Here's How Marketing Healthcare SMBs Actually Works...
A Comprehensive Guide for Private Practices, Group Practices, Outpatient Clinics, and Multi-Specialty Clinics Seeking to Acquire More Patients in Their Area
Before I write anything else... and before you read anything else... I want to clear the air.
Because you might be thinking: "What makes THIS blog post about healthcare marketing so special? How is it different from this one or this one?"
Excellent question.
Here is how this blog post is different then the others:
I am not going to waste your time regurgitating A.i. slop
I am not just going to tell you what you SHOULD do
I am going to explain WHY different marketing strategies work for healthcare SMBs
I'm not just telling you: "Hey do this and this and this". Like I said, there are lots of blog posts that do that (like this and this). And those blog posts are helpful at first... until you realize how easy it is to mess up everything up. Or you try it and get no results.
And trust me, those blog posts are written that way by DESIGN.
All those blog posts are by marketing agencies that want you to realize how hard it is to do it yourself. They also do not want you to discern what your SMB healthcare practice does/ does not need. They want you to be overwhelmed and desperate.
Because if you are, you will not only hire them, but you will select their big, all-inclusive packages... which just so happen to be the most expensive.
And full disclosure, I also have self-interested motives. I want you to read this so that you will hire me, my partnered freelancers with other areas of expertise, so that we can grow your practice and revenue. But here's how I'm different:
I actually care about patient education.
And in this case, you are my patient. And marketing is your education.
I am going to mention just about everything necessary for healthcare SMB marketing, with a focus on explaining A) what each channel does and B) what each channel requires of you.
That way... when we meet... you can make the most of your budget and pick and choose what marketing you want to pursue first.
I want to help you make informed decisions about your marketing.
An additional goal is to prove you have a fighting chance against mega-health conglomerates and massive hospital systems in your area. If you want more information, each section will (eventually, as I write them!) come with links to other, shorter blog posts that expand on specific marketing topics.
Key Marketing Concepts Every Doctor Should Know
The healthcare industry has its own way of doing things and talking about things. In order to discern what is best for your healthcare SMB, you have to know what every key term means:
Marketing: Telling people you have a product or service to sell
Sales: Convincing the interested that they should buy now.
Target Audience: the type of person you imagine would be perfect for your services.
Unique Sales Proposition (USP): a statement explaining how you make a difference to the customer in a way no one else can
Personalization: adding individual customer details to marketing communication in order to achieve a better outcome
Branding: Not just graphic design, this is the identity of your business that interacts with your customer.
Sales Funnel: how you plan to take a stranger and make them a lifelong customer
A/B Testing: Testing two different options with a small number of customers to know which is the best to use with the rest of your customers.
CRM: Healthcare customer relationship management tracks your customer's interactions with your business so you can better manage the long-term relationship.
Marketing Channel: the different methods and platforms you use in your marketing.
Touch Point: any interaction your customer has with your brand
Key Performance Indicator (KPI): Metrics to determine whether your marketing is working or not.
User Experience (UX): How easy it is for a website visitor to find what they need on your site.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): building your site and filling it with content so Google ranks it high for certain keywords is a great approach when it comes to Healthcare SEO best practices
Understanding the Unique Landscape of Healthcare SMBs in the United States
This section is kind of "preaching to the choir", so I'll be brief.
There is a lot of variety in healthcare. And not just healthcare services or medical professional bedside manners. You have billion-dollar mega corporations with a board of directors and rural clinics that have been led by a single physician for 60 years. And everything in between.
Technically, in the normal business world, a small business is anything less than 100 employees, and a medium-sized business is anything with less than either 500 or 1000 employees. Both have revenue in the tens or even hundreds of millions. But that is an unhelpfully large range...
When I speak of "healthcare SMBs", I am talking about smaller practices.
If they have more than one doctor, then they all operate in the same building. Or if they have several branches, then they are regionally located. And if they have "corporate offices", they are next door or just a floor or two above where patients are getting help.
