How To Market Your Telehealth Business
How To Market Your Telehealth Service
It doesn’t matter how good your online consultation process is, if you don’t know how to market your telehealth business, you will struggle to get patients through the virtual door.
Branding and marketing are therefore some of the most crucial components to any successful digital health practice.
From logos to content creation, from product development to social media, there are many factors to consider in developing a telehealth marketing plan.
If you already run a successful bricks and mortar practice, it may simply be a case of shifting the focus of your marketing efforts to your online service.
If you are starting your digital practice from scratch, there will be more things to consider, from logo design through to constructing your website.
This post will give you an overview of the areas of marketing to consider.
Your Branding
Brand Essence
Whether your online practice is new, or established but in need of a refresh, branding is a great place to start.
It is important to identify the ‘personality’ of your brand.
Known as your ‘Brand Essence’, this is a short sentence or group of words that covey how people should feel when they interact with your business.
There are processes you can use to identify the right brand essence for your telehealth business, and this will dictate your choice of colours, logo design, choice of imagery and even the language you use.
Website
Your website is clearly a crucial component of your telehealth service.
It is your ‘virtual shopfront’.
It is essential that the website is easy to use and navigate for your potential patient.
They need to be very clear on who you are, what you specialise in, and how to initiate a consultation.
It is also important that the website is easy for you or your team to edit and update.
Adding blog posts and videos, updating pricing and introducing new products and services can be done with minimal fuss if the website is on the right platform and set up well for you from the outset.
Your Content
Images
With consumers being drawn to visual content these days, it is important to form a bank of images that appropriately conveys your brand essence and reflects your target audience.
A combination of your own photos, professional photography and stock photos is ideal.
For maximum effect, make sure you use the right type of photo for the right platform.
Blogs
Blogging can take quite a bit of your time and energy, so be sure to make it count.
Be clear on your aim for each post, and use the right post framework for maximum SEO benefit.
Be sure to make it reader friendly so that it compels your target audience to learn and take action for their health.
Videos
Video content currently gets the most traction online. Period.
If you want to appeal to your target audience, they need to get to know you, your knowledge and your business through video.
Great quality video content can be easily made with a tiny budget.
With a few key pieces of equipment and your smart phone, you can be a producer in no time.
Media
There is no need to spend excessive amounts of cash on ads in mainstream media.
Fortunately, many journalists find the topic of telehealth quite interesting, so with the right approach, you can be featured via stories in the media without having to pay a cent.
Your Products
Having your main online service advertised on your website may not be enough for people to feel comfortable to buy.
Consumer science shows that people often need multiple interactions or ‘touch points’ with your business before they are confident to part with cash.
Over time it will be good to develop a range of products that fall into 3 main groups:
1) Gifts – items that provide value for the person, with no expectation of anything in return. This will include a lot of your blog and video content, but may also include podcasts, infographics or booklets.
2) Products to exchange for contact details – These are generally information-based products that provide a bit more substantial value, meaning that a person is happy to give you their contact details in return. This then enables you to keep in touch with the potential patient and nurture the relationship.
3) Paid Products – these are products that compel your patient to use their credit card and buy from you. Examples include online courses, fitness programs or physical products.
Your Marketing
I think we all have a case of ‘Newsletter fatigue’ these days.
This is as a result of spammy emails that sell, sell, sell.
Email marketing can still be very effective, however, when coming from a place of providing value, earning trust and offering appropriate solutions.
Emailing your list to offer them the blog and video content you have created is a great place to start.
Social Media
No marketing conversation is complete without discussing the beast that is social media.
More than ever before, people buy from people.
The best way to humanize your brand is through social media.
The thing that makes you different from every other telehealth practitioner out there is…YOU.
However, be warned. Social media can suck a heap of your time with minimal results if you don’t create a plan to direct your efforts.
Your Team
Procedures
A business is only as strong as its systems and processes.
As marketing grows demand for your telehealth service, you may add more therapists to your team.
You may also need to outsource administrative tasks and aspects of your social media execution.
All aspects of team growth are much easier if your processes are recorded.
Ensure that the right people can access the right information and checklists to do their job.
With written processes in place, answering the same questions over and over, or dealing with mistakes will no longer drain your time.
When people set up an online consultation business, they think that their main challenges will be picking the right video software and using the technology.
In reality, it is often the marketing of their service that determines if they are successful or not.
Hopefully this has helped you to brainstorm the ways that you can market and grow your telehealth business.
You might find it helpful to complete this online digital checklist:
It will guide you through the ideas listed in this post to ascertain areas for improvement within marketing your digital practice.