In our last article, we discussed the importance of having a strong digital marketing strategy for behavioral health promotion our services. To execute that digital marketing strategy, you’ll need key marketing tools that come with a small cost or none at all. Without the following tools, you’ll limit your reach to your targeted audience.
According to a 2021 Patient Pop survey, 74% of prospective patients say that a website is either very or extremely important to them. Additionally, almost 50% of patients use a practice’s website to determine which doctor to pick. WordPress is a great place to start for making a free website; if you want to create a specific URL that doesn’t have “Wordpress” in the hyperlink, then you’ll have to buy the domain at a monthly or annual price.
You will want your website to share what your org is all about, what its differentiating factors are, the services offered, the insurances accepted, the doctors that are on staff as well as their experience, patient testimonials, and ways to contact the office, for example.
Almost 50% of patients use a practice’s website to determine what doctor to pick.
After your website and Google searches, Facebook is the third way most people seek information on a practice. In fact, according to a 2021 Pew Research Center survey, more than 70 percent of people from ages 18-64 are on Facebook. Fifty percent of adults 65 and older are also on Facebook.
One key feature of Facebook that is appealing to behavioral health organizations is the integration of reviews on your Facebook Business Page, which is key information that is taken into account during a prospect’s decision-making process. It also allows prospects and current patients to communicate with you if they have a question, so it’s important to monitor the messages if you choose to use that functionality. Additionally, it is easy to display your hours and contact information on your page.
It is free to join any social media account, however advertising comes at a cost. Advertising is a topic we will discuss further in a future article. Note: Behavioral health organizations may need to get LegitScript certified, which is not only a requirement for advertising on major online platforms like Facebook and Google, but it communicates value and legitimacy to families and patients, according to the LegitScript website.
A blog is a great way for behavioral health promotion an include your knowledge about the behavioral health industry including the latest trends, update your patients with any information they need regarding COVID-19 or other important internal news, feature your staff and facility, and explain your services in depth. At Cora BHS, we can help you create a content calendar, so you can continue to create relevant content or update existing blog content, so that content never becomes stale and so you always appear in conversations regarding important topics.
Additionally, a blog that is integrated into your website and that covers a wide array of topics gives you an opportunity to optimize the search engine optimization (SEO) of your website. This increases your organization’s ranking and visibility when a patient does a Google search for a behavioral health organization like yours.
Before you start driving traffic to your website, blog and social media accounts, you will want to add the Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager codes to the head of your website. This allows you to start monitoring and measuring traffic to your website from your implemented marketing tools at no cost. You can get access to granular data that shows you many valuable insights, such as:
It’s important to set aside time to implement these digital marketing tools in the early stages of your behavioral health organization, so you can:
Knowing that most Americans spend plenty of hours per day online and are currently navigating a pandemic, prospective patients who could really benefit from your services are more likely to see an online ad versus a print ad. Online ads, when done right, can generate a constant flow of patients needed to keep your doors open.
Additionally, you can eliminate excessive calls to your front desk if you provide current and future patients with all the information they need on the Internet.
If you need help with implementing any of these marketing tools, Cora BHS offers free consultations where we do a deep dive into your business’ needs and share how we can deliver personalized solutions to transform your organization. Contact us at corabhs.com.