There are several elements that make healthcare SMBs distinct from hospitals, non-profits, and corporate enterprises:
They are SMALLER: Dozens of employees tops, and more likely fewer than a dozen.
They are COMMUNAL: Smaller teams means more intimate working environments. The birthday and get well soon cards actually mean something.
They are RELATIONAL: Doctors recognize their patients, know their names, and remember what they are dealing with. They might even have kids who play on the same Little League team.
They are REGIONAL: They serve their local community and metropolitan or rural region. They are a part of the community.
They are LIMITED: Smaller business = smaller budget, resources, reach, time. Less of everything. Tend of offer particular services.
They are MULTITASKERS: Doctors and employees at a healthcare SMB wear lots of hats. A doctor might mop the floors or do the billing. A receptionist might do the accounting or marketing.
They are CLOSE: Decision makers in a healthcare SMB might only be a few yards away from where medicine is actually being practiced. They know who they serve personally and the practical reality on the ground.
On the other hand, hospitals and healthcare conglomerates are the exact opposite. They are more structured instead of personal, removed instead of close, widespread instead of regional, disembodied instead of relational, and specialized instead of multitaskers. And these differences in size, culture, and structure result in different marketing strategies, practices, and goals:
Aspect
Large Health Corporations
Healthcare SMBs
Budget
Large, allows for extensive multi-channel campaigns
Limited, requiring cost-effective strategies
Team Size
Dedicated marketing departments
Small, often multi-role staff
Target Audience
National or regional patient bases
Primarily local or community-level
Branding Focus
Broad reputation & specialist services
Personalized, relationship-driven care
Healthcare SMBs are not like big health companies. The scope, structure, and service is different. A patients healthcare journey is more known. Unlike big health systems, smaller healthcare providers do not have as many resources. They often have small marketing teams with less money to spend and must minimize extravagant marketing campaigns. They thrive on localized digital platforms and patient engagement to create a more personal patient experience built on trust.
How can small practices compete with large hospitals in marketing?
Small practices can thrive when they can ingratiate themselves to their local community, offer personalized and relational experience, and better care than healthcare corporations.Yes, large health systems usually have more resources. But those resources are designed to meet different goals.
For example, your goal might be trying to open another location on the other side of town and hire on a few more doctors. Their goal is to grow their hundreds of billions in revenue through a nation wide strategy in order to please shareholders. These are not the same.
Furthermore, HOW each goes about accomplishing these goals is different. Large healthcare businesses often have to compromise their care and values in order to add billions of value. A healthcare SMBs, on the other hand, will achieve success by further devoting themselves to quality care, communication, and experience. They have to abandon themselves... you have to double-down.
There is room for you to do healthcare right.
73% of patients report being dissatisfied by their healthcare providers. Nearly 3/4 people are looking for something or someone better. The consumer behavior is clear: there is a widespread yearning for something better. That presents you with a generation opportunity.
And given that we are in the age of information, your ability to get message out there has never been easier. Organic social media only costs time, and 77% of people search for health information on social media. The little guy can easily win the local SEO game (you likely found me, Riley, via SEO!). And Google Ad PPC experts know exactly how to attract the people that click AND book an appointment, rather than wasting your money with pointless clicks.
Healthcare SMBs are different. And while that comes with marketing limitations, it also comes with marketing advantages. So let's dive in and discover what is distinct about a healthcare SMB marketing strategy.
Essential First Marketing Steps for Healthcare SMBs
Things tend to go better when you have a good plan, and marketing is no exception. What that means for you is establishing three things:
What is your identity? (brand)
Who are you selling to? (target audience)
What do you hope to accomplish? (goals)
What are your resources? (budget)
Without these defined, you have no way of discerning your next steps or determining success. We'll walk through all four.
1) Building a Distinctive Brand
There is so much out there on the importance of your brand. Every company, regardless of industry or size, needs a brand. They are essential... but they aren't the same level of essential for everyone.
