This world is full of patients who are in constant need of doctors and medical practitioners. Some patients get referred to their doctors by the current patients or their friends and family, some just others rush into the first clinic or hospital they find nearby. But most patients who require non-critical or non-urgent care do a thorough research before finalizing the visit to a doctor.
This research about the doctors, their reputation and their specializations has become easier due to the internet. Today, we can easily search for a doctor by disease or specialization in our nearby areas and then read the reviews of their current and previous patients. Their ratings and reviews are the deciding factor in our search and finalization of which doctor to visit.
While you can be a good medical practice or practitioner in your area, there is always a stiff competition. There are multiple doctors and hospitals in every nook and corner of the US. Thus, you have to create your own space and visibility. How do you do that?
Why is Digital Marketing for Doctors and Medical Practices now a necessity?
Digital marketing helps a medical practitioner or practice create awareness, build your own brand, reach out to patients searching about you, your competitors or about specific ailments and symptoms. This can be done by posting ads on Google Search and Display Ads, Facebook or Instagram. You also need to create authority by writing blogs and establishing your credibility on social media. While all this is to get new patients, you also need to constantly be in touch with your current patients. You need to remind them about their upcoming or routine appointments – this is made easy by digital marketing channels such as email, WhatsApp and SMS.
Maintain online presence in terms of website to allow patients to book appointments online while SEO & blogs help you build authority and visibility for keywords related to the ailments, diseases and symptoms you treat. Finally, you need to work Google Business Profile by maintaining high ratings and generating good reviews – this will help with Local SEO and Maps results.
On Ad platforms such as Google Ads and Meta Ads, there are some strict compliances that need to be followed when running ad campaigns. You will need expert help to adhere to the policies of these digital advertising platforms
Most importantly, most of these digital marketing activities need to be confined in local areas usually within a 3-5 mile radius. Medical and healthcare industry is highly hyperlocal in terms of digital marketing and your agency partners need to be very careful about when and where to show your ads.
Now let’s go through some further details on the digital marketing activities necessary for medical and healthcare professionals.
Digital Marketing for Doctors, Medical Practices and Healthcare Industry in the US
Digital Marketing Channels & Traffic Sources
| Sources | Platforms Included | Importance | Retargeting? |
| Paid Search | Google Ads, Bing Ads | High and specific intent | Yes |
| Paid Display | Google Display Network, Programmatic, Tabula, Criteo, Outbrain, and many more | Low cost per impression, multiple placement opportunities | Yes |
| SEO | Google and Bing Search Engines | High intent and low cost | |
| AI SEO | Google, ChatGPT | High intent, low cost and low competition | |
| Paid Social | Meta/Facebook/Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tiktok, Twitter(X), SnapChat | Low cost per impression, multiple placement opportunities | Yes |
| Organic Social Media | Meta/Facebook/Instagram/Threads, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tiktok, Twitter(X), SnapChat | Low cost, build communities and following, WoM | |
| Social Influencers | Meta/Facebook/Instagram/Threads, YouTube, Tiktok | Low cost, WoM | |
| Affiliates | Email Partners, SMS Partners, App Partners | Pinpoint targeting based on demographics and firmographics | |
| Content Syndication | Publishers, Listicles, Review Sites | Mid level intent and low CPC | |
| Paid Communities | Reddit, Quora, Pinterest | High interest, more ad content to engage | Yes |
| Organic Communities | Reddit, Quora, Pinterest | High interest, build communities and following | |
| Messaging | WhatsApp, Email, SMS | Highly targeted | Yes |
Now each traffic source has multiple channels with each channel having its own uniqueness in terms of intent, targeting, visibility and cost. I always suggest medical practices use multiple channels and split their budget based on performance of each channel.
While SEO is highly dependent on your website content and optimizations, your organic social media is dependent on your post quality and posting frequency.
On the other hand, paid advertising channels have their own set of characteristics and complexities such as how to structure the campaigns, whom to target, how to target and how much to bid.
We will now discuss the nuances of each of these digital marketing channels for the hotel industry in detail. We will also discuss the best digital marketing strategies and tips for each of these channels.
