holiday marketing ideas for healthcare practice Archives

The holiday season isn’t just important for retail businesses, it is also a great time for healthcare providers to revamp their digital marketing strategies.

Most people who have put off elective procedures are now scrambling to slip in final treatments and appointments before the year ends. Since they are typically seeking non-urgent care, they have the luxury of shopping for healthcare. By staying active on social media, you stay on top of mind.

There are many ways you can promote your practice to reach these patients in the coming weeks. Hopefully, these holiday marketing tips will help you get your gears turning and start driving results your way.

Festive social media content

Create a set of fun holiday-themed polls for your audience. Nothing sparks engagement like asking for people’s opinions about certain topics. This will help increase engagement and encourage other people to join in on the conversation as well.

Also, consider creating a series of holiday tips that would benefit your audience. If you’re an orthopedic surgeon, you can share some injury prevention tips. Remember, a lot of accidents happen over the holidays. If you’re a dentist, you can create a series of healthy teeth tips. If you’re a nutritionist, you can share some healthy holiday recipes.

Film a holiday marketing video

This is a great time to spread some holiday cheer and capture that cheer on video. You can upload your videos on Youtube, Instagram, or Facebook.

When creating video content, it is important to think about the nature of your business and the message you’d like to send off to the world. If you’re a pediatrician, you can dress up like Santa and share stories and tips with the little ones. You may also record your holiday greetings for your fans and followers. If you love decorating your office, you may also share a video of it.

Holiday email marketing

Studies suggest that email marketing is one of the most effective tools for brand awareness, retention, and new customer acquisition. Plus, it’s easy to implement and super affordable. Use this to your advantage this holiday season.

Send out a newsletter to patients to recap the year. You can make this as simple or extravagant as you want. But make sure to make it personal.

You can also share healthy tips with your email subscribers. You may offer tips on how to stay healthy through the holidays or share healthy holiday recipes. Now is also a good time to remind patients to book last-minute appointments, so they can take advantage of deductibles before the year ends.

Host a social media contest

Contests and giveaways are a great way to create buzz around your practice. With the majority of people spending more time at home, they’ll have plenty of time to play games and engage with holiday-themed contests.

For your holiday contest, you have the option to do one big giveaway or many small ones. If you wish to go with the latter, consider doing 12 days of Christmas giveaway. Post one prize over a span of 12 days. Since the contest lasts for 12 days, people will anticipate your posts, creating hype for the last days with the larger prizes.

Invite your audience to submit their New Year’s Resolutions

The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect on how the entire year went by. This is also a great opportunity to think about improving certain aspects of our lives, including our health.

As we bid goodbye to 2020, encourage your fans and followers to share their resolutions for the coming year. Hopefully, it will encourage them to improve their health habits. You, on the other hand, can use this as an inspiration for your content.

Give back to the community

There are lots of people who are facing hardships right now due to the pandemic. The holiday season is all about sharing and giving. Use your platform to highlight the act of charitable giving.

Highlight a cause your practice is involved in. If you don’t have a cause you support, consider finding one. You can talk about the charity you support on social media and let your audience know that a certain amount of proceeds from your revenue during the holiday season will go to charity.

Patient’s interest and behavior change during the holiday season. During this time of year, people are usually focused on shopping, office parties, and family gatherings. There may be a significant decrease in the number of patients, but that doesn’t mean that there’s less interest in health towards the rest of the year.

Stand out in marketing your practice and boost patient engagement with these holiday marketing tips.

“12 days” email series

“The Twelve Days of Christmas” is one of the most popular Christmas songs. During the holiday season, it is heard everywhere – TV commercials, shopping malls, school programs, and even church functions. Why not use it as an inspiration for your holiday email marketing campaign?

Email marketing is one of the best channels to help you stay top of mind and build a lasting relationship with your patients. During the holidays, it would be a great idea to create a “12 days” email series and send them to people on your email list.

You can create countdowns with a different daily message – remind people to book an appointment before the year ends, share healthy holiday recipes, and offer tips for staying healthy through the holidays.

Shine light on a worthy cause

The holiday season is the perfect time to focus on giving and gratitude. Aligning with a charitable cause will put your practice in a positive light and show your community what you value.

One of the best ways for you to get noticed this season is to turn the spotlight away from you and highlight a charity that you support. Participate in volunteer efforts that are relevant to your target patients. It helps you cast a wide net and position you as an expert.

Spread some holiday cheer by sponsoring a local charity event or a fundraiser. Encourage your audience to participate in the holiday giving campaign. You can offer a discount of a particular product or service in exchange for a gift donation. Your patients give back, needy kids get some gifts, and your practice gets more patients. It’s a win-win.

Hold a social media photo contest

Social media contests are great because they accomplish several marketing goals at once. When done properly and effectively, they can help you build a strong following, increase engagement, and really connect with your audience. With Christmas in the offing, it would be a great idea to run a contest that encapsulates this joyful festival.

If you’re a dentist, host a “show us your smile” photo contest with a holiday twist. Have participants submit pictures of their smiling kids on social media. Don’t forget to create a branded hashtag that you can use to collect all those photos.

The prize should be something that is relevant to your practice. For instance, you can offer free cleaning or teeth whitening.

By adding a bit of fun to your marketing campaign, you can convince your clients that they don’t have to dread a visit to your practice.

Film a holiday video

Humans are very visually oriented. Studies suggest that people find video content more interesting, more engaging, and more memorable as compared to other types of content.

Patients like healthcare providers who come across as gentle, kind, and human. Videos are a great way to show your human side and showcase your personality. The holidays are a great time to show off your holiday spirit and capture that cheer on video. You can create a short video to send your patients a warm, heartfelt message. If you are a pediatrician, you can dress up like Santa. Kids will love it.

Get creative and don’t forget to share your video on different social media channels.

Write holiday-related blog posts

This holiday season, you might want to share some tips and information that your audience would find valuable.

If you treat patients with diabetes, it is a good idea to provide tips on how to keep their weight and blood sugar levels under control during the holidays. If you’re a dermatologist, you can offer some skincare tips for winter or how to achieve healthy, glowing skin in time for their office party.

Since the majority of people check on their social media accounts on a daily basis, we highly recommend that you share them on your pages. Creating timely and relevant content increases the likelihood that your blog posts will be shared.