What they do not tell you is that the bigger your company is, the more complex branding becomes. This is extra-true for companies selling cheap products that are not "needed" and have little discernable differences from their competition. That's why companies like Pepsi will spend millions on a Superbowl commercials that accomplish nothing but brand awareness. They are trying to sway you to buy their product on "vibes" alone.
But when you are a smaller business, offering something people need, creating your brand is just simpler. Its just the personality, tone, and values that come to mind when your customer thinks of your healthcare business.
Your brand = your identity to your customer.
Your brand is the "north star" of your marketing. It dictates what kind of content you create and how you create it. Every image, color, font, video, etc. should feel like it belongs with what you write. It includes your vision, mission, and unique sales proposition.
Why? Because staying the same in all areas builds both familiarity, clarity, and trust. And as you know, trust is VERY important when people are dealing with their own health.
In order to be a true identity rather than gimmick, your brand needs be consistent from the first interaction a customer has with your business to the last one. The digital content you make should look and read the same as what you do offline with your branding. You can shift your tone and style a little on social media, in print ads, and on website messages, but nothing should contradict anything else.
2) Identifying and Reaching Your Ideal Patient Demographic
The reason you need a brand is because you need something for people to interact with it. That said, before you totally finish your brand, you need to first consider WHO your brand will interact with it. Theoretically, anyone can become a customer. But if you attempt to talk to everybody, then you will convince nobody to become your patient.
Your "who" is your target audience.
Your marketing strategy needs to be an airtight, fool proof approach to convincing a specific group of people that you are the best thing since sliced bread for meeting their specific needs. Anyone else that chooses you is icing on the cake.
So, via research, experience, local demographics, and your critical thinking, you need to clearly define 3-5 people that are most likely to become and stay your patient for the foreseeable future. Failure to do this, or failure to communicate to this audience, can be CATASTROPHIC for your sales and brand (see this blog post on Jaguar). That is not hyperbole. Your brand needs to resonate with the people that desire your services. If it does not, then either your brand or target audience is wrong.
3) Set Your Goals
Ryan Gosling is asking the right question, and Rachel Mcadams has the wrong answer. Because, yes, it is as simple as answering: "What do you want?" What do you want to accomplish? How soon do you want to accomplish it?
Usually for healthcare SMBs, the goals fall into one of the following answers:
"I want more patients"
"I want more revenue"
"I want to be able to hire more full time staff"
"I want to open an additional location"
Creating your goals is important because simply "doing marketing" is not enough if it doesn't reach your goals. If you want 200 patients within a year, and after a year of marketing you have 50 patients, then what you did was not enough to reach your goal, and the marketing campaign cannot be deemed successful.
It also helps healthcare marketers like myself make suggestions. We need to know what your goals are before we offer advice. Want 25% more patients? Then maybe an ad campaign and a booth at a town even will do. Looking to increase your revenue by 700%? That's going to take a whole lot more. Regardless, there are no guarantees in marketing, which is why #4 is important...
4) Establish Your Budget
Ok, I lied a little bit... I guess its not THAT simple. Because like everything in life, you are limited by the resources you have available. When marketing your healthcare SMB, the general rule of thumb is "the more time you have to market on your own, the less money you will have to spend".
Notice, I did not say: "You will not have to spend any money"... just LESS. There are some things you should leave to the professionals, like writing a landing page, raising your SEO authority, or managing your Google ad campaign. But those tasks are just the tip of the iceberg for healthcare marketing. You'll need software, graphic design, CRM, insurance, etc.
Like anything in life, count the cost of your journey before you embark. Learn more here.
Healthcare SMEs Digital Customer Acquisition Channels: The most effective digital channels for attracting new patients
We live in a digital age, which means it is unwise to disregard digital marketing. These are the big three: SEO, social media, and Google ads. Each have different marketing purposes, attract different kinds of customers, and require different investment.
The Value of an Expert Running Your Google Ads
When someone suggest online healthcare advertising, this is probably what comes to mind. It's also the thing the majority of my clients have attempted on their own before seeking professional help.
