Why Concierge Medicine Marketing Is Different

Marketing in medicine and healthcare is unique in all circumstances. Healthcare providers need to earn the trust of prospective patients while addressing individuals’ substantial barriers to care. Concierge practice marketing is even more niche, and it can be challenging for in-house marketing teams to reach the right audience effectively. The fix? A fresh, honest assessment of your message, the value of your brand, and the needs of a unique audience.

What Is Concierge Medicine?

While the line between traditional private practices and concierge practices is blurred in terms of specific services, the pricing-model difference is well-defined. Also known as retainer medicine, concierge medicine offers patients a fixed fee for care, typically on an annualized basis. It’s a membership-based model that offers both practitioners and patients some advantages – and disadvantages, too.

It’s important to note the pros and cons of concierge medicine from a patient’s perspective because they’re critical in shaping an effective marketing strategy.

Three Pillars of a Concierge Medicine Marketing Strategy

Concierge medical practices face a conundrum.

On one hand, they need to introduce the concept of retainer medicine, which millions of people haven’t heard of. Most concierge practices fall in the category of primary care and account for less than a quarter of the consumer market.

On the other hand, they may need to deal with a firm ceiling on the number of patients who can afford a monthly or annual membership fee on top of their health insurance and deductible. Few healthcare insurance plans cover concierge membership fees, and many concierge practices accept limited insurance carriers. Most don’t accept Medicare or Medicaid.

As a result, marketers in the space must address three big questions that prospective patients are asking:

1. Are there concierge practices near me or close enough that I can manage frequent visits?
2. How does concierge medicine work with insurance?
3. What makes concierge medicine better than traditional options?

As an experienced healthcare and concierge medicine marketing agency, we know it takes a comprehensive, multi-channel approach to address those questions consistently and effectively. Here are three pillars to build your practice’s marketing strategy on.

1. Local SEO for Concierge Practices

Local search engine optimization (SEO) relies on location-based keywords to firmly establish your practice in the community while differentiating it from traditional offices. First, look for non-branded keywords that reflect your practice’s care model; then append location words that match areas within a reasonable distance. Use a mix of terms that describe retainer care providers to cover all the ways patients might search for your services.

For example:

• concierge medicine near me – 2,900 US-based Google searches per month
• self pay doctors near me – 480 
• self pay primary care doctors near me – 90
• concierge medicine practices near me – 20
• concierge medicine traverse city mi – 0-10
• concierge medicine traverse city – 0-10

Don’t get discouraged if localized keywords don’t have a lot of monthly search volume – a single click from a qualified patient down the street is more valuable than 10,000 clicks from across the country!

Finally, don’t cover the same keywords on every web page. Instead, group them based on the intent of each page.

2. Paid Search for Concierge Practices

Paid media advertising is a proven tool for growing healthcare practices. While the average cost per lead in the industry is $162 (and often higher), paid search and display ads offer tremendous return on investment based on customer (patient) lifetime value, especially for patients committing to a membership fee.

Work with a professional paid media agency to run cost-effective campaigns that focus on:

• Brand awareness – Introduce prospects to the concept of membership-based medicine in general and your practice in particular.
• Geo-restriction – Focus campaigns on nearby communities to optimize spend. 82% of Americans live within 10 miles of their primary care physicians’ office, urgent care, or emergency room. That geographical limit on ads can help keep costs down.

If your practice offers video or online consulting, create specific campaigns and ad sets to serve out-of-towners searching for online concierge medicine.

3. Personalized Emails for Patient Retention

Use a mix of email newsletters and automated campaigns to keep existing patients engaged, informed and empowered. When you stay top of mind and provide valuable resources, your patients are more likely to keep their membership when it’s time to re-up. There are additional benefits, too. Roughly 50% of people choose a doctor based on recommendations from friends and family members, which means keeping your brand in front of patients will have a positive impact on word-of-mouth referrals.

There are plenty of ways to use email list segmentation and automation to deliver exceptional content without dedicating your whole day to pressing Send. Plus, nothing beats email marketing for its top-notch ROI.  

The Concierge Medicine Market

The number – and revenue – of membership-based medical practices is expected to gain substantial market share over the next several years. The industry’s value reached a new high of $17.32 billion in 2023, and a 7.22% CAGR is forecasted through 2031. More primary care physicians are moving to this care model to reduce staffing needs (including those related to insurance reimbursements), spend more time with patients and benefit from a more predictable recurring revenue model.

The space is only getting more competitive, too. The number of medical practices is growing by 25% per year, especially in urban cities with high population density. The key to successful competition is differentiation, and working with an experienced healthcare marketing agency will help your practice stand out.

The Marketing Doctor Is In

Just like your patients, you’d benefit from a retainer-based agreement – but for marketing! Oneupweb is a fully integrated digital marketing agency. We apply our design, development, SEO, content marketing and social media expertise to support growing healthcare organizations nationwide. Get in touch here or call (231) 922-9977!