Find the Right Balance, Not Too Often, Not Too Seldom

How often should you email your subscribers? The answer is: It depends. It’s best to let your subscriber decide how often they want emails. When they opt-in to your newsletter, have them select their preference: weekly, monthly, or quarterly. Some subscribers may want emails daily, especially if they have a serious health problem or they’re trying to conceive. Give the subscriber the power to decide and take out the guesswork.

Be realistic about your email frequency. If you can’t commit to daily or weekly newsletters, don’t give your subscriber those options. Every practice is different and deserves a unique email marketing campaign.

Find the Best Day and Time for Your Audience

When is your audience most likely to open and read your medical email newsletters? This can be tricky to master, and, sorry, there’s no straight answer. GovDelivery suggests testing the waters, and we agree. Some helpful hints from their post “Is There a Best Time to Send an Email?” can at least put you on the right track.

Mondays and Fridays are generally bad for getting recipients to open and read emails. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are better, and longer emails have better response rates if sent on Saturdays. People also tend to check email most in the morning and the afternoon. Lunchtime and dinnertime are slower, and the longer an email sits in an inbox, the lower its chances are of being read.

Pay attention to the responses, the click-through rates, and the open rates. Be flexible, and find the right strategy for your practice.

Include Relevant, Timely, Engaging Content in Medical Emails

What should you include in your newsletter? That depends on your medical practice. Are you offering a new service? Have you hired a new doctor? Did you remodel your office or overhaul your website? These newsworthy items should be included. You should also brainstorm timely topics that interest your subscribers. What are your patients’ concerns or questions about warm weather health? You might include topics on heat safety, sun exposure, or hydration. In the winter, what topics are relevant? At back-to-school time, you may discuss vaccinations, the importance of hand washing, food allergies, or vision testing.

Create a calendar to help you stay on track, and stay ahead. When you send out one newsletter, have at least two more completed, ready to send.

Use a Punchy Subject Line

A subject line reading “Catalyst Newsletter No. 12” probably won’t have you itching to read more. “Increase Your Fertility With These 12 Steps” is a much better subject line. Use actionable verbs and a concise phrase that communicates the theme of your newsletter.

Give Them a Clear, Quick Out

There comes a time when your subscribers may no longer want to receive your email newsletters. Be respectful to your readers and include a simple “Unsubscribe” button at the bottom your emails. This shows patients and potential patients that you’re an ethical practice.

Don’t take it personally when people unsubscribe. Say you’re sorry to see them go, and ask why they’re leaving with a quick poll. It could be that their circumstances changed; a woman may no longer want fertility emails if she has already conceived and/or had a baby. They could be leaving because they receive too many emails, they don’t find the content useful, or they didn’t mean to sign up at all. You can learn from all of these situations. Create meaningful, engaging content, don’t bombard inboxes, and make your newsletter opt-in crystal clear.

What email marketing techniques work for your practice? We want to hear from you.

The post Best Practices for Medical Email Newsletters appeared first on Catalyst HCM.

Media Relations: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know and who knows you.

Media relations are an invaluable, cost-effective part of your marketing and social media arsenal. Studies show that potential patients are five times more likely to be influenced by educational editorial copy and live interviews than paid advertising. At Catalyst we proactively create coverage opportunities for print and broadcast media. Get great stories and you make your business grow.

The post Earn Media for Texas Fertility Center Baby Reunion appeared first on Catalyst HCM.

About Fertility Associates of Memphis:

Fertility Associates of Memphis is a Tennessee-based reproductive health, infertility and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) practice led by Dr. Raymond Ke, Dr. Paul Brezina and a world renowned expert on recurrent miscarriage, Dr. William Kutteh. Fertility Associates of Memphis has provided compassionate and leading-edge fertility services for thousands of couples that have struggled with becoming pregnant.

CHCM Rebranding Services:

Updated Website Design:

The initial design includes a modern WordPress theme, customized for effective display of client services,  and a complimenting color scheme consisting of calming teal blues, light purple, and a splash of red.

In part with the updated look, an interactive slide deck has been placed on the homepage masthead. Current slides include clinic information, a link for scheduling appointments, and a Youtube clip of Dr. Kutteh’s Memphis Channel 5 interview.

Social Media Optimization:

• Facebook: Client received a new cover photo and profile picture, both designed to reflect the recently updated image. Services for basic account setup, blog feed, and initial advertising were also provided.

• Twitter: Client received sophisticated background design, cover photo, and profile picture along with basic setup services including username selection, input of clinic information (location, hours, website link), and input of Twitter-standardized biography.

