5 Simple SEO Tips for Healthcare Businesses Written by Jeff Tormey on January 3, 2020. Posted in Uncategorized. Wondering why your healthcare business doesn’t rank all that well on Google? It’s because your website isn’t optimized for it! SEO, or search engine optimization, has been a buzzword in the industry for years. But it’s important, and we’re going to show you how to do healthcare SEO yourself; simple, effective, and actionable tips. Know Your Keywords You own a healthcare business, so surely you already know what people are searching for, right? Unfortunately, many people get this step so wrong, and after doing all sorts of healthcare SEO, they still don’t get any more traffic! To do this simply and effectively, come up with a list of services you offer. Then write down the benefits of these services. These are your keyword starters… but they won’t be what you optimize for. Then, open up Google’s Keyword Planner and enter these phrases into the tool. You’ll be presented with a list of keywords, ordered by the amount of traffic available per month. Look for long-tail keywords (keywords looking for something specific, usually more than 2 words in length) with significant volume, at least 200 monthly searches. Keep a list of these. Get Your Meta Tags Straight Those keywords you’ve come up with should be in your meta tags. You can see them between the head tags in the HTML of your site. There are many types of metadata, but the two primary ones are the title tag and the meta description. The title tag should contain the topic of the page and should have your focus keyword for that page. The meta description should describe what’s on the page, in a sentence, containing the top few keywords you want for that page. Focus On Your Local Area Healthcare SEO is centered around local SEO. Local SEO focuses on people who are looking for a business in their local area, and is a goldmine for highly targeted traffic! You need to create a Google My Business listing, if you are a local business with an address you want people to visit or a phone number you want people to call. Associate that My Business listing with your website and that business will pop up on Maps and in the main search results when people search for you (and sometimes when people search for your focus keywords!) Post Excellent, Original Content Google prioritizes good content over poorly-written or spun content, based on several complicated and secret factors. All in all, though, your content needs to provide great value to the reader, while also being original. Remember that keyword planner tool we were talking about in the first step? Now we want to create content around these keywords. Choose a few of them and write articles about these topics, focusing on optimizing for a long tail. This is how you not only rank, but get quality traffic from Google! Leverage Other Types of Media It’s not just websites people search for. They’re also searching for images, videos, news, places, and more! By making sure your images and videos have the appropriate keywords and metadata on them, you can help your website show up in search. People may click the video and image and go to your site from there, opening up an avenue for high-quality traffic!
3 Easy Tips to Start Healthcare Advertising on Facebook Written by Jeff Tormey on December 27, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized. Facebook is one of the biggest online advertising channels around, with billions spent on ads every year. Businesses now treat Facebook as a primary part of their marketing mix, and healthcare advertising is no different. Healthcare companies do a fair bit of advertising on Facebook. From private practices to medtech, healthcare advertising on Facebook has become an even greater part of the overall strategy. But how do you do it properly? Here’s how. Tip #1: Start With Your Primary Objective Why do you want to advertise on Facebook? Well, to grow revenue, of course! But Facebook has some very powerful tools to help businesses get exactly the kind of business they want. Do you want product sales or patient visits? Do you want scheduled appointments or phone leads? Depending on what your business needs, you will advertise slightly differently. In Facebook Ads Manager, you have the option to select your objective. This is important because Facebook will optimize ad delivery to get you more of your desired result for less. Choosing the right objective will mean the difference between a dead campaign and a winning one. Some objectives will require that you have a functioning Facebook Pixel on your site, too, so make sure that’s set up properly by going to Events Manager and testing your pixel! Tip #2: Get Your Audience Right The most important rule of marketing is to know your target market! Facebook is a wonderful platform because it allows you to laser-target your desired customer: down to age, gender, location, interests, and even behaviors! You can even target people who are on your mailing list or have taken an action on your website using Custom Audiences! To get the proper audience, start with a customer avatar. Your customer avatar is a description of your perfect prospect, the person who would get the most value out of your services. This is especially important in healthcare advertising! Use the Audience Insights tool to turn your customer avatar into a targeted audience for your ad sets! Tip #3: Test Lots of Creative Creative, or the visual & copy elements of your ad, is the first thing that your audience sees. It’s your first impression. Make it count. But how do you make good creative? You need to test lots of it. Figure out 3-5 possible appeals that your audience will respond to. Then choose 3-5 different images or video elements that are both eye-catching and relatable to your offer. Now you have between 9 and 25 different ads to test. Testing them all will take different amounts of time depending on your budget. But this money spent is well worth it!
