Google Maps is a common way people search for local services when they don’t know where to go. Let’s look at 7 ways to improve your pharmacy’s ranking on Google Maps for pharmacies.
1. Register & Optimise your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business)
The first way for pharmacies to rank higher on Google Maps is simple.
Bizarrely, Google prefers showcasing businesses who’ve registered in their directory.
So registering your pharmacy’s Google Business Profile is a pretty good first step in ranking higher on their recommendations.
You won’t rank well on Google Maps if you haven’t claimed your own business profile. If you haven’t done this already, do it immediately. If you don’t know how to, contact us now.
Once, you’ve verified the business as yours, there’s a profile completion guide which walks you through all the steps for optimising your profile. Google majorly prefers recommending fully completed profiles.
2. Regularly Update Your Profile
Whatever the primary reason for visiting your pharmacy is on any given week, there’s your weekly update. (We find once per week is plenty for this.)
Sun skincare, flu vaccines, Travel Vaccines, hayfever relief; whatever the hot topic is, publicise it on your Google Business Profile.
Including photos, videos, special offers, and links to your relevant blog posts/web pages etc., enhances the experience for Google’s users. (Google likes that!)
3. Optimise Your Website for Local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
Ranking well on Google Maps isn’t just about your Google Business Profile. Google wants relevance if it’s recommending websites to its users. Optimising your website’s content, and reflecting your local services in a way Google understands, let’s the search engine know that recommending your site isn’t a mistake.
Google prioritises speed, convenience and relevance.
Is your website poorly laid out, hard to navigate, and scant on information? Don’t expect glowing recommendations from Google.
Not sure if your website is properly optimised?
Get a free pharmacy SEO audit from Pharmacy Mentor and find out how Google views your website.
4. Embed Google Maps on your Contact Us Page
You won’t find this in your guidebooks, but it’s almost certainly a factor. A smooth transition with visual consistency from the Google Maps app to a Google Map embedded onto your website is another element of an intuitive user experience. Which, as discussed, Google loves.
5. I’ll take the Google Reviews, with a side of Google reviews, please
Google Reviews would be number 1 on this list if it made any chronological sense, as it’s possibly the most influential factor (you can control) in determining your rank on Google Maps.
Remember, Google is in the business of recommendations.
Hundreds of people recommending you through Google’s own reviews & recommendations section? Google recommending you highly too is a