A Healthcare Copywriter Can Grow Your Business

Consumers have more input in their health than ever before, and a healthcare copywriter can help you establish trust, build better relationships, and expand your business.

Patients and healthcare consumers have access to instant information and data. Technology is paving the way for a different kind of healthcare consumption. Everything from wearable technology to genome building is advancing.

Are you at the forefront of your industry or riding along? Your marketing and your copywriting can help your business achieve new heights as a leader. A healthcare copywriter can help get you there.

Who Benefits From Using a Healthcare Copywriter?

As consumers take in more information by the minute, a steady stream of sales and marketing content becomes critical to business advancement in this type of environment. Below are a few specific types of healthcare professionals who may benefit from professional copywriting services:

• Doctor offices
• Dental practices
• Mental health practices and therapists
• Physical therapists
• Hospitals
• Clinics
• Surgical centers
• Medical device manufacturers
• Pharmaceutical companies
• Healthcare technology companies

The marketplace is extremely competitive as consumers get a stronger say in their care. That’s why it’s critical to differentiate your business in any of these above industries. Let’s take a look at some of the pieces of a successful marketing campaign, and how a healthcare copywriter can help.

Healthcare Websites

Here is a statistic that all healthcare companies should be paying attention to:

80 percent of all internet users (roughly 93 million Americans) have searched for a health related topic online.

This stat comes from the Pew Internet and American Life Project. A significant segment of your target market is busy conducting research online. What will they come across from you?

Your website should be the home base for all of your marketing. It’s the place online where you set the rules, and can determine what goes on each page. It can be professionally designed and branded, with a message that resonates with consumers.

A healthcare copywriter can help you with that messaging. Your home, about, and services pages offer you the opportunity to brand your business as professional, friendly, and an expert in your industry.

Here’s what your website can accomplish:

• Persuasive headlines can draw new readers into your content so they can learn more about your business.
• Your content can show them that you understand their problem. You get the opportunity to show empathy.
• You can describe what your business does, and how you help users in a concise manner, so your readers can determine whether you are right for them.
• Your website can offer persuasive calls to action, so that users call, fill out forms, click through, download and sign up.

If you are looking to create a website for your business, or yours needs to be refreshed, a healthcare copywriter can help you create the type of website that will result in new patients or customers.

Healthcare Blogging

Do you remember the 93 million Americans we just discussed? Many of them were likely Googling symptoms or treatments for the very ailments that you treat. They’re looking for solutions to the problems that you solve.

In other words, they’re your target customer. Are you doing enough to get your business in front of your target customer? Writing a consistent blog is a great way to educate your patients and position yourself as an expert.

They’re a great tool in the Internet era for building trust and differentiating your business from the competition. They can also provide a great supplemental learning resource for existing patients.

For example, a new patient could receive a folder with printed out blog posts that answer common questions regarding whatever brought them in. The printouts can be branded with your practice’s logo and contact information front and center.

Blogs also greatly help position your company for search. Each post effectively serves as a page on your website. When that page is indexed and ranked, your business can show up in the results for an un-ending number of potential searches.

Let’s use a pediatrician’s office as an example. There could be tremendous benefit to showing up in searches for:

• What are the symptoms of the flu?
• How do I know if my child has asthma?
• Does a dog bite require a doctor’s visit?
• How often do children need medical checkups?

While this example is for a pediatrician, it could easily apply for any practice or business. A wearable technology company can site examples of the practical uses for its data. A pharmaceutical company could talk about the woes of the disease it’s helping to fight. A blog can help position you as a strong ally in your readers’ health.

The topics that make strong blog posts aren’t always addressed in the course of regular website copy. But there’s still tremendous business value in having visible answers. A blog solves this problem and can help you easily achieve a higher level of visibility.

A healthcare copywriter helps you keep a strong search engine presence through a consistent blog. He or she can help you earn that patient trust through publishing quality, educational content related to your industry.

Healthcare Landing Pages

Your website homepage may not be the most suited place for online searchers to enter your marketing funnel. That’s where landing pages come in. They are a way to address a specific product or service that you provide in greater detail.

A landing page’s job is to persuade your audience to take action. They are typically written from a stronger sales angle than blogs. That being said, they should still be warm and personable.

Let’s look at a few ways healthcare professionals could benefit from landing pages:

• A mental health practice may consider creating landing pages around depression, anxiety, or PTSD for example.
• A dentist may want to create landing pages around cavity fillings, root canals, or cleanings.
• A medical device company could set up a landing page about ways to cure, or coping with a disease.
• Doctors can set up pages around preventative health.

A healthcare copywriter can help you produce quality landing pages that will attract more patients and customers.

Other Marketing Strategies for Attracting New Clients

There are more potential marketing strategies than you can possibly be successful using — this is true for any business. But a key piece of information to consider is where your customers are spending their time. For example, people are using social media for healthcare recommendations.

They are reading and responding to emails. They are also checking what others are saying before they ever call or email to make an appointment. Is your business positioned to stand out in these ways? Are you joining the conversation about your industry, where it’s otherwise taking place without you?

It’s important to keep all of your marketing options in mind.

Email — Regular emails or an email newsletter can help you attract new customers on a regular basis. These regular marketing “touches” could also help you build stronger relationships with current clients.

Patient Reviews and Testimonials — Like any other business, healthcare consumers want to know that you can do what you say you can do. Reviews and testimonials are the ultimate sign of social proof when it comes to creating a customer-centric experience.

Social — Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media sites could give you an opportunity to connect with your audience in meaningful ways. Consider using social platforms to offer small tips and strategies for general health. You can also join groups related to your industry.

Press Releases — A presence in the local paper can help you attract new clients. Whether you are offering tips to steer clear of the flu this winter, or telling readers about the awards you’ve won, a press release is an ideal place to do it.

Strengthen Your Local Visibility

If you are running a local practice, having a strong online presence within that geographic area is critical. Having answers about how to prevent cavities, fight anxiety, or prevent cancer are all well and good, but you need to show up when someone searches “Dentist office in Aurora, Illinois.”

There are a few things you can do.

• Make sure that your service area and physical locations are listed within the copy on significant pages. Don’t overdo it though. The days of saying the words “Aurora, Illinois” 25 times within your copy and magically appearing are over. You can find yourself in Google jail if you try to game the system here. But by all means, mention your location and the areas you serve in your copy.
• Print your address in the footer of the website.
• Incorporate Google Maps into your site so your customers can more easily find your practice.
• Use Google My Business to obtain an official Google listing.

These things can all help you attract that local visibility that your business needs in addition to the informative content that a healthcare copywriter will provide.

A Healthcare Copywriter Can Serve as Your Secret Weapon

If you want more people to read and react to your writing, it’s critical to speak in a friendly, professional, and informative tone. It’s critical to use your entire marketing platform to build trust and strengthen your brand.

If you’ve found that you’re not getting the results you’ve been looking for, it may be time for a fresh approach. A healthcare copywriter can help you strengthen your business and improve your relationship with your audience.

Are you doing everything you can to grow your business? Contact me today and find out more about how I can help.

Matthew Brennan is a Chicago-area marketing copywriter and copy editor. He is also the author of Write Right-Sell Now.