You may have a well-established website and clinic, but you need to work at it to keep your clients engaged. You may get off to a good start, however there are things you need to do to make sure your clients come back again and again for your content. It can be hard work to keep this going but if you do it right you will encourage returning visitors. But where do you start when devising a plan to keep your customers engaged with your content?
Simply, content engagement is how others interact with your content on your website. The more interaction and visitors the better the engagement. High interaction with your content is important as it keeps customers returning and boost your business. Without it, you are not selling your brand to its full potential and you may lose clients as a result. Improving your client engagement can be tricky, but there are some things you can do that can help. Here are ten tips to help to keep your physical therapy clients engaged with your content.
To keep your readers interested you should share content at regular intervals. Being reliable with your content will mean your readers will know when to expect new articles and show how reliable you are. If the content you share is interesting and worth reading, you followers will look forward to your articles and updates and will be more likely to come back for more. Decide on a time frame that is good for you and stick to it. Whether that be weekly, fortnightly or monthly. Whichever fits well with you and your brand. Just make sure it is regular to promote consistent engagement from your clients.
A great way of keeping your audience engaged is to create articles the follow on from one another. Creating quality and interesting content to meet the expectations of your readers and being consistent is important for that trust in your brand. For example, you could create a series of meeting the staff and therapists at your clinic. Where each week you publish an article featuring a therapist explaining who they are and what they do. Or perhaps you can follow the progress of a client and write a series detailing a success story that your readers won’t want to miss. Wanting to know what happens next will draw your clients back.
If someone has taken the time to write a message or make comment on your blog article you should try to reply as soon as possible. This shows your customers that you care about what they think and appreciate the time and effort they have taken to comment. Thank clients or readers for their comments and feedback. If there is a negative comment, then address this straight away and try to resolve any issues as quickly as possible. Remember to keep on top of comments both on your website and on social media too. Knowing you care about what they think will keep them engaged and coming back.
Writing for your readers and what they are interested in make your articles more personal. Think about why your clients read your articles and what is important to them. Addressing your readers personally and showing you understand their trepidations about treatments can make a difference. So too, can giving information that they will want to know as a new or existing customer. Offering that personal touch and showing you are a brand that cares. It is often about the style of writing such as using the right tense and active voice. This makes your article flow, makes it easy to read and improves SEO all at the same time.
By writing content that sparks conversation you are instantly increasing your customer engagement. Encourage your readers to comment and give their thoughts and opinions on your articles and in turn, this will mean more visitors to read your post. Again, answering these comments and joining in the conversation will show you are interested in your readers opinions. People are more likely to read and continue to follow your articles if they encourage conversation and the sharing of opinions. However, be careful not to create too much controversy or polarised views as this can quickly become negative for your brand. Create thought provoking and comment worthy content without being too controversial.
By using surveys and then publishing the results, you get your customers involved twice with the same project. First you send out the survey to your clients. Perhaps on social media or directed through targeted email. Think of something that you really need answers for and can make a difference to your project. Then gather the results, thanking those who have participated in the survey to show their input is appreciated. Lastly publish the results in an article on your website. Include both the results of the survey, then what you are going to do, or have already done on the back of those results. Showing that you are listening to your customers and willing to make changes will keep your clients returning.
Infographics are a great way to provide information in a fun and interesting format. They are very readable and very sharable. It may take some time to develop the right infographics for your physical therapy clinic. But remember that putting some effort in the short term will make a big difference to your business in the long term. Examples of types of infographics you can develop include the stages of certain treatments or types of injuries and how they are treated. A story that shows important information in an easily readable format. Share a great infographic and your readers will come back time and time again.
A tool you should not forget when thinking about content engagement is your social media outlets. Share all your content on your social media pages and concentrate on the most popular and the most active accounts. Your clients and customers are most likely to see your articles if they are shared on a medium, they see every day. So, if they are checking Facebook a few times a day, sharing your content here will be the best way to reach them. Remember not just to regurgitate the same content across all mediums. Share the right content for each audience at different times.
Updating your clients by email whenever you share a blog post or article is another way to remind them of new content. You can usually set up an automatic mechanism to send out an email to those subscribed to your email list, so they receive this straight away without any effort from the publisher. This way they will instantly receive a notification when you publish a new article and they can click the link in their email to get to the post directly. For those not signed up to your website but on your email list, you can send out update emails with links to your new content too.
There is nothing like customer loyalty, but this is earned, and you won’t earn loyalty without being open and honest with your clients and readers. But you want to increase the trust and loyalty from your visitors. Only sharing content that is quality, with real information will gain your customers trust and keep them coming back. As well as the content, you should include honest reviews and feedback within your website. This way it shows how open you are to share the right information and keep your clients up to date with what is working and what is not.
As you can see there are plenty of tips and tricks to try to keep your customers coming back for your content. The key to keeping your clients engaged is sharing the very best quality content containing useful information that they want to read. Then you can add to this quality to improve your reach and encourage more customer interaction. Follow these tips and you are sure to improve your engagement and enjoy seeing your clients returning to your website.
If this still seems like a lot of work that you just don’t have time for, there are things that can be done to help you along your way. At Patient sites you can find a range of services to suit your needs, including content, patient information and social and email engagement. Check here to see what Patient sites can do for you.
Do you need some help with your physical therapy website and marketing? Download our Free Evergreen Marketing Blueprint for Physical Therapists and start creating long-term assets that generate new patient bookings for years to come.