Posts tagged lead generation
How Call Tracking Services Can Convert More Patient Calls
Jul 28th
Join us for a complimentary webinar, “Assessing Your Office Staff” on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at 1 p.m. (EST) to learn more about the benefits of call tracking and ways to train your office staff to increase patient satisfaction.
Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/287312147
The way your office staff handles inbound calls plays an important role in the number of consultations and treatment appointments you book on a daily basis. Have you ever wondered what type of conversation takes place between a prospective patient and your office on any given day? Call tracking can provide some insight on how your staff handles inbound calls.
When a prospective patient calls your office to find out more about a particular service or is interested in setting up a consultation, it’s imperative that your office staff knows how to handle the call and bring the patient into the office as soon as possible. Call tracking systems also allow you to monitor all calls coming into the office and ensure that your staff is handling each call effectively.
Many doctors and medical professionals also use call tracking systems to as a training tool, because staff members are able to record and review their conversations. Supervisors can review each call to make sure it meets quality standards, and change scripts or provide more training to staff members to ensure that most inbound calls turn into an appointment for a consultation or treatment.
When you set up a call tracking system in your office, you will be assigned a unique toll-free number that makes it very simple to track the effects of all of your marketing campaigns. As you promote this phone number on your website, profile page and other marketing materials, you will be able to see exactly where your leads are coming from. This can help you tweak and streamline your marketing campaigns so that you generate more inquiries or requests for consultations on a regular basis.
Call tracking is very simple to set up and provides valuable data about your lead, including the time of day the prospective patient called, the duration of the call, and how the call was handled by the staff member. Take the guesswork out of your advertising campaigns with a call tracking system that is easy to manage and provides a high ROI.
3 Ways to Increase Patient Conversions Online
Jul 21st
Attracting more traffic to your website doesn’t always translate into booking more appointments for consultations.
Many plastic surgeons, dentists, chiropractors and medical professionals with beautiful websites and profile pages find that they are generating lots of traffic, but can’t seem to get their visitors to submit contact information for an appointment.
First impressions are essential for converting traffic into patients, and there are several things you can do to make the patient feel confident that you are the doctor of medical professional they should seek treatment from.
Here are just three things you can do to increase patient conversions online:
1. Make sure your contact information is visible on every page. Put your phone number, e-mail address or a contact form within easy reach so that patients who are ready to make that consultation appointment can do so within seconds. Patients who need to “dig” for this information may simply get fed up and leave the site. Make it as easy as possible for the patient to get in touch with you.
2. Provide educational content for patients who are doing research. Establish yourself as an authority in your niche and build confidence in the patient by providing articles or blog posts that describe various treatments you offer. This type of content can help develop trust and make you stand apart from your competitors.
3. Offer discounts and special offers regularly. Prospective patients who are still deciding whether or not to pursue treatment because of the price may be more interested in your services when there is a discount or special offer available. Take the time to come up with several different offers that you rotate throughout the year so that patients will choose you over a competitor when making their final decision.
Tips for Generating More Referrals for Your Practice
Jun 30th
There are several ways to generate more referrals for your practice, and some of them don’t involve any direct marketing. Here are a few simple strategies that will help to keep your appointment books full season after season:
Improve Your Search Engine Rankings
When patients are looking for specific procedures online, they are more likely to find you when you are at the top of Google search page results. When a coworker or friend mentions your practice name or doctor names, it’s important that you can be easily found after a simple search. Make sure you are investing your marketing resources towards higher search engine placement so that your customer referrals can find you easily after a simple online search.
Focus on the Patient
Make sure your patients feel welcome and comfortable in your office, and take the time to decorate your waiting room so that the patient feels right at home. Showing concern and care for each and every patient builds rapport, and may just encourage a referral. Running a successful medical practice is just like running any other business — keeping your clients happy is a top priority!
Market Your Specialties and Strengths
Define what you do best, and emphasize the key services and procedures your practice offers in all of your marketing materials. Think of ways that a prospective customer would describe you when introducing you to their friends or associates. What makes you stand apart from other doctors in your niche? How convenient is it for patients to schedule an appointment with you, or to find your office? Focus on marketing some key details about your practice so that anyone else can highlight these benefits when sharing information with others.
