New Media Ghost’s marketing tips for surgeons will help you build trust through your personal brand. From a patient perspective, it’s daunting how many indexes and websites there are to find private surgeons. You belong to a nexus of thousands of competing peers. What that means for you is that it’s not enough to be listed or have a nice personal website, even if you are a prodigal surgeon. Strong multimedia marketing is no longer an advantage – it’s mandatory. A glance at the least popular surgeons across indexes proves they all have one thing in common: they don’t know how to market themselves. If the most eye-catching thing on your profile is the ‘others you may find interesting’ section, there’s a problem.
Trust & Transparency
We live in the information age, according to a survey by Label Insight, 73% of consumers prioritize trust and transparency over price. You need to be trusted, you need to prove your worth, and you need to be seen. Fortunately, New Media Ghost has some marketing tips for surgeons, and we’re on standby to maximise your marketing potential.
You have a name. Use it!
Surgery is terrifying. Nobody wants to go under the knife. Sure, there may be a number of people who will wait months for Joe Bloggs MD from the NHS. Your client-in-waiting, however, has sought a private surgeon not only for superior treatment, but because they want a professional to invest in throughout what may be a scary and difficult process. When they encounter your brand, they need to encounter you. You need to digitally ingratiate yourself to the point that you don’t feel like a stranger at your first consultation. That means embracing your name as the centre of your brand, ensuring your personal brand is always in the front of their minds.
Diversify: there’s more to the world than LinkedIn
Of course, knowing your name is just one part of the puzzle. A name needs a face, and that face needs to be everywhere. If you think clients nowadays will stumble upon your professional pages and profiles and stop there, you are mistaken. Stalking potential connections on social media is a guilty 21st century pastime. Luckily for you, that means extra avenues of visibility. It used to be that having good credentials and decent web design would land clients by the score, but now, people are interested not only in how you work, but also how you play. They want to know how you talk to people, what you care about, and what you do with your time. They know your name. Now they need to know what it means, and that means maintaining an image on every channel possible.
You have the right to remain silent
These are trying times in politics worldwide. Being yourself is great, but only when it’s productive. Trips to the seaside and the snowman you built with your kids: fair game. A fiery stream of consciousness about how longingly you fear or crave a no-deal Brexit? Don’t go there. Some clients, regardless of your political leanings, will dismiss you if theirs don’t align.
Be transparent about costs – and why they exist in the first place
There’s no quicker way to lose trust than vague statements about how much you charge. Finding out how much treatment will cost, as a patient, is an exhausting and time-consuming nightmare. Even if your rates vary for different services, try to simplify it as much as possible. At the very least, specify how much an initial consultation will cost. This is the first thing many clients will look for, so be clear. What better way to generate trust than by streamlining the hardest part for them?
Moreover, private surgery is a major commitment. No matter your rates, your clients need persuading that you are the right person for them. Emphasise on how you differ from others; individually focused healthcare, direct communication, faster service, higher standards of care, specialised diagnostics, etc. Give those claims weight with your qualifications and achievements, and you’re well on your way.
A picture is worth a thousand words
You’re competing for the limited attention of patients, meaning first impressions are crucial – and nothing has an immediate impact like your self-presentation. Don’t settle for poorly framed pictures of yourself at the pub or that webcam picture you took for LinkedIn back in 2006. It’s not going to hold up, especially when you consider the variety of devices a patient could be visiting from.
It’s more than just pictures of yourself, though. A visual showcase of your highlights on the right social networks for you is a fantastic way to instantly prove your skill. Having a before-and-after gallery demonstrating your most significant operations is likely to work.
These five marketing tips for surgeons are a good starting point, but nothing is that easy. Marketing is an intricate web of systems that demands media and technological literacy, an algorithmic understanding of how online visibility really works, long-term strategy development, and most pressingly, time. If you’re serious about your personal marketing as a surgeon, and you’d rather spend time at the operating table than half-baking your marketing, get in touch with New Media Ghost. We’ll assign a bespoke media professional to manage your entire digital presence, covering everything above and much more, saving time and generating business in the process. Book a consultation by clicking here. Remember, we are not an agency, we offer bespoke solutions to meet your needs.