In this short on Healthcare Marketing by Spearleaf, Joshua Albanese, founder of Spearleaf, answers a practice owner whose patients are in their seventies: write for the family member who searches, report back to referring doctors, show what's different from the warehouse store, and call people who tested and didn't buy. Narrated with an AI voice clone of Joshua Albanese. Other characters are AI-generated. Every answer is written and checked by the Spearleaf team.
Read the full guide: Audiology Marketing Strategies: 4 Ways Without a Price War →
Video Transcript
Business owner: Does audiology marketing even work when my patients are in their seventies? Every pitch I get is another hearing aid sale mailer, and they don't even search.
Joshua: Some do, but often a son or daughter searches for them. Here are four ways to get audiology patients. One, write for the daughter searching at night for her dad. What the first test is like, that she can come along, how pricing works. She may ask ChatGPT or Google's AI instead. In one BrightLocal study, business websites were about 42% of what those AI answers cited.
Business owner: My website is a template the hearing aid maker set up years ago. I've never touched it.
Joshua: Then start there, and keep your Google listing current too. It's often the first thing she sees when she searches for an audiologist near her. Two, doctors and ENTs. Send a short report back on each patient they send. Federal law bans paying or rewarding anyone for referring patients whose care Medicare or Medicaid pays for. Before you give a referrer anything of value, talk to your lawyer.
Business owner: The warehouse store sells a pair for less than I pay. And now there's over the counter.
Joshua: So don't fight on price. Three, the warehouse store tests and adjusts too, so show what's different here: who tests them and how long you spend. Some people with mild loss will try over the counter first. Say plainly you'll test them either way. Put that on your site in plain words, with your follow-up schedule.
Business owner: I've got a drawer full of people who tested and never bought.
Joshua: That's four. HIPAA generally needs written permission to use patient information for marketing. Telling your own patients about your own services is an exception. So call or email them, and anyone due for a new pair.
Business owner: My front desk hates those calls. Most of them say they're not ready yet.
Joshua: Then call with a reason, like a hearing check that's due. Not ready this year can mean ready next year. Most clinics need some of each. Referrers and that drawer this month, the website over the next few. The drawer and the referrers cost staff time, not ad money. The website is slow and takes months to bring calls. And track how many tests become fittings, by source. Want the Position Zero Guide to Getting More Customers on ChatGPT, Google and Google Maps? Comment "DRIVE" and I'll send it. And follow for more straight answers like this.