When a medical or dental practice opens in a new community, there is an understandable temptation to focus immediately on digital marketing.
Build a website. Invest in SEO. Launch Google Ads. Improve search rankings. Start posting on social media.
All of those things matter. We recommend them, and they are important pieces of a successful marketing strategy. But they are just that—pieces.
For a healthcare practice, you can’t build a lasting presence in a community solely through a computer screen.
Healthcare Is Local
Think about the relationship people have with their primary care physician, pediatrician, dentist, or specialist. Choosing one isn’t always like choosing a restaurant or buying a product online.
These can become relationships that last for years—or even generations.
A pediatrician watches children grow up. A primary care provider becomes someone a family trusts with some of its most important decisions. A dentist may care for multiple generations of the same family.
Those types of relationships start with trust. And trust is built within a community.
You Need to Know More Than the ZIP Codes
A national marketing agency can analyze demographics, search volume, and online behavior from anywhere in the country.
But data doesn’t tell you everything about a community.
Who are the organizations bringing local business leaders together? Which youth sports programs matter to families? Which nonprofits have strong community support? What events bring people together? Which businesses would make natural partners for a new practice?
Sometimes the best opportunity for a new pediatric practice isn’t another digital ad. It might be supporting the local Little League.
For a dental practice, it could mean joining the Chamber of Commerce, participating in a community event, partnering with neighboring businesses, or building relationships with local schools and organizations.
Those connections don’t necessarily show up in an SEO report—but they can be incredibly valuable in building a practice.
Knowing the Local Media Market Matters, Too
Local knowledge also becomes incredibly important when it comes to public relations and earned media.
Getting media coverage isn’t as simple as writing a news release and emailing it to a list. Reporters receive dozens, if not hundreds, of releases and pitches each day. To get their attention, yours needs to stand out.
That starts with understanding the market and what will resonate with the local audience. You also need relationships with local reporters, producers, and editors who may come to trust you as a local resource. And, most importantly, you need to understand what makes a good story. Being able to answer the question “Why should we care?” can go a long way toward getting coverage.
A new practice opening its doors may be important to the practice, but that alone doesn’t necessarily make it newsworthy. The better question is: What can this practice bring to the conversation?
Maybe it’s a pediatrician who can talk about a health issue affecting local families. A physician who can explain a new treatment. A dentist who can provide timely advice around back-to-school season. Or a provider with an interesting personal story and a reason for choosing this particular community.
A local marketing agency should know which story to pitch, who to pitch it to, and when the timing is right.
That kind of earned exposure can introduce a provider to thousands of people while also establishing something advertising alone can’t buy: credibility.
Small Businesses Support Small Businesses
Successful communities are ecosystems.
The pediatrician refers a family to another local provider. A neighboring business tells its employees about the new dentist down the street. The Chamber introduces a practice owner to other community leaders. A local nonprofit remembers who supported its fundraiser.
Over time, those relationships compound.
That’s why we encourage new practices to think beyond advertising and ask a bigger question:
How are we going to become part of this community?
Digital Marketing Should Support the Strategy—Not Be the Entire Strategy
SEO and SEM are important. Your practice absolutely should appear when someone searches for a pediatrician, primary care provider, or dentist nearby.
But being found is only the first step.
The strongest healthcare marketing strategies combine digital visibility with genuine community involvement, public relations, and relationship building.
Be visible online. Create useful content. Invest in search and social media.
But also shake hands. Join the Chamber. Sponsor the team. Attend the fundraiser. Meet neighboring businesses. Get to know the local media. Look for opportunities to contribute to the community rather than simply advertise to it.
Put Down Roots, Not Just Ads
When we help a practice enter a new market, our job isn’t simply to generate impressions, clicks, or improve a search ranking.
It’s to help that practice put down roots and flourish.
A local marketing partner understands the people, media, businesses, organizations, and opportunities that make a community unique. We know that many times a television interview, a relationship with another local business, or a conversation at a Chamber event can be just as valuable as a successful digital campaign.
Technology has dramatically changed marketing, and that’s a good thing. But healthcare remains remarkably personal.
When someone chooses a pediatrician for their newborn, a primary care physician for their family, or a dentist they may see for the next 20 years, they aren’t simply completing an online transaction.
They’re beginning a relationship.
If you want your practice to become part of a community, your marketing should be part of that community, too.
READY TO TELL YOUR STORY? Contact Practice Marketing & Communications to learn how we can bring your story to life through video.
