After a year of Google AdWords, we generated tens of thousands of data points of what patients are looking for. Some are obvious… and some might surprise you. If you missed our first article about Getting Started with Digital Marketing, I recommend you start there.
The Top Three Search Trends are Costs, Convenience and Comfort
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Cost, cost, cost
Patients are increasingly searching for cost-savings in healthcare. We’ve been surveying our patients for years about why they chose ProScan. Five years ago, only 10% of our patients cited cost as a primary factor. Today, 30% of patients cite cost as the number one reason they choose ProScan.
With a rise in high-deductible plans and insurance companies mandating smarter choices, search volume for cost-savings is through the roof. As a result, our most effective search trend has targeted cost-conscious consumers. Searches range from, “How much does a full-body MRI cost?” to “self-pay CT scan cost” to “what does a foot MRI cost with Blue Cross Blue Shield.”
The right ad encouraging patients to “Request A Price Quote” is perfect to sway these patients who are shopping around to chose your center.
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Convenience
Our patients, like all of us, are busy. They want convenient locations and easy, often same-day, appointments. A significant percentage of our searches included keyword modifiers such as “MRI near me”, “MRI 45202”, “MRI weekend appointments” and “MRI today”. All of our ads in Cincinnati tout our 7 convenient locations and weekend availability. We also get back with patients within an hour if they fill out the “Contact Us” form on our website. Another way we stand out over our hospital competitors is being available and responsive to our patients. Google trends show that patients value this.
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Comfort
Perhaps most surprising was how savvy patients are different types of MRI offerings. Thousands of searches come from patients specifying “open MRI”, “upright MRI”… “even 3T MRI”! Our original ads focused entirely on cost. What’s great about Google Adwords, is you can target your ads based on the search terms. For one of our customers, we helped create an ad educating customers on “The Pros and Cons of Open and Closed MRI.” We serve this ad specifically to customers concerned with comfort and the amount of traffic to the page increased more than 100%.
The great thing about marketing on Google is how much it teaches you about what your patients are looking for. To learn more about how ProScan Digital can help you get started with Digital Marketing, click here!
Thanks,
Daniel
Director, ProScan Imaging
