These 5 Trends Are Changing How Your Cosmetic Clinic Can Use Digital Marketing To Grow This Year
In today's day and age, digital marketing is an important part of the medical cosmetics industry and there are several trends that are shaping the way that professionals and organizations use digital marketing to promote their treatments to potential clients.
In this article we're diving deep into 5 important trends which are changing how your medical clinic can use digital marketing to grow this year, with valuable insights that will enable you to succeed.
1. Mobile-Optimized User Experience
It seems obvious, but it just can't go unmentioned. One of the main trends in digital marketing for the medical industry as a whole is the increasing use of mobile devices. More and more people are accessing the internet and social media via their smartphones, and this has created new opportunities for clinics to connect with potential clients. For example, many medical organizations are now using mobile-friendly websites and even mobile apps to provide information about their treatments and make it easy for clients to inquire about them.
While the wave of mobile device usage is already tiding high and mighty, there are 2 ways that we recommend for you to stay on top of the wave.
1. Mobile-Optimized Paid Media
Paid media marketing is vital for growing a cosmetic clinic business in a flexible, scalable and predictable way. By using paid media channels like search and social media in a way that is optimal for mobile devices (ie. using vertical video on social media or making sure that Google Ads copy is also optimized for mobile viewing), cosmetic clinics can reach more potential clients and promote their treatments in an effective and engaging way.
2. Responsive Design
Responsive design is an approach to web development that ensures a website is easy to use and looks great on any device, including smartphones, tablets and laptops. By using responsive design, cosmetic clinics can have a streamlined and easy-to-navigate website that provides a great user experience for their audience, regardless of which device they are using.
Having a great user experience on mobile devices maximizes the potential for website visitors to book appointments as a direct result, so the effort of redeveloping your website for responsiveness will pay for itself and provide dividends in the future.
It is important to note that, aside from having a streamlined and easy-to-navigate user experience, the security and privacy of websites should be prioritized by medical clinics. Due to matter of dealing with sensitive personal and medical information, medical clinics should ensure that their website is secure and compliant with HIPAA regulations. This means using secure servers, encrypted communications, and password-protected databases to protect patient information from unauthorized access.
2. Diversified Media Using diversified media is an important part of the digital marketing strategy for medical cosmetic clinics. By using a range of different media channels such as social media, email marketing, and content marketing, cosmetic clinics can reach more potential clients to promote their treatments.
So let's dive in and break it down by channel.
Content Marketing
For starters, content marketing is the process of creating and sharing valuable and relevant content with the goal of attracting and retaining clients. For cosmetic clinics, this might mean creating blog posts, videos or infographics that provide valuable information about cosmetic treatments. By providing useful and engaging content, medical clinics can build trust and credibility with their audience and attract more potential clients to their website.
While content marketing isn't new, the changing styles of content that garners the most attention from desired audiences and the delivery has changed quite a lot over the years.
Websites oftentimes provide interactive user experiences with video content being favoured by search engines, and social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are becoming an increasingly important part of the marketing mix due to the possibility of 'going viral' - and capturing a lot of attention at essentially no cost.
Social Media
One of the key ways that medical clinics can use diversified media to grow is by using social media. Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, provide a space for two-way communication, where medical clinics can engage with potential clients and provide valuable information about their services.
By using social media, cosmetic clinics can build trust and credibility with their audience, and showcase the positive feedback and reviews they have received from clients. However, organic social media efforts go hand-in-hand with paid social, which is a more effective way for cosmetic clinic businesses to scale.
As part of their diversified media strategy, cosmetic clinics can build a more authoritative brand, attract more potential clients and improve their online reputation and overall brand awareness by using social media more intentionally.
Email Marketing
In addition to social media, cosmetic clinics can also use email marketing as part of their diversified media strategy. Email marketing involves sending emails to a list of subscribers who have expressed an interest in the clinic's services. Cosmetic clinics use email marketing to provide valuable information to their subscribers, such as newsletters, blog posts, and special offers to generate recurring appointments and increase the lifetime value (LTV) of each of their clients.
Email marketing is important for cosmetic clinics so that their brand can stay top of mind. By using email marketing as part of their diversified media strategy, medical clinics can attract more potential clients inquiring about treatments and improve their chances of expanding their recurring clientele.
Paid Media
Paid media involves using advertising platforms, such as Google Ads and Meta Ads, to promote the cosmetic clinic's services to a wider audience in a flexible, scalable and predictable way. By using paid media, medical clinics can reach people who are not already familiar with their brand and can target their ads to specific audiences based on their demographics, interests, and behaviors.
By using paid media as part of their diversified media strategy, medical clinics can increase their reach and attract more potential clients to their website in an efficient way.
Public Relations
Finally, medical clinics can use public relations as part of their diversified media strategy. Public relations is the process of managing the relationship between a business and the public, and can involve activities such as media relations and event management.
By using public relations, medical clinics can build positive relationships with the media and showcase their services and expertise in a positive light.
By using a range of different media channels, such as social media, email marketing, content marketing, paid media, and public relations, medical clinics can reach more potential clients from various angles and maximize brand awareness and consideration, which translates into an expanded recurring clientele in the long-run.
