5 Tips on How to Attract New Patients Online
In this digital age, the aesthetic consult begins long before the first appointment. In fact, the moment consumers access your website, they have already begun to form impressions of your abilities, integrity, and trustworthiness.
For this reason, your online presence needs to be finessed and appeal to the appropriate target patient. Here are five easy tips you can use to ensure your medical aesthetic clinic stands out online.
Tip #1: Establish a Clear Branding Strategy
Branding is a nuanced art. Establishing a branding strategy covers the way you represent your practice through such attributes as office location, name, slogan, logo, typeface, color choice, décor, and more.
To keep your branding on point, consider your target consumer. Are you searching for an older, discerning clientele seeking more advanced procedures, or younger patients looking for preventative solutions? The answer to this question and others will help to determine whether your brand will be discrete and bespoke or perhaps more casual and trendy.
Tip #2: Brand Consistently
Consistency is the key to branding. Once you’ve established your ideal clientele, check that all the elements of your brand speak to that demographic and are well-represented online. Consumers will get confused if you promote affordable pricing one week and your luxe spa-like experience the next. Stick to your branding plan and ensure this consistency carries over from your website to your interactions on social media and other marketing initiatives.
Tip #3: Cover Key Information
When done properly, branding is a service to consumers because it enables them to easily find key information about you and your practice. To complete the branding picture for prospective patients, cover the following points on your website:
- Provide an accurate idea of your services, including what you specialize in
- Speak to the type of person most suited to your services
- Convey how you are different from other providers; what makes you unique?
- Establish your training and expertise
- Describe the way patients can expect to be treated in your office
If you’re unsure whether your website is hitting the mark, have it evaluated by an expert. It will be well worth the money to make a flawless first impression.
Tip #4: Monitor Review Sites
Another way patients form impressions of you online is through review sites such as Yelp or RealPatientRatings.com. These sites have a significant online presence, meaning multiple negative reviews could be detrimental. Make monitoring these sites and responding to comments part of your regular marketing efforts. Ensure your responses are professional and honest, though. Aggressive responses or accusations from your clinic can do more harm to your online reputation than silence. Diplomacy is key.
Tip #5: Proactively Encourage Positive Reviews
Patient fear and uncertainty are perhaps your biggest challenges. Many people have heard horror stories from friends and colleagues or watched programs like Botched that chronicle everything that can go wrong with a cosmetic procedure. For this reason, it’s paramount to proactively encourage your patients to contribute positive reviews online. When following up with patients, ask them how they’re feeling about the overall experience and encourage them to submit a review. If they’re concerned about privacy, offer to publish it under a pseudonym. Consider adding a disclaimer to your site noting that some names may be changed in the interest of patient privacy to establish further trust.
Did you find these tips helpful? Learn more insider tips on how to convert prospective clients to patients by downloading our invaluable eBook, “Mastering the Art of the Aesthetic Consult.”
