For dentists who are struggling with patient retention, digital marketing is your calling. The dental industry is projected to be worth $36.8 billion this year. To have a fair share in this projection, dentists need to take the first step towards social media marketing.

For a very long time, dentists have been dependent on word of mouth for marketing. This practice has helped many dentists establish good practice. However, with people using the internet as their source of information, dentists need to start building a social media presence.

Why is Social Media Marketing important for Dentists?

With more people moving online, potential patients are accustomed to seeking out information on the internet for their needs. While referrals will always be a means to attract new patients, having a good balance between traditional and digital marketing will help dentists gain a competitive edge.

There is no doubt that dentists are in a bit of a different stance when it comes to the medical fraternity. They need to keep reiterating to their patients that what they are doing is important and something patients need.

People are aware that they need to visit a dentist to get their teeth and gums checked, but people get complacent when it comes to paying a visit. One of the biggest challenges faced by dentists is to remind their patients to schedule their appointment.

How can Social Media play to a Dentist’s advantage?

Social Media Marketing can help build trust in the eyes of patients. Letting your patients know that they are in safe hands will help remove the stigma around the dental visits. Social Media is a great way to learn what your patient’s fears are and how you can help them get over their fears.

Using humor, fun, and relatable content can make it interesting for your patients to look forward to seeing you. Dentists can build a personality for themselves, which is beyond their dental practice.

Here are some key advantages that can play to dentist’s social media marketing:

Ideal for Attracting New Patients

Healthcare decisions are never taken in haste. People always want the best medical services when it comes to their health. For the same reason, a lot of people use search engines and social media to find doctors. Various things can help dentists attract a new patient like positive google reviews, social media presence, etc. Suppose a dentist is active on social media and always interacts with his/her audience. In that case, there is a high chance that he/she will be considered more credible compared to any other option that doesn’t have a digital presence at all.

Better Patient-Doctor Relationships

Many people avoid going to the dentist for different reasons. Some people are scared, and some people don’t think it’s important. For this gap between prospects being scary and complacent, social marketing can do wonders. Social Media gives dentists a chance to build healthier relationships with their patients. Using Social Media channels to show customer journeys, testimonials, behind the scenes, and the successful results of dental treatment can demonstrate to your prospects that your practice and knowledge are worth it for them. Dentists can also leverage Social Media to spread information, educate patients through blogs, short videos, posts, etc.

Less Expensive than Traditional Marketing

Social Media Marketing is comparatively much cheaper than traditional marketing. In Social Media marketing, it is possible to single out the target audience easily and only advertise to them. Other than this, dentists can go the organic route and produce content that can attract patients without advertising. Even if a dentist wants to advertise, setting budgets is much simpler. The approach can be changed, and campaigns can be stopped or extended whenever needed.

Easy to Measure Real-Time Results

Digital Marketing is very easy to monitor. Through statistics, it is possible to understand what content is working and what is not. With audience insights in digital marketing, Dentists can take corrective measures and leverage what works for their audience to their advantage. Whereas in the case of Traditional Marketing, the ad is directed not only to your target audience but also to others. Along with this, in traditional marketing, there is no way to tell how many people see the ad.

As more and more people get easy access to the internet, digital marketing will replace traditional marketing to a large extent. For professionals who have their expertise in a niche market, digital marketing is the way for them to go ahead.

As a healthcare professional, did you know that your medical practice or clinic could use Public Relations? 

Most people think of Public Relations as a mere cover-up for wrongdoings. However, ethical public relation practices are very different from these preconceived notions about PR. 

Due to certain incidents, many people outside of organisations have stopped believing in public relations. Still, most campaigns or ads that we see around us are a part of public relations. 

Public Relations is about sharing the right facts and information to the right people at the right time. Even though Public Relations can immensely help organisations build their reputation, its role extends beyond the brand building. 

Public Relations helps to craft effective marketing strategies that can help your organisation in more ways than you can think of. 

An important part of Public Relations is Crisis Management. 

What is Crisis Management? 

Crisis Management is how an organisation deals with unexpected events that may disturb or threaten the organisation or its stakeholders. It involves dealing with the crisis effectively to minimise damage and help the organisation recover quickly. 

