One of the first places that potential patients will visit on their journey to discovering and engaging with your practice is your website. However, 74% of consumers find it frustrating when they come across websites that do not feature content that is relevant to their needs. This is true for most healthcare websites. Personalization is the first step in patient engagement, and it is one aspect of digital marketing that is most often overlooked.
Google is a prime example of how personalization can pay off. The search engine giant has been dominating the search domain primarily because it personalizes the search results of users based on their preferences and needs. With the arsenal of data (location, content consumed, referral source, device, etc.), harvesting tools, and resources available today, gathering intelligence on patient preferences and needs is relatively easy.
Practices that successfully dominate their markets are the ones that know how to engage with their patients. And at the core of that engagement activity lies personalization.
Greater Demand for Personalization
You can have a swanky website, a ton of content resources, and a stream of traffic coming to your website. But unless you are successfully converting that traffic, your practice revenue is not going to pick up its pace.
Consumers expect practices to deliver interactions that are unique and customized to their needs and expectations. No one wants to feel like a number or a marketing or sales stat, and 78% of site visitors believe organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships.
There definitely is a demand for personalized content. However, fighting for patient attention amid the massive chaos of marketing stimuli out there is not easy. Dental practices need to understand their potential patients on a granular level and implement marketing strategies that focus on patient identity and value and encourage deeper communication. Personalization helps in directing patients to their specific needs and helps push them further along in the sales cycle.
According to Infosys, 73% of consumers prefer to do business with brands that use personal information to optimize their buying experiences and make them more relevant. For potential consumers, customized marketing packs great value as it highlights those areas or aspects of a product or service that not only appeals to them the most but also brings them closer to their buying goals.
The best way to convert traffic that reaches your website is by ensuring users enjoy personalized web experiences based on individual preferences. In addition to ensuring that your site supports a clean, non-intrusive, and simple design and features hyper-relevant content, here are four other things to consider.
Create a Compelling CTA
An effective call to action (CTA) ideally will highlight the value that patients stand to gain and encourage them to take a measurable action. If used correctly, a strong CTA will direct your patients to take the necessary steps in actively engaging with your practice. The best way to achieve this is by opting for CTAs that are creatively bold, speak to the reader, and can prompt an immediate response. Make use of strong actionable words and ensure your CTAs are clearly visible.
Simplify Your Forms
Patients expect easy and quick access to your website. Once they reach your site, they expect to be able to access a resource, page, or tool with equal ease and speed. If users have to go through a lengthy process or a series of steps to access your content or tools, chances are they will lose interest halfway.
Make your forms easily accessible, and reduce unnecessary fields that must be filled out. Also keep in mind that many patients use mobile devices to access your website. You don’t want them abandoning your dental website simply because your forms take too long to complete!
Remove Distractions that Divert Attention
Too many links, a wide number of offers, multiple sidebars, and unnecessary images and actions can divert the attention of your site’s visitors. Digital consumers already have short attention spans, and the last thing you want is an overdose of elements that distract user attention.
Too many diversions can negatively impact your conversion rate. So, minimize the number of distracting elements that shift user focus away from your content.
Brand Validations Encourage Conversions
Not all visitors to your website will convert readily. Sometimes they need a little nudge towards making a buying decision. This is where tools and features such as patient testimonials, detailed product or service information, or product/service ratings can play a major role. They not only generate trust, they also can provide just the kind of push that is required when converting leads.
Conclusion
Building dental practice advocacy and loyalty in the digital space is not easy. However, brands such as Amazon and Netflix have struck gold when it comes to building website traffic and converting leads. The reason largely responsible for their success is personalization.
Everything from the content they feature to product recommendations and deals that they offer is personalized and based on user behavior and preferences. Dental practices can duplicate this kind of success by personalizing their websites to match the needs and preferences of potential patients.
Naren Arulrajah is president and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, a complete Internet marketing company that focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education, and the online reputations of dentists. With a team of more than 130 full time marketers, Ekwa Marketing helps doctors who know where they want to go to get there by dominating their market and growing their business significantly year after year. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call Naren directly at 877-249-9666.
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