The dermatology industry is growing in online competition, and more specialists are using digital marketing strategies to increase reach and conversions. With so many options, you may feel overwhelmed and unsure which tips work and those that don’t.
Knowing how important digital marketing is to a growing dermatology practice, we have put together the following hyperlocal marketing tips for dermatologists to maximize new patient growth, local reach, and marketing ROI. We’ll also help you understand how hyperlocal marketing differs from traditional digital marketing.
Let’s get started.
What Is Hyperlocal Marketing and How it Differs from Traditional Digital Marketing
Hyperlocal marketing is a marketing approach that focuses on reaching a targeted audience within a local area. Searchers find such businesses by using phrases like ‘best dermatologist near me’ or ‘dermatology expert in Missouri.’ So it’s no surprise the term ‘near me’ has increased searches by over 500% in the last two years, making it a huge potential for organic traffic.
With hyperlocal strategies, companies target organic traffic from people within a certain geographical area.
Traditional digital marketing is quite different. It focuses on online searchers regardless of the location. For example, a company in Australia can target the keyword ‘best dermatology clinic’ and attract a searcher in the US. This will increase traffic but not generate new patients and conversion since that visitor may not buy.
This understanding underscores the importance of hyperlocal marketing strategies for dermatologists.
It’s clear that people shop with location in mind and want a service provider near them for easy access.
Tips and Strategies Dermatologists Can Use To Become More Visible To Their Ideal Patients Online, No Matter Where They Look
Do you want to know the tried and tested strategies you can use to attract local clients looking for dermatology services?
1. Optimize Your Google My Business Listing
Google My Business (GMB) is a free Google resource that allows you to manage how your business appears on Google Maps and Google search. First, ensure you have claimed and verified your GMB listing. Did you know 56% of local businesses have not claimed their listing?
That said, after you’ve claimed your listing, you should focus on the following areas:
- Business info
- Questions and answers
- Categories
- Posts
- Service offerings
- Services area
- Reviews
- Photos and videos
- Custom appointment link
- Additional attributes
Ensure your business is found on as many sites as possible, including review sites, social media, and search engines.
Popular social media sites that dermatologists can utilize include
- Youtube
- TikTok
Important search engines are:
- Google,
- Bing
- Yahoo
Resourceful review sites that can grow your business include:
- Yelp
- Nextdoor
- Angie
You should make sure all the information you provide is accurate, and you’re accessible. With a complete profile and accurate information about your business, Google will perceive you as credible and increase your rankings.
Therefore, you should be accurate and consistent in:
- Spelling the name of your business
- Information provided
- Hours of operation
- Formatting
- Availability
2. Content Strategy
Content marketing, when properly done, can grow your patient base, as your readers perceive you as an expert in dermatology. To get a high ROI on your content marketing strategy, it’s important to use various types of content such as:
- Blog posts
- Videos
- Images
- Infographics
- Podcasts
- Social media
As you continue understanding your buyer persona, you’ll know which content type resonates with them and put more effort there. Something else, ensure you create content with location tags to attract more leads.
What do location tags look like in practice for a dermatologist?
- Check-ins on social media
- Content titles and headers also affect SEO and improve Google’s ranking
- File name — your file name should contain your primary keyword phrase
- Meta descriptions — these are summaries of the posts you publish on your site
If you are just starting, it may feel overwhelming to produce all these types of content. However, all you need is a plan. Understand what your patients want and start there.
If you’d like to free your focus on other areas of your business, you can consider outsourcing writing to freelancers who offer exceptional quality that engages the readers and assures a high ROI. The Surefire Local Marketing Platform has this ability built-in, making it easy and seamless to find writers to write content for you.
A pro tip: start where you are. For example, you may start by uploading images that relate to your dermatology practice to your GMB. Over time, you may budget for professional photos.
3. Be Deliberate on Getting Quality Reviews
Whether social media sites or search engines, the quality and quantity of reviews play a significant role in customers’ buying decisions. Here, we are not talking about inauthentic, fake reviews, but real ones that help other people understand your business, products, or services.
In addition, you need regular and consistent reviews since 48% of people pay attention to reviews written over the past two weeks.
So, how many reviews should you have? About 3 to 4 reviews every month is a good place to start. Besides that, you need to focus on high domain authority sites such as
- Yelp
The authenticity of these sites increases the quality and credibility of a review.
And the best way to get consistent reviews is to ask patients in person to leave reviews. It’s okay to follow up with automated emails and reminders. It’s important to respond to reviews, as each response translates to a ¼ star increase and about a 5-9% increase in revenue.
It also helps to diversify reviews by blending first-party reviews on your website with third-party reviews on popular listings.
4. Leverage Paid Search
Paid search is among the best hyperlocal marketing tips for dermatologists.
It involves displaying your dermatology practice ads on popular search engines like Bing and Google. You can also utilize Facebook ads, Yelp ads, and local service ads.
When done strategically, it can attract the right people, increase traffic, and ensure consistent new patients growth. For example, for each $1 spent on Google Ads, your business can earn an average revenue of $2.
For the highest ROI, always set location parameters on your advertisement. They include:
- State
- City
- Town
- Zipcode
Also, make your location prominent on your landing page and include it in your ad copy. This ensures you are specific in your ads, resulting in higher Ad ranks. The aftermath is more ad exposure, clicks, and leads.
The best thing about ads is that you can measure results a few days after launching your campaign. And this is important as it allows you to improve your content for better ranking and adjust them accordingly.
How about ad pricing? It’s determined by marketers’ bidding, and the more competitive a word is, the higher the cost. You can get creative here and use less competitive keywords that have a considerable search volume.
5. Create an Email List
Did you know an email list can increase your ROI by 32 times? For every $ you spend, you can get $32 revenue. So, how can you build an email list?
- Blog
- Exit Pop up
- Email sign up
- Have an enticing CTA (offers or discounts)
- Email signature sheets at events
- Newsletter
Your emails should be targeted and customized. Don’t send generic, boring emails. Rather, think about your readers and personalize the message. For example, if you have several dermatology clinics in different locations, factor that in.
With that, you can:
- Send automated responses to new patients for follow-up
- Engage people to becoming returning patients with automated campaigns
- Email past patients to maintain loyalty and get referrals
- Regularly personalized and relevant messages
- Create awareness around a special offer
6. Build a Unique Brand
Branding plays an integral part in the discovery of a website. It includes:
- Business name
- Logo
- Phone number
- Street address
- Years in business
- Awards
To build your brand within your locality, you should support the community through:
- Charities
- Sponsorships
- Fundraisers
- Local organizations
7. Up-to-Date Website
Your website is the face of your dermatology practice. As such, it can build or break your online visibility. To get the best results, ensure your website is:
- Up-to-date – you should regularly update the list of all services you offer. This information helps searchers decide whether to seek your services or not.
- Easy to Navigate – All your prospective patients are not techies, and you may lose a client because they had a poor site navigation experience. Thus, make it simple and direct to the point.
- Fast loading speed – ensure your site loads fast. You may need to compress some images and uninstall some plugins.
- Make it mobile optimized since more searchers and buyers are using mobile devices to look for services online.
- Add structured local schema /data markup
- Ensure your content info stands out – this includes phone number, location, and other important details on your website.
- Follow proper URL structuring – ensure you have the right protocol, domain name, top-level domain name, path, and location tag.
For example, https/bestdermatologistforyou.com/services/Missouri
Surefire Local Helps to Formulate the Best Hyperlocal Marketing Strategy!
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Contact us today for a quote!