Video Marketing is Changing The Future Of Healthcare Written by Jeff Tormey on November 15, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized. Video marketing is one of the hottest trends in marketing right now. Most healthcare marketers are using healthcare video to connect with existing and potential clients, engage with them, and convert them into regular clients. It is useful because medical video production has become more affordable and medical videos online resonate with potential patients. Three Reasons Healthcare Video Production Succeeds in Marketing Most people are visual learners. Ninety percent of the information that our brain processes is visual.Videos humanize organizations. Video can convey emotions that are not possible with text content. They make a connection with people. Personal connections will likely lead to action, and action will lead to conversions. Video content differentiates one healthcare organization from another. It is difficult for a healthcare company or practice to stand out on the Internet with written content alone. The combination of real-time visuals and informative content draws people and search engines to your website and presents the unique services your healthcare concern offers. How Can Video Marketing Be Used to Educate and Attract Patients? Testimonials There is no better spokesperson for your practice than a satisfied patient. Video testimonials are mostly interviews with patients that highlight their personal experience with a medical condition treated by your healthcare practice. A well-made video puts a personal, empathetic face on a patient’s healthcare success story and empowers satisfied patients to share their stories in their own words. Testimonials create a much more powerful message for both marketing and conversion purposes. Website Welcome Videos Welcome videos introduce people to a hospital, clinic, office, or healthcare system and inform them about the services that are provided. It is much more cost-effective than a salaried employee repetitively providing an overview of your business. Physician Profile Videos Trust is the bedrock of any medical practice. People want to know that they can trust their physician with their healthcare. Creating video physician profiles on your practice’s website introduces people to your physicians in a non-threatening way. It makes it easier to for a patient to get comfortable with your practice and schedule an appointment. Procedure and Condition Information Videos Educational videos are an excellent way of providing an overview of a specific process or health condition to a patient. These videos are usually simple, informative, and easy to follow. They are an essential method of establishing your healthcare practice as a trusted source of healthcare information. Marketing Your Healthcare Videos Well made videos have been known to go viral on social media sites. They are a powerful marketing tool to introduce your healthcare practice to a large number of potential patients. Online video content is becoming a critical means for people to obtain healthcare information, evaluate a medical provider, and make informed decisions about their health needs. Video Marketing is an essential tool for healthcare because it differentiates providers, builds meaningful relationships with end- user audiences, and results in conversions. Engage and connect with your viewers, and they will not only increase your reach by sharing your video with others, but also spend more quality time on your website.
The Ultimate Guide To Healthcare SEO Written by Jeff Tormey on November 11, 2019. Posted in Uncategorized. Healthcare marketing consists of a lot of moving components, but none as important as medical seo or “search engine optimization.” Search engines are the gatekeepers to online traffic, and the name of the game in healthcare seo services is to get the search engine to rank your website on the first page of results in response to a user’s query. Healthcare SEO is a long-term strategy to improve the rankings of your healthcare practice website involving three techniques. Rules and Methods for Healthcare SEO 1. On-Site SEO Techniques The method in which your healthcare website is set up for code, images, and the written content has a marked effect on how easily search engines can find your practice. Visible sitemap: Just like you need a map to find your way to a location not known to you, search engines need a sitemap of URLs or a menu to find your practice. The Functionality of your website: Most consumers don’t have the patience to sit and wait for a web page to load or spend time on a site that can’t be viewed very well on their mobile phone. Google takes into account the Page Loading Speed and Mobile Responsiveness in it’s ranking of your website. Tags: Search engines crawl the Internet and are drawn to coding elements within a website that identify what the purpose of your website is. Tags are HTML coding that specifies the title of your web pages, brief descriptions of the content, keywords that identify your business, and alt tags that highlight the relevancy of images on your site. Headers and Footers: H1 and H2 headers (titles and subtitles) within the content of your web page and Footers at the bottom of your page further identify the purpose of your website. Links: Clickable hyperlinks embedded within the content of your web page also draw search engines to your site. Content: Content is the vehicle that draws visitors and search engines to your site. Make sure you are posting regular content to your website that is up to date, relevant, and customer-centric. 