently asked questions
and help avoid potential patient misunderstandings. It is recommended that you employ a professional copywriter.
Step Seven – Press Kits, Targeted Mailings, and Welcome Folder. Design a branded glossy folder and place your brochures
as well as a simple marketing slick in it to make a quick press kit without reinventing the wheel. The marketing slick should be
an introductory page with a few short paragraphs and mainly bullet points. By adding some billing and appointment making
information, this format can also easily be adjusted to become a Welcome Folder for new patients.
Step Eight – The Waiting Room. Make sure that your brochures and some giveaways like pens are readily available. Consider
a kids corner to help out patients with small children.
Step Nine – Web design. You must have a brand coordinated website that is easy to navigate and informative. The website will
become a prominent part of your marketing plan, so make sure you’ve hired a professional that will make it SEO-friendly
(easily picked up and ranked high by search engines). Some practices have a separate brochure that is coordinated with
each service offered on the website.
Step NineB - Your goal is to show up on the first page of Google for the keyword search terms that patients will use to find you. Additionally, you also want to show up on Yahoo! and MSN on the first or second page. You will need to hire an SEO company to
help you achieve these results. A website is an electronic storefront. Without visitors, you are out of business.
Take note: The more you can coordinate your interior design, web design, and brochure design as one cohesive brand message—
the more credible your practice will look to patients and other healthcare professionals.
Step 10 – Review. Create a questionnaire for your business as part of the checks and balances of your practice. For example,
ask
yourself, am I doing enough to keep the appointment books filled? Am I contacting patients that need an annual evalution?
Do referring physicians have marketing materials from my practice at their fingertips? Am I doing enough to keep current
patients engaged in my practice and content?
Step 11 – Choose a marketing vehicle.
• Search engine ranking programs
• Direct mail (depending upon the nature of your practice)
• Give referring doctors meaningful brochures about your practice or a specific procedure to pass along to patients
• Newsletter
• Print advertising
• Pay Per Click advertising
• Web button and banner advertising
• Tip marketing – create a tip fact sheet geared toward the patient or referring physician. Have your ad link to
a landing page where your target audience can download your tips.
• Yellow page advertising
• Trade shows
• Television is an option for practices that appeal to a broad demographic
• Radio is an option for practices that appeal to a broad demographic
• Billboards
• Movie advertising
• Sponsorships
• Campaign to Individually target large employers in your area
• Campaign to Individually target healthcare providers
• Create press-worthy events
• Cross-promotional marketing, if applicable
• Giveaways like calendars, Frisbees, jar openers, magnets, mugs, etc.
• Creative ideas: depending on the nature of your practice, you can get a little creative with patient-focused health events, branded vehicles, movie ticket giveaways, etc.
Take Note: Unless your practice can exist solely from referrals, your goal is to become a visible part of your community.
Step 12 – Branding goes beyond design, it also applies to your support staff. Your patients are the lifeblood of your practice,
so take care of them not only with expert medical care, but also excellent and courteous office and billing support. You and your
staff are part of your brand.
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