Marketing Questions to Ask Yourself When Promoting Your Healthcare Business

3 doctors in discussion
Table of Contents

As a healthcare marketing consultant with over 15 years of experience helping medical practices, clinics, and healthcare technology companies grow, I’ve learned to ask myself some key questions when developing marketing plans. Keeping these simple but critical questions in mind helps ensure my clients’ marketing efforts align with their business goals and resonate with their target audience.

In this article, I’ll share the top marketing questions I regularly revisit when working with healthcare clients on their promotional campaigns and content strategies. Whether you run a private practice, clinic, home health agency, or other healthcare venture, you can use these questions as a litmus test to keep your marketing focused.

Defining Your Target Audience

Who exactly are you trying to reach? This is marketing question number one. Your messages will seem fragmented and disjointed without a clear target audience definition.

Start by asking yourself:

  • Who needs my services?
  • What health conditions or concerns do they have?
  • What is their age range and gender?
  • Where do they live?
  • What is their average income level?

Really dig into the demographic and psychographic profile of the people you most want to help. Create an ideal patient or customer avatar that captures their hopes, fears, and desires related to their health.

Knowing your target audience inside and out will allow you to craft marketing content that resonates. You’ll understand what messaging and tone will appeal to them.

Clarifying Your Value Proposition

Once you know who you want to reach, the next question is, what do you want them to know? What makes your healthcare business or services unique and worth their time and money?

Some key sub-questions here include:

  • What core value do I provide?
  • How does my offering improve health outcomes?
  • What problems or pain points does my business solve?
  • Why should customers choose me over competitors?

Craft a clear value proposition statement summarizing what your company does, why it matters, and what makes it different. This will give you a North Star to reference as you create campaigns, social media posts, and website copy.

A full guide to designing a medical website

Choose Channels That Reach Your Audience

There are endless marketing channels today – Google ads, social media platforms, email, events, TV, podcasts, billboards, and more. It can be overwhelming to know where to focus.

To prune down options, dig into questions like:

  • Where does my target audience spend time online?
  • What social media platforms and blogs do they frequent?
  • Do they listen to health podcasts or read wellness magazines?
  • How do they search for local healthcare providers?

List the top 5-10 digital and offline channels where your audience is most active. Then, develop campaigns tailored for each channel, leveraging the unique features of each. For example, a LinkedIn ad can be more text-heavy, while an Instagram story should be visual and succinct.

25 New Ways of Finding New Patients

Defining Your Goals

Healthcare marketing campaigns should always tie back to business goals. Clearly define what you hope to achieve as you plan content and activities.

Ask questions like:

  • Do I want to increase new patient bookings by 25% this quarter?
  • Is my goal to grow my email list to 10,000 subscribers in 6 months?
  • Am I hoping for a 20% boost in revenue from cosmetic services?

Whatever the objectives – more leads, higher sales, greater brand awareness – be as specific as possible with the targets you want to hit. This will allow you to track progress and return on investment from marketing efforts.

Table – Types of Healthcare Marketing Goals

Driving Leads/Bookings Raising Brand Awareness Growing Email Lists

  • Boost consultation requests
  • Increase call volume
  • Drive online appointment bookings
  • Get your name out in the community
  • Improve reputation
  • Increase social media followers
  • Offer lead magnets/freebies
  • Promote newsletter sign-ups
  • Incentivize email capture

