By Mark Wright, OD, FCOVD,
and Carole Burns, OD, FCOVD
April 28, 2021
A practice blog can increase your visibility with current and prospective patients, showcasing your expertise and the services your office has to offer. Here are ideas to get your first blog up and running, or to help you ramp back up a blog that has been neglected.
Content marketing is a tried and true way to promote the practice. Over time, content marketing has taken many forms. One current form that is underutilized in most practices involves blogging. A blog is a regularly updated website or webpage, typically run by an individual or a small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.i
According to the website Wishpond, there are four main reasons why blogging is important for your practice.ii
1) Blogging drives traffic to your website.
2) Blogging increases your search engine optimization (SEO)/search engine results pages (SERP).
3) Blogging positions your brand as an industry leader.
4) Blogging develops better patient relationships.
The best ways to do marketing have changed over time. Gillette made the transition from promoting its razors through local newspaper inserts to creating convincing lifestyle blogs giving tips about shaving. Gillette moved away from outbound strategies such as newspaper ads and started adopting inbound techniques like blogging to create value for its customer base and sell its products in a non-salesy way.iii
Here are 20 ideas you can utilize in a blog for your practice.
1) Share your practice’s mission and vision statements and how they relate to patient care
2) Write about who inspires you in life and business
3) Share the top things you’ve learned over the past five years
4) Share the best advice you’ve ever received
5) Create a contest or giveaway
6) Answer popular questions
7) Write about the impact on quality of life your products and services have on people
8) Interview patients (don’t forget to get a signed HIPAA Marketing Release Form)
9) Conduct a poll, survey, or quiz, then share the results
10) Create an “Ultimate Guide” to …
11) Create a “Beginners Guide” to …
12) Write about how to stay focused and productive
13) Compare two popular eyecare brands
14) Tell the story of how you got started
15) Conduct interviews with your team members
16) Profile a charity your practice supports
17) Tie an unrelated topic to your practice
18) Debunk eyecare myths
19) Write about a trend in eyecare
20) Share recipes to improve health
Here’s an important tip: Stay away from religion, politics and controversy. Your goal with the blog is to bring new patients into your practice. Your goal is not to antagonize potential patients and drive them away from your practice.
Other Articles to Explore
If you’re looking for an effective way to bring new patients into your practice, and you are not currently blogging, then you owe it to yourself to explore this topic further. Many of your current vendors offer programs that will help you create an effective blog. Start there.
References
i. Define blog – Bing
ii. 4 Reasons Why Blogging is Important for your Business (wishpond.com)
iii. 11 Biggest Benefits of Blogging for Small Business Owners in 2020 (lyfemarketing.com)
