While traditional methods, such as signage and word of mouth, remain relevant, they are often not enough to promote your pharmacy. In today’s digital age, the Internet plays a crucial role in shaping businesses. Therefore, pharmacies must also evolve and adapt to new ways of digitally connecting with patients. This also means the ability to leverage Google as a strategy to enhance your pharmacy’s online presence can become a significant factor in optimizing patient engagement with your pharmacy.
Don’t believe us? The numbers speak for themselves…
Recent statistics highlight a significant shift in consumer behaviour, with the Google My Business marketing site experiencing a nearly 2X increase in organic traffic by implementation of web fundamental best practices (1). Moreover, a global survey revealed that 74% of in-store shoppers researched online for store-related information, such as the closest store near them, locations, hours, directions, wait times, and contact information, before going to the store to shop (2). This underscores the significant impact Google can have on a business’ (including your pharmacy’s) online visibility!
Here are 4 simple ways you can grow your pharmacy with Google’s free marketing tools!
The first step to establish a robust online presence is to accurately update your Google Business Profile (or create one if you haven’t already!). This includes ensuring that your address, phone number, business hours, services offered, website, and social media links are all up-to-date. By doing so, you’ll increase your local visibility and make it easier for potential patients to find comprehensive and accurate information about your pharmacy at all times. If you have a website, it would be a good idea to connect it to your Business Profile to further amplify your online presence!
Reviews can be the deciding factor for some prospective patients looking at your pharmacy. Therefore, you should encourage your pharmacy staff to routinely ask patients to leave a Google Review! To make reviewing more accessible to patients, consider sharing your review link in your email templates, share it on social media, or display a QR code that patients can quickly scan. You should also try your best to promptly respond to all feedback, whether positive or negative. Responding to reviews will show your commitment to patient satisfaction and helps you to build trust and credibility within your community. Don’t feel discouraged from negative reviews. Rather, you can take these as an opportunity to improve and demonstrate that your pharmacy is dedicated to delivering quality services to your patients.
Ensure your pharmacy’s address is accurately listed to ensure both current and prospective patients can easily find you through Google Maps. This is particularly beneficial if locals are looking for nearby pharmacies or healthcare services on Google. This is important since Google Maps Searches for ‘Shopping Near Me’ Increased Globally by Over 100% in 2022 (3). You can also consider adding photos of your pharmacy to your Google Business Profile to make your pharmacy appear more inviting and personal to people looking for nearby pharmacies.
We can’t really speak about Google without mentioning their search engine! SEO will provide your website with increased visibility on search engines including Google. To do this, you will need to incorporate relevant keywords within pages of your website. With 77% of consumers relying on Google for local business information (4), maximizing your online presence through local SEO can help you stand out and significantly increase local traffic, awareness, and patients to your pharmacy.
TIP: If SEO sounds like a foreign language, MedEssist offers a digital marketing course for community pharmacies that you can view for free here:
Marketing 101: Digital Marketing for Community Pharmacies
Pharmacies can now use the Reserve with Google marketing tool through MedEssist’s collaboration with Google! This integration enables your MedEssist pharmacy account to integrate with Google, expanding your reach to a wider audience of patients. This tool ultimately makes the booking process convenient and smoother for patients searching for your pharmacy, allowing them to seamlessly schedule appointments and check availability using Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Places! Additionally with the MedEssist scheduling system, patients are not only sent email and text reminders, but appointments are automatically synced with google calendar to reduce no shows. This improves efficiency and patient satisfaction!
This collaboration with Reserve with Google is included for both the Essential and Professional MedEssist plans!
In summary, by strategically utilizing free Google marketing tools to promote your pharmacy’s business, your pharmacy will be able to thrive in an increasingly competitive healthcare market that is being driven by advancements in technology. Explore the many opportunities Google presents and succeed in this digital era.
References
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