Marketing for doctors: 13 strategies to nurture your medical practice in 2024

Gone are the days when traditional marketing strategies like print, TV, radio, and billboards were enough to do marketing for doctors.

Today, when digital marketing has become the hallmark of your online reputation, such conventional ideas aren’t enough. You have to use more dynamic ways of marketing to reach more patients and make your medical practice popular. 

In this blog, we’ve shared 13 marketing strategies for doctors to nurture your medical practice in 2023.

What is marketing for doctors? 

Marketing for doctors refers to the strategic process of promoting and advertising your medical practice to attract and retain patients. Medical marketing aims to create awareness about the doctor’s services, establish credibility, and build a positive reputation within the community of prospective patients. 

Modern ways of marketing for doctors include public relations, media planning, branding, and educating patients to positively impact the health and well-being of their communities.

Why is marketing for doctors important? 

Marketing for doctors is important because medical practices face increased competition to acquire new patients today. Your practice needs to find ways of leading potential patients to your practice over others in your region or area. 

Approx 88% of healthcare appointments are scheduled by phone. You must ensure that your medical practice’s marketing strategies are easy for the patient to book appointments with you frictionlessly. 

Digital marketing is a cost-effective way of ensuring your medical practice appeals to prospective patients looking for a reliable medical practice. 

For this, you have to make sure the marketing strategy for your doctor’s practice reflects your reputation. 

5 Tips before planning your medical marketing strategy 

Below, we break down the top five tips you need to know before you consider putting together the finer details of your medical marketing strategy.

1. Build a website

Think of your website as the first building block of your medical marketing strategy. The website acts as a home for your patients to find your practice. And they can learn more about your professionals, services, and prices. Ideally, the website should be: 

• Easy to navigate and responsive 
• Allow prospective patients to book appointments seamlessly
• Have a clear CTA to increase conversion 
• Include testimonials and other contact information

2. Start a blog

A crucial content marketing strategy, your blog should include highly appealing visual images and elements and relevant content.

The content should appeal to the user and constantly answer the question:

“Why should I opt for this medical practice over the others?” 

The blog also adds to your credibility, demonstrating you know what you’re talking about and can communicate to the user on a personable level.

3. Monitor patient reviews

As we’ve said, most consumers trust word-of-mouth reviews and recommendations. Medical practice is no different, as trust and confidence are the cornerstones of any medical practice’s reputation.

Provide the opportunity for patients to leave reviews and specifically seek out these reviews during and at the end of the customer journey.

4. Utilize social media

As of 2023, Facebook has 2.95 billion global monthly active users. The U.S. has 243.58 million monthly active users.  TikTok is just a little behind, with approx 1 billion active users every month. 

Twitter and LinkedIn are leading digital marketing avenues to attract new patients. 

You can boost your content marketing through these social media channels, including posting tips, news, and topical blogs, and keep in touch with your audience daily.

5. Improve SEO

We have written extensively on improving one’s SEO, including local SEO. Local SEO is an important digital marketing tool for any medical practice, as you need to ensure your practice is easily identifiable and reachable through online queries.

Create your Google Business Profile with accurate information to improve your SEO ranking in search engine results.

Know-how of medical practice’s marketing campaign

Below, we discuss the top 4 digital marketing for doctor know-how:

Define your patients/target group

The first thing you need to understand is where healthcare professionals and patients spend their time online and on what search engine. Equally important is learning which digital marketing channels patients use, including social media. 

The trick is not to cast too wide a net. Instead, focus on what new patients in your area find engaging and develop a digital marketing strategy to target them locally.

Understand patient’s needs

Identify the target group and what they are specifically looking for. This doesn’t need to be isolated to their medical issues. 

Instead, focus on how patient care is important to them, including:

• Whether they prefer being reachable by phone or via social media
• Whether they’d appreciate email updates, 
• How can they be assured they’ve listened to
• Whether they are satisfied with the services

Analyzing patient behavior and decision-making processes

• Is a new patient in your area likely to choose someone local or be willing to drive longer distances for optimal healthcare? 

• Are patients in your area likely to trust doctors on social media?

• Do they prefer a more traditional approach to healthcare marketing before they commit? 

Asking these questions will help you understand emerging trends and preferences. Accordingly, you can create your medical practice’s marketing campaign. 

Defining your USPs

If you are to outdo your competition, you’ll need to develop a USP  as part of your digital marketing strategy. 

Some unique selling points could include: 

• Patients messaging you directly
• Facilities like doing a virtual checkup
• Allowing them to self-schedule/pre-book appointments
• Giving them access to specific expertise and experience of your personnel
• Good post-appointment patient care 

Note down all these properly to execute a marketing campaign that surpasses your ROI. 

Now that you know 4 key insights on creating a marketing campaign, here are 13 medical marketing strategies for doctors in 2023:

13 medical marketing strategies for doctors in 2023

In this section, we will cover 13 medical marketing strategies for doctors to utilize in 2023, broken down into four main sections, as follows:

1. Building your online presence 
2. Nurturing your reputation 
3. Advertising to increase your reach
4. Growing your medical practice with referrals 

Section 1: Building your online presence

Building your online presence must include:

1. Create your medical practice website

As discussed in the 5 tips mentioned above, a website empowers you with a wider reach and gives you a global presence.  

2. Create your Google Business Profile (GBP)

List it with accurate name, address, and personal information. Having a GBP is a sure way to ensure prospective patients can find you via Google search queries. 

Read how you can maximize your GBP to attract more patients. 

