Features of medical marketing on the Internet

Yana YUTSKOVSKAYA, MD, professor, doctor of the highest category, owner of the Yu group of companies System , founder of the project “Professor Yutskovskaya’s School”, president of the Euro-Asian Association of Aesthetic Medicine Specialists, member of the board of directors of NADC, freelance expert of Roszdravnadzor of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, editor-in-chief of the magazine “Cosmetics and Medicine”, member of the editorial board of the magazine MJDR (Russia)

Angela GRODSKAYA, medical marketer, head of the YuConcept agency (Russia)

Why Instagram – this is not a panacea, but not everyone needs profiles on social networks? We invite you to discuss this topic with us.

Social networks are not only a business tool. Now this is a platform where specialists can carry out educational activities.

What does it mean? If previously doctors could fight myths in the minds of patients exclusively during personal consultations, now it is possible to do this using a blog on Instagram or any other social network.

We have a huge tool called the Internet, where our possibilities for “educating” patients are limitless and free. Educational activities have different forms, and everyone can choose the one that suits them:

• live broadcasts;
• informative posts;
• answers to subscriber questions;
• blogs on YouTube and much more.

We often underestimate the importance of these tools, but they can help us change the mindset of many people towards aesthetic medicine and make their views on it less stereotypical.

DOCTOR PROFILE ON INSTAGRAM

There probably aren’t any of us left who don’t have an Instagram profile. Someone has already managed to gain an audience of thousands and thereby provide themselves with a stable recording. And some people don’t move beyond the 400-500 subscriber mark, while regularly publishing posts.

Why is this happening? The main trend of all social networks is the demand for high-quality, unique content. This is what attracts users. However, its creation requires at least time and certain skills, and most often a whole team works on a popular Instagram page.

Obviously, a practicing doctor does not have time to fully work on his profile. Nevertheless, the desire to be on trend forces us to publish something every day. This does not bring in new patients, but takes up time. Is it worth continuing?

Yes! Definitely! After all, an Instagram profile today plays the role of a business card : on average, it takes us a minute to form an opinion about a person by looking at his page

Recently, patients are increasingly turning to social networks to gather more information about the doctor with whom they are planning to make an appointment. Even if the page is not actively maintained, if there are no obvious points on it that could repel the patient, the efforts are no longer in vain .

What a potential patient will pay attention to if they visit your profile:

• on the visual design of the page. Still, working in the field of aesthetic medicine imposes some kind of obligations. The profile should look so that it is pleasant to look at. And this is at least the absence of “screaming” colors, plus preferably the presence of a unified visual concept;
• on how the doctor communicates with subscribers : negativity, questions left unanswered, spam in comments - this is not something that can inspire trust in patients;
• on details : did the doctor wear gloves and a cap during the procedure, how clean is the office? This seems obvious, but during non-professional photography or video shooting, we do not always pay attention to such details. In such a situation, instructions/checklists will help, which prescribe the standards for the doctor’s appearance when he is photographed while working. You can always check yourself using them.

Thus, if there is no desire to become a doctor-blogger, and Instagram is not the main platform for attracting primary patients, then maintaining a profile as your business card is the best option.

Not only INSTAGRAM

Having only one communication channel in the form of Instagram is like going all-in at a casino. The thing is that no one can guarantee that one day this social network will not be blocked or your profile (your clinic) will not be deleted on it. Anything can happen. In order not to be cut off from the world, you need to have a “safety cushion” in the form of a website.

Advantages of the site:

• stability , because it belongs only to you;
• wide possibilities . On your website, no one will be able to limit you in the length of the video or the number of characters in the text. Only you decide;
• advanced statistics . Having a website, you can track such important parameters as the number of visitors, time spent on the site, where these visitors came from, and much more.

A properly organized website will also help quickly convey the necessary information to the patient and increase the likelihood of him making an appointment.

WHY DO NOT SALES FUNNELS, SALES LANDINGS, COLD CALLS ATTRACT PATIENTS?

At every specialized conference you can hear that medical marketing is very specific and marketing techniques from other areas do not work here. Is this really true?

The question is ambiguous, but the answer to it is more likely “yes” than “no”. After all, marketing in medicine is more about the trusting relationship that the doctor and clinic build with the patient. And what kind of trust can we talk about if we use such popular marketing tools as cold calls, sales funnels with an obvious structure and much more?

Marketing in medicine is in the details. Starting from photographs of doctors on the clinic’s website, the administrator’s voice on the phone, doctors’ smiles during a personal meeting, and ending with congratulations to patients on the holidays.

Marketing in medicine is about creating emotional connections that make patients want to return to the clinic, bring their family and friends there, and recommend you to their friends.

First published in "Les Nouvelles Esthétiques Ukraine" 6 (112) 2018