Being able to demonstrate your professionalism, passion, and hard-working attitude as a doctor or clinician will help to set you apart from other doctors in your local area and win over customers. Digital marketing is one of the most effective methods of building and maintaining an online reputation. Below, we’ve put together five things that you should consider when getting started.
It’s better to be proactive than reactive
The truth is that reputation management for doctors doesn’t have to be difficult, but taking a proactive approach to your reputation will serve you better than if you were to sit back and wait for something bad to happen. Indeed, even if you deliver the best service in the world, from time to time, you’re going to come across a client who isn’t happy and wants to vent their frustrations online.
If you’ve spent very little time building up a robust online presence, a single bad review will show up first when a potential patient searches for your business. On the other hand, if you’re proactive and have spent time building up your reputation with hundreds of articles and success stories on your website, then one mistake or ‘bad egg’ will get lost in the crowd and won’t be as damaging to your business.
Being proactive is about more than just your online presence.
You should deliver world-class services to your patients every day of the week and work with any disgruntled patients in person to resolve outstanding issues. Asking them to fill in a feedback form, for example, allows you to identify weaknesses in your business, and help to make you the number one doctor in your area.
Your whole business is under scrutiny
Whether you’re a one-man shop or you work in a clinic with dozens of staff members, you should note that your whole business is under scrutiny. In other words, if a receptionist doesn’t attend to clients’ needs, your website is often down and doesn’t accept online bookings, or your nurse makes a patient feel uncomfortable during an appointment, people will want to write about their experience online.
In other words, on a daily basis, you need to manage both your reputation and the reputation of your team. Schedule regular meetings, reviews, and put every member of staff on a personal development program designed to improve their service skills over time. One person can let down the whole team and cause a long-term dent in your online reputation.
As a general rule, you should read and respond to all feedback online so that you can learn from your past mistakes, and make staffers accountable for their actions. Paying very close attention to your business may seem like an alien concept, but it’s important that you protect the reputation of your firm on the internet.
Online reviews are essential
Online reviews are an important part of reputation building, and when used correctly, can help set you apart from other medical practices in your area. According to a recent survey from JMIR, most patients give their doctors favorable ratings online, so you should make it as easy as possible for patients to share their feedback with the world by sending them an email after treatment or by reminding them at the end of a consultation how important reviews are for a small business like yours.
Secondly, you should make it your mission that your medical practice has an active presence on sites like Google (using Google My Business), Facebook, and Yelp. In addition, you should sign up for free physician accounts on specialist doctor rating sites such as Vitals.com, Checkbook.org, HealthGrades.com, and RateMD.com. Maintain your profiles on these platforms up to date and check back regularly for new reviews. And make it a habit to respond to both positive and negative comments as they come in.
On the other hand, if you receive lots of negative reviews, schedule meetings with your staff to get to the bottom of any underlying problems. If issues are related to service or price, address these as soon as you possibly can, and let reviewers know that you’re taking their feedback to heart and working to improve.
For medical offices that have gone through new management or restructuring, writing a blog post on the challenges you’ve been facing and the ways you’re going to address patients’ problems will set you up for success. Sometimes an open, up-front and honest approach is the best strategy to succeed in the long term.
Content can build your reputation
Content marketing is, without a doubt, one of the most effective tools for building your reputation online and positioning you as an authority in your niche. Physician reputation management can be a simple and straightforward process provided that you offer patients and users access to the very best content on your speciality, written in a way that makes sense to the Average Joe.
As well as maintaining your own blog, which will assist in traffic generation and search engine optimization, you should consider the benefits of guest blogging on third-party websites. Indeed, if you post content on reputable health blogs and get your name and practice mentioned online, people will naturally consider you to be head-and-shoulders above the competition.
Content can take time to research and prepare, so if you’re too busy managing your business, consider hiring an experienced content marketer who can run your marketing efforts instead. A consistent content marketing strategy is key for every medical practice to succeed in the long term.
Your personal brand is important
Finally, don’t underestimate the power of your personal brand. In the healthcare world, trust is everything, so whether you’re the only doctor in the office or you’re part of a team, you should work to develop your online reputation, so people in your area could find you and come to you when in need.
Sign up for an account on LinkedIn and use social media to share news, blog posts, and give advice to your existing and future patients on how to stay fit & healthy. On top of that, publish regular content on your own and on third-party websites, and sign up for an account on services such as Help a Reporter Out where you can serve as a subject matter expert to any journalist covering a health-related story.
Over time, you’ll make a name for yourself in your speciality, and you’ll likely be considered by news outlets and journalists to comment on topical news stories. Grab every media opportunity with both hands, as each offers progress towards building your personal online reputation.
This guest post comes from Digital Authority Partners, a healthcare marketing agency located in Chicago, Il.
