PracticalDermatology

In the technological boom of digital communication devices in various sizes, have you considered how many screens are involved in delivering your marketing message to your target audience? With growing consumer aspirations and availability of technology, it has become imperative to give your local potential patients the content they want on the digital device of their choice. You need a cohesive strategy to connect your marketing and communication efforts seamlessly across multiple screens.

Experienced marketers and communication analysts have been trying to understand consumer behavior with regard to multi-screen marketing. Once you have clear insights on how your targeted potential patients interact with information across multiple screens, it gets easier to design and adapt your dermatology online marketing strategy to optimize the efforts. The important communication screens that you need to consider in your marketing strategy include televisions, laptops and personal computers, tablets, and mobile phones.

ADOPT A HOLISTIC APPROACH

Marketing experts who have been analyzing the potential impact of various communication screens on consumers recommend that marketers must adopt a more holistic multi-screen communication and marketing approach. Before you define your best possible multi-screen dermatology marketing strategy, you need to look at the relationship that the potential patients may have with each screen and which type of content to leverage within the promotional, informational or education campaigns. People tend to form an emotional connection with their devices, which must be understood carefully.

To begin with, dermatology marketers should understand that television is the most familiar, trusted and easy-going gadget in most people's lives and it has easy relationships with the users. Computers are considered more sage-like with a perennial stream of knowledge where the consumers turn for information and insights. Tablets are akin to an explorer where the consumer can launch on an immersive content journey to new territories and unearth new things. Mobile phones, on the other hand, command the most personal and intimate relationship, where the content should match in terms of being highly individualized, personal, and relevant.

MULTI-SCREEN RESPONSIVE WEBSITE DESIGN

Once dermatology marketers recognize the importance of addressing the information and engagement needs of potential patients through multiple screens, they need to take the first step in the right direction. They must evaluate whether their dermatology practice website is based on a web design that is responsive to multiple screen sizes. A very large number of dermatology patients now review or search information online through their mobile screens.

If your dermatology website is mobile friendly, the patient will be able to review the site comfortably on their mobile phone. However, if the user finds hindrances in surfing through the website online, the dermatologist stands to lose out on a lot of traffic of potential patients that may get distracted and exit from the website and look for other sites that are mobile compatible. The same holds true for tablet devices that come in multiple size variations, and are increasingly used by the consumers. The website design should be able to adapt itself to the tablet screens to provide an effective website viewing experience to the user.

LAYERED ONLINE ENGAGEMENT

Most conventional dermatology marketers today have a focus on developing a “mobile” marketing strategy or a “social media” marketing strategy as a standalone tactic. However, instead of placing devices and platforms at the center of their marketing strategy, the marketers should start putting the consumers at the center and develop layers of marketing around them. Which screens or platforms to target should be determined from a combination of the marketing goals of the dermatology practice and the innate needs of its potential patients.

For instance, if potential patients are keen to gather detailed information on various new procedures and services and how they can be beneficial to them, the marketer must try to drive deeper engagement. The marketer can begin with snippets of information or teaser ads in social media to ignite the curiosity of the potential patients. The goal should be to eventually prompt them to the tablet, where a more extensive exploration takes place.

PATIENT-CENTRIC THINKING

Dermatology marketers should not get trapped by the allure of new tech features or platforms and should consider how useful these features may be for the target audience or potential patients. The more they focus on patients before platforms, the nearer they will get to developing effective digital marketing strategies. To form patient-centric thinking, it is important to think from a patient's point of view.

The marketers should step back for a while and think about the actual patients who interact, engage and receive dermatology services. They should consider what services and procedures do these patients need? What may be the best platform or screen space to engage them based on those needs? The marketing strategies should be driven by the answers to these questions, and not on the basis of the innovative features or capabilities of the latest new media platform.

PROVIDE MULTI-SCREEN EXPERIENCES

In many cases, marketers make the mistake of assuming that the target audience or potential dermatology patients would be less technology-savvy than they actually are. The fact is that the average consumer of today is driving up the demand for seamless multi-screen information experiences. Potential patients desire to be able to transition naturally between their physical and digital environments through experiences that are more intuitive and match with their needs of the moment.

They are sharp enough to understand if an online piece of content or experience of a website may be useful to satisfy the information they are looking for. They are quick to reject the sites that do not serve their needs and move on quickly to other options in the crowded digital space. Online readers are also looking for quick bites or snippets of content that offer a break from monotony or a fleeting moment of entertainment. Dermatology marketers should keep this in mind when developing multi-screen content to keep target audiences engaged across platforms.

Naren Arulrajah is President and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, a complete Internet marketing company which focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education and the online reputations of dermatologists. With a team of 130+ full time marketers, Ekwa.com helps one doctor in an area dominate their market and grow their business significantly year after year. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call Naren direct at 877-249-9666.