What is the role of Crisis Management in Healthcare? 

Most of the Public Relations activity in Healthcare involves Crisis Management. For managing crisis in healthcare, risk managers ensure that a plan of action is always available to respond to a crisis. In an industry like healthcare, the top priority of all public relations activity is patients’ well-being. 

Crisis Management for Hospitals in the age of Covid19 

Ever since the pandemic hit the world, the hospitals were under immense pressure. Many issues needed to be answered for the medical care to move past it. It was very evident during the initial days that no hospital in any country around the world was ready for this kind of management. On top of all this, the added pressure of media channels, social media and individuals sharing incidents and experiences online made it all the worse for hospitals to do their job in peace. 

Through this entire experience of running a hospital in the age of Covid19, we have curated the best ways to manage a crisis: 

• Staying abreast with the Government’s changing guidelines or any other government-affiliated body which is giving out the instructions. 
• Maintaining proper humongous data about the patients like the number of positive cases, clinical manifestations, recovered patients and death in an organised manner.
• Using the medical equipment and medical kits rationally in case of shortage.
• Building the directory to keep information about the patient’s health accessible to his guardian and family at all times to prevent unnecessary crowding at the hospital.
• Calculating the surge capacity so that the medical service can be extended beyond the normal capacity so that hospitals can attend those in need with caution. 
• Creating protocols for patient flows so that the staff is aware of all the guidelines for patient management. 
• Managing the supplies, pharmacy supplies etc. so that there is never a shortage. 
• Maintaining all laboratory services for clinical management of all kinds of patients.

Prolonged outbreaks like Covid19 can lead to the spread of the virus rapidly. This sudden spike in the number of people infected leads to an increased demand for hospitals that can overwhelm the health system at large. 

Prompt action on the part of hospitals, doctors, staff, and the regulatory bodies is important to contain the further spread of the prevailing virus or disease. 

Wikipedia went online in 2001. Since then, it has grown tremendously. By offering a library of information, Wikipedia is the first stop for many in the world who are searching for answers to their questions. 

Earlier this year, Wikipedia asked its users for donations to keep the site running. This left many users confused and puzzled. The truth is, unlike most other websites on the internet, Wikipedia is one of the only few free websites that offers knowledge at zero cost. 

Being the eighth most popular website on the internet today, Wikipedia uses volunteer contributors, editors, and engineers to keep its operations running and be available to users across the world for free. 

Over the years, with the help of fundraising campaigns and corporate funding, Wikipedia stayed afloat. But with the increasing number of users relying on Wikipedia as their source of information, it needed to keep its content updated and relevant for its readers. 

Now, why should a business have a Wikipedia page? 

Wikipedia is one of the most popular websites. It is also considered a high-authority site as Google’s knowledge graph sources most of its information from Wikipedia. Having a page for your business on Wikipedia improves credibility, reputation and helps you raise your status on the web. 

Wikipedia can help businesses with attracting customers and generating leads. For a business to create a Wikipedia page, it must be notable. The business should have some products or services that are well known. Wikipedia guidelines include all the details relating to the same. 

Sometimes, Wikipedia editors can merge pages of small businesses that are not-so-notable with existing articles instead of allowing a separate page for such businesses. 

Few things to keep in mind while preparing a Wikipedia page are citation and showcasing your business’ achievements. If your business or your company’s product or service has been mentioned in media sites, articles on popular sites, and press releases, adding their citations can help your business’ page. Mentioning awards won on the Wikipedia page can also play to your business’ advantage. 

Always keep in mind that creating a Wikipedia page can take time. Always remember to follow the guidelines mentioned by Wikipedia for page creation and play by these rules. Once the page has been submitted, continue looking for the editor’s comments and update your page. 

There is often discussion around the future of digital marketing in India. Is it bright or is it dark? The pandemic has forced all of us to change in some way or the other, but one thing that remains common is the internet. Through the beginning of the lockdown, the consumption of the internet has increased tremendously.

Today, over a billion people are using the internet. With easy and cheap availability of data along with affordable smartphones, people’s dependence on the internet has increased tremendously.

Businesses are shifting to the online space for the huge number of opportunities it offers. It is much easier for businesses to engage with their target audience and generate revenue.

