If you’ve recently opened a healthcare center or office, you may wonder how to bring in new patient leads. While there are several ways to do so — such as signing up with local insurance providers or asking for referrals — one method you may be overlooking is healthcare marketing.

Healthcare marketing involves connecting with people who need your care using online or offline means. That includes email, social media, your website, and local mailers.
Your marketing activities can make it easier for new patients to find you. It can also help you strengthen client relationships.
The right mix of marketing strategies can enhance your reputation as a communicative healthcare provider. Here’s how to get started.
Understanding healthcare audiences
Like any business, you want to tailor your healthcare marketing strategy to meet your audience’s interests. That involves thinking about a few factors.
Patient demographics
Who is your average patient, and why do they come to you? If your healthcare facility offers specialized services, your patients may have a specific condition they need care for. General practitioners may attract people of all ages who need sick care or a checkup.
Some demographic considerations you might consider include:
- Patient age
- Medical conditions
- Location radius
- Insurance type
As an example, say you’re a dermatologist who treats common skin conditions such as acne or rosacea. Your patients probably range in age from teenagers to older adults and live within a drivable distance of your office. You might have more patients that carry a specific type of insurance you accept.
Healthcare consumer behavior
Another factor is consumer behavior. How frequently do you see your patients? Do they visit you regularly for prescription refills and checkups, or do you see them only when they fall ill?
Those factors can influence your marketing activities. Your regulars might appreciate personalized marketing tailored to their healthcare concerns and appointment reminders. Less frequent visitors may not expect as much communication from you (though it could entice them to be more proactive about their health).
Diverse patient needs
You may see patients with a broad variety of healthcare concerns. So, how do you market to their needs?
Consider segmenting your audience into various groups based on their care needs. As an example, say you’re a pediatrician who cares for children. You might target some of your messaging toward parents with newborns and tailor other content for adults with school-age children.
Personalization strategies
Trying to customize every email or marketing communication to specific clients may be challenging. But there are ways to simplify it. You could include the patient’s name in your communications or a link where they can access their account or schedule an appointment.
Digital marketing channels
Online marketing is cost-effective, can extend your reach, and makes it easier to personalize your messaging to your targeted demographic. Some ways you can use digital marketing include:
- Website optimization: Tailor your website for keywords relevant to your healthcare practice. You might introduce a blog and a portal where patients can check their accounts and schedule appointments.
- Social media platforms: Some healthcare practitioners use social media platforms to strengthen client relationships and boost awareness.
- Email marketing: Connect one-on-one with your patients privately through emails. Use email marketing to promote upcoming events, share relevant medical content, and encourage clients to schedule an appointment.
- Search engine marketing: Running paid ads may help you reach clients searching for a healthcare facility to care for their medical needs.
- Mobile health marketing: An app makes it easier for clients to manage their accounts and appointments through their mobile phones.
Content strategy in healthcare
What kind of content should you use to further your healthcare marketing activities? Think about what will add value for your patients and things that can improve engagement when informing your content strategy.
Educational content creation
As a healthcare provider, your patients look to you for guidance concerning their health. While you can’t advise them 24/7, you can use healthcare marketing to share helpful tips, case studies, new research, and other information relevant to their concerns.
Consider scheduling some time each week to write a blog or email that informs your audience of ways to keep on top of their health. As an example, say you’re a dietician who helps people maintain a healthy weight. You could use email to share nutritional recipes they might incorporate into their eating plan.
Patient trust-building approaches
Your patients see you as an authority in your medical field. Work on building their trust in the provider-patient relationship by showing you care. You might follow up with them when it’s time for their next checkup or send a quick message to see how they’re doing on a new medication you prescribed.
Another trust-building method is patient surveys. Whenever a patient visits your office, consider sending them an after-care survey requesting feedback about their experience. A survey can alert you to any areas for improvement — and what they liked best about your facility.
Compliance and privacy considerations
Certain laws, like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA, strictly regulate the information you can share electronically concerning your patient’s health. You’ll want to verify your marketing activities don’t run afoul of HIPAA and accidentally disclose personal health information.
Try to keep marketing activities general to the patients you serve. If you use an online portal or mobile app to serve client accounts, make sure it’s compliant with HIPAA and other privacy regulations.
Storytelling in healthcare
Not only can stories be powerful marketing tools, but they also emphasize and resonate with your audience. If you have patients with relatable stories of recovery or rehabilitation, ask them if they’d be willing to share them with others in your practice.
For example, maybe you treated a patient who struggled with depression for years before coming to you for treatment. You might ask them to describe their turning point and recovery and share their story with your audience (with permission, of course).
A story doesn’t have to include a patient’s full name or identifying information to be effective. Just the general points can resonate with clients who may have similar issues.
Patient testimonial strategies
New patients seeking a provider to care for them tend to look to online reviews and testimonials before scheduling an appointment. Consider setting up a Google Business Profile or accepting reviews through your website that prospective clients can view. You may ask your current patients to share honest feedback about their care, the facility, and overall experience.
