If a podiatry practice wants to grow, there is one thing it must absolutely do well: marketing. You have to reach the people who actually need your services, and let them know that you can fix their problems. But for it to be done effectively, you need a well-rounded plan. Over the years, we have developed what we call the Four Pillars of Marketing that incorporates every venue a professional should use to market their practice. One of those pillars is Internet Marketing.
Why Internet Marketing Matters
Here’s the thing about marketing your practice effectively: you have to meet people where they already are for them to hear you. And in today’s super-connected world, people are definitely on the Internet. Just about everyone has a smartphone in their pocket that they use to check social media or read reviews online. Even more people have a computer at home that they use regularly for the same reasons. People are online all the time, and they expect you to be there, too. If you aren’t on the Internet, it’s almost as if you don’t exist.
When they or their loved ones have that one painful foot problem that just doesn’t seem to go away, they immediately turn to Google. They want to know what their symptoms mean and what they can do about them. They are looking for answers—and you want them to find answers that direct them to you, doctor, telling them how you can fix their problems.
That is exactly why marketing your practice online is not optional.
What Great Online Marketing Looks Like
Great Internet marketing isn’t an accident. It’s not a result of buying a basic website, slapping your practice’s information on it, and then simply hoping for the best. Successful, effective Internet marketing is actively using your Internet presence—your “online footprint”—to reach the people who are already looking for the answers to the problems you can fix. This means a coordinated strategy across everything online: your website, your social media, your local listings, your online reviews, and so on.
Your website needs to be regularly updated with useful, educational information that helps answer patients’ questions. You can do this through website articles, blogs, FAQs, videos, graphics, and more, all of which have been carefully formatted to be “Google friendly.” Your website should be clean, easy to navigate, nice to look at, and easy for both people and search engines to find.
The information, graphics, videos, and more that you add to your website can then be shared across your social media platforms. These platforms allow you to interact with and engage patients, providing them with additional or interesting information they might like in a fun, slightly less formal way.
At the same time, you want to keep all of your practice’s information up-to-date and accurate in Google’s local search, which is a feature people use when they search for services near a specific town or location. People use this information to find directions to your office, check out reviews about your services, and more. Keeping this up-to-date, and asking happy patients to leave positive reviews, helps people feel like they are making an informed decision when they decide to contact your office for foot care.
How Top Practices Can Help
Everything you have to do to market your practice online successfully can seem overwhelming, but the good news is that you don’t have to try to do this alone. Whether your staff or your marketing director are already familiar with Internet marketing or not, Top Practices can help you make the most of it so you are using the Internet to your advantage. We regularly discuss online marketing in our Mastermind group, along with tips and strategies to use it more effectively. If you’d like to learn more about marketing your practice online, contact us today! You can reach us by e-mailing [email protected] or by calling (717) 725-2679.