There are some aspects of marketing that will never change, however there are trends to keep on top of to ensure you are not missing out. You should always be reviewing and developing your marketing strategy to make sure it is still working and you are making the most of your time and budget.
Following this year’s trends will ensure you are ahead of the game and making your marketing efforts work for you as well as they can. Take a look at some of the top marketing trends this year and the reasons why you should follow them.
With the rise of personal devices being able to answer your queries by asking a direct question you need to tailor your marketing strategy to help you show up in these results. Not only are people speaking to their tablets and telephones, there are in home devices that have these services too such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home.
In order to be able to fit this in with your strategy you need to think about what your target audience may use in their voice queries and used this to focus on long keywords. Those who search this way are likely to be more specific when asking a question and you want your business to be able to answer that question.
In particular for your physical therapy clinic it will be important to include correct details of your location and contacts. Not only on your website but on your google business page too. This way when someone asks a question such as what physical therapy clinics are nearby you will show up in relevant results.
This is also true when it comes to patient information. Being able to answer queries as to what treatments work for certain injuries and having useful specific content will make you more likely to come out on top when these questions are asked.
This kind of media for business has taken off this year with a rise in the performance of sharing stories and live moments for business. It offers a sense of urgency to watch in real time and gives an image of who your business really is.
Live streaming content allows you to engage with your leads and customers in the fastest way possible. Which in turn will improve your followers’ relationships and reach a broader audience without having a cost implication for your business too. Any free methods of marketing is a bonus and this modern way of streaming content is up there with the best.
For a physical therapy clinic, you may want to offer a live tour of your therapy rooms or demonstrate a new treatment for your customers. Giving information in real time gives a personal touch and will create more of a connection to your potential customers.
Updating social media regularly has always been a good marketing strategy but now your stories should also be updated regularly too. You can see how many people have viewed and engaged with each social media story, so track its performance over the short period of time that it is live.
Another means of communication and answering queries that are on the rise are chatbots. They enable an automated question and answer service that offer help to customers without anyone having to physically be there. This is great as queries can be answered quickly and easily without the need to actual human interaction. Saving you time and money.
Chatbots play an increasingly larger role in improving the customer experience on your website and allowing you to better engage with your audience. Offering real-time assistance to the visitor, dedicated support and proactive interactions where they ask questions to understand the query.
For example, if a visitor lands of a particular webpage about a product or service a chatbot is available and the customer can request assistance or get more information about your service. The answers to simple questions about types of services on offer and opening times can be answered quickly and easily by the bot. Then there can be certain options if the query cannot be answered there and then. Such as to direct to relevant pages on your website for more information, to connect directly to an advisor or to offer a booking or service request form.
Chatbots and online chat are an easy way to cut down on time and costs of interacting on your website whilst still offering excellent advice and service to your customers.
Email marketing has been around since email began, however now it is getting smarter. Engagement based email marketing is the new trend and can become very personalised to those subscribers who are active on your website.
If a subscriber often engages with your emails, such as clicking on links and reading content then you know to continue to send regular content and updates about your business. Keeping them interested as a loyal customer. However, if a subscriber hasn’t opened an email for a certain length of time, they can be considered as an inactive customer and receive a reduced amount of emails.
For subscribers to your physical therapy site you can track those customers who have signed in and learn what they are looking at and engaging with. If they don’t make a booking or purchase this time, you can send a follow up email which gives more information about what they were browsing on your website. Giving a gentle push to return and book or buy.
Marketing with email in a smarter way will improve your customer trust and confidence and make them feel valued. A fewer quantity of tailored personalised emails are so much better than many bulk generic emails sending each subscriber the exact same information. Again less, more tailored work for maximum gain.
Web push notifications are clickable messages sent to your customers device by your website even when the user is not actually on your website. They are an increasingly popular way to reach customers and encourage further website visits and interaction. Engaging with them to offer relevant insight into what they have previously visited or new content they may be interested in.
They improve conversion rates and remind customers and clients what they have been viewing and why. Making it easier to return and learn more about new offers, read new blog posts and revisit current information. Communicating with your audience in a more powerful and meaningful way.
Visitors must choose to receive push notifications, so explaining why when the request is made automatically is a good idea. You also need to include your privacy policy somewhere which may be a clickable link to your page that explains everything regarding the information you hold and process.
Push notifications are a great marketing tool for your business, they can remind clients when they are due to book in for specific treatments and show offers and events to potential new customers. Including a link to your website or booking page will ensure quick and easy conversion too.
As well as personalising emails and artificial intelligence led questions on your website. You can also personalise content for your customers who land on your page. Often one size does not fit all and customers want content that is more specifically relevant to them. It is easier said than done but with so many research and analysis tools available, if you use the information in the correct way it can be of an incredible advantage for your business.
For example, if you have multiple clinics at different locations you can use location settings to tailor the content delivered depending on where your visitor or customer is based. This is especially relevant if you are offering specific treatments at different clinics.
You may even want to consider dynamic landing pages from the same social media marketing post for example depending on the known demographics of the user at the time. This may include different age ranges and interests as well as their location.
Personalisation is all about making the customer feel valued and offering a unique way to convert that visitor to a paying client by offering them exactly what they are looking for quickly and easily. Taking more time to personalise content and it will pay off more than general marketing methods.
As you can see there are some great opportunities for marketing your physical therapy website with little cost implications. Taking advantage of smart technology and letting this do the work for you is what this year’s marketing trends are all about. By using intelligent marketing strategies and considering all things artificial intelligence based as well as personalisation. You are likely to improve your customers user experience as well as your business conversion rates. Making an overall better impression of your business.
Of course, if you are on top of your marketing strategy for your physical therapy website and clinic you can implement these changes to make sure you are keeping up with the latest trends. However, if you are finding it difficult to keep on top of marketing your business, Patient sites can help by offering a range of tools to suit your business needs.
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.