I am also going to ask you to skip many of these channels based on my experience of managing digital marketing for 250+ clients in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Digital Marketing Channels for Medical & Healthcare Industry – Strategies and Tips
| Platforms | Dimensions | Metrics | Audiences | Importance | Set Up | Optimization Tips | Budgeting & Bidding | Tech Integrations | Geo Targeting |
| Google Search Ads | Campaign, Ad Group, Ads, Keywords | CPC, CTR, CPL/CPA, CVR, RoAS, Impr Share, Quality Score | Attach existing customer list for better targeting | High intent audience targeted by KWs for diseases, ailments & symptoms Use Phrase match for best results | Brand, Competitor, Generic campaign structure Skip Search Partners and Search on Display options | Regularly exclude queries using Search Term report Use tRoAS bidding strategy | Cascade budget – Brand is most important, followed by Competitor, and then Generic. Split Generic KWs into multiple campaigns | Use GTM to place tags on appointment engines Integrate GSC and GBP | 3-5 miles radius |
| Bing Ads | Campaign, Ad Group, Ads, Keywords | CPC, CTR, CPL/CPA, CVR, RoAS, Impr Share, Quality Score | Use intent targeting | Use Phrase match for best results | Brand, Competitor, Generic campaign structure Skip Search Partners and Search on Display options | Regularly exclude queries using Search Term report Use tRoAS bidding strategy | Cascade budget – Brand is most important, followed by Competitor, and then Generic. Split Generic KWs into multiple campaigns | Use GTM to place tags on booking engines Integrate GSC and GBP | 3-5 miles radius |
| GDN | Campaign, Ad Group, Ads, Audiences, Publishers | CPM, CPC, CTR, CPL/CPA, CVR | Use Custom Intent, inmarket and Affinity Audiences | Cheaper and wider outreach | Split ad sets based on audiences and creative themes | Regularly exclude publishers with extremely high or low CTR or CPC or based on industry | Minimal budget and low bidding compared to Search Ads | Use GTM to place tags on booking engines | 3-5 miles radius |
| Programmatic | Skip these | ||||||||
| PMax | Skip these | ||||||||
| Google Search and SEO | Brand, Generic KWs | Imprs, CTR, Ranking, CVR | High Intent free traffic and customers | Use Entity Search and Schema | GA4, GSC and GBP Integration | ||||
| Google Business Profile | NAP, Categories, Service Area, Schedule, Reviews | Ratings, Directions, Calls, Website Visits | This is free traffic searching for you on Google Search and Google Maps. You can show your profile with images, booking/calling links | NAP – Name, Address, Phone Number Also fill up all the other fields available | Maintain Rating of 4+Get good reviews regularly Post pictures regularly | ||||
| Bing Search | Brand, Generic KWs | Imprs, CTR, Ranking, CVR | High Intent free traffic and customers | Use Entity Search and Schema | GA4, GSC and GBP Integration | ||||
| ChatGPT | Brand, Generic KWs | Imprs, CTR, Ranking, CVR | High Intent free traffic and customers | Use Entity Search and Schema | GA4, GSC and GBP Integration | ||||
| Influencer PR | CPM, Engagement Rate, Clicks, CPC, CPA | Reach out to travel influencers via their social media pages to negotiate a deal with them for each story and post promotion | |||||||
| Meta Ads | Campaign, Ad Set, Ads, Creatives | CPM, CPC, CTR, CPL/CPA, CVR | Use default option for travel audience at Ad Set level Use 2% lookalike audience or Advantage+ audience | Separate campaigns to focus on indoor/outdoor/services/places to visit/events | Use multiple creatives in a single ad | Low Budget and low bidding | Integrate Pixel and implement events via GTM | 3-5 miles radius | |
| Followers, Likes, Engagement Rate | Organic engagement and outreach | Add all links into your profile | Regularly post about diseases, ailments, symptoms, cures and patient reviews | ||||||
| Followers, Likes, Engagement Rate | Organic engagement and outreach | Add all links into your profile | Regularly post about events, discounts and how to travel | ||||||
| Threads | Followers, Likes, Engagement Rate | Organic engagement and outreach | Add all links into your profile | Regularly post about events, discounts and how to travel | |||||
| Skip | |||||||||
| LinkedIn Ads | Skip | ||||||||
| YouTube | Followers, Likes, Engagement Rate | Organic engagement and outreach | Add all links into your profile | Regularly post about events, discounts and how to travel | |||||
| Youtube Ads | Skip | ||||||||
| Tiktok | Followers, Likes, Engagement Rate | Organic engagement and outreach | Add all links into your profile | Regularly post about events, discounts and how to travel | |||||
| Tiktok Ads | |||||||||
| Snapchat | Skip | ||||||||
| Twitter(X) | Skip | ||||||||
| Twitter(X) Ads | Skip | ||||||||
| Aggregators | Skip | ||||||||
| Quora | List a free profile to answer specific questions | Some users may ask very specific questions | Answer questions related to ailments and symptoms questions by other users | ||||||
| Quora Ads | Skip | ||||||||
| List a free profile to answer specific questions | Some users may ask very specific questions | Post and discuss about latest treatments and advanced in medical science | |||||||
| Reddit Ads | Skip | ||||||||
| Skip | |||||||||
| Delivered and Read Rates | Existing Patients | Use this as a retargeting channel to reach and remind existing patients about upcoming tests and appointments | Integrate with your CRM for automation | Also, reach out with short write ups on medical issues focusing on the symptoms and treatments. | CRM integration | ||||
| Email/ Newletters | Delivered and Read Rates | Existing Patients | Use this as a retargeting channel to reach and remind existing patients about upcoming tests and appointments | Integrate with your CRM for automation | Also, regularly share medical industry/treatments updates in weekly or fortnightly newsletters | CRM integration | |||
| SMS | Delivered and Read Rates | Existing Patients | Use this as a retargeting channel to reach and remind existing patients about upcoming tests and appointments | Integrate with your CRM for automation | CRM integration | ||||
| Affiliates | Skip | ||||||||
| Publishers | Skip | ||||||||
| Listicles | Skip | ||||||||
| Review Sites | Skip |
For Doctors, it is more important to manage their practice and focus on the patients. Leave the trivial tasks of digital marketing and growth in footfall to us!
Mindless helps you manage all your website, paid media, SEO and all other digital marketing channels by providing you specialist teams that stay updated on all industry requirements related to the medical industry. Specialists at Mindless have worked with 250+ clients and scaled the online presence of several businesses while increasing their clientele, revenue and footfall.
If your business is facing the challenge in optimizing website SEO or other paid media channels, then book a free consulting session with our experts and find out how we can help your business achieve new heights.
You can also mail us on sales@mindless.digital for any queries.
About the author:
Pragun Jain is a seasoned digital marketer who has worked with over 500+ businesses ranging from billion dollar SAAS enterprises to 5-star hotel chains, doctors, politicians, SAAS companies, restaurants and retail stores. He has managed over USD 75M in paid media spend across Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads and other digital marketing channels.
You can visit his LinkedIn profile here.
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