Don’t let these 5 mistakes sabotage your healthcare lead generation

Healthcare marketers are charged with many responsibilities, but one of the most crucial is healthcare lead generation. Why?

Healthcare lead generation allows healthcare organizations to identify and connect with individuals who have expressed interest in their services. It enhances patient engagement and retention and helps them optimize their healthcare marketing strategies.

Healthcare lead generation begins with a strong healthcare sales and marketing program that involves a combination of both inbound and outbound marketing strategies. 

Studies show that a healthy inbound marketing program can generate three times as many healthcare marketing leads as outbound marketing and costs 62% less. SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, while marketing initiatives such as print advertising and direct mail have a 1.7% close rate. Later in this post, I’ll show you why you must have a healthy mix of both.

If you are a healthcare marketing specialist who wants to learn more about healthcare lead generation and how to do it right, read on for a deep dive into healthcare lead generation and tips on avoiding common pitfalls.

What is healthcare lead generation?

Healthcare lead generation is the process of attracting qualified patients to your healthcare service or practice. Using personalized, targeted marketing efforts, lead generation builds the trust, awareness, and credibility necessary to convert those leads into patients. 

Examples of popular lead generation marketing techniques

Here are a few healthcare marketing tactics that captivate potential patients and can increase your healthcare lead-generation efforts.

• Billboards and outdoor banners
• Direct mail campaigns
• Email marketing
• Event sponsorships and local partnerships
• Healthcare magazines and newsletters
• Inbound marketing
• Pay-per-click advertising
• Print brochures and pamphlets
• Social media marketing
• TV commercials and radio advertisements
• Website marketing and search engine optimization

The comprehensive list above, composed of both inbound and outbound marketing ideas, offers different yet effective ways to connect to and entice your target audience.

Watch out for these 5 common errors in healthcare lead generation

Healthcare lead generation can be effective when it’s done the right way, but as with anything else, there are mistakes to be made. Here are some common errors we see regarding healthcare lead generation that you’ll want to avoid.

1. Minimal website optimization
2. Lack of crisis communications planning
3. Insufficient online reputation management
4. Limited new technology adoption
5. Problems with HIPAA compliance

An unoptimized website causes leads to slip through your fingers. Work with your technical and content team to be sure your website is maximized for local SEO, accessible to everyone, and easy to navigate.

Improve your voice search optimization and ensure your website displays effectively on a mobile device. There’s nothing more frustrating to a user than slow-loading pages that are difficult to read or have out-of-date information.

A thorough audit of your website content and functionality is imperative in effective healthcare lead-generation efforts.

Plan for the worst and hope for the best. This motto applies to crisis planning in your healthcare organization and can be the difference between gaining trust and losing clients in the midst of an emergency situation. 

A well-prepared crisis communication plan provides timely, accurate information and assures individuals about the safety and reliability of healthcare services, especially when there is a heightened level of concern or urgency among the public.

Patients are likelier to engage with a healthcare provider that demonstrates transparency and responsiveness during challenging times. Not having a crisis communication plan in place leads to misunderstandings, erodes trust, and hinders healthcare lead-generation efforts.

What others say about your healthcare organization is way more meaningful and influential to potential patients than anything you could ever say about yourself. This is why an online reputation management program is so important.

Credibility and trust are paramount, especially in healthcare. Positive reviews and ratings can make your healthcare organization more visible and discoverable online and can give you a competitive advantage when it comes to patient decision-making. 

Be sure you are optimizing your healthcare organization’s Google My Business profile. A Google My Business profile offers visitors a snapshot of essential information, including reviews, which provides valuable social proof.

If you’re busy and risk-averse, it can be easy to overlook the adoption of new technologies. This is a huge miss for healthcare marketers.

New technologies provide novel ways to reach and engage with audiences and often streamline and automate tasks, making marketing campaigns more efficient and cost-effective.

New technologies enable the collection of data and insights in the form of healthcare marketing KPIs that allow you to make informed decisions and optimize campaigns in real-time. 

Technologies such as AI and machine learning can make marketing experiences more personalized to your audience. With patient data privacy always top of mind, new technologies can improve security and privacy measures to protect this important information.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a set of regulations designed to protect the privacy and security of patient information in healthcare.

It mandates strict standards to safeguard this information, and noncompliance can result in severe legal and financial consequences for healthcare organizations, which include fines, penalties, and legal actions.

HIPAA is complicated and ever-changing. It can be difficult to keep on top of, especially if a healthcare organization doesn’t have experience with it. Many healthcare organizations find it valuable to partner with a healthcare marketing firm with HIPAA expertise that can answer these important healthcare marketing questions. 

An experienced healthcare marketing group can help you create a strategic marketing plan that allows your healthcare organization to reach its full potential AND stay compliant with government regulations.

Healthcare lead generation is a game-changer

Healthcare marketing is all about lead generation – identifying potential patients, qualifying them, building trust, nurturing them, and making it easy for them to choose your healthcare organization for their care and the care of their loved ones. 

By avoiding these big five errors in lead generation, you can position yourself as the premier provider in your area and give an increased number of patients the care they need to get better and stay better.

Partner with TBH Creative to help with your patient lead-generation efforts

If you don’t have the experience or bandwidth to initiate lead-generation efforts for your healthcare organization, help is available. TBH Creative is an experienced healthcare marketing expert who has helped organizations like yours establish and grow patient leads.  

We have experience in healthcare marketing KPIs, healthcare marketing strategy, and HIPAA compliance, and we can answer all of your healthcare marketing questions. 

Want to learn more about how we can help you avoid mistakes and propel your lead-generation efforts forward? Contact us today.