2. Off-Site SEO Techniques One of the most effective off-site medical seo techniques is the use of backlinks. Backlinks are links from authoritative, credible websites or directories within your field that point to your site. A referral to your healthcare website from your best friend Bob’s auto garage is not as valuable as a referral from the Mayo Clinic. How do you get Backlinks? Put out a press release announcing the introduction of your practice or a new service. Get listed in a medical or local area online directories. Many insurance companies provide online directories of physicians nationwide that accept their insurance. Write an informative Blog Article or a Social Media post regularly. Actively manage online negative and positive reviews of your practice. 3. Local SEO Off-Site Techniques Google and other search engines scour your website for keywords and phrases that indicate where your business is located to rank your website in the search returns for local areas. Most consumers looking for an allergist want an allergist that is near their location. They may search using phrases such as: “Allergists near me.”“Allergists in Atlanta, GA.”“Allergists near Marietta Town Center” Makes sure that your healthcare practice ‘s name, address, and phone number frequently appear throughout your website and are accurate in directory listings. Effective Healthcare advertising involves a healthcare seo strategy that optimizes your website through numerous strategies to advance your site up in the search engine results to top-of-page.
Does Your Hospital Website Actually Serve Visitors? Written by web_developers on March 22, 2017. Posted in Uncategorized. Seven Questions That All Hospital Website Administrators and Marketers Should be Asking It’s occasionally uncomfortable to think of patients and other hospital Website visitors as “customers,” but it does help to use that perspective when trying to understand how a hospital or healthcare Website can better serve its audience. MarketingLand.com recently published “7 Questions Your Customers Ask, and How Your Website Must Answer,” an excellent model for gauging how well your hospital Website is serving its “customers.” The following is a list of those questions, but positioned for hospital Websites and its audiences. [poll id=”4″] Why Does Your Hospital Deserve My “Business”? Again, it’s a bit odd to describe healthcare as “business” for “customers,” especially for somebody that isn’t just looking for a great deal on an HDTV or a hotel room, but instead, is trying to figure out the best place to everything from preventative care to urgent care to treatment for chronic illnesses. However, people often have choices when making healthcare decisions, and “7 Questions” was correct in asking this important question: Why does your hospital deserve somebody’s business? It suggested some ways to begin to answer the question, including: • Value Proposition: Almost without exception, your hospital’s marketing team has carefully crafted a mission statement and/value proposition statement that concisely explains its goals, benefits and differentiators. Likely, it appears on your Website’s homepage. But does the rest of your Website support those statements? If so, how and where? • Longevity: If your hospital has been around longer than others in your area, that should be promoted as an indication of its quality and community support. However, this can work another way, too: If you are a new, cutting-edge facility, promoting your innovative spirit can be highly advantageous. • Success Stories: Hospitals have multiple avenues to demonstrate its proven ability to deliver quality care! Among them are: • Patient Testimonials • Awards and Honors • Case Studies and Clinical Trial Reports What Makes Your Hospital Different? As “7 Questions” was quick to point out, “this is similar to the question [about deserving your business, but it’s directed toward the products or services you offer, rather than your company.” For hospitals, it might seem difficult to separate the whole from the sum of its parts, but it’s important for each of your hospital’s services and institutes communicate their own unique mission and value statements (which should also support those of the hospital). How well do each and all of them do that? Again, “7 Questions” provided some concepts to consider in this regard: • Approach: How do each of your services adopt, embrace or integrate your hospital’s UVP into its own approach? • Quality: What standards of quality—aside from those proscribed by the hospital—does each service use to demonstrate its proficiency or excellence? • Difference: What makes the service different (or better) than others available to the same audience? Can Your Hospital Help Me? At first glance, this could seem like a ridiculous or even rhetorical question…because one would hope