Keeping up with what’s working in clinician marketing in 2023 takes time healthcare providers and business owners don’t have. With little time to spend on marketing, clinicians and the teams who support them need marketing tactics that are efficient and effective.
As we approach 2023, I asked clinician experts what’s working well for them in marketing these days and what they are going to double down on for the new year.
Keep it simple on social media
Allison Puryear, from Abundance Practice Building is known for emphasizing simplicity in marketing and authenticity. “What I see working best is simplicity in messaging. Getting really clear on 3-5 points that you reiterate in different ways makes your marketing easier to create and easier understand for your potential clients.”
I couldn’t agree more.
Dr. Una from EntreMD says that keeping social media simple should be easy for clinicians. “You don’t have to make it complicated. We’re physicians, so we have access to the best stories and the most questions. Every day when patients show up, they ask you questions. Your people literally give you all the content. And the more you do it, the better you become at it. The reward for executing on your current ideas is new ideas.
Frequently asked questions from patients and clients are a great source of short form video content on Instagram Reels, YouTube and on TikTok. Simply answering a question in one minute or less can be an easy way to show authority, support your audience and reach more people.
Reels continue to be the most effective form of content on Instagram, and creating them doesn’t have to be complicated or require dancing.
Renowned dementia educator, Teepa Snow, started creating short form video content on TikTok in September 2021 and has over 250K followers. Most of her videos are short demonstrations of the kind of material she’s been teaching in training for years.
One question from a patient or client can become two forms of social media content. Clinicians can make an explainer video in the form of a Reel or short form video and a similar post with an image and text-based response all from one patient or client question.
Dr. Sandra Weitz from The Practice Building MD says that while social media is important for physicians, it’s not typically where prospective patients are likely to first find them. She says social media is more about showing the three A’s: availability, affability and ability. “Physicians need to recognize that social media is less likely to help patients find them—rather—it’s to make them come to the visit.”
Maureen Werrbach from the Group Practice Exchange and owner of a large Chicago-area group practice, echoes this for therapy group practices. “Using social media as a marketing tool creates a space for people to have another touchpoint to get to know us. If you’re a niche group practice, I think social media is going to be a much more valuable tool in not only creating another touch point for people to know, like and trust you, but also to actually get new clients. Your focus on content can be very niche. For us, we shifted from trying to make it a space where we got new clients to making it a space that allows clients to have another touchpoint with us if they are hesitant about coming into therapy.”
SEO will continue to matter for clinician marketing in 2023
Messaging is essential, but getting found is key to ensuring the right patients or clients find you in the first place. Jamie Spann, CEO of Business Savvy Physician emphasizes the importance of a strong website with effective SEO, as well as positive reviews on industry directory websites.
When it comes to bringing new people into your practice, Celi Rivas from Ads Like a Pro says Google ads are key. “On social media, you’re competing against all the other attention and things that users are scrolling through on their phone. Whereas with Google, they have your full attention. They have a problem, and they need to find the solution.”
Google My Business is an important local SEO tool for clinicians. Kristin Nazzaro of MindThrive Digital, says, “Since the algorithm is a lot newer, it’s usually much easier to rank, especially if you’re in a smaller city.” Fill in every piece of information on your Google My Business profile for local keywords, like “family therapist in Houston.”
Once you’ve done that, use those local keywords as often as you can on pages of your website. “Optimizing your service pages for town-specific keywords are going to do a lot better than general keywords like anxiety treatment.”
Don’t forget about email for clinician marketing in 2023
With all the changes in social media, including decreased engagement on Facebook, email is more important than ever for clinician marketing in 2022. Lib Aubochen, who helps entrepreneurs with email marketing expects to see three email trends continue into 2023:
Segmenting your audience so that you’re delivering the right message to the right people.
Automation will continue to be a real game changer, especially for busy clinicians who often have an audience of different ages and stages.
Design has evolved so much, and what tends to work now is stripping things down ditching outdated, traditional templates.
Finally, Claire Blakey, MA, LMFT, PMH-C from The Flourishing Therapreneur recommends that whatever clinician marketing in 2022 you focus on for your practice or healthcare business, you’ll be most successful if it aligns with your professional goals. “The biggest advice I have for clinicians wanting to improve their marketing in 2023 is to connect with themselves first before they connect with their audience. The better aligned with our values we are as business owners, the more effective we are at identifying what marketing outlets resonate. This attracts the clients we want and helps prevent burnout.”
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