marketing ideas for obstetricians

Here’s your obstetrics marketing starter kit!

Obstetrics is one of those medical specialties where choice is essential when patients are going private. Your online marketing is pivotal if you want to keep the inflow of new expecting mums stable, and that is why we have compiled this ‘starter kit’ of failproof marketing ideas for your obstetrics practice.

Here’s your obstetrics marketing starter kit!

Invest in content marketing

marketing for obstetricians

Let’s go over the main reason why content marketing is the best marketing investment if you are an obstetrician in private practice.

Content marketing is an inbound marketing technique. You attract expecting mothers and your timing is perfect. Content marketing works when someone types a specific search into Google about antenatal care, choosing an obstetrician, birthing methods or more detailed questions about pregnancy.

The main reason why our customers get a positive ROI when they invest in content marketing is this: You are only targeting someone who is actively telling you that they are looking for what you offer. If that sounds too theoretical, picture the alternatives. A TV station is broadcasting a movie and interrupts it to push outbound marketing content your way, for example about a coffee brand… even if you haven’t touched coffee since uni. Outbound marketing aims for numbers with very little targeting.

Healthcare marketing activities have shifted strongly toward content marketing because of its proven results for doctors in private practice:

Content marketing can easily be crafted to comply with applicable advertising guidelines for health professionals.
The content tends to focus on education and is perceived as valuable by the patient who is keen to access reliable information.
Content that is indexed and recognised as quality content by Google will drive leads to your practice.
Great content has built-in search engine optimisation and keeps working for you long after it was first published on your website.

The reason we achieve spectacular results with content marketing, compared to any other type of medical advertising in obstetrics, is the nature of the consumer’s intent: they want reliable information and rapport, not an ad that talks about a promotion or a discount.

Use smart email marketing

digital marketing for obgyn

Marketing ideas for obstetricians always bring value to the consumer, the expecting mum and her partner. Antenatal care in particular can be seen as a journey with a clear beginning and a clear end. That is why you can automate part of your marketing with smart sequences of personalised email content.

If your practice has a particular interest in natural birth, water birthing or hypnobirthing, you can use a landing page on your website to offer an eBook about ‘What to expect as a first-time mum’ for example.

Your marketing agency can help you set up automated emails that send additional information to the visitor, once she has entered a few details. You could even link the information to the weeks gestation, provided your web team asked for some initial information at the start.

Email marketing is particularly interesting because it starts with official permission to let you into their email inbox.

Crafting a professional, non-intrusive series of content snippets, presented to your patient in a palatable and visually compelling way, is something where you will need the help of a medical marketing agency such as Digital Practice. What it does is plant small seeds of awareness in the expecting mum’s mind, and when there is still some influence over the important choice of a private obstetrician, your content will make a difference in the patient’s perception of your authority.

Be a leader on social

social media marketing ideas for obstetricians

There is an interesting phenomenon I observe when I look at obstetricians on social media. In many cases, Facebook Pages and Instagram accounts were set up a while ago and then used for regular posts and updates…often with a specific moment in time where the obstetrician gave up and stopped publishing.

When I ask our customers about this type of situation, they often mention a feeling of disappointment, seeing that nothing came from all this posting and publishing. No increase in patient numbers.

The interesting opportunity is to look beyond the direct impact of social media as an obstetrician. Building a leadership profile takes time, effort and vision.

So here are some social media marketing ideas for obstetricians:

Vision: You don’t just want to be seen as the obstetrician who posts baby photos. We know you help women deliver. What is the uniqueness of your practice, your way of supporting expecting mums? A vision can be connected to something you stand for, from stress management, healthy nutrition, a focus on natural birth, all the way to surgical excellence performing caesarian sections or managing birth complications.
Effort: The minimal effort will be a regular conversation with your medical marketing agency. We get to know our customers, their particular passion for what they do, their take on topics that may incur controversy among doctors, their purpose and what makes them tick. Other efforts involved in becoming a leader on social media include taking a spontaneous picture for a post every now and then, posting an impromptu comment and interacting with other people from your professional social media profile.
Time: The time spent working on your leadership profile is best seen as working on your business. When you consult and when you are in the birthing suite or in theatre, you are working in your business. Leading obstetricians have shown me that the moment they stopped seeing their online profile as a waste of time, their patient numbers started skyrocketing.

All of this depends on an important foundation: a strategic vision into what marketeers call your USP: Your unique selling proposition. I like to reverse the term into the unique reason a woman can have to choose you as the preferred obstetrician.

If you are looking for a no-brainer, easy-to-implement starting point, check this out. Digital Practice offers a foundational package to launch your Facebook Page and Instagram profile for your Ob-Gyn practice today! Starting at US $79.00, the social media package for obstetrics here in our Digital Practice online shop is up for grabs right now so you can start growing your audience straight away.

Use your blog to be visible

blogging for obstetricians

In our “Grow!” Online Magazine we have covered the mechanics of medical blogging in depth and I vividly recommend taking a look at these excellent articles if you are only just getting started:

So what is needed to make your obstetrics blog successful? Think of yourself as the chief editor of a mini-magazine. One that targets local expecting mothers, and that is competing for attention with other content. Here’s the thing: you are well placed to publish this, compared to the zillions of self-declared experts even if they have had 13 children. Simply because you come from the area of expertise that is typical for a specialist doctor. Use that authority, and make sure you always write about something that really matters for the consumer, from their perspective.

Here are some editorial ideas, straight from the desk of our senior medical writers and content experts:

I am pregnant: What’s next
How to choose an obstetrician?
What is the best hospital to give birth?
What foods to avoid during pregnancy?
How to prepare for my pregnancy scan?
The benefits of choosing a private obstetrician
How to prepare a birth plan?

You can get really creative but the most effective blogs keep a focus on actual questions asked by patients. The “People also ask” section presented by Google in the search results, is a great source of inspiration if you want to embed FAQs.

Start a YouTube channel and build rapport

youtube marketing ideas for obstetricians

Another powerful tool in the marketing mix for obstetricians is YouTube. Short, authentic little clips can boost your leadership status and provide amazing value to your prospective patients. Expecting mums who spend a lot of time online looking for reliable information, will happily watch a short video if it answers one of the many questions they may have at various stages of their pregnancy.

The more you appear on their radar sharing valuable nuggets of information, the more your community will start seeing you as a local expert and a go-to person.

YouTube videos are best kept under 90 seconds and it’s always good to stick to one clear question that you will answer in this particular video.

How about this amazing inspiring example… Mama Doctor Jones runs a YouTube channel to help women understand a wide range of ob-gyn and gynae topics. The channel has different playlists, from “I didn’t know I was pregnant” to “Strange things your vagina does”. And even if you end up having only a portion of Danielle Jones’ audience numbers (1.12 million subscribers), the impact in your local market in terms of credibility and word-of-mouth would be amazing, don’t you think?

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obstetrics marketing ideas

If you are ready to grow your obstetrics practice, plan an obligation-free strategy session so we can discuss your online profile. We will look at your local market situation, the current status of your online presence and ideas to improve your digital lead generation.