Become Active in Your Community
Make yourself more visible in the community, either by joining a local Chamber of Commerce, participating in local social events, or even sponsoring community events. Highlight your activities and involvement in the community on your website or blog. Prospective clients may be more likely to refer you simply because you’re at ‘top of mind’ by being visible online, and offline.
Five Minute Marketing Checklist for Promoting Your Practice Online
Jun 2nd
Have you set goals for marketing your practice online? Do you have a marketing strategy, or are you trying different advertising and marketing campaigns to attract more patients this season? Knowing how to market your practice online and achieving the results you want often requires putting together a plan that will connect you to the right patients.
Having a website, running banner ads or sending out direct marketing materials is no longer enough. Your prospective patients are using several online tools and search engines to track you down, so you need to take steps to ensure you?re front and center, wherever they go. Here’s a five-minute marketing checklist to help you get started:
Does your online marketing strategy enable you to:
1. Establish you as an authority in your specialty? Are you providing website visitor with fresh content, blogging about your industry or sending out press releases that position you as an authority? If not, consider ways that you can become more active online.
2. Provide you with a high return on investment? Are you investing your marketing dollars in the right areas? What type of return on investment (ROI) are you getting? Make sure you’re investing in tools and strategies that provide you with trackable results.
3. Build a database of current and prospective patients? From email newsletters to Twitter followers, an effective marketing strategy will put hundreds, even thousands of current and prospective patients at your fingertips. If you’re not actively building this list, you may be missing out on the chance to book dozens of appointments and consultations each month.
Consider all of the ways you are connecting with patients with your online marketing strategy.
If you can’t answer ‘yes’ to the three questions above, it may be time to revamp your practice marketing strategy and focus on efforts that will maximize your ROI and keep your appointment books full.
Effective Ways to Increase Patient Loyalty and Generate Repeat Business
May 26th
One of the primary goals of your online and offline marketing plan is to build a strong client base. Today’s patients have access to a wealth of information and can get in touch with doctors within seconds, so surgeons and medical professionals need to make an extra effort to increase patient loyalty and generate referrals.
Rewards programs are one effective way to generate more interest in your practice, and keep those patients coming back for additional procedures and services. You can develop a rewards program that offers discounts on future services, or even complimentary services after the patient acquires a certain number of points. If you are a cosmetic surgeon, you may consider offering free Botox injections or other lower-priced procedures in exchange for a certain number of points. Plastic surgeons may be able to extend a discount on laser hair removal packages, or may even offer a medical spa package as a reward.
For cosmetic and plastic surgeons that also offer medical spa services, a membership program can be a valuable way to generate repeat business. Membership rates and discounts can encourage patients to turn only to you when they are looking for more than just a cosmetic procedure. Today’s popular minimally-invasive procedures, including Botox, dermal filler injections and even laser hair removal, can be attractive to many of your existing cosmetic and plastic surgery clients. Membership rates on these popular services may an attractive incentive for your existing plastic and cosmetic surgery clients, as well as their friends and family members.
You can also increase patient loyalty by offering seasonal promotions and discounts. Highlight some key procedures for the season, and offer a discount or ‘double rewards’ on certain procedures or services throughout the year, to keep your patients interested.
Marketing to your patients is an ongoing process, and rewards and membership programs can be an effective way to keep existing clients coming back. Consider implementing a rewards program or offering membership rates on certain services so that you can generate repeat business, season after season.
Frequency of Your Email Newsletter – What Works, What Doesn’t
May 19th
E-mail marketing is among the most effective ways to reach out to current and future patients to generate more business. E-mail newsletters can feature the latest news about your practice, spotlight a special offer, or even introduce a new treatment or procedure.
When you have a list of subscribers for an e-mail newsletter, and are busy collecting e-mails of prospective patients to send out special offers and newsletter blasts, it’s important to pay attention to the frequency of your communications so that you can get the response rate you want.
While there is no one-size-fits-all strategy for determining how many times per week or month you should send out an e-mail newsletter, there are some guidelines to follow to ensure that your e-mails are read, and effective for generating more business.
Maintaining a schedule will help build trust and confidence with your subscribers, and will keep your practice at the ‘top of mind’. Stick with a monthly or bimonthly e-mail distribution schedule, and try to send it out at the same time of day each time. Consistency with your e-mail marketing will pay off in the long-term. More >
Ways to Help New Patients Schedule a Consultation
May 5th
Attracting high-quality traffic to your website and Profile page increase the chances of booking more consultations, but what does it take for a lead to turn into an actual patient?