• Youtube: Client received matching background design seen on Twitter account, basic account setup, and upload of first clinic video.

 

Rebrand YOUR Healthcare Business!

Learn about the services we offer.

The post Modern Rebranding Services for Web and Social Media Launch: Fertility Associates of Memphis appeared first on Catalyst HCM.

You need to earn a top 3 Google rank for visibility. Think of the way you conduct a search on the Internet. You type your query – the term you’re searching for – into the query bar. The results show up below the query bar. Which link do you click first? Most users will choose the top link, and if that link doesn’t have their desired results, they’ll go on to the second and then possibly the third link listed.

If these three links don’t accurately answer your search, will you check out the links at the bottom of the page? Will you go on to other search results pages? Probably not. Most users will rethink their search terms and try a new search before combing through multiple search results pages.

In 2011 Slingshot SEO performed a telling case study establishing click-through rates (CTR) that was posted on the SEOmoz blog.

CTR is a percentage.

It’s calculated by dividing the number of clicks a link receives by the number of impressions – or views – it has. If 100 people see a link and 10 people click it, the link’s CTR is 10 percent.

Slingshot researchers found that a first-ranked website has an 18.2 percent CTR, a second-ranked website has a 10.1 percent CTR, and a third-ranked website has a 7.2 percent CTR. All websites ranked fourth or lower had CTRs of 5 percent or less. Therefore, the most competitive websites are in the top three spots.

How to Earn a Top 3 Google Rank

But why does your practice want a to earn a top 3 Google rank specifically? Aren’t people using other search engines?

The answer is yes, but not much. There are several widely used search engines – Google, Bing, Yahoo! and Ask Jeeves – but Google by far brings in the most traffic. The StatCounter Global Stats graph shows the top five search engines used from August 2011 to August 2012. Google is the most used search engine – by a lot – at 91 percent. Bing and Yahoo! each count for just over 3 percent of traffic, while Ask Jeeves and Yandex only count for about one-third of a percent each.

The moral of the story is: If your site is built to rank well on Google, it will rank well on these other search engines, too.

Contact us to discuss how an SEO plan can help you achieve a higher ranking on Google, even a Top 3 Google Rank!

The post Top 3 Google Rank, Why Your Practice Needs One. appeared first on Catalyst HCM.

This post is about analyzing your website to see if it’s readable and eye-friendly for your visitors. You may have great content that is lost on a page of clutter. Catalyst Healthcare Marketing wants to help you cut the fat and focus on the content. Here’s how to do it.

Use Headings with Keywords

Visitors will rarely read every word you’ve written. Studies show that most users scan web content. Help them find the content they’re looking for with relevant headings, says Catalyst Healthcare Marketing president Amy Hall. For SEO purposes, you can use important keywords in your H1 and H2 tags. These tags help search engines and your readers find the most relevant information. Varied or bold headings pull your reader in.

Use Clear Fonts for Readability

Avoid cute fonts, curly fonts, or anything that might trip up your reader. Choose a clear, widely used font like Arial, Georgia, Helvetica or Times New Roman. Since readers are scanning anyway, make their text easy to read.

Use Reasonable Widths

Do you like to read text that stretches the width of your computer screen? Probably not. There’s much discussion on the ideal column width for content, but the easiest advice is to trust your instincts. Play around with the width of your blog, like the ones on the Catalyst Healthcare Marketing site, until you find one that is pleasing to the eye.

Use A Palatable Palette

You don’t have to use black text on a white background, but there’s a reason lots of people do it. It’s easy to read, but it isn’t the only easy-to-read combination out there. Gray is a good alternative to white. Computer screens are bright, and depending on the brightness levels, gray could be a better choice than white. The main point: find a color palette that is easy to read, not one that strains your visitors’ eyes.

Increase Readability: Use Fewer Words

Since you know visitors are scanning, cut the fat from your article. Use shorter paragraphs and shorter sentences. Break up your paragraphs to form smaller paragraphs. Long paragraphs intimidate readers, whether they’re in a book or on the web. Write shorter, more concise articles. Break up complicated articles into several blog posts in the same series, and link them well.

Use Accessible Words

This isn’t the GRE. Fight the urge to impress your visitors with your vast vocabulary (you can break this rule if you’re a fiction writer, maybe, but you may still alienate people). You can test your post’s readability for free at http://www.readability-score.com/. Just copy and paste your text into the box, and the website will calculate your readable score.

These simple tips from Catalyst Healthcare Marketing will help you improve your user experience and highlight your content. What has helped you increase your readability? Share your ideas here, or send your questions to Catalyst Healthcare Marketing.

