Effective Healthcare Branding Strategies That Work

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Effective Healthcare Branding Strategies That Work
Branding a healthcare business can be a
challenge. In such a competitive field with many
businesses offering similar services, it can be
difficult to stand out and make a name for
yourself. But with the right strategies and
execution, you can build a brand that people
recognize, engage with, and eventually
trust. Our healthcare marketing professionals
put together this article that details a few of
the most effective branding strategies for
businesses like yours. We go over what those
strategies are, how they work, and a few examples
of how to implement them. Highly Effective
Healthcare Branding Strategies The most
effective healthcare branding strategies are ones
that build name recognition, inspire interaction
from customers, and position your business as the
obvious first choice in your area. Below, weve
outlined some of the most tried-and-true branding
strategies for businesses in the healthcare
industry. While utilizing just one of them can
bring positive results, making all of them part
of your overall marketing plan gives you the best
chance of building a winning brand. Build
Trust Trust is important in all industries, but
when it comes to healthcare, trust is even more
critical. People arent just choosing a product
or a service, theyre choosing a provider that
can drastically affect their health outcomes
often at considerable expense.
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• You know that your business offers high-quality
  service at a reasonable price, but until people
  become patients, its hard for them to know that.
  To help people trust your brand, its important
  to emphasize aspects of your business-like
  quality of care, professionalism of employees,
  and transparency of costs and billing.
• How To Build Trust with Healthcare Branding
• There are a few ways to use branding to build
  trust in your healthcare business. These include
• Highlight employee professionalism on your
  website More than just about anything else,
  people want to know their health is in good
  hands. One of the easiest ways to communicate
  this is by providing pictures of your medical
  staff and brief bios on your website. These bios
  should highlight professional achievements,
  degrees, certifications, specialties, and
  experience.
• Demonstrate quality of service Many people use
  technology and cleanliness as signals of the
  quality of healthcare they will receive at a
  business. Using photos on your website and social
  media platforms of the latest and greatest
  equipment in clean spaces can show potential
  patients that your practice is modern and safe.
• Provide pricing insights Billing is a major
  sticking point for people with healthcare
  companies, with many surprised at the cost of
  their care. While its difficult to give exact
  prices for services for many healthcare
  businesses, providing some degree of insight into
  what someone might pay for services on your
  website and in other places can help people feel
  more comfortable trusting your billing practices.

Create a Positive Customer Experience
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Building the customer experience may not seem
like a branding strategy, but it may actually be
one of the most important ones. There is almost
nothing more effective than word-of-mouth at
branding a company. Happy customers leave
positive reviews that make your business stand
out on Google and other platforms. They also may
recommend your business to friends and family who
then do the same. Consider all of the elements of
the customer experience for your business and
work to make them as positive as possible. Look
for typical pain points in the healthcare
customer experience, such as billing issues, wait
times, and scheduling and find ways to address
them. There are many digital services that can
move the more stressful interactions out of your
office and online, creating a more pleasant
in-office experience.
How to Create a Positive Customer Experience for
Healthcare Branding

• Some of the ways you can ensure a positive
  customer experience to create a better organic
  brand image include
• Make scheduling easy Nowadays, people want and
  even expect to be able to do most tasks online
  without having to pick up the phone. Investing in
  a scheduling service for your website will make
  it much easier and faster for patients to make
  appointments and improve the first step in the
  customer experience.
• Make billing easy Billing can be a major pain
  point for customers, but it doesnt have to be.
  With digital billing services, you can eliminate
  potential billing issues from the in-office
  customer experience and allow people to pay at
  their convenience. Some third-party providers
  also offer payment plan services that make it
  easier for patients to pay for services and more
  comfortable choosing your business.
• Create a patient portal Online portals where
  patients can ask questions, request services like
  prescription refills, and take care of other
  small tasks create a convenient way for them to
  interact with their provider. It allows
  businesses to be more responsive and patients to

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communicate when its convenient, offering the
feeling of having access to 24/7 care. Tell a
Story Every business has a story, and your story
can humanize your brand and endear potential
patients. Telling your brands story can help
people identify with it and inspire powerful
emotional connections. One story you can tell is
how your practice came to be and why you chose to
locate it where you did. But perhaps more
powerful are the success stories of patients
whose lives have been improved by your practice.
These stories can help potential patients see
that same potential in their own lives.
How To Tell a Story with Healthcare Branding