More often than not, the prospective patient has found your website or page after doing a basic search on the major search engines. They may be looking for a very specific procedure, your practice in particular, or conducting a general search to compare different doctors in their area.
Whatever the case may be, there are certain things you can do to prompt the prospect to book a consultation. Here are some effective ways to help new patients schedule a consultation:
1. Keep your website content well-organized. Prospective patients should be able to learn about your practice and available procedures within a few minutes. Make sure that all of the content is easy to read and understand — ideally, it should be readable “at a glance”. Update your site or page regularly with fresh content so that existing patients always have a reason to keep up with you. This can prompt a referral, or even encourage another appointment. More >
PracticeDock Rebranded Solutions Make Practice Marketing Simple
Apr 29th
We’re excited to announce that PracticeDock has rebranded its suite of products.
All of our online marketing tools and solutions now have a new look, and you can get started with any and all of our tools within a few clicks.
If you want to give your existing website a makeover, or want a fresh new custom website, take a look at what WebSiteDOCK (formerly FlexMD) can do for you. Our simple solution turns your website into a powerful marketing tool, giving you the freedom to edit pages 24/7 using a simple interface, optimizing all of your pages for search engines using our exclusive SEO Tuner, and providing you with comprehensive reports.
Many of our physicians, dentists and medical practitioners are also taking advantage of CallTrackDOCK (formerly FlexPhonePlus). This call-tracking product helps you train office staff and also tracks which advertising and marketing methods are actually working for you.
When you’re to attract more high quality traffic to your website, we’ve found that many of our clients benefit from a targeted pay-per-click advertising campaign. PPCDock (formerly FlexPPC) will put your practice exactly where prospective clients are searching. This tool allows you to determine which online traffic is converting to leads. It’s one of the most effective online marketing tools available, and will help patients find you within seconds on the major search engines.
EducationDock (formerly FlexContent) is your solution for keeping your site full of high-quality information, and educating patients prior to their consultation or appointment. We have animation libraries for plastic surgeons, dermatologists, orthopedic surgeons, spine surgeons and hair restoration doctors. And, we can customize the videos with your practice logos and colors so it looks professional.
Need more information? Let us help you find the best solution for your practice!
Easy Ways to Stay in Touch with Current Patients Online
Apr 14th
Patients undergoing a series of treatments at your practice, or those that have expressed interest in additional procedures, need to be a part of your ongoing marketing campaign.
You’ve worked hard to attract these qualified prospects, and your online marketing strategy can work to retain these patients for months, even years after their first procedure. Staying in touch with your patients is one of the easiest ways to increase your chance of getting a referral — and even booking another treatment.
Since many clients in your patient base are already using online social networking tools, including Facebook and Twitter, establish a presence on these sites to stay connected. When you make it easy for current patients to engage in online conversations with you (or your practice), it becomes that much easier to market new services and promote your practice. Today’s social networking tools allow you to execute pressure-free marketing campaigns — the types of campaigns that can increase your online visibility, educate your patients, and make you an authority in your niche. More >
Six Reasons to Use Twitter to Market Your Practice Online
Apr 7th
Twitter is a micro-blogging tool, one of several social media applications that makes it easier than ever to communicate with prospective patients, other doctors and industry professionals.
The growth of Twitter in the past few years has enabled thousands of businesses to tap into a whole new pool of prospects. When you start using Twitter to market your practice online, you can start attracting a steady stream of new clients and prospects – without paying a penny.
Here are just six reasons to use Twitter to market your practice online:
1. Increase visibility. You may have an attractive practice website, and are posting to a blog on a regular basis, but you can generate even more interest from tech-savvy patients and potential clients with a Twitter presence and profile. Increase your online visibility by setting up a professional Twitter profile, and post updates about your practice’s treatments, industry news, or links to your blog posts so that more patients can find you.
2. Announce special offers and discounts. If you need to generate more business during a slow period, you can send out a Twitter-only special to attract more patients. You can post a special link to an offer page on your website, or introduce a discount code that patients must use when they contact your practice for a consultation. More >
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