Here are a few reasons why the future is in favour of Digital Marketing:

Increased number of internet users:

When we talk about the increased number of internet users, we must remember that this term includes consumers as well as sellers. Most people who preferred to shop offline have now shifted to online shopping due to circumstances. There is a high chance that the convenience offered in online shopping will make them permanently switch to it. Businesses, too, find the online space more beneficial as they require lesser manpower and everything is possible in the click of a button.

New businesses are going digital:

In the last couple of years, the online space has provided opportunities to so many businesses. Many of the new businesses are solely working through the internet and doing well for themselves. The platform has helped so many businesses market and promote their product to the right target audience without the need for any additional manpower or physical presence. Digital marketing is highly economical as even the businesses with a small budget can reach out to a large number of people.

Digital Marketing Courses:

With the increased application of digital marketing today, many of India’s top institutes have started offering digital marketing courses. These courses range from specialisation in one topic to an overall understanding of digital marketing. With everyone working remotely these days, a lot of these courses are fully online. Digital marketing courses are a plus factor as they help to accelerate the career of those interested in entering the field of digital marketing.

Affordable and Accessible Internet:

Ever since the internet in India became extremely cheap, there was a big boom in the digital marketing industry. As the number of internet users kept increasing, so did their business activity. Cheap data prices helped in making the internet accessible to the smallest parts of India. This served as an opportunity for businesses and consumers. It became very easy for everyone to stay connected.

Digital India Initiative by the Government of India:

The Digital India initiative by the Modi-led Government ensured that the Government’s services were easily available to citizens. The mission was started in 2015 and focussed on improving the online infrastructure and improving internet connectivity thus making India empowered in the field of technology. The initiative has been highly successful through its initiatives like Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile initiative that provided digital identity as well as access to the banking system to millions of Indians.

In all, Digital Marketing has a bright future in India. With an increasing number of internet users with each passing day, we can be positive that the future of marketing is going digital.

Interns. A much talked about topic among students in college. Each year, millions of students try to get internships, to add some valuable experience towards their desired career. 

In this race of getting the best internship offer, students apply to various companies across different industries. Many big companies also take advantage of this situation to get their work done for free in return for a certificate. 

Whether this is ethical or not, is still up for debate! 

Learning is a lifelong process. It doesn’t have an endpoint and it doesn’t have an age bar. 

In our country, many seniors take retirement or have to succumb to it once they hit their 60s. To let their “experience never go out of fashion,” as mentioned in the movie- The Intern, we decided to help middle-aged professionals get back on their career track. 

We know that hiring middle-aged professionals is not a new concept but in a run get a job post-retirement, many of these professionals are forced to take up unpaid positions. Undoubtedly, an unpaid position is the last thing, someone with an established portfolio needs. 

To make a change in this back-dated concept of unpaid internships, we recently hired Mr. Govind Kumar Bagdia for a full-time paid offer.

Mr. Govind Kumar Bagdia is 64-years old and retired only last year after contributing 40+ years of his life to the corporate world. Despite being from a well-to-do family, his passion for learning and mentoring didn’t retire with his job. 

When we came across his profile, we knew we had to bring him on-board for the great asset that he was. Within a few days, he happily accepted our offer. 

Irrespective of our professional experiences, we know that both sides have a lot to offer and a lot to learn. We are extremely excited for the future and for all the progress we will make together as a team. 

Welcome, on-board Mr. Govind Kumar Bagdia!

For healthcare to grow sustainably, marketing healthcare services is necessary. Due to the internet revolution, the way prospects function has changed completely, not to forget the increase in competition. There was a time when referrals were considered one of the best ways for healthcare organisations, hospitals and private practitioners to acquire new patients. However, this doesn’t hold completely true today. In the olden days, people didn’t have easy access to the internet and nor did they have the sources. Now, with a boom in easy availability of the internet, extended lines of credit etc have changed the way healthcare industry works. 

People now prefer to make their own decisions. Some of them still do consider advice from friends and family but most prefer to go to search engines to find options that are best suited for them. To ensure an influx of new patients, it’s important to take advantage of the digital platform with the help of healthcare marketing consultants. 