that a hospital can indeed help somebody! But give it some thought and think back to the last question about what makes your hospital and services different. No hospital can help everybody and/or everywhere. This covers everything from: • Geography: Do you primarily serve parts of your city, county, state or region? Is your Website accurately explaining this? • Services: Along with providing a comprehensive list of the services your hospital offers, does it also do so in a manner that is accurate and benefits both you and your audience? For instance, if your “sports medicine” or “chronic care management” department is one of the smallest in your hospital, it probably shouldn’t be heavily promoted. • Customer Service: This will be explored in more detail later, but for now: How easily and accurately does your Website help people find answers—be it FAQs about parking to accessing one’s nurses or doctors? How Can I Justify Your Hospital’s Value? The “Seven Questions” article originally positioned this question as “How Can I Justify This Purchase,” but it’s not an appropriate fit in the context of healthcare. Likewise, hospital Websites don’t have “menus” or “shopping carts” that itemize what it offers and how much it costs. Instead, it’s better to think of this question in terms of value, a concept that exceeds mere dollars and cents. In what ways does your hospital’s Website give people reason to consider your facility as their best choice for their healthcare needs? Among the ways “7 Questions” provides for others to answer this question, one in particular stands out as exceptionally valid for hospital Websites: solutions. Ponder this beyond the obvious “you are sick and we can make you well” problem/solution paradigm. Instead, as you did in your value proposition where you identified what makes you special and why you are the best choice for your patients, ask “What makes our patients special and what problems do they have that are unique?” Where Do I Go From Here? “7 Questions” positioned this question as one where “the shopper is ready to proceed. Now what?” Although it is never in good taste to think of patients as “shoppers” or “customers,” it is fair and important to be able to answer “Now what?”, especially for hospital Website visitors. Answering this shouldn’t be too difficult; it just requires an understanding of why people come to you (which includes on the phone, online or in-person) and how your Website can either provide an option or make the process easier to: • Get Medical Attention • Schedule Appointments • Refill Prescriptions • Get More Information What Do I Do If I Have a Problem? For hospitals, there are two ways to conceptualize this question: • Medical or Clinical Problems: These problems can range from somebody that needs basic advice from clinician so that a trip to the ER or urgent care can be avoided to post-surgical/post-release questions that don’t justify calling 911 or cannot wait for the next available appointment. Does your hospital (or your hospital Website) have call centers, online support, etc. or other technologies/services for these scenarios…and if so, how easily is it to find and access them through your Website? • Customer Service Problems: Remember that your hospital serves two distinct groups: patients and visitors. Much of what’s been discussed has focused on patients, but satisfying the needs of visitors is an important one too. For instance, is getting to your hospital—or parking at it—difficult? How well does your hospital Website explain transportation-related information? Can I Trust Your Hospital? The article said, “Ultimately, every question above boils down to this very one.” For hospitals, this could not be more of an understatement! Without getting too philosophical, it’s best to say that trust is something earned. So, in that context, how can a hospital demonstrate that on its Website? The article offered several suggestions that are valid for hospitals: • Organization Memberships: Your hospital—and its services and institutes—all likely belong to multiple organizations that indicate a commitment to high standards. Are they mentioned on your Website? Does the Website make it easy for visitors to engage those organizations to learn more about you? • Industry Recognition: As mentioned in “Why Does Your Hospital Deserve My Business,” awards and honors that build confidence in your hospital can be instrumental in establishing trust. • Policies: How does your hospital ensure that key issues like patient rights and privacy are more than just words on a page (be it print or online)? • About Us: Most hospital Websites at least provide some background information about its history and its doctors, but again, how well does your Website communicate this information? Is it enough for visitors to have trust in you (and to answer other questions)? Derek Rudnak is a freelance healthcare marketing content creator that frequently contributes exclusive blogs to Sequence Health. Sequence Health is a recognized leader for innovative healthcare marketing solutions— which include inbound content marketing for hospitals. To learn more about how we can develop and implement a healthcare content marketing solution for you, please contact us.