The post Readable Web Content: Format for Fuctionality appeared first on Catalyst HCM.

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is important.

SEO video optimization gives search engines like Google clues about how to categorize your website, and in turn, SEO makes it easier for potential clients to find you. Videos are a great way to engage your visitors. For private practice physicians adding SEO video optimization to your site can set you apart from your competition. Some users prefer watching a video to reading a blog post. That visual stimulation adds a dynamic element to your website.

Here are some tips on SEO Video Optimization to help you choose quality videos that are attractive to users and search engines.

1. Choose a Useful Video Think of what your potential patients want to know. Don’t add a video just to have one; select a relevant, helpful video that will teach your viewers something new or interesting. How-To videos are popular for several reasons. First, your viewer is trying to solve a specific problem, and your video has the answer. Second, many users instinctively use the phrase “how to…” when typing a query into Google. A How-To video is a great set-up for a keyword, such as “How To Find an Egg Donor” or “How To Choose A Fertility Clinic.” You can also use videos in a Q-and-A format or to introduce your doctors and nurses.
2. Include the Video Transcript Videos are wonderful additions to your website, but Googlebots can’t interpret videos. What are Googlebots? Googlebots are software programs that search and index your website. You may have heard them referred to as “spiders”, and you may have heard that they “crawl” websites. There are some parts of a website that Googlebots can’t read, such as images and video. Include a video transcript to make your video worthwhile both to your readers and to search engines. That way you’re providing useful information through a video without losing the keyword-rich information embedded within the video.
3. SEO Video Optimization Optimizing your video’s HTML behind the scenes will allow search engines to better categorize your video. Google’s Webmaster Tools is a rich source of SEO information. Google provides tips to optimize your video for search engines, including video sitemap submission and video mark ups. Most of their suggestions are simple enough for a novice to pick up, and they provide step-by-step directions to follow. Give your videos relevant titles, descriptions and tags to help search engines index your content. Put your potential clients first, and gear your video content to them. But remember that your users find you through search engines, so SEO video optimization makes it easier for search engines to bring clients to your virtual doorstep.

If you want to dig deeper into video SEO, visit Reel SEO, a site dedicated to video optimization.

How has your practice used video to entice its audience? Have your videos elicited comments or spiked your traffic?

Catalyst Healthcare Marketing specializes in web design and optimization for healthcare fields such as fertility, urology and obgyn. Contact us to learn more about SEO video best practices for your practice.

The post SEO Video Optimization Helps the Medicine Go Down on Healthcare Sites appeared first on Catalyst HCM.

Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins of Topeka visited  Midwest Reproductive Center (MRC) in Olathe, KS yesterday. Dr. Gehlbach, a staunch supporter to the Family Act of 2011, discussed  the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other fertility treatments available to couples facing infertility with Congresswomen Jenkins.

The Congresswoman was given a tour of the facility and  also enjoyed hearing the personal stories of infertility from Melissa and Lisa, two happy mom’s from the MRC IVF program. Also in attendance was David Nichols, government affairs official for the Family Act.

Learn more about Dr. Gehlbach and the Family Act  at the Midwest Reproductive Center Press Page.

Dr. Gehlbach in the News: KCTV Channel 5 Kansas City News: Family Act 2011 in Kansas City

The post Midwest Reproductive Center’s Unwavering Support of the Family Act of 2011 appeared first on Catalyst HCM.

Invest In Design Web design includes many factors. Other than purely aesthetic aspects such as color scheme and font choices, good web design involves highly instinctive user interaction. Is your website clear and clutter-free? Are your pages instinctive to navigate? Is your information concise, well written and free of grammatical errors? It may help to have a fresh set of eyes go over your website and mention anything – no matter how small – that was confusing or distracting. Before content, before link building and before social networking, you must have a strong website design.

Let us know what techniques have worked to increase your website’s visibility. Let’s talk.

The post Top 5 Ways to Increase Your Website’s Visibility appeared first on Catalyst HCM.

Catalyst Helps Physicians Hold and Fund Educational, Outreach Programs

Catalyst Healthcare Marketing announces its Continuing Medical Education (CME) Accredited Physician Referral Program for 2013 will spotlight best practices in ovulation induction. The full-service physician referral outreach and education programs benefit fertility specialists working with a referral base in the sub-specialties of obstetrics and gynecology (obgyn), family medicine and urology.

