A specialist practice usually has two sources of patients and they behave nothing alike. Some specialties are chosen by patients directly, and that is ordinary consumer healthcare marketing. Others receive most of their volume from referring physicians, and reaching those referrers is a professional relationship problem that consumer marketing does not touch. Buying the wrong one is the most expensive mistake in this category and it is made routinely.
Work out where your patients actually come from
Pull the last two hundred new patients and count how many arrived by referral, by insurance directory, by search and by word of mouth. Most practices believe they know and are wrong in at least one direction. That single count decides whether you should be buying consumer marketing at all, and it takes an afternoon of somebody's time in the practice management system.
Referrer marketing is relationships with a website behind it
Referring physicians send patients to people they trust, and what supports that is easy referral mechanics, fast communication back about the patient, and a page that tells a colleague what you do, what you do not, and how to refer. It is not advertising. The website's job is to make you credible and easy to work with when a colleague checks, and almost no practice writes that page.
Insurance participation is a bigger filter than anything you publish
For a large share of patients the first question is whether you take their plan, and getting that wrong wastes every click. Publish which plans you accept, keep it current, and make sure the insurers' own directories have you listed correctly, because those directories send more patients to most practices than any marketing channel and are usually out of date.
The named physician matters more than the practice brand
Patients search for and check individual doctors. Each physician needs a real profile page with credentials, training, what they treat, and something that reads like a person rather than a directory entry, and those profiles should be kept accurate on the third-party sites that also carry them. This is the most-read material on most practice websites and it is usually the thinnest.
The constraints are healthcare's, in full
Tracking on patient-facing pages, responses to reviews that must not confirm somebody is a patient, consent for testimonials and imagery, and claims about outcomes all carry the healthcare rules. A marketing company that treats a physician practice as a local business with a higher budget will eventually produce something that has to be withdrawn.
Questions people ask about physician marketing companies
Should a specialist practice market to patients or to referrers?
Whichever actually supplies your patients, which most practices have not counted. Pull the last two hundred new patients and see. The two require entirely different work and buying the wrong one is the common expensive error.
What does referrer marketing consist of?
Easy referral mechanics, prompt communication back about the patient, and a page written for a colleague explaining what you do, what you do not, and how to refer. It is relationship work with a credible website behind it.
Do insurance directories matter?
More than most marketing channels, and they are frequently out of date. Publishing accepted plans on your own site and correcting the insurers' listings is often the highest-return hour available.
Should each physician have their own page?
Yes. Patients search for individual doctors and check them on third-party sites. Those profiles are the most-read pages on most practice websites and are usually the least considered.