Are you capitalizing on your biggest marketing asset?

Clean parking lots and your name on the building or roadside sign can only tell so much. That’s where other marketing media come into play – ads, digital marketing, community outreach, newspaper, radio, TV, referral programs. The channels to communicate your message today are endless. And in a society full of distractions, each medium is necessary and has its place.  

But, have you really optimized your largest marketing investment — your location? The name on your building will achieve brand recognition; it will not differentiate you from others in the market. 

Potential patients drive by several times throughout the day on their way to school, work or running errands. Each time they pass your facility is a chance to tell them why they should enter your doors. Digital signs provide an affordable solution, offering urgent care facilities a method to communicate a variety of messages quickly and respond to what’s happening that moment. Because in the moment that a patient needs to be seen, they typically go with the clinic that comes to mind first. 

Below are 10 ways clinic managers and their staff use digital signs as a method to reach their consumers: 

4. Create messages to hit specific demographics. Each demographic has a preferred method of communication – newspapers commonly hit the older generation while the younger is attentive on social media. Patients of all ages pass by your facility. Dayparting your sign will help hit different demographics throughout the day. For example, commuters may be parents who are concerned about dropping their sick child off at daycare. Later in the day, you may catch a more elderly person, who has concerns on pneumonia or vaccination for shingles. 

5. Highlight specialties and services offered. If you offer services beyond the typical acute care needs, digital signs are a great tool to communicate about everything from wound treatment to allergic reactions, asthma attacks or even mild concussions. If you have diagnostic equipment such as x-rays or MRIs, that can be especially beneficial with sports injuries.  

6. Promote the ease of working with your clinic. Do you offer telehealth for those uncomfortable with in-person care? Or you may consider promoting online check-in or specialties that do not require referrals. 

7. Share your wait time. When you reach your sweet spot for wait time, post that to your sign outside your building. If drivers-by see “no wait time”, they are more likely to stop in and seek help or try a new provider.  

8. Promote upcoming events hosted by the clinic— wellness fairs, sponsorship of 5K events, Make a Wish fundraisers, etc. If you’re providing support for a cause near to someone’s heart, you’re more likely to win over that patient simply from emotion. 

9. Communicate your business hours. Promoting urgent care hours can move the needle from “seeing the doctor in the morning” to addressing the situation that evening while they are not working. In weather or holiday situations, it helps to post anticipated closures (or highlighting the fact that you’re open) to drive down incoming phone calls. 

10. Share employment opportunities and employee information. Whether you’re hiring for a front desk or a nurse, sharing on a roadside display can attract potential candidates and prompt them to consider your facility. Another option is to recognize your staff, whether it be employee of the month or recent awards received. Highlighting employees brings the family element to your care and creates loyalty to the clinic.

Using your location to market your healthcare clinic or acute care facility can make all the difference in a market full of consumer choices.

Curious how a digital sign would grow your healthcare business?

Visit www.daktronics.com/healthcare to request more information on this growing marketing medium.