The Healthcare Industry is fast-paced. It changes quickly but is still centred around quality. Each field of healthcare has cut-throat competition as the same services are provided by multiple healthcare providers. With the help of right healthcare marketing consultants, any organisation, hospital or private practitioner can differentiate itself from its competitors. 

A well-planned marketing strategy by healthcare marketing consultants can help in setting a channel of communication for your patients. This can help to drive interest and build trust. Healthcare marketing consultants can help your healthcare organisation in more ways than you can imagine. They can help to improve your patient connections, build lasting patient-doctor relationships and influx new patients. All healthcare marketing consultants believe that the first step to acquiring a new patient is by building a lasting relationship that is based on trust and transparency. 

With the help of right healthcare marketing consultants, your current and potential patients can receive high-quality care. This can be done by building a user-friendly website to help your potential patients to know about the services you offer, making social media pages to provide useful insights and engage with your current & future patients as well as sending personalised messages and emails to build lasting patient-relationships. 

Branding Pioneers are leading healthcare marketing consultants, based out of Gurgaon. Over four years, we have helped over 80 healthcare organisations, hospitals and doctors generate thousands of patient leads and establish their presence online. In our capacity as healthcare marketing consultants, we help healthcare organisations, hospitals and doctors with branding, digital marketing, website designing and a lot more. We have worked with some of the best hospitals like Rosewalk Hospital, Delhi, Aashlok Hospital, Delhi and ClearMedi Healthcare and collaborated with some of the most experienced doctors in the country. If you belong to the healthcare industry and are looking to partner with healthcare marketing consultants  to build a presence online, reach out to us on [email protected] 

At a time when the demand for healthcare is at its peak, marketing health services is very important for healthcare organisations and doctors. When it comes to marketing health services, it is very similar to the way how marketing is done in other industries and organisations. 

Principles of marketing health services are needed to put your health organisation where it most deserves to be. The main aspect of marketing that is at its peak is digital marketing. Marketing health services by using the digital platform can help health organisations, hospitals and private practice segments build a bigger name for themselves as well as gather a larger patient base. 

Every day millions of people search the internet in the need of finding quality health care services. Marketing health services is something that needs to be approached differently in some aspects. Here are a few reasons why a hospital, or a healthcare organisation or a doctor needs to give marketing health services a thought:

Healthcare as a profession relies on reputation and practice:

Healthcare is a competitive field. There is no other industry where competition is to this extent. There are only a few doctors who can take advantage of the traditional household referral system. Healthcare providers cannot and should not rely on the referral system. When it comes to marketing health services, it is always better to acquire patients through a primary source. Most healthcare professionals don’t realise how the strategies of digital marketing health services can help to build a reputation and acquire patients. 

Most healthcare practitioners don’t have any prior business training:

Those who practice healthcare as professionals usually have no business training or any prior experience for the same. Due to this, most of them cannot leverage the advantage of marketing health services to their advantage. Applying the trial and error approach may not always work. Building a presence online by marketing health services can help in exposure as well as acquire a new patient segment. 

Below are some tips for marketing health services through the digital medium: 

Plan your marketing health services strategy: Whether you are a healthcare organisation or a hospital or a private practitioner, all you are trying to do in the end is marketing health services. Although there are the age-old referral system and worth of mouth, the growth will be very slow. To ensure that you are catering to the needs of potential patients, marketing health services through a planned strategy is crucial to your success. This can be done by basic auditing of your health services and all that you can offer to your patients. 

User-friendly website: If you are a service provider, having a website is a must, irrespective of the industry you are in. The first step to search for service or product is by visiting a search engine. Having a website that highlights you and your services can help you in gaining new potential patients. To appear on the top of the search result while marketing health services, it should be kept in mind that the website is user friendly and easy to navigate. The website should also be mobile responsive as most people use smartphones for searches. 

The first step to start your journey on the digital platform is through a website. Every business should and must have a website marketing strategy. The world we live in today is very fast-paced. The internet has changed the dynamics of how businesses conduct themselves. Consumers now prefer to engage with the brands online before they decide to purchase. No purchase is done without heading to the search engines to get information about the products and services. 

