Direct-to-Patient Marketing: Reaching the Patient Via the Practice
Traditionally, direct-to-patient marketing has been about marketing information about your medication or device directly to the consumer. However, there may be a better opportunity for you to reach patients via the practices you work with, rather than marketing to them directly.
Patients are doing research before even deciding on a physician, just as consumers research any product before a major purchase. If your sales reps can connect physicians and surgeons with the right marketing company, they can help them get more of the right patients—the patients who can benefit from your company’s medication or device. It’s an indirect approach, but you have the potential to reach many more patients who could benefit from your products and the expertise of your physicians.
How to Reach Patients Via the Practices You Work With
When I talk about reaching the patients via the practice, I’m not talking about simply putting up posters in physicians’ offices. It’s more about making sure that your physicians and surgeons have the information and tools they need to both attract and inform patients. Do they have a marketing platform that helps them do this? Do they have content on their sites explaining their procedures and treatments? Are they marketing themselves in a way that will attract the right kinds of patients?
This is where your sales reps can help their clients by referring them to a marketing company that understands those needs. A marketing company that helps physicians and surgeons improve their practices and get more of the right patients will ultimately help your sales reps sell more products. This is also a chance for sales reps to improve customer relationships because they are showing that they understand the needs of their customers. It’s a win for everyone.
If your physicians and surgeons have the right content and marketing strategy, you will have a better opportunity to reach patients when they are looking for a physician. More and more, patients are searching online when looking for a physician or surgeon. They are also looking for information about their conditions and how their doctors can help. It’s a very similar concept to direct-to-patient marketing, but the physicians and surgeons are the ones providing the information to patients, rather than your company providing it directly.
This strategy isn’t about trying to trick more patients into using your device or medication by pushing the physicians and surgeons to perform more procedures and prescribe more medications. It’s about making sure that you can help as many patients as possible by making critical information more accessible to them. You’re helping physicians and surgeons get the right information and tools to reach patients and allow them to make informed decisions about their health. Some patients may not need your medication or device just yet. But, when your physician walks patients through that decision-making process, it increases the likelihood that those patients will return to your physician if and when they do need treatment.
What Your Practices Need
Your practices will need guidance in helping patients get the right information. This is where partnering with a marketing company can be really helpful for your physicians. A marketing company that understands what a medical practice needs can help your physicians position themselves to get more of the right patients.
You also need to make sure that practices have the right information to be able to provide to patients. This is where patient education content comes into play. If your company can provide well-written patient education content to your physicians, your physicians will be better equipped to guide patients through the decision-making process: “Do I have this condition? If so, what are the treatments available? Which treatment is right for me?” The right content should help to answer these questions for patients. These are some of the things you need to be thinking about when creating patient education content.
The ultimate goal is to help practices get the tools they need to be able to reach the right patients and empower those patients to make the right choices for their health. If you can help your practices get what they need by referring to a trusted marketing partner, it’s a win for everyone—your company, your physicians, and most importantly, the patients.en quite stressful for patients. This is your chance to alleviate some of that worry.
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