The role of Digital Marketing for Doctors wanting to grow their medical practice as well as attract new patients is increasing. With more and more people using the internet to make decisions on where to receive medical care, Doctors have to find unique ways of getting their name and medical practice out to the general public. In this article I will be discussing why Marketing is Important For Medical Doctors.

For Doctors, Marketing increases Patient access to care

In this study looking at how using basic marketing strategies would affect patient access to a clinical pharmacy services, Researchers found that simply by placing informative brochures at the front desk, and giving patients the option to follow up on the information via phone, there was a significant increase in the amount of times that patients decided to rely on these pharmacist services for clinical interventions.

This is just one study that shows the impact of marketing in general when it comes to Medicine. But what if this impact could amplified ten fold? The use of Digital marketing can do just that.

According to one study, 72% of internet users say they sought out health related information online. Additionally, research suggests that among the reasons for using Social Media platforms is to get in touch with Doctors. As a medical student and future doctor I want my patients to trust in my knowledge and associate my name and services with reliable, and well researched information that is found on the internet. This is yet another reason why I think using Google and Youtube are great platforms for a marketing strategy for Doctors.

Why is Digital Marketing Important to a Medical practice

Medicine is a Business and Businesses need marketing

• Marketing is important to a medical practice because at the end of the day, Medical practices are businesses, and businesses need to generate profit in order to survive. While it may seem like having this mindset is rather greedy, I would urge you to take a close look at what would happen if medical practices did not operate as a business.

• For example, if a medical practice is not generating profit then, they would no longer be able to afford overhead for the building that their practice is in. How will they afford to employ the administrative staff such as the medical assistants, receptionists or even the other essential healthcare providers such as the nurses, and PAs? These are all people who make it possible to deliver patient care.

• Without having a business like mentality and profit driven infrastructure to some degree patient care declines and in some cases may not even be possible.

• Effective Marketing in Healthcare ensures that the general public is aware that services designed to treat illness and and deliver patient care exists.

How Can Doctors Do Digital Marketing

Doctors Should first learn Digital Marketing

• This kind of goes without saying, but before getting into the ways that Doctors should market themselves it is important to talk about this first step which is actually learning how to market.
• You see for all the time that Doctors spend studying and memorizing every structure in the human body and every drug out there, Doctors are never actually taught anything about marketing in Medical School.
• As a second year medical student I can say with certainty that I have not once heard the word “marketing” mentioned in a single lecture.
• Thankfully, there are online courses which are devoted to Teaching Doctors how to market themselves and sell products. One of the most well known ones is Digital Doctor University. This course is unique in that it teaches Doctors how to raise the brand awareness of themselves, as well as their their knowledge.
• I think Courses such as the Digital Doctor University should become a more mainstream part of medical education because it addresses a critical and very practical component which is missing in Medical Training.

Doctors can use Social Media as Digital Marketing

• One of the things that makes Social media a powerful tool is the fact that it is completely free. It costs nothing to post a quick tweet on twitter, or a nicely taken picture on instagram.
• Not only does Social Media provide a means by which patients can educate themselves, It is also a place where Patients can build trust with, and come to know Pysicians on a more personal level.

Doctors can use Blogging and Podcasting for Digital Marketing

• Blogging is quickly becoming a reliable way to not only produce useful content to the general population but it is also a great way to grow brand awareness and build an online community. As a doctor, there is an endless potential for what you could make a medical blog about. For example Dr Paul Saladino is a Psychiatrist who is a double board certified Medical Doctor that is an adamant proponent of the use of nutrition and exercise to reduce the incidence of autoimmune illness, as well as other chronic health issues in the general population. He talks about this on his blog at CarnivoreMD.com. On his podcast the Fundamental Health Podcast, he brings guests from a spectrum of other specialties and they discuss the latest research surrounding Nutrition as well as Human Metabolism.
• Another well known example that is useful for medical doctors in training is the Medical School Insiders Blog which gives practical studying tips and life advice for pre medical, medical, and resident medical students for navigating throughmedical training. Additionally, on his channel he gives an inside look at the day and the life of other medical specialities, which is helpful for those undergoing medical training.
• Then there is the well known Podcast called “The Drive” by Medical Doctor Peter Attia which goes in depth into how human health’ span can be increased, as well as discussions of which pharmaceuticals have the potential to improve human longevity.

Doctors can Use Youtube and Google as Digital Marketing

• While Youtube and Google can also be placed under the category of Social Media, They also happen to be the largest search engines in the world. This fact alone makes them great places for increasing your visibility, establishing a brand, as well as patient education.
• Using Search Engines also gives the added benefit of establishing your authority in a certain domain, because these platforms rely on complex algorithms to rank content that is essentially permanent on the web, you do not have to be too concerned with posting content every single day as you do on Social Media Platforms such as Instagram and facebook.