First things first, these are straight-up advertisements. And we have all seen ads of products we buy, ads we like of products we will never buy, and ads that make us actively avoid the product. In other words, ads are HARD. They must be designed and written so that they are irresistible to your target audience (hence the need for branding and research!)
But a couple important things to know about Google ads:
The goal of Google ads is not to get the viewer to purchase immediately
You pay per click (PPC), not per conversion
You do not "set it and forget it"
Unlike large advertisements in magazines or newspapers (particularly pre-internet), a the job of a Google ad is not to immediately turn someone into a customer (learn more about a customer journey here). Rather, the goal is to capture the attention of a viewer so they click and are taken to a website or landing page (more on that later).
A potential problem is that the google ad might grab a lot of the wrong people's attention: people that click but would never buy. This drives up the costs of your ad campaign. An additional problem is that, to work correctly, someone who knows what they are doing needs to pay close attention to how the ads are performing and make constant edits and changes to the strategy.
Which begs the question: Google ads can be like threading a needle, why use them?
Because Google Ads is the best short-term strategy for getting new patients.
Well designed Google ads and management will make the most of Google's super-human algorithm. Nothing is better at targeting the people most likely to need your services. Plus, the PPC allows near infinite reach that only costs you if it works. A Google ad can blanket your entire area in an instant, waiting to reveal itself to a likely customer at the exact right time.
The downside? As soon as you stop paying, the Google ads stop. They build no momentum, establish no online reputation, and yield no secondary benefits. Thankfully, there is another marketing channel that is EXCELLENT at those things...
Leveraging Local SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the opposite of Google ads in many ways. It takes forever to build up and is a long term strategy, but doesn't instantly go away once you stop paying. It uses a different algorithm. You need pages of blogs and webpages for it to work, rather than a single ad. And it requires both off and on page attention to be effective, which usually is two different professionals. And if you get the wrong SEO dudes and dudettes it can be a finicky, unproductive pain in your a$$.
But here is why SEO is so so so so effective: SEARCH INTENT
Unlike every... single... form of advertising, SEO doesn't go out and find customers, many of whom are not interested at the moment.
Instead, SEO has customers come to you.
It makes you easy to find, right when they are most likely to be persuaded to pay for your services. There is literally nothing else like it. And when you are able to rank high, there is no customer acquisition strategy that will be even half as effective.
Another amazing thing about SEO is that you can target it to rank locally. So while healthcare conglomerates may be ranking for "heart surgery" nationwide, a doctor in Iowa can easily unseat them as the number one result for the key word "heart surgeon Des Moines". Its one of the areas where you have an advantage over the large corporations who, even with their immense budgets, cannot afford to rank locally everywhere!
But as I mentioned, the downside is that SEO takes months (at least 6!!!) to build up before you start seeing clients. And it takes at least a few thousand dollars for off page SEO and either thousands of dollars or countless hours of writing quality SEO copy and content. Which leads me to my takeaway...
The best healthcare SMB marketing strategy includes both local SEO and Google ads
One short term, one long term...
One instant payoff, one investment...
One that seeks, and one that waits...
Not everyone can afford both. But if the survival of your practice depends on getting a lot of patients within a year, then Google ads and SEO is without a doubt your best healthcare smb digital marketing strategy.
Using Social Media to Build Community Trust
This is another area healthcare SMBs have a huge advantage over larger corporations. Because social media only works if people believe the content creator is A) genuine, B) human, and C) passionate. And corporations are literally the opposite of those things.
However, social media takes time. And energy. Both of which most medical practitioners have in short supply. It is also heavily demographic dependent; if your target audience is the elderly, pouring your energy into building a Tik Tok platform isn't a good use of your time. So whether or not it is a good choice depends on the doctor, practice, and target audience.
Overall, social is a bigger and more essential resource for my tabletop games clients. However, if you are a dentist that isn't camera shy and loves making videos about flossing, then Instagram might be a great choice!
