- Pramod Goel
- Jul 20, 2023
The coronavirus health crisis is causing a dramatic impact all over the world. Consumers are not willing to travel abroad, which is definitely causing a big blow to the medical tourism industry. As traveling abroad for treatments has been severely affected and the cancellations are mounting, it is a crucial time for the healthcare providers to monitor the situation wisely and make smart adjustments on how to spend wisely during this crisis and still come ahead of the competition after the threat is gone.
Region-wise Effect
COVID-19 has severely impacted the key Asia- Pacific region. This shows a big drop in booking medical appointments along with very high cancellation rates in countries like China, Korea, Thailand and -India. According to a report, the cancellation rates have gone up to 70-80 percent in this region.
In the past few weeks, the outbreak is becoming more widespread in Europe, resulting in around 70% decline in the booking rates. The situation is not very different in the Americas as well.
Time to Spend Wisely
Some healthcare providers are increasing their Return on Investment targets or lowering budgets to cope with the increasing cancellation rates. When the cancellation rates are rising and demand for treatment abroad is decreasing, the competition in the medical tourism market is softening. Across metasearch for travel publishers, the average Cost Per Click (CPC) has dropped over 40%. The drop has been noticed at an even higher rate of 74% to maintain the top position.
So, for healthcare providers, it is important to take a calculated approach in the coming weeks and months. You have to keep a long-term impact in mind. Stay away from making a knee-jerk reaction to the coronavirus outbreak by reducing your budget drastically or cutting your spending. Make a list of the areas where the demand will prevail after the market rebounds and market your services focusing on that area. At the same time, you have to make efforts to convince the potential customers that you will provide potential discounts and solutions once the threat is over. Target the customer section that is currently searching for healthcare procedures abroad but not booking appointments. You have to build the marketing presence of your brand and let the potential customers about the benefits they will get once COVID-19 scare dies.
How Healthcare Providers can Build Marketing Presence?
Promote Competitive Pricing Discounts and other Strategies
Set a proper pricing structure to become competitive in the marketplace as well as customers new return on investment. The patients should see a real benefit for traveling to your center and a good competitive price can grab their attention. Strike the right balance between the price and value, it would be possible to broaden revenue streams and improve the competitive advantage.
Attractive Center Profile
You have to make sure that the profile of your medical center is attractive and gives away the true picture of what you do and how you do. Explain about the treatments and services that you provide along with the information of your medical team. It should be able to build trust and convince a prospective customer to contact you.
Doctor Profile
Patients always want to get details about the doctor as it is the doctor who will ultimately handle the procedure. Provide every possible detail about the doctors including their education, experience, certificates, specialties and more. Getting complete details of the education, certificates, licenses, contribution and achievements will help in building a certain level of trust among the patients, which is very important for your center.
Videos, Blogs and Articles
Create educational resources for prospective customers so that they remain well aware and informed. Create videos, blogs and articles related to clinic facilities, treatment procedures, patient testimonials and anything that you think is important to make the prospective customers aware of. You can also use these mediums to spread awareness of the benefits or promotions the customers can enjoy post the demanding period of COVID-19.
Email Campaigns
Just like the articles, blogs and videos, you can also use email campaigns to inform and educate the customers. This is one of the most cost-effective and useful mediums to establish your marketing presence.
Social Media
Social Media Platforms play an important role in reaching your services to your clients. As you promote your brand on social media pages, you tend to make your prospects to be customers. It plays an important psychological role in the minds of the followers as they find your brand on a trusted web page (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and many more). Once you have a social media presence, your business can connect to your customers and stay in touch with them.
Technology Innovations
Using the power of innovative technologies can virtually bridge the gap between patients and providers. Using the power of technology has become more important in the current crisis period when the potential customers are canceling appointments and staying away from new bookings. With powerful tools like direct chat, WhatsApp, Artificial Intelligence, etc. you can directly answer all the queries of the customers and explain how they can be benefitted by booking the treatment procedure with your clinic after this corona phase is over.
What matters most is the smart marketing presence using effective measures. It is time to think about long term benefits and how to keep prospective customers aware of your brand. To make this marketing effort successful, PlacidWay can help. As the leading global medical tourism marketplace, we can help you take advantage of the most useful marketing channels that can establish your brand’s presence.
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