How to get started with healthcare email marketing
You may not have much time to devote to email as a medical practitioner. That’s where automation can help. Automating some of your email communications can help you reach clients at the right time and cut down on your to-do list.
Welcome series
New patients show the highest engagement rates because they’re new to your practice. You can use that to your advantage with a quick, automated series of welcome messages.
Welcome email #1
The first email you send to your new contact should be a welcome/delivery email. Set it up so new subscribers receive it immediately after signing up for your email list.
It doesn’t have to include much more than your contact information, a thank you for subscribing, and details about any future communications you might send.

Welcome email #2
A second welcome email might provide patients with a few more ways to connect with your practice, such as via an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, social media channels, or text.
Beyond the welcome email
There are other types of emails you may be able to automate:
- Appointment reminders
- Birthday and anniversary cards
- Annual checkup reminders
You can also set up informative newsletters based on your practice. For example, a pediatrician might run a series on newborn health or child care. A physical therapist could automate tips for injury recovery or stretching. There’s really no limit to the possibilities. Start by brainstorming some topics you know your audience is most interested in (and are relevant to your healthcare practice), then create content about them!
Keep the communication going
Subscribers expect consistency when they sign up for your email. To keep the momentum going after a welcome series, plan on running a new campaign at least once a month. Regular communication helps keep your practice top of mind with your clients.
You can lean on outside resources for content inspiration and shares. For instance, you might share details from a medical journal you read or an educational seminar. Just remember to attribute the facts to the right source.
Compliance and Ethics
As a healthcare professional, you’re likely familiar with HIPAA and patient privacy rules. The regulations apply to your healthcare marketing activities, too, so be careful not to share any identifying patient information publicly or through social media. Urge patients to use your dedicated EMR portal or app if they have questions specific to their care, rather than regular email or a social media profile.
Give clients a way to opt out of your healthcare marketing activities if they decide to. Including an unsubscribe button on emails can help you stay in compliance with regulations. You can take a similar approach for clients who sign up for SMS alerts.
Measuring performance
Digital marketing offers several effective ways to track patient engagement, acquisition, and return on investment (ROI). Any platform you use for marketing activities should contain analytics to monitor performance. Social media tools such as Instagram and Facebook include insights for business accounts and paid ads, so you can see how many people viewed or clicked on your posts.
Constant Contact’s platform offers enhanced analytics for email and social media marketing. You can track open and read rates, engagement, and ROI for each campaign you run. It’s an easy way to see what’s working and where you might make improvements.
Emerging healthcare marketing trends
Digital marketing is always changing, even in healthcare. To keep your campaigns fresh and up-to-date, stay on top of current trends and implement them if they make sense for your practice.
AI in healthcare marketing
The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) makes it easier than ever to create emails and social media posts that engage your followers. Constant Contact includes AI features that help you draft messages based on your prompts, and you can use our BrandKit to pull your practice’s logo and colors from your website.
Personalized patient journeys
Not every patient has the same health concerns. Use automation to create personalized healthcare journeys that reflect their interests.
Say you’re a surgeon. You could use email marketing to create personalized journeys for clients before and after they undergo treatment. Your messages might include information about preparing for the surgery and how to care for themselves at home.
Telehealth expansion
Many healthcare practitioners began offering telehealth services during the Covid-19 pandemic. That trend continues today. If telehealth is an option for your practice, you might use healthcare marketing to promote your options via social media, search engine marketing, or email.
Data-driven marketing approaches
Several tools on the market can help you decipher marketing performance. For example, Google Analytics provides helpful insights about website visits, rankings, and interactions. It continually adds new features to aid your search marketing efforts.
More advanced tools like SEMRush dig deeper into website performance. They can help you track keywords, monitor competitors, and brainstorm content ideas to rank higher in search.
Constant Contact’s analytics platform analyzes social media and email performance. Use it to segment your audience and perform A/B testing to optimize content.
Future technology integration
What’s on the horizon for healthcare marketing? Look out for more AI-enhanced features and data mining tools. Several companies offer AI agents that integrate with websites and provide customer support. That may become more common for healthcare facilities, especially simple functions like scheduling appointments.
Your healthcare marketing journey: Next steps and future success
Healthcare marketing can help you attract new patients and build a reputation as a knowledgeable practitioner. To get started, figure out your goals. Are you hoping to strengthen your ties with clients? Email marketing might be a good fit. You can use email to connect one-on-one with patients and create automated journeys based on their concerns.
If your focus is building a client base, lean on search engine ads and social media. Both tools can help you reach patients looking for a healthcare provider that offers the services they need. Constant Contact offers robust support for email and social media marketing. Our platform includes lots of extras to help you build your marketing skills, such as the Knowledge Base and Marketing Advice Blog. Get started today on your healthcare marketing journey.
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