Telemedicine underwent a significant surge in popularity due to its convenience during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past, Americans were slow to get on board with telemedicine, but that changed when the pandemic shifted the way we go about our daily lives. According to CNBC, virtual visits are expected to reach 1 billion by the end of the year. As we continue to move on through the pandemic and look to a post-pandemic world, telemedicine will have a place now and in the future, but the question exists on how can telemedicine and a physical practice run concurrently or even how to boost virtual visits? That is where a strategic marketing plan comes into play.
Virtual Visits Are New Normal
Virtual visits allow physicians in some areas to reach a wider audience. It provides them the opportunity to meet patients who may not need to come in, benefit from a virtual visit, or can’t because of time constraints. This is coupled with the patients who want, or need to come in for a visit at the physical location. There are some considerations when creating a marketing strategy that not only compliments telemedicine but a physical location as well.
Finding The Right Audience
For one, think about the target market segment and what you are ultimately trying to accomplish.
- Do you want to expand your services to include telemedicine and you need to tell patients?
- Or do you want to reach a broader geographical base?
- Have you added a new treatment or staff member specifically for telemedicine?
- Or are you adding more hours to accommodate patients who will benefit from both expanded hours and virtual visits?
Deciding upon the answer to these questions will help identify the market segment that you should target.
How To Promote Your Telemedicine Business
Next, consider targeting. Where are your customers and how can you reach them? Location-based marketing will allow you to target customers within a specific perimeter. That way you can get clients for your physical practice who are nearby. This also benefits telemedicine because you may want to target patients within that perimeter that would benefit from a virtual visit or provide a wider area. Since you have your target audience in mind, this information is also helpful for advertisements based on keywords or phrases, social media ads targeted to specific groups, and even television/billboard advertisements as well.
Finally, you will want to consider the content and messaging. After all, even though telemedicine isn’t brand new – it only received a surge due to the pandemic. So, some people are hearing about it for the first time. You will want to show credibility, customer success stories, educate patients on the process and benefits, ease of use, and more.
Telemedicine will continue to grow in the future. To make it a successful part of your business, you will need a successful marketing strategy to advertise the right message to the right people. Without it, the return on investment for a virtual practice will take longer to achieve. Thumbvista offers services to help identify your target audience, reach them through geofencing, and help adjust the messaging to reach the best possible outcome.