5 Tips for Marketing Your Dermatology Practice Online

If you still require patients to call your office to schedule appointments or ask questions, you’re missing opportunities to make it easier for your patients to communicate with you. Now that most people have internet access through their cellphones and tablets, it’s commonplace for patients to look for dermatologists online. If you allow them to schedule an appointment right through your website, you increase the chances of new patients picking you over competitors that still require a phone call.

Add chatbots to your website to answer basic questions or implement a contact form that someone actually responds to in a timely manner, and you could find more potential patients reaching out for information. Social media accounts can provide additional touchpoints that make your practice more accessible to patients and your community. You may even want to experiment with text messaging or SMS marketing to make appointment confirmations and reminders easier than ever.

You only need a five or 10-minute video to capture viewers who would otherwise scroll right past your website or advertisements. A funny or educational video that goes viral on social media could grab the attention of someone who is connected to a potential patient. Your audience expands from those looking for a local dermatologist to everyone who loves someone in need of dermatology services.

You no longer need expensive equipment or paid actors to create a video that your audience finds entertaining. Most cellphones have videography capabilities, and you can upload those videos to social media directly from a phone. You may even want to try gong live on Facebook if you have topics that may capture the interest of your followers.

If you don’t like the idea of putting a personal face to your practice, consider creating videos entirely with graphics. Get creative and come up with something unique that represents your brand well. While professional quality is best, perfection isn’t required to grab attention online.

Have you put some effort into creating multiple channels for your marketing campaign? Making sure that you have a website, social media presence and reviews on directories will pay off in the long term. If you can integrate all of those channels into a seamless system that moves potential patients through a sales funnel, you can see even greater results.

Omnichannel is simply a term that refers to a connected system that shares the same goal and branding mechanisms. It allows your audience to find you in multiple places and then move from one channel to another without losing impact.

For example, maybe you’re experimenting with SMS marketing this year. Instead of just sending out text messages that stand on their own, you may send text messages to announce new blog posts on your website. That easily moves your audience from their phones to your website, where you will direct them toward making an appointment or exploring your latest blog posts and social media posts.

When was the last time you updated your website content? Do you check to make sure all the details in your blog posts and website content are accurate and relevant? All healthcare practices need to provide relevant and accurate information to prove they’re reliable providers.

Many patients now go online to research medical conditions and treatment options before they connect with a care provider. You can enhance your credibility and encourage patients to contact you first by providing detailed information regarding a variety of conditions and symptoms that are of concern to your patients.

You can provide this content through your blog or through an articles or research section on your website. Make sure to market those informational posts on social media to give some of the benefit to other channels of your marketing plan.

We’re not talking about TV or reality show stars, but it does help to let your community get to know your nurses, receptionists and other members of the team. Go beyond stuffy bios that list their academic achievements. You want to show what makes them relatable and trustworthy to patients and their loved ones.

You can do this through video marketing, social media marketing or your blog. One format option is the Q&A. Do a short interview with each of your staff members to provide a variety of information that shows they’re real people with a passion for helping their patients.