There are two primary objectives when it comes to online marketing for doctors.
One is to provide value to patients searching for information. The other is to attract the ideal patients to you.
But does that mean you need a call to action in each blog post you create?
What Is A Call To Action In A Blog Post?
A call to action is simply a button or another large callout asking the patient to schedule an appointment.
For many years, I would advocate for a call to action on every post. The reason? If someone searched for and found that post related to conditions they were experiencing, then why not make it convenient for them to schedule an appointment when they’re done reading the article?
For a long time, this made sense and worked well, but like anything relative to internet marketing, things change.
Value First Marketing
People now are so used to being “sold” online, that they’re beginning to tune out some of the large calls to actions in blog posts.
The same is true when it comes to people searching for health information online. They don’t want to feel like what they read to get answers on their condition is just a sales pitch.
This is where the value-first marketing concept comes into play.
Each blog post you write as a doctor should be designed to help and answer questions for the patient. By focusing on providing them with the best information possible, just as you would if they were in your clinic face to face, you’ll become someone they trust.
A Better Call To Action Strategy
The fact remains that you still want to make it easy for those who wish to schedule an appointment with you to do so. So what’s the best way to do this now?
The answer is to have a call to action still, but include it in the header menu of the website, as well as the footer.
That way, it’s not part of the blog post and doesn’t come across as a sales tactic. However, it’s still easy to find and automatically shows up on each and every page of your website.
Value-first marketing will serve you well will build patient trust in you.
And by merely having the call to action in more strategic locations, it will help attract more patients to you.