Google Tips for Hospital Website Admins: February 2017 Written by SQHealth-admin on March 9, 2017. Posted in Uncategorized. February 2017 was a relatively quiet month for Google, at least in the context of critical Google tips for hospital Website administrators as they relate to services such as Maps, My Business, etc. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t any activity that caught the attention of the hardcore Google watchdogs and bloggers, especially in the context of Google algorithms. For instance, Search Engine Roundtable’s “New Google Algorithm Update Targets PBNs & Links, Penguin Tweak?” identified an update that seemed to heavily target “black hat” SEO practices, which is best defined as very aggressive SEO techniques that aim to game the system for maximum search engine result page (SERP) results, rather than to develop content that has markedly more legitimate function and interest for Website visitors. However, as per the usual theme of this monthly blog, we prefer to focus on tips and updates for busy hospital Website admins that avoid intensive analysis and revisions to SEO best practices. In that context, there were some very interesting news and discussions that certainly warrant their inclusion here. How to Use Google Maps and the “New Restaurant Model” for Improving Hospital Visibility Search Engine Land recently published a superb article, “5 Ways You Can Improve Your New Business’s Visibility on Google Maps.” Rather than regurgitating its simple yet well thought-out tips that used new restaurants as a control in a model to validate its premises, you are encouraged to clickthrough and read it. However, if you need the motivation to explore this very important component of a successful online hospital marketing strategy, consider these figures from the article: • Google controls 95 percent of mobile search market share. • Google Maps overtook the Google Search app for fourth place in number of unique visitors with over 95 million users. It trails only Facebook, Messenger and YouTube in unique visitors. And thus, as the article smartly concludes, “that means appearing in Google map results is critical for local businesses.” The takeaway: Advice for how to improve hospital visibility with Google Maps that also does so in the context of “local business” is invaluable for hospitals and clinics. Although it may not pertain as much for healthcare facilities that have a wide audience (e.g., national or multi-state regions), it’s arguable that such facilities aren’t as reliant on Google Maps for visibility because they often have large budgets for advertising and other techniques for building brand awareness. Google Spaces Closing Down Don’t worry if you never heard of Google Spaces, because it was only introduced a matter of months ago. However, if you were one of the ambitious online hospital marketers that adopted it, you should be aware that it will be shut down on April 17, 2017. The takeaway: As of March 3, 2017, Spaces is read-only—which per Google, “means you can’t create new spaces, posts or comments. Also, new invitations can’t be sent, and new members can’t be added to spaces.” You’ve got until April 17 until your content disappears forever. Until then, you can still see, save or delete—with the last option probably being the wisest. As the saying goes, “the Internet is forever,” and it’s best to not let content that you will soon forget about potentially reemerge at a later time. As Sequence Health’s Associate Director of Search Engine Marketing, Susan Gullion is one of our most knowledgeable resources for enhancing our healthcare clients’ search engine marketing strategies with SEO, PPC and social media. Please contact us to learn more about how Sequence Health can partner with you to develop a custom healthcare search engine marketing solution.
Google Tips for Hospital Website Admins: January 2017 Written by SQHealth-admin on February 7, 2017. Posted in Uncategorized. One of our final blogs for 2016 was Top 2016 Google My Business Listing Changes for Online Healthcare Marketers, in which we listed key changes and new features that will help hospital Website administrators and online marketers prioritize their workflows and develop strategies for 2017. Due to the positive feedback from busy hospital marketers that can’t or don’t keep up with the seemingly endless updates—whether officially by Google or from a cadre of bloggers that scrutinize every perceived Google change—we thought it would be better to share a monthly digest of the most crucial tips. Along with covering My Business in our Google tips, we will be including all the Google technologies that we monitor, including new SEO algorithms, significant Chrome browser updates and more. [tweet “…our Google tips include new SEO algorithms, significant Chrome browser updates and more.”] Chrome 56 part I: TLS/SSL “Shaming” Another of our final 2016 blogs was Is Your Hospital Website Secure Enough for Google in 2017? In which we explained how Google would begin “shaming” Websites that weren’t using TLS/SSL security and how it might influence your SEO rankings. Late in January, Google rolled out the latest version of its Chrome browser, dubbed “Chrome 56.” As expected, the new Chrome shows a “Not Secure” label in the address bar of any Website not in compliance. The takeaway: If your hospital Website doesn’t collect passwords or credit card information, then you are OK—for the moment. However, as