As demand for lifestyle and functional medicine grows, clinicians are seeking innovative, effective ways to connect with their communities to attract new patients. Cutting through the noise of the many health care options available may seem daunting, but there are tools that can help you be more effective in reaching your practice goals.
6 Benefits of Educational Webinars
Free educational webinars, livestreams or in-person presentations are powerful outreach tools that help many clinicians. Read further to learn why you may want to incorporate educational webinars to help market your practice and empower patients.
1. Build Awareness
Webinars provide an opportunity to showcase your value and unique approach to health care. Prospective patients will learn about your strategy for tackling a particular health issue, and they will see how highly you value empowering patients with important health information and insights.
Attendees will also walk away with a better understanding of the benefits of lifestyle or functional medicine versus conventional medicine. For patients who are new to functional or lifestyle medicine, attending your webinar or event is a risk-free entryway to discover what you’re all about.
2. Establish Trust and Demonstrate Your Expertise
By offering valuable health insights, you position yourself as a helpful expert who is eager to provide empowering information. You also demonstrate that you value serving your patients as an educator who offers supportive guidance, taking the time to collaborate with them on important lifestyle changes.
You will also build credibility and rapport with prospective patients by offering them an opportunity to see and hear from you before committing to an initial appointment.
Presenting topics that align with how you want to practice medicine will highlight your expertise in a particular area.
3. Create Cost-Effective Marketing
Hosting webinars is a cost-effective way to market your practice. Compared to traditional advertising methods, webinars allow clinicians to connect directly with their target audience, which fosters long-term relationships and retention without significant financial investment.
4. Expand Your Reach
Webinars break down geographical barriers, enabling clinicians to connect with a wider audience. This expanded reach is especially valuable for attracting new patients who may not be aware of your practice through traditional means.
5. Build Community
Free educational webinars or community education events foster a sense of community among attendees. Participants, whether they are existing or potential patients, feel part of a collective learning experience. This community-building aspect contributes to a positive perception of you and your practice.
6. Set a Tone for Collaboration and Partnership
Webinars focused on education underscore a clinician's commitment to patient-centered care. By providing valuable information and answering questions, clinicians demonstrate their dedication to empowering patients to make informed decisions about their health.
How to Start Hosting Patient Education Webinars
Hosting patient webinars or education events is a strategic way to uplevel your marketing that can have tangible benefits. From building trust and showcasing expertise to expanding reach in your community, webinars offer clinicians an easy-to-incorporate tool to attract new patients.
If you'd like to get started, Lifestyle Matrix Resource Center offers ready-made presentation toolkits through our membership program on 42 of the most common health issues seen by functional medicine practitioners. Each presentation toolkit includes the following resources to help you promote and host a webinar:
- Customizable PowerPoint slide decks
- Sample narrations to demonstrate how the information can be presented to patients
- Promotional materials you can customize, including blog posts, emails, and social media images and captions
- Follow-up communication templates
- Guidance on how to use the tools from our Practice Consultants—only available with an LMRC membership
In a later blog post, we will dive deeper into how presentation toolkits can help you plan a webinar or in-person presentation. In the meantime, you may book an info session with a Practice Consultant to learn more about LMRC member benefits.
Lauren
Ricciardi is a versatile content writer and curator with experience in
membership-based organizations.