But like Google ads, you need to understand that social media almost NEVER makes a sale. Rather, it creates awareness and introduces people to your brand. Here is what the customer journey looks like:
Someone is scrolling on social media
Your ad or organic content shows up on their feed
Its entertaining or interesting, and they look at other content
They eventually go to your website
They schedule an appointment.
Just like Google ads and SEO, it is the website that closes the sale. Social media is just the vehicle that gets them there.
What should you post? Literally anything relevant. Educational information. Identifying health issues. Warning of consequences. Showcasing yourself in the community. If its engaging, you can post it.
Traditional Marketing Techniques that Still Work
Digital marketing is important today, but only fools say traditional, physical marketing is dead. I myself use a combination of SEO, Linkedin, cold email, and handwritten letters to gain clients! So I can honestly say that you should not ignore traditional marketing!
These time-tested methods still matter, especially when we want to reach local audiences.Using traditional methods along with digital strategies gives us a balanced way to reach more people and make a stronger impact.
Flyers, Posters, and Local Newspaper Ads
While digital marketing is very popular now, traditional methods like flyers, posters, and ads in local newspapers are still important. They can help you connect with specific groups of people in your community. Posters, flyers, and pamphlets in local businesses, community centers, or libraries can grab attention. They also help raise awareness about your practice.
Engaging with Community Events
Getting involved with your local community is a great way to share information about your practice and show that you are a reliable healthcare provider. These events give you a chance to talk directly with potential patients. You can answer their questions and create connections.
By offering free health screenings or consultations at community events, you show that you are caring and easy to approach.This helps to build trust and improves the reputation of your practice.
Try to find chances to join health fairs, support local events, or host workshops on important health topics. You might also think about sponsoring a local sports team or a community event.
Referral Marketing
You are in healthcare; do not underestimate the power of referral marketing. People are skeptical when they see high-ticket and well-educated people on ads (lawyers, doctors, etc.). These are the types of professionals that benefit most from a close friend saying: "Hey, I see Dr. ____... and I've loved it so far".
Referral marketing works for two reasons: people LOVE to refer things (it makes them feel helpful and informed) and people like to trust their friends (the familiarity and trust of their friends is transplanted onto your brand). A referral is more valuable than a follower and subscriber and much more likely to overcome any objections in the potential customer. But as good as the referral process is, its not the hard part:
The hard part is convincing people to refer.
To do this, you will need to do the unthinkable: you'll need to actually ask them to refer you to friends and family. Not only that, but you'll need to provide resources to make it as easy and seamless as possible for them to refer your healthcare SMB. And once they refer, you'll need some sort of reward and thank you.
You can't fake referral marketing because it is very hard to fake good service, self-confidence, and trusting your patients to put in a good word for you. Another challenge is that the referral marketing materials have almost no overlap with your other marketing materials, so you'd probably have to create everything from scratch.
All Roads Lead to Your Website...
So far, all these channels are about getting a potential patient/client/customer's attention and nurturing their interest. But just like all road lead to Rome, so to do all of these channels lead to one place... YOUR WEBSITE.
You need to have a GOOD one.
It is your home base, your 24/7 salesman, your long-scroll elevator pitch as to why they should book an appointment RIGHT NOW. And it doesn't matter if the final step is calling, sending an email, or signing up online; the website is the final channel they interact with before becoming a customer.
Which is why your website needs to be perfect. If everything else works great, but you have a bad website, then all that money and effort was for nothing. It is your biggest and best patient acquisition tool because it is the one that converts a potential customer into a paying customer.
There are TONS of blog posts about how to make a good website. All mention great copywriting, graphic design, service and about pages, and fast loading speeds. At the moment I need not reinvent the wheel (though maybe in the future).
One thing of note: an SEO-optimized website is going to look very different from a standard website. A lot more content, specific keywords, and off-page optimization. This will be covered in a future blog post.
What low-cost marketing strategies work best for small healthcare clinics?