Google said in its blog Chrome 56 Beta: “Not Secure” warning, Web Bluetooth, and CSS position: sticky, there’s “a long-term plan to mark all HTTP sites as non-secure,” which means if you are not yet using TLS/SSL, it’s again time to think about updating your Website (for which we provided solutions in our aforementioned blog). [tweet “…if you are not yet using TLS/SSL, it’s again time to think about updating your Website.”] Chrome 56 part II: HTML5 and Auto-Disabling Flash The new Chrome also has another twist: Because it uses HTML5, which auto-disables Adobe Flash, as discussed in another Google blog, New in Chrome 56. This should also be of significant concern to hospital Website administrators that use Flash to create a more robust experience for patients and guests. Note it doesn’t eliminate Flash functionality. Your hospital Website users “will be prompted to run Flash on sites they’ve never visited,” which could be a minor nuisance, as well as an unfavorable impression for your brand. The takeaway: If your hospital Website uses Flash, now is the time to think about converting to other technologies and/or evaluating the importance of your Flash-driven content. [tweet “If your hospital Website uses Flash, think about converting and/or evaluating your content.”] Get Ready for Google’s Interstitial Ad Penalties As explained in more detail in Site Pro News.com’s Google’s Intrusive Interstitial Update Now Live, Google will soon likely penalize Websites that use interstitial ads, which the article identifies as anything that: • Blocks a page • Makes content unreadable • Pops up without interaction • Isn’t responsive (meaning it’s difficult or impossible to close on a mobile platform) • Bothers people • Annoys people The takeaway: This is primarily intended to make mobile users’ experiences better. If your healthcare online marketing strategy is dependent on mobile users, then you will most certainly want to take heed. And if your strategy isn’t mobile-centric, then perhaps this is yet another indication of how important it is to have a Website experience designed to accommodate this expanding demographic. [tweet “..how important it is to have a Website that accommodates this expanding demographic.”] As Sequence Health’s Associate Director of Search Engine Marketing, Susan Gullion is one of our most knowledgeable resources for enhancing our healthcare clients’ search engine marketing strategies with SEO, PPC and social media. If you already host your hospital Website with Sequence Health, we can guide you through the process of selecting the best SSL certificate. Stayed tuned for more Google Tips. For more information about hosting and other healthcare Website services, please contact us.
Help your business flourish by using the latest Healthcare Marketing trends Written by Jeff Tormey on January 15, 2015. Posted in Uncategorized. Data is golden, and the digital marketing industry is flourishing. According to a Forrester report shared with marketingdive.com, “ … digital marketing spend will reach $146 billion by 2023, growing at a 9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).” In the context of healthcare marketing, this projection stands out. Digital marketing requires trained professionals with the background and experience to analyze the demands and constantly shifting dynamics of patient care and implement effective strategies. Hiring a professional to steer your digital marketing can be beneficial to your digital marketing efforts, as it is time-consuming to stay abreast of the ongoing growth and development in the field of digital marketing. Consider these latest marketing trends in the healthcare digital market: Content Marketing Aggressive advertising with pop-up banners on everything that the consumer might see is an outdated trend. Such wide-net marketing practices are not only a waste of resources, but also a waste of time as the advertising is not directed towards or seen by the target audience. People who are social media and internet savvy simply install a pop-up blocker, as suggested by their browser, and pop-ups are obsolete. However, for people who do like to read and gather as much as information as they can to make informed decisions, targeted content marketing ensures that your digital marketing content is actually deliverable. Read More: Healthcare Content Marketing Strategy Video Marketing What you see is what you buy! We’re not just talking about television ads, but video advertising on YouTube, websites and blogs. A targeted YouTube ad can fetch a substantial number of leads. Though most people would not actively seek to watch ads on YouTube or any other platform, creating engaging content for your audience would compel them to watch your advertising and also be more willing to purchase. Reputation Management While the primary focus here is on lead generation by connecting with your target audience, it’s important to remember that consumers expect to receive what is promised. A good-looking ad and outstanding content may capture attention, but if people are making negative comments about the services that you provide, you’ll not only end up losing existing leads, but new ones, as well. In the healthcare industry especially, credibility and reputation are indispensable. Social Media The use of social media has become a significant business tool for all industries. If you can effectively reach the target audience, there are no better platforms than Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and others to launch your marketing campaigns to the millions of people who use social media daily. Search Engine Optimization Search engine optimization, or SEO, remains a vital healthcare marketing trend in 2024. This strategy ensures your practice ranks highly in search engine results pages. Local SEO targets patient conversions within a small community and optimizes your website to attract local traffic and enhance your visibility. National SEO targets a countrywide audience and is ideal for organizations that have a nationwide presence. Personalized Healthcare Marketing Personalization is one of the latest marketing trends in healthcare. This tactic utilizes available data to connect potential patients with suitable care providers, ensuring a pleasant healthcare experience. The strategy demands that providers personalize marketing efforts for each individual. Examples include customized treatment plans and personalized recommendations. Multichannel Marketing Healthcare digital marketing trends extend beyond conventional channels. Healthcare consumers are multichannel shoppers. They use various channels to search for and discover suitable providers to cater to their care management needs. Your marketing campaigns should be present in all channels you expect to engage clients, addressing potential, new, and existing patients throughout their healthcare journey while providing the consistency they desire from your organization. Patient Communities Many patients search the internet daily to find answers and learn more about their medical conditions. Creating patient communities can make a difference in attracting more healthcare consumers to your practice or organization. An online community brings people together to share their experiences and support each other while boosting your marketing efforts. You can hold online webinars and seminars and provide educational videos and resources to attendees to help them acquire knowledge and find the ideal care for their healthcare concerns. Automated Solutions Automation is among the healthcare marketing trends that can help improve your organization’s patient conversion rate and efficiency. Automated solutions are the primary drivers of consumer satisfaction. They drive follow-up rates, improve patient outcomes, and minimize no-shows and cancellations. They also help deliver pleasant patient experiences. Examples include automated appointment reminders, patient portals, and online scheduling.
Shopping Days Are QR Days As Scanning Triples in 2011 Written by web_developers on February 1, 2012. Posted in Uncategorized. No Comments on Shopping Days Are QR Days As Scanning Triples in 2011 People are getting into the mobile scanning habit, according to the latest quarterly report from code enabler ScanBuy. The maker of the popular ScanLife platform and code program manager for Starbucks, Home Depot and Coca-Cola saw more scans in Q4 2011 than it had in all of 2009 and 2010 combined. For 2011, the ScanLife system saw a 300% increase in the number of scans. The biggest scanning days of the holiday season corresponded with the top retail shopping days, Black Friday and the two days following Christmas. The company says over 3 million more people were added to its network of ScanLife-enabled scanning apps in Q4. According to CEO Mike Wehrs, over 15 million people use the ScanLife system. “We process scans for tens of thousands of unique QR codes per month, plus over 800,000 unique UPC codes per month,” he says. Wehrs estimates that ScanBuy touches 15% to 20% of U.S. mobile users who are scanning codes. And this past season, those scans were going to consumer packaged goods. While retail had traditionally been the leading category for 2D mobile code campaigns, ScanLife saw the CPG category scale five spots to become the top source of code campaigns in the last quarter. Retail was second, entertainment third, editorial fourth and wireless fifth. Not surprisingly, given the strength of CPGs, packaging was the most popular place for codes last season. Print media — formerly the most popular type of code placement — is now #2, with the Web (#3) rising in popularity, followed by activations made on outdoor advertising and direct mail pieces. The rise of code placement on Web sites is connected to app distribution, as many of these prompts are shortcuts to app downloads. The demographics of code scanning remain decidedly male (63%). But as smartphone accessibility widens, the age range for the common scanner broadens. The 25- to-34-year-old segment is now responsible for 28% of scans, compared to 35-44 (22%) and 18-24 (22%). Only 17% of scans come from users 45 and older. The year-end bump for iPhone ownership was reflected in the ScanLife results, where scanning from the Apple phones was up 10 points to 39%, still leaving Android with a 50% share. BlackBerry is down to 6% of scans from 20% only a year ago. Wehrs says the growth in code use is coming from all sides. “The number of scans per user has been increasing, but the primary driver of the growth is the volume of new QR codes being published by marketers,” he says. In a recent survey of 100 marketers by ScanBuy, half said they were already using 2D codes and 86% said they planned to do do in the future. Want to learn more about mobile websites and QR codes? MDNetSolutions has the answers for you. Contact Carol O’Dell at [email protected] or 888.986.3638. Source