Table explaining an example of setting goals and planing for them

GoalTacticsMetricsTools
Driving Leads/BookingsBoost consultation requests – Paid search ads – Landing pagesLead form submissions – Call tracking dataGoogle Ads – Unbounce pages
Driving Leads/BookingsIncrease call volume – Local SEO optimization – Targeted pay-per-call adsCall analytics – Keyword rankingsCallRail – SEMrush
Driving Leads/BookingsDrive online appointment bookings – Email campaigns – Social media adsOnline bookings – Click-through-ratesCalendly – Facebook Ads
Raising Brand AwarenessGet your name out in the community – Sponsor local events – Networking groupsMentions and press – Referral trafficLocal newspapers – Meetup.com
Raising Brand AwarenessImprove reputation – Patient reviews – Thought leadership contentOnline ratings – Domain authorityYelp – Blogging
Raising Brand AwarenessIncrease social media followers – Paid ads – Engaging contentFollower growth – Engagement rateFacebook Ads – Buffer
Growing Email ListsOffer lead magnets/freebies – Coupons – Free consultationEmail signups – Lead magnet downloadsMailchimp – Landing pages
Growing Email ListsPromote newsletter signups – Website popups – Email call-to-actionsNewsletter subscribers – Open ratesConvertKit – Drip campaigns
Growing Email ListsIncentivize email capture – Contests and giveaways – Discount codesEmail submission rate – Cost per leadRafflecopter – Promo plugins

Measuring and Monitoring Results

As you execute campaigns across channels, collect data to see what’s working and what’s not. Revisit questions like:

  • How many new patient inquiries did this month’s social media ads generate?
  • What blog content is driving the most traffic to my website?
  • Is my email open rate higher or lower than industry benchmarks?

Regularly evaluate your marketing analytics and key performance indicators (KPIs). Don’t just set it and forget it. Be prepared to shift resources and budgets towards high-performing channels.

Pro Tip: Use UTM parameters to track website traffic sources. Shorten links with campaign tags to see which channels convert.

Fine Tuning Your Messaging

Pay attention to patient feedback and online reviews to spot gaps or opportunities in your messaging. Ask yourself:

  • What are the most common questions prospective patients have?
  • What concerns or objections often come up?
  • Are there certain service offerings I should highlight more?

Keep a running list of FAQs and talking points to work into your campaigns. Address unanswered questions and speak to recurring pain points your audience has.

The healthcare marketing questions above are just a starting point for strategically promoting your business. But consistently revisiting questions about your target audience, competitive differentiators, goal-setting, and performance tracking will keep your marketing focused in the right direction. Avoid generic, spray-and-pray marketing by really honing in on what your specific audience cares about and where they spend time.

Remember – sound marketing stems from a place of empathy and understanding your customers’ needs. Put yourself in their shoes, ask smart questions, and let the answers guide your healthcare content strategy and promotional mix. This will ensure the time and money invested into marketing pays off in the form of more patients, greater visibility, and stronger business growth.

Want more patients?

We've provided thousands of patient our clients websites. Why don't you join these successful doctors?
3 doctors in discussion
Table of Contents

Want more patients?

We've provided thousands of patient our clients websites. Why don't you join these successful doctors?

O360 Voted Best for DESIGN

o360.com is ranking on the top of the page on Google for over 25 dental and medical specialties.

Join our email list to receive the latest marketing tips and tricks as well as dental product reviews. No Spam.

Latest Blog Posts

Photo of Professional Man with Glasses

Top 4 men’s health websites

Several popular medical websites specifically focus on men’s health, including: 1. Mayo Clinic Men’s Health As guys, we often don’t prioritize our health like we should. But the Mayo Clinic’s men’s health site makes it

#1 Veterinary Website Design Guide

You may be the best vet in the town, but how do you expect a potential client to know that? Yes, if they had met you or had a chance to see how skilled you

A beautiful perfect smile

7 Best Cosmetic Dentistry Websites of the Year

In cosmetic dentistry, your website should be the immediate resource they need to correct their teeth and bring out their beautiful smile. While looks are always subjective, having a cosmetic touch to your services should

Bring-Site-To-Life-OptometryFive-Star-ReviewsCall-To-Action

Optometry Website. What you need to see.

An effective website is an important part of every internet marketing campaign. Your website is often the first exposure people will have to your brand and personality. With that in mind, it’s important that your

Everything We Know About Google’s SEO Algorithm Update

Launching in June 2021, Google is updating its Search Engine Optimization (SEO) algorithm to include a metric called ‘Page Experience’, which may impact your dental website’s ranking. Page experience will measure how patients perceive the