Ok, so now you know the primary options for healthcare SMBs seeking to gain more patients and grow their revenue. But what do you do if you have a particularly tight and limited budget? Website aside, here are the cheapest four things that will have the biggest bang for your buck:
1) Spend Time Instead of Money on Content: If you have to pinch pennies, then you'll be spending your time instead. Learn the in's and out's of creating content and get to work. Thankfully, due to your expertise, 90% of what you know is exciting and novel to your target audience. There is no shortage of information you can share.
2) Organic Social Media: Social media gives you a strong way to reach more healthcare consumers. Social media is a good way for healthcare organizations to talk and share with their audience. The clinic can post health tips, share live webinars, or talk about special offers. Post often and daily. Respond to every single comment. Comment on other profiles/channels that post similar content.
3) Email Newsletter: Email is still a great tool for healthcare and the most essential marketing tool. Sending messages to your patients this way costs less, and it helps you stay in touch with people for a long time. Share any content you have created as well as links 3rd party content you believe to be worth their time. Segment your email list so that every subscriber feels your emails are valuable for them personally.
4) Strong Referral Strategy: Create strong incentives for others to refer you.
What About Customer Retention?
Since the vast majority of healthcare SMBs are concerned with growth, the majority of this blog post is about customer acquisition. That said, customer acquisition is only 1/2 of the pie (or 1/3 if you count customer conversion), and its no point gaining a new customer if they leave you after a single appointment.
That said, by far your most powerful tool in customer retention is this:
A positive experience in your clinic, office, and/or appointment.
Unlike other industries, the patient's experience with you, and the positive results they see in their health, is 90% of what will bring them back.
Yes, you will NEED to send emails, important date cards and follow ups, and send them important content to help them in their health journey.
But all of this is improving on the margins, secondary to how they experience your service and how they perceive your value.
In other words, if you practice medicine the right way, the way you believe everyone should do it, then odds are they will come back for a follow up appointment. And odds are they will see the results they have been hoping for.
And that is a more powerful customer retention tool than anything I or another marketing agency could give you.
Like I said, you still should take an active approach and dedicate some of your marketing to retention, but its importance pales in comparison to everything else in this post. Also, this blog post is approaching 5000 words already, so I have elected to cover healthcare SMB customer retention in a separate blog post.
How do you measure the success of healthcare marketing campaigns?
Track key performance indicators (KPIs): This is how you truly measure success. Look at website visitor numbers (traffic), click-through rates, and how many people book appointments show you how your marketing efforts are doing. Because if the numbers do not add up, then your accounting will not add up. Looking at these numbers also tell you how you need to shift or tweak your marketing for better results (read more on KPI's).
Listening to patient feedback: Look at reviews on social media and getting answers from targeted surveys gives you a better idea of what people think. Also, using Google Analytics lets you follow what healthcare consumers do online. You can find out which marketing strategy appeals most to them. When you bring all this information together, healthcare marketers can improve their healthcare marketing strategy and use their resources in the best way.Conclusion
Do Everything You Can: Make sure your message is the same on all your platforms. Find marketing channels that do not cost much but still work well. Beat the everyday problems many in healthcare see. This way, your practice can do well against others.
Staying Legal: Getting tons of new patients or clients is great... until the police show up. No healthcare marketing performance can be deemed a success if it violates HIPAA and doesn't protect PHI.
Gut Check: This is VERY unofficial, and never should be your only way of measuring success. But to not include it is crazy. Simply ask yourself: are things getting better? Are you busier? Do you see more patients? Do these patients give you positive feedback? Do they mention finding you via your marketing channels? If so, then things are moving in the right direction.
Conclusion
Healthcare small and medium businesses (SMBs) such as private practices, outpatient clinics, and group practices play an important role in the healthcare industry. These groups are not as large as big health corporations, so they face their own marketing problems and advantages. They have to connect with healthcare consumers and have less money to spend, but they can reach their marketing goals through proven marketing strategies and quality service.
All in all, your best bet is a combination of SEO and Google ads. The cheapest route is a combination of organic social media, physical mail, and weekly emails. Regardless, you will need a clear brand message and flawless website to do the heavy lifting of proving and persuasding visitors to choose you to help them heal and live healthy lives.
