More patients Win

Radio advert? Newspaper advert?

No doubt you have already been contacted by advertising salespeople or media consultants who are always convinced that their product is the right one for the practice.

But what is the real benefit of an expensive advert on the radio or a practice presentation in a special print? Is a practice presentation on an industry portal really helpful? Can I really reach the patients I would like to attract with an advertising poster at a bus stop?

There is (unfortunately) no one-size-fits-all solution that can be applied to every practice. Firstly, it is important to critically scrutinise the measures on offer. We will analyse and evaluate them for you.

Winning patients requires strategy

When the number of new (private) patients decreases, some doctors react with ill-considered, spontaneous and costly measures - often without the desired success. Instead, it should first be clarified:

• Who is actually the patient I want to win?
• How quickly can my practice be found on Google?
• Where is my target group usually to be found?
• Does my practice image convey professionalism?
• What reputation does my practice have online?
• Can you find my practice locally?

The practice marketing score

Successfully attracting patients is no coincidence, but the result of strategic and coherent practice marketing. Our Practice marketing score calculator decodes how well (or poorly) your practice is currently positioned in terms of patient acquisition. We analyse the following aspects:

1) Target group
2) Market situation & positioning
3) Reputation & findability
4) Online status
5) Offline status
6) Soft facts

The process:
Various statements are made and questions asked about each aspect. Simply tick the statements that apply to you. For questions, there are predefined answers from which you can choose. Each statement or question is awarded a certain number of points depending on its relevance and importance. Once you have completed all the statements and questions, your personal practice marketing score is calculated and displayed immediately afterwards.

Influencing factors in patient acquisition

Medical Customer Journey

Practice appearance

Does your entire practice appearance convey professionalism?

A practice logo and individualised corporate design are not a must, but they convey the practice's claim to a professional overall concept to potential patients. As far as the practice website is concerned, it is debatable how stylish it should be. However, it should definitely make a professional impression on potential patients. Of course, this also applies to the practice sign, any adverts and printed materials such as information sheets or flyers.

We see time and again that doctors invest huge sums in practice rooms, interiors and practice equipment, but then cut corners when it comes to advertising materials and, for example, take their own practice photos or build their website themselves using a modular system. The real and virtual practice appearances are then often far apart in terms of value - and the first point of contact for new patients is not usually the reception area of a practice, but the practice website.

More information at: → Practice logo

Communication channels

Where does your target group spend its time?

Where is the patient group I want to attract usually to be found (in front of the radio, at the golf club or youth sports club ...?) and what topics are they interested in (beauty, cosmetics, fitness ...)? The answers to these questions will have a significant impact on the advertising channels you should use to reach potential patients without wasting too much time and money.

The fact is that around half of all Germans are active on social media such as Facebook or Instagram. And as the target group can be addressed very precisely here, this potential should be utilised wherever possible. However, it is usually not enough to set up a Facebook or Instagram page for the practice and publish a picture here at irregular intervals. If you want to use social media to attract patients, you need to consistently provide content and invest a certain amount in Facebook and Instagram ads, especially at the beginning, so that people become aware of your practice.

More information at: → Social media for doctors

Availability / Online appointments

Is your practice always available?

"Appointments only by telephone from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.", such or similar notices are not exactly inviting for new patients. If things have to be done quickly, for example if a tooth suddenly hurts badly, you should always be available for patients. Of course, nobody can expect the reception of a doctor's surgery to be staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, there are now solutions for making appointments virtually around the clock: Contact forms on the practice website or online appointment systems (examples include Doctolib.de, Arzttermine.de or Jameda.de).

You can find more information and a comparison of well-known providers at: → Online doctor's appointments: Comparison of providers

Findability on site

Can your practice be found locally?

Is your practice in a prominent location, e.g. in a pedestrian zone, on a market square or in a central square? Then you should not ignore potential "walk-in customers". Eye-catching practice signs, window stickers or pillars that stand out from the typical "black text on a white background" practice sign will be remembered by people who live or work in the neighbourhood and therefore pass by your practice again and again.

The legal requirements for practice signs were relaxed years ago, so that today there is no longer any objection to strikingly designed and larger, illuminated practice signs. Another way to attract patients who regularly visit your practice is to use creatively designed windows and glass surfaces as well as logo installations on the building (depending on the situation on site, of course).

Insider tip for dentists: Show what you can do!

Making expertise clear with before and after pictures

As a dentist, the success of treatment is best illustrated with images - at least in the case of aesthetic dentistry or orthodontics.

More and more dentists are recognising this and are therefore presenting their treatment successes using before and after pictures, which they share on their Instagram and/or Facebook account, for example. From a legal point of view, there is nothing to stop them from doing so, as long as they are not plastic surgery procedures and patients have consented to the images being shared publicly.
"Advertising with before-and-after images is permitted if it is not done in an abusive, repulsive or misleading manner" (medical-law-blog.comlawyer Christian Erbacher, LL.M.).

Insider tip for dentists:
On the following patient portal for the dentist search, dentists can find their best dentists. Before and after pictures publish (up to 3 free of charge) and attract patients for aesthetic treatments → jadento.de

How do patients search for doctors?

As part of our study Winning patients on Facebook (to the study), we investigated how patients search for a doctor in times of rating portals and social media. The result: Two thirds (66%) use the Google search engine to find a new doctor. Around a quarter (24%) look for advice on review portals. Traditional advertising media such as business directories (Yellow Pages, telephone directory) apparently no longer play a role.

These results show how important professional online marketing and a practice website that is well positioned on Google are for doctors.

LOEW, O.: Study on doctor-patient communication using Facebook, DZW 48/13

Gain patients in the short term

You can use the following practice marketing measures to attract new patients in the short term:

• Google Adsi.e. paid search results on Google. A modern and up-to-date practice website is a prerequisite for success.
• Social Adsi.e. highlighted posts on Facebook and/or Instagram that are seen by a previously defined target group.
• Press report/s in a daily or weekly newspaper about a specific practice service or to introduce the practice.
• Advertisement/s in daily and/or weekly newspapers that are professionally designed and informative.

Winning patients in the long term

You can attract new patients in the long term with the following practice marketing measures:

• Practice homepagewhich is professionally designed and provides up-to-date information about the practice and its range of services.
• Search engine optimisation (SEO)to position the practice homepage in the top positions on Google in the long term.
• Evaluation management and patient surveys to ensure a good reputation (not only on the Internet).
• Referral managementto build up a functioning network of referrers in the long term.

Attracting more private patients

How can I attract more private patients?

Many doctors ask themselves this question. And most of them will probably have already realised that there are hardly any concrete answers to this question - apart from basic advice such as a coherent public image, a good Google ranking, positive reviews or optimal patient care.

However, the successful acquisition of private patients begins much earlier. With the questions:
Who are private patients, how and where can I reach them?

In our blog post → How to attract private patients we take a detailed look at how the private patient quota can be increased.