4 Tips for Patient Retention

If you run a medical spa or cosmetic dermatology clinic, or you’re a plastic surgeon looking to grow the non-surgical side our your practice, you need to be focused on patient retention. Studies have shown that it costs 7 times more money to acquire a new patient as it does to retain an existing one.

That’s why internal marketing, specifically social media marketing and email marketing, are so important to patient retention. These two digital marketing tactics allow you maintain distinct “touch points” with your patients, helping to build the know, like and trust factors between patients and your practice.

In this article I’ll outline four digital marketing tips for improving your patient retention. Let’s start by assuming that most of your patients are in your email database and they “like” you on social media. If there’s discrepancy with either of these statements, especially with your email marketing list, then you need to start by focusing on ensuring you capture all emails and add them to your list. Also, consider giving incentives for patients to “like” you on social media and check in at your practice.

If you do a good job of growing your email list and “likes” or follows on your social networks, then you can really step your game up by focusing on these four tactics:

1. Segment emails: This can be as simple as sending out a Birthday email or as advanced as an email sent out only to patients who have spent over $5k in the past year, but who have not been in the practice in the past 3 months. Segmentation allows you reach specific sub-groups of patients with more relevant messaging and offers, making it more likely they’ll open, read, click, and take action.
2. Facebook live: While Facebook posting (without boosting) is trending down because of poor organic visibility (to the point where it can even be a waste of time), Facebook live is on the rise! With Facebook live you can shoot in-office videos of non-surgical procedures, events, interviews with the doctor, and much more. You can get as creative as you’d like, but I’d avoid shooting live surgical videos (although you might generate interest from those with a morbid curiosity). The main thing with Facebook live is to get creative, as your patients presumably like you, so show some personality in these videos. These live videos will be seen by more of your Fans that your general posts.
3. Events: Have you had trouble getting people to RSVP for your events? Consider using EventBrite to make it seamless for patients to confirm attendance. Also, think about incorporating a special “bring a friend” offer to gain additional exposure.
4. VIP clubs: Who doesn’t want to be a VIP?! You can even interweave extra special offers at events for VIPs. Obviously, the key to any VIP membership is to incentivize patients to continue spending money. One example of an “extra” incentive is to combine a general discount or free product with discounts the patients can g et through a product manufacturer, such as Allergan’s Brilliant Distinctions.

Are you interested in improving your patient retention? You can check out our blog articles that focus on internal marketing here. To learn more about how we can help your practice check out our unique packages here or give us a call at 877-673-7096 x2.