The search for a medical or dental practice begins online. Potential patients will rarely schedule an appointment with a doctor until after they have checked his online presence. In most instances, a mere visit to the website will not suffice; potential patients will scout for information about a doctor and his medical or dental practice over social media networks as well. Add to that the quantum increase in competition that medical practices are facing today and it becomes easy to understand why differentiating your practice from your competitors is an absolute necessity.

Add a “personal” touch to your Practice Brand Image

How your current and potential patients view your practice brand can prove critical when it comes to building lasting relationships. Here are 4 easy ways to improve your practice brand image and enhance patient perception.

Create an Awesome ‘About Us’ Page – Use your ‘About Us’ page to put a face to your practice brand. Speak to the user directly and use easy to understand language. The idea is to get potential patients to trust and connect with you.

Personalize your Interactions – Potential patients are increasingly using social media networks to look up medical information and advice. This provides doctors with a powerful medium to interact with their patients. Personalize your messages, blog posts, and emails to remind patients that behind the messages there is a doctor who is dedicated to helping them.

Your Practice is more than a Brand – Your medical or dental practice includes a host of employees or even other doctors. Introduce your team to your patients; talk about who they are, their job role, and how they can help. Putting a face to a name is still one of the most powerful ways to build trust.

Add an “emotional” quotient – Your website and social profiles will provide the first impressions to your practice. Stories, patient testimonials, success stories, and humor all are powerful tools to increasing patient engagement. Anytime you interact with your patients over social media platforms, project an “easy to approach” attitude. Remember, nowhere in the rule book does it state that doctor-patient relationships can’t be fun!