3. Personalized Marketing ​ In addition to mobile device usage and diversified media, there is also a trend towards personalized marketing in the medical industry. With the help of data and technology, medical organizations can now create personalized marketing campaigns that are tailored to the interests and needs of individual clients. This can be especially useful in the cosmetic industry, where people often have specific concerns or goals related to their appearance.
There are several benefits to personalized marketing for cosmetic clinics:
Personalized marketing allows you to create messages that are more relevant to your audience, which increases the changes that they will take action (ie. book an appointment).
Higher conversion rates are usually the result of personalized marketing when compared to more generic marketing due to increased relevance.
With more relevancy and higher conversions, the takeaway is that an improved customer experience is the result of personalized marketing because people feel that businesses are taking the time to understand their preferences, and make them feel more valued.
The biggest benefit to personalized marketing is greater customer loyalty, resulting from stronger relationships with customers as they feel that clinics are going an extra mile to meet their needs.
Overall, personalized marketing can be an effective tool for cosmetic clinics looking to attract and retain more clients. To apply personalized marketing, a clinic might use data about a client's health history, demographics, and preferences to create targeted marketing messages that are relevant to the their unique situation.
However, it is imperative that cosmetic clinics personalizing their marketing initiatives are doing so in a way that is HIPAA compliant, and using HIPAA compliant tools and technology in the process.
HIPAA Compliance for Personalized Marketing
By following HIPAA guidelines when leveraging personalized marketing for cosmetic clinics, businesses can ensure that they are not violating their patients' privacy and putting their sensitive information at risk. HIPAA compliance is an important aspect of any digital marketing strategy for cosmetic clinics. It refers to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a federal law that sets standards for protecting the privacy of patients' personal and medical information.
For businesses that operate in the medical space, HIPAA compliance is essential for maintaining the trust and confidence of clients, as well as for avoiding costly penalties and legal action. This is particularly true for marketing activities, which often involve the use of personal health information in order to target specific audiences and promote products or services.
4. Holistic Multi-Channel Marketing
A holistic marketing approach is important for growing cosmetic clinic businesses because it takes into account all aspects of the marketing mix and considers the overall business strategy and goals. It involves strategic thinking that results from looking at the big picture and considering how all of the marketing efforts work together to drive business growth.
By taking a holistic approach, medical clinics can ensure that their marketing efforts are aligned with their business goals and are working together to achieve the best possible results. This is due to the following 3 major benefits of holistic marketing:
1. Reach the Right People, in the Right Place, at the Right Time
One of the key benefits of a holistic marketing approach is that it helps cosmetic clinics identify and target the right audience for their services with a more impactful multi-channel approach.
By considering all aspects of the marketing mix, such as the clinic's offers, target market, and marketing channels, cosmetic clinics can create a comprehensive and effective marketing plan that focuses on reaching the right people, in the right places, at the right time.
2. Create a Consistent & Cohesive Brand Experience
Another benefit of a holistic marketing approach is that it helps medical clinics create a consistent and cohesive brand experience for their audience in a way that helps them stand out from their competitors.
By considering all aspects of the marketing mix, medical clinics can create a differentiated but consistent brand message that is reinforced across all marketing channels, which further helps them to build trust and credibility with their audience and establish themselves as a trusted and respected provider of cosmetic treatments.
3. Evaluate Performance & Scale More Effectively
Finally, a holistic marketing approach can also help medical clinics measure and evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing efforts from a more battle-tested, multi-channel perspective.
In consideration of all aspects of the marketing mix, cosmetic clinics can create metrics and benchmarks to track the performance of their marketing campaigns and identify which marketing efforts are working and which ones are not, and make adjustments as needed to improve the performance of their campaigns.
In addition, by tracking and evaluating their marketing efforts, medical clinics can ensure that they are maximizing their return on investment and are achieving the best possible results from their marketing efforts.
Overall, a holistic marketing approach is important for growing medical clinic businesses because it helps medical clinics identify and target the right audience, create a consistent brand experience, and measure and evaluate the effectiveness of their marketing efforts.
5. Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality Applications ​ Another trend in digital marketing for the medical industry is the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). These technologies are starting to be used in medical marketing to provide potential clients with a more immersive and engaging experience.
For example, a clinic might use VR to give potential patients a virtual tour of its facilities, or it might use AR to show patients how a particular treatment or procedure might look on their own body.
While it is still early for many cosmetic clinics to find themselves needing to adopt this technology, there are many cosmetic clinics using mobile apps to show potential clients how they may look after certain treatments and successfully garnering more clients as a direct result.
Conclusion ​ Overall, there are several trends in digital marketing for the medical industry, including the use of mobile devices, social media, personalized marketing, and VR and AR. These trends are helping medical professionals and organizations connect with potential clients, promote their services, and provide a high-quality user experience resulting in increased customer loyalty. As these trends continue to evolve, they will create new opportunities and challenges for the medical industry.
If there is something in this article that still has you wondering how you can successfully generate more traffic for your medical cosmetic clinic, please feel free to email us here.