3. Create your social media profiles

Include Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, Better Business Bureau (BBB,) and Instagram to be findable on social media. 

Section 2. Nurturing your reputation

Nurturing your reputation is key. Marketing is a online reputation management for doctors. It is an ongoing process and not something you hope will take care of itself once you have completed the initial steps.

94% of healthcare patients today use online reviews to assess medical providers. This means you must give patients a safe medium to leave reviews and actively take steps to address and engage with, even negative, reviews. 

To separate yourself from your competition, consider all channels and modes of communication, including:

4. Video marketing

 Consider utilizing TikTok and Instagram reels to stand out against your competitors, including physician FAQ videos as below. 

Types of videos you can create per your medical marketing strategy to attract new customers are: 

• Physician introduction videos – Introduce yourself as the doctor and highlight your credentials. It will build trust. 

• Educational content – Discuss the service/your practice and give insights on the problems of patients you solve. Some video content ideas could be: 

1. Busting myths 
2. Unknown facts 
3. Home remedies (if any) 

• Patient testimonials – This highlights how they have benefited after availing of your services. Relatable content will build the trust of new patients. 

5. Utilizing social media trends

Influencer marketing is not just for the entertainment or fashion industry. It has been slowly catching up with the healthcare industry as well. Patients want to know their doctors as the industry becomes more democratized. 

Social media is a perfect opportunity for both of them because: 

• For doctors: They build their reputation
• For patients: This reputation makes them more approachable

Below is an example of a New Zealand-based doctor with 82,000+ followers on TikTok who regularly posts engaging medical-related content and quizzes.

6. Content marketing

Once you’ve created a website, you have to promote it by writing blogs on relevant and in-the-news topics to establish your authority on the market.

You should also consider doing free and paid PR to gain more visibility.

Write for leading websites in your industry, guest post, attend seminars, and promote your practice.

Once you’ve garnered a substantial following, utilize email marketing and start a newsletter to communicate key insights.

Section 3. Advertising to increase your reach

In the US, healthcare advertising spending increased by 11.5% and was predicted to increase by 10% by 2023. This trend is likely to continue.

Advertise to increase your reach by considering:s

7. Running advertisements on social media

Run targeted ads on Facebook and Google to find customers searching for your services. 

Understand the demographics, interests, and behaviors to reach people based on age, location, interests, and medical conditions.

8. Improving Google Seller Ratings

The more and better reviews you have to show, the more reliable you appear. Google Seller Ratings (GSR) allow you to showcase those reviews directly on your Google Ads.

Read our exclusive guide on Google Seller Ratings 

Did you know you can enable Google Seller Ratings via your Birdeye profile? 

9. Speaking at interviews, podcasts, and events

10. Join professional networks and partner with other doctors

Joining hands with other healthcare providers or like-minded businesses, including online influencers and a marketing agency, can promote your services to a wider audience.

Section 4. Growing your medical practice with referrals

Growing your medical practice with referrals involves starting a patient referral program. So consider:  

11. Word-of-mouth

It is still one of the most effective and wildly popular methods of marketing your brand and building your reputation. Creating a medium that encourages and rewards patients for recommending positive word-of-mouth referrals is a must.

Other ideas to build your referral networks include: 

12. Organize pro-bono/free health check-ups

Doing voluntary service may not yield instant results or make you profits. But once you build trust with your free services, patients will more likely trust you whenever they require your service. 

13. Investing in branded stationaries

Create slip cards, pouches, bottles, and t-shirts that customers can take away and pass to others.

Strategically adding these practices to your marketing campaigns will grow your medical practice. 

Best tips for doctors to stay smart online

Do you want to generate more patient reviews and obtain a consistent flow of new bookings/consultations?

Then follow these tips:

1. Add eCommerce solutions for self-pay patients.
2. Evaluate the online patient experience.
3. Analyze the feedback and improve. 
4. Use reminders through WhatsApp/automation.
5. Add self-appointment options to your practice websites.
6. Create a social media calendar.

Case study of medical marketing done right with Birdeye

To illustrate why marketing for doctors is important, we’ve listed two amazing examples of medical marketing done right using Birdeye. 

Healthpointe improved their ratings from 3.3 to 4.8 stars

Healthpointe is a multidisciplinary healthcare organization in Southern California, founded in 1974. It was battling low online ratings that unfortunately affected its online reputation, and not positively. 

Using Birdeye, Healthpointe generated over 15,000 new reviews, improved its overall rating from 3.3 to 4.8 stars, ranked its review website #1 on Google, and delivered 90,000+ online visitors through SEO – within 12 months.

Hughston Clinic witnessed a 1393% increase in search views

Hughston Clinic is a medical practice focussing on orthopedics, sports medicine, and trauma. However, it was hampered by its lack of managing patient reviews and feedback. 

Through the use of Birdeye and its integrated API-based listing solution, Birdeye Reporting and Birdeye Ticketing, Houston Clinic saw:

• 378% increase in reviews
• 2390% increase in clicks to phone calls
• 5840% of map views
• 1793% increase in web visits
• 1393% increase in search views

FAQs on marketing for doctors

Improve your performance with Birdeye 

In the modern era, where most patients find what they’re looking for online and through word-of-mouth referrals, online marketing for doctors is a no-brainer. 

Start by building your website and online presence, and research your target audience and what is working (and not working) for your competitors. Do your SEO and keyword research too. 

Carve out your niche and utilize all available channels to create and post meaningful content to enhance your standing and reputation. 

To replicate the success of medical providers such as Healthpointe and Hughston Clinic through Birdeye’s exemplary SEO tools, click the link below.