“Educational programs for a physician’s referral base prove invaluable for fertility specialists practicing in the dynamic field of reproductive medicine,” says Catalyst CEO Amy Hall. “We have found that communicating advances in the diagnosis and treatment of infertility in an interactive dinner format greatly increases comprehension and retention, and the added value of CME credit boosts attendance.”

Texas Fertility Center Reports Successful CME Program

Texas Fertility Center, a market leader in comprehensive infertility services, research and advocacy, partnered with Catalyst Healthcare Marketing to present educational programs in 2012, and realized a 400 percent increase in attendance.

“We choose to work with a consultant that recognizes the synergy in marketing, education and outreach efforts,” says Dr. Kaylen Silverberg, a reproductive endocrinologist with Texas Fertility Center. “Sharing information among our peers about emerging therapies in reproductive medicine ultimately benefits patients, and that is the driving force behind our educational programs.”

CME-based programs can increase attendance from 5 percent to 10 to 15 percent, and ‘live’ educational programs contribute to the “after RSVP” retention rate. Further, CME educational programs reinforce the presenter as an industry thought leader.

“As part of a comprehensive marketing plan that includes web and social media, collateral campaigns and branding strategy, outreach marketing efforts create a lasting impression and invaluable connections with a referral base,” says Hall. “At Catalyst, we believe in the value of outreach marketing to physicians, as well as employees, media and the community.”

The Catalyst Healthcare Marketing Program–packaged in a Powerpoint slide deck and including funding assistance, event planning, promotion and follow-up communications–results in a CME credit per one-hour program for medical doctors (MD), nurse practitioners (NP) and physician assistants (PA).

Upon completion of the program, participants receive CME credit certifications via postal mail or email. The program is accredited in all states by an accreditation program offering AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.

Hall adds that Catalyst was founded on a belief shared by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Education: “The fields of medicine and science never stop moving forward—and neither should physicians.”

About Catalyst Healthcare Marketing

Catalyst Healthcare Marketing group offers extensive experience in healthcare marketing, providing innovative marketing strategies including educational programs and outreach marketing; brand and logo strategies;
market and competitive research;
print collateral;
social media; account interconnection and campaigns;
web design, search engine optimization and marketing. Visit www.catalysthcm.com or email contact@catalysthcm.com learn how targeted marketing efforts can act as a catalyst.

The post Catalyst Healthcare Marketing Presents 2013 CME Accredited Dinner Programs appeared first on Catalyst HCM.

We’re going to review two types of content – timely content and evergreen content – and how they benefit your website. Remember to provide links to your sources so your readers will be able to do their own research.

Timely Content

Posting timely content is a great way to join a discussion in your industry. Does your practice subscribe to any medical journals? Recently published medical articles may give you ideas for your practice’s blog, but keep your audience in mind when writing these posts. Are you writing for patients and potential patients, or are you writing for peers well versed in medical terminology?

Newsworthy content also has potential to gain lots of views at once, especially if you post timely content before other websites have a chance to write up the same topic. For instance, if your practice wrote a piece on NHS Fife banning smokers from infertility treatment, the post may gain lots of traffic from the timeliness and the controversy of the event.

Recent content is sometimes more trustworthy than dated content. Let’s say you have two articles you can read on Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection, both from trusted sources. One is dated June 1999 and the other is dated June 2012. Which one will you read?

Timely content satisfies readers with the now. What’s happening now, what’s new to the field, and what news affects your practice and your patients?

Evergreen Content

Evergreen content stays relevant for months and even years. Think of topics that aren’t changing too often. Your patients may benefit from a blog post on finding an egg donor or an overview of the female reproductive system even though these aren’t time-sensitive topics.

Make a list of topics that your patients ask about regularly. Could you make informative posts out of any of these topics that could help your patients and potential patients? Keep adding to your list. When you’re ready to write a new blog post, you’ll be glad to have some inspiration.

Remember, just because your topic is evergreen doesn’t mean you can write it, post it and never think of it again. SEOmoz, a popular SEO resource, has a great post on the power of evergreen content.

“Now think of a pine tree with no sun or water – the needles turn brown, become brittle, and eventually fall off and the tree dies,” Nick Eubanks writes. “Sustainable content is no different; it requires maintenance to stay alive, to remain useful.”

Go back through your old posts every once in while to make sure the information is still true, correct and useful. Make any changes that will help keep your post sustainable. Updated posts will still trigger search engines to re-crawl your website for indexing, which helps your website gain traffic from search results.

Once you’ve created a timely or evergreen post, share it on your social media outlets and encourage discussions.

The post Creating Timely Content and Evergreen Content appeared first on Catalyst HCM.