The greatest gift from a patient for National Doctor’s Day
Posted: March 30, 2020 - By Elizabeth VelezNational Doctor’s Day is a day to recognize doctors of all specialties for their work. It’s celebrated on March 30th and has been recognized since 1933. It was originally started in Winder, Georgia by Eudora Brown Almond, the wife of a prominent Georgian doctor. She chose March 30th because that is the historic day Dr. Crawford W. Long used an ether anesthetic for the first time during surgery in 1842.
Every practice has a group of grateful patients that enjoy celebrating their physician. What better way for your patients to honor this national holiday than by encouraging them to leave your practice an online review? Here are 3 physician marketing ideas to help increase online reviews around this national holiday.
Encourage patients to share their positive experiences
Some patients may not be aware the holiday is approaching, so start the conversion. Send a Thank You email to patients who have visited in the past year and thank them for trusting you with their healthcare. You can also use segmentation here and send a slightly altered email to patients who have consistently visited for the past 3-5 years. Email KPIs like open rates and conversion rates are always higher when emailing a segmented audience that is loyal.
Share a couple of reasons why you enjoy being their doctor, and then encourage them to share the positive experiences they have had with you and your practice. The most effective way to send an email where you want an action to take place is by linking to the review site of your choice within the email.
Make it easy for patients to leave a review at anytime
Emailing your patients is a strategic way to get a direct action, but remember to utilize your other channels as well. A patient may have received your Thank You email and thought they would review your practice ‘later.’ If you have a prominent call to action on your website, review sites and in patient communications, that same patient who already considered reviewing you may complete the task when they are reminded again.
Another way to make leaving a review easy is by sending a request via text message. Ninety percent of text messages are read within 3 minutes. This gives your effort for National Doctor’s Day a higher chance of converting.
Never miss an opportunity for a patient review
In the digital world, it’s important that no stone goes unturned. The process of claiming and managing your practice’s online listings can and should be supplemented by automation. This includes major sites and niche sites specific to your specialty. With this marketing task being done efficiently you will reduce the opportunity to miss out on patient reviews.
With claimed online listings your patients have a better chance of finding you online, regardless of the search terms they type in. And being found easily online is just another great gift for your practice on National Doctor’s Day.
