The Importance of Marketing Automation in Healthcare Practices

Marketing automation may not be the solution to every marketing problem, but it is an amazing tool when it comes to growing your healthcare practice. Using technology to automate, streamline, and measure marketing tasks is the quickest and most efficient way to attract new patients. Pairing that technology with an effective marketing strategy increases the return on investment (ROI).

With 80 percent of Americans using the Internet to research health-related information and 40 percent visiting physician review websites, traditional online marketing tactics are no longer adequate. Healthcare providers must commit to running patient-centric practices that not only attract new clients but also nurture them once they are on board.

Benefits of Marketing Automation

If the concept of marketing automation is new, your practice may not yet be sold on its advantages. There are numerous benefits our firm sees when healthcare practices commit to a strategy that incorporates marketing automation.

1. Time-saving factor

Marketing automation allows healthcare practices to schedule marketing campaigns in advance so they can move on to the business of running their offices and focusing on their patients. Scheduling content ahead of time, and automatically collecting and storing data for use later, means fewer employees to manage these tasks, saving money as well as time.

2. Target audience insights

One of the biggest pros is the ability to gain insight into your target audience. Identify which marketing methods produce the biggest return on the investment – social media, email, digital campaigns – and allocate time and resources to those strategies.

3. Multi-channel management

Speaking of social media and emails, using marketing automation allows for the easy management of multiple channels simultaneously. Given the number of social media platforms, trying to operate each individually is time-consuming and tedious and increases the risk of becoming disorganized in your messaging.

4. Consistent Messaging

Efficiently and regularly connecting with existing and prospective patients while maintaining consistent messaging is important. Automating email marketing is the best way to stay on brand while building a patient-centric practice.

5. Personalization

Part of remaining patient-centric is tailoring the experience to each patient’s unique personality. Prospective and current patients who feel connected to your medical practice are more likely to continue using your services and also recommending it to others. Instead of sending out blanket information to all patients, automation allows for the personalization and customization of information provided. Regularly sharing useful and pertinent healthcare information and news with patients is a great way to establish your practice as the go-to source for healthcare services.

Implementing Marketing Automation

Any good marketing automation program begins and ends with the collection and maintenance of quality data. Without it, healthcare practices are limiting themselves in their ability to personalize the messaging and provide a truly patient-centric experience. Testing, tracking, and analyzing data from each campaign via automated processes allows healthcare organizations to easily determine the effectiveness and whether tweaking is necessary to improve the ROI.

Taking the Next Steps

Patient scheduling and appointment reminders, email marketing campaigns, social media marketing, blogging, and online advertisements all can be automated to save your practice time and money. Our agency specializes in providing marketing automation services. Reach out to us today to learn how we can help your healthcare practice enjoy the many benefits of automation.