Marketing Your Medical Practice (Part 1) by Nora Campbell

February 6th, 2007

One of the most difficult things for a medical practice to do is market itself to patients. More often then not, medical practices are not marketing something cool and trendy and they are not marketing something that is considerably low in cost. This can make it very tough to peak the interest of your target audience. So we have decided to post a list of some of the more obvious and often overlooked marketing tips that will certainly help in marketing your medical practice.

1. Simplicity: If the messages that you are trying to convey are too complicated, patients will not be able to comprehend your messages or they will misinterpret the messages. Statistics show that the average American reads at an eighth grade level. So, to ensure that a greater percentage of your patients will be able to read and understand the information that you present them, write your health messages at the 5th or 6th grade level. Use simple language and simple sentences.

2. Know Your Target Patients: You should research your ideal target patients. Once you have researched your ideal target patients then you can customize your marketing campaign in a manner that is specifically geared toward them. This will enable you to better convey your health messages to those who are within your ideal target patient group.

3. Accuracy: It is very important that your health messages accurately represent your medical practice. Patient loyalty and trust greatly decrease if they see any inaccuracy between what you are marketing and what they find when they come into your practice.

4. Involving Your Patients: Whether you are sending out newsletters, posting messages on your website, handing out brochures, or creating posters for patients always involve your patients. You can do this by using open-ended questions for them to ask themselves or for them to ask your employees. Open-ended questions make patients more attentive to what they are reading. These questions are great methods for making patients aware of problems they have that your medical practice can solve. This also increases patient interest and makes them better remember what they read.

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