The same applies to medical websites. Healthcare is a competitive field where all doctors, hospitals and healthcare organisations are trying to grab as many patients as possible. Potential consumers who are looking up medical services online conduct thorough research before choosing a doctor or a hospital as no one wants to compromise on anything when it comes to their health. Therefore, an integrated medical website marketing strategy is very important. 

If you don’t have an effective strategy for medical website marketing and SEO, you are missing out on more than you can imagine. In this day and age, your website should be good enough for attracting, engaging as well as converting leads into patients. Below are some ways to make your medical website marketing strategy better: 

Website Analysis: An effective and important step for medical website marketing is website analysis. Auditing your current website can help you under where you are missing out and what are your strong points. User experience is of key importance when it comes to site design. The website should be easy to navigate with a sitemap so that visitors have no problem in accessing pages they are looking for. Another important thing for medical website marketing is to ensure that content is fresh, easy to read and useful to your visitors. The website should also be mobile-friendly. There are various free tools available on the internet for website auditing. 

Search Engine Optimisation: Another important step for medical website marketing is Search Engine Optimisation. Your website should be optimised for SEO. After identifying key areas of opportunity from website audit, optimise your website for all search engines. SEO is done to make your content and design look more attractive to the search engines’ algorithms. A successful medical website marketing strategy for SEO can help to rank your website better on Search Engine Results Page with the help of the right keywords and phrases.

Medical Content Marketing: Another principal aspect of medical website marketing strategy is content marketing. Creating valuable and useful content is no cakewalk. In every medical website marketing strategy, content plays a strong role in attracting your target audience and engaging with them. It can also serve as an effective medium to foster better relationships with your audience. Content for the website should be well-planned. It should be generated keeping in mind what the target audience is looking for. Before developing a medical website marketing strategy for content, make sure that the content is free of plagiarism and optimised for search engines. 

When planning a digital strategy, including content should be a must. Creating content is one of the toughest things to do but it is also the most effective when it comes to generating website traffic. Content is the language your business uses to interact with its potential customers. Good content can always speak for itself and keep your audience engaged. 

When it comes to marketing healthcare services, content marketing becomes all the more valuable. Healthcare content marketing is a strategic approach that focuses on sharing relevant, useful and consistent content that helps drive and stimulate interest around the products and services offered. 

Here are 5 important rules which every healthcare organisation keep in while planning healthcare content marketing: 

Segment your target audience: A very important aspect of healthcare content marketing is to segment your target audience according to the medical services you offer. This segmentation of your target for healthcare digital marketing will ensure that your content is tailor-made and matches what your potential customers’ search. Focussing on your target audience will help you understand better about what interests them. 

Include Real Patient Stories: In the healthcare industry, if there is something that resonates with your target audience, it is the actual patient stories. Real-life patient stories for healthcare content marketing is one of the best strategies to add a human element to your content. In healthcare content marketing, your audience will always enjoy reading about the case studies of actual patients. This type of healthcare content marketing is not only easily understood but also promotes conversational tones. 

Don’t promote yourself as it defeats the purpose: Promoting yourself through healthcare content marketing may not work for your organisation. Healthcare content marketing helps to build a relationship with your audience. Your target audience reads your content because it is of value to them. They believe that the knowledge you are providing is unbiased. Promotion of your services through healthcare content marketing can negatively influence your audience’s perception of you and your services. If what you provide to your audience is reliable and convincing, there will be no need to hard-sell through healthcare content marketing. 

Be consistent to see results: For your healthcare content marketing to show real results, you have to be consistent. The benefits of healthcare content marketing will begin to develop over a period of time. It is not a short-term approach. Time allows your audience to grow in size and accept what you have to offer to them. This cannot be done overnight or within a few days. Nothing beats a good combination of consistency, reliability and authenticity when it comes to healthcare content marketing. 

Expand with time only what you can sustain: Healthcare content marketing is all about being consistent and posting regularly. Irrespective of the channels you use for healthcare content marketing, always offer what you can grow and sustain. Do one thing but do it well. In healthcare content marketing, quality always wins over quantity. Start small and keep growing along with your audience. This will not only help you in building credibility but also ensure that your content remains fresh and useful to your audience.