Blogging is one of the most effective ways to generate new leads and patients for your medical organization. Each blog provides a new way to be found by search engines through the use of unique keywords. Blogs allow businesses to provide information on a variety of topics that are relevant to their organization in an non threatening manner. When executed properly, blogs position medical providers as thought leaders in their industry. To be successful however, new blogs must be added with regular frequency. We recommend that blogs be updated at a minimum of twice per month. This can be challenging for even the most experienced writers. Here are some effective blogging strategies to help grow busy medical practices.
What‘s the Purpose?
If you have decided to begin blogging, chances are you feel it is an important component to marketing your medical practice. Before your write your first blog, you should determine the point or purpose of having a blog. Consider new or different perspectives you might bring to the medical industry. Kevin Pho is an excellent example of a medical doctor who turned blogging into a business. His blog topics range from clinical insights to medical marketing and all have the purpose of educating and helping his target audience.
Who is your target audience? Typically the target audiences for medical providers are their prospective patients. How are you going to communicate with them? Which formats will be the most effective at generating engagement amongst your followers? Will you shoot videos? How about Q & A sessions? Knowing the answers to these questions will help you understand your intent.
Content Topics
One of the biggest challenges for bloggers in any industry is finding topics to write about. A knee-jerk response to having a blog is to write about all the wonderful things your practice does every day. While this is an important component to include in your blogging strategy, it should not be your only one. Writing about yourself or your practice should happen 20% of the time. The remaining 80% should focus on topics that are interesting to your audience. One of the best ways to decide what to write about is to make a list of the top questions asked by your patients and write one blog on each. Practices should also stay on top of the latest news related to their industry and use that information as potential blog ideas.
Share Ideas
Blogging is a representation of your whole practice, not just the physician. Your team is a great resource for uncovering topics to write about. Their fresh perspective may unveil unique ideas you haven’t considered. If you take a collaborative approach to determining content for your posts, you will find you are less likely to run out of topics.
Blogging can be one of the best things you do to help your community, but it takes time and effort. Once you decide to pursue blogging as part of your social media marketing strategy, you should be committed to the process. If you are unsure or feel you may need someone to help shoulder the responsibility of your practice’s social media campaign, feel free to talk to us here at MindStream Creative. As experienced blog writers, we understand the twists and turns that come with social media, and are here to make your experience as smooth and enjoyable as possible!