Digital marketing is taking the business world by storm. Given the growing ease of access the digital business community offers to products and services, the step away from traditional paper and television media advertising is logical.

Today more than ever, people have technology and access to digital media in the palm of their hands virtually every waking hour. This allows a business to keep moving forward, despite people being a world apart from the products they wish to purchase. The healthcare community is no exception to the online shift.

When people learn about a treatment center, medical center, individual provider, or hospital, they often turn to the internet to research statistics, reviews, and other information they are curious to know. The internet is an essential element of marketing today, and its hold on marketing is only slated to grow further in the coming years.

An Introduction to the Basics of Digital Marketing

In recent years, digital marketing has become essential to the success of medical practices throughout the United States (and worldwide). Historically, medical offices of any size could forego online marketing in favor of more traditional methods. Today, digital marketing has become essential to success. This is because more and more people are becoming active online. People of all ages are turning to online resources to find solutions to their health-related questions.

Consequently, anyone attempting to conduct business in the healthcare industry must utilize digital marketing. Providers who choose to neglect this essential resource may find themselves in an awkward position when it comes to communication with their patients.

What Does Digital Marketing Mean?

The importance of digital marketing in today’s internet savvy society cannot be understated. Most industries have shifted to digital marketing as a means for reaching more of their target audience; the healthcare community has been slower to adopt digital strategies. While there are various reasons for this, including patient confidentiality and privacy concerns, entering the digital realm is beneficial (and necessary) given the more technologically heavy way people search for medical professionals and healthcare services. 

According to Pew Research data, seventy-two percent of Internet users indicate they used online search engines to look for health information within the past year.  Of those, seventy-seven percent started their search through a traditional search engine such as Google or Bing. In contrast, the remaining thirteen percent used a site that provided healthcare-specific information such as WebMD. These statistics, many like them, indicate healthcare consumers and patients are seeking out health information through digital media with increasing frequency.

Not so long ago, people used non-digital means to find medical providers. They may ask their primary care provider for recommendations. Or, they may ask a friend what their thoughts were on a provider. Additionally, people would utilize traditional marketing such as television commercials, newspaper advertising, or ads placed in local weekly flyers to learn the names of providers who offer services they require.

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The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing uses many different tactics and channels to connect with their customers. Customers are online almost constantly, and a strong digital campaign is the easiest and most guaranteed way to reach your target market. 

The best digital marketers ensure information about their business is placed in easy to access locations when customers are online. Below are the basic fundamentals of digital marketing.

The Benefits and Importance of
Effective Digital Marketing

Finding statistics on the importance of digital marketing is not a difficult task. In fact, digital marketing is forecasted to continually increase over the next decade as marketers continue to shift advertising budgets to digital advertising to improve the overall return on investment.

In short, digital marketing is any form of marketing that exists online. There are several different types of digital marketing, such as content creation and SEO, which we will expand on shortly. The best thing about digital marketing is that it can work for any business in any industry. Unlike offline marketing, digital marketing allows companies to see accurate results from their efforts in real-time. If you have ever placed an ad in a newspaper, this should make sense. For the duration of the ad run, it is difficult to determine how many (if any) people actually flipped to that page in the paper and saw your ad. There is no definitive way to know if the money paid for the advertisement resulted in any sales at all. 

Digital marketing, on the other hand, is different. There are several ways you can measure your return on investment through various avenues. For example, with digital marketing, you can measure your website traffic. This allows you to see the exact number of people who viewed your website’s page in real-time using analytical software. You can also see how many pages on your site they visited, what type of device they were using, and where they came from. This allows companies to determine what people are shopping for on their website. In the case of health care, this would allow medical providers to determine the types of services people visit their websites to learn about.

Digital marketing also allows for lead generation. People can visit a website, read the information posted, and use the information provided to determine if a particular company offers a product or service that they are interested in. In the healthcare world, people can visit a website and determine if a doctor, medical facility, or even a hospital offers the services, procedure, or particular type of care they are searching for. For instance, specialized treatment facilities such as cancer treatment facilities can use digital marketing to reach a specific target market of people looking for cancer treatment options.

A Few Reasons Why MGMT Digital Is Your
Top Choice in Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is the way of the future for businesses. Today, more people are online than ever before, and smartphones are a fixture in the hands of almost everyone over the age of twelve. Although the healthcare community may be lagging behind other industries when it comes to integrating digital marketing into their business strategy, it doesn’t mean the opportunity is lost. By incorporating digital marketing into existing marketing tactics, healthcare marketers can extend their reach to consumers across search, social media, and mobile applications.

MGMT Digital is a boutique digital marketing agency specializing in digital marketing for the treatment industry. At MGMT, our goal is to provide our clients with a level of service matched by no other in the industry. If you are unfamiliar with digital marketing, terms such as SEO and PPC can be confusing and difficult to understand. Choosing to work with MGMT Digital allows you to continue to focus on what matters most- your patients and your business-while we create a digital marketing plan designed to generate traffic and leads to your website and programs. If you are ready to take your treatment center’s marketing online, you can ensure you get found and reach new clients in healthcare with MGMT Digital. 

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