• There are several ways to use storytelling to
  develop your healthcare brand. These include
• Pay attention to your websites about us page
  The about us section on healthcare company
  websites is often an afterthought, but its an
  obvious place to tell a compelling story about
  your brand. Dont settle for cliche, nondescript
  information about your practice. Instead, tell
  the story of how you got to where you are now and
  why you do what you do.
• Use blogs to tell patient stories Content is
  still king for digital marketing. Blogs are a
  great way to tell patient success stories. Use
  them to relay heartwarming narratives about how
  your care enabled a better quality of life for a
  patient or opened their world. Just make sure to
  be careful around privacy issues and get written
  permission before using any identifying
  information or images.
• Feature video testimonies Videos are
  increasingly inexpensive and easy to produce and
  seeing a patient tell their own story may
  resonate even more than when its told through a
  written blog. If you can find patients who are
  willing to tell their story on camera,

you can produce short videos that engage better
than almost any
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other content. You can also use these videos
across multiple platforms, such as your website,
social media, and even PPC ads. Distinguish Your
Brand Unless youre the only game in town, your
competitors are probably touting many of the same
value points as you are. Separating yourself from
those brands gives people a reason to choose your
brand instead. To do this, you must first answer
the question of, What makes my healthcare brand
different from competitors? Maybe you place more
emphasis on patient comfort than your
competitors. Or maybe you use more advanced
technology in your practice. This is called your
unique selling proposition (USP). Find out what
it is and communicate it clearly and consistently
in all of your branding and marketing.
How to Distinguish Your Healthcare Brand

• You can differentiate your healthcare business
  from your competitors in many ways, including
• Highlight your USP in your content Repetition
  and consistency help to associate your brand with
  certain attributes. Once you find your USP, make
  sure to include in your content as much as you
  can in natural ways. For example, if you
  specialize in pain-free dentistry, make that
  phrase and its synonyms a part of your blog
  posts, homepage, social media content, and other
  marketing channels.
• Align visual branding elements with your USP You
  can use visual elements like your logo and the
  photos on your website and social media to
  reinforce your USP. With the example of pain-free
  dentistry, that could mean using calm colors in
  your logo and on your website, photos of relaxed
  patients, or even simply using the phrase
  pain-free dentistry as a tagline in your logo.
• Create a fun gimmick People remember things that
  deviate from

normal practices. While it might seem trivial,
something like giving
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patients a small gift or providing entertainment
in your waiting area can create a memorable
impression and give them an easy thing to talk
about when telling others about your
practice. Address the Needs of Your
Patients Its important to let people know what
your business offers, but successful branding is
about creating meaningful connections with
potential customers. Simply advertising your
services and products makes it all about you and
doesnt typically speak to people directly. You
can go a step further by identifying the needs of
your potential patients and addressing them in
your branding. This means staying on top of
changes in healthcare trends and shifting
priorities, such as offering flu shots ahead of
flu season or the newest round of COVID-19
vaccines. It can also mean addressing demographic
needs, such as care for seniors in areas with an
aging population.
How to Address the Needs of Your Patients with
Healthcare Branding

• Addressing the needs of potential patients in
  your area can be done in several ways, including
• Invest in demographic research To address their
  needs, youll first need to understand the makeup
  of your community. A marketing firm can research
  the demographics of your area, including age,
  income, education, and more. Once you get an idea
  of who your potential customers are, you can
  identify what they need from a healthcare
  provider.
• Stay current new illnesses and conditions,
  changing trends in healthcare, and even regular
  seasonal changes give you an opportunity to stay
  on top of the kinds of care your potential

patients are looking for. Keep an eye on these
changes and adjust
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your marketing accordingly to stay relevant and
ahead of your competitors. Become Part of the
Community The pinnacle goal of marketing is
creating brand affinity or a deep emotional
connection between people and your business. When
people see your company not just as a business,
but as a vital member of their community, they
become repeat customers and often, advocates for
your brand. As a local business, you can
position yourself as an established part of your
community by becoming a contributing member of
it. When people see that you are willing to
invest in their area, they are more likely to see
you as adding value to the community instead of
just a business looking to make money off it.
How to Become Part of the Community with
Healthcare Branding

• You can position yourself as a valued member of
  your community and build affinity in ways that
  include
• Sponsor local organizations Local organizations
  like schools, charities, and sports teams often
  look for sponsors to help fund their operation.
  In many cases, sponsors get placements on
  banners, t-shirts, and other places for their
  logos and more. Contributing money and appearing
  in places around town associates you with
  hyper-local organizations and positions your
  business as one that cares about the community.
• Sponsor local events You can also sponsor events
  in your community for similar placements.
  Farmers markets, sporting events, and other
  events provide an opportunity to associate your
  brand with joyful activities that bring your
  community together.
• Highlight your community online In addition to
  associating your brand with your community, you
  can also associate your

community with your brand. A good way to do this
is to share
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stories and images from your community on your
social media platforms and websites to show that
you are paying attention and that you
care. Healthcare Branding Strategies
Conclusion There is no one-size-fits-all
healthcare branding strategy that works for
everyone. Your branding strategy should take into
consideration the things that make your business
unique, the needs of your potential customers,
and your connection to your community. The first
step is gaining a good understanding of the value
you offer as a business, the people who are most
likely to engage with it, and how it fits into
the fabric of the area around you. Once youve
zeroed in on those aspects, you can use a variety
of tactics to create a branding strategy that
communicates them clearly and effectively. While
this is something you may be able to do on your
own, a professional healthcare marketing agency
can likely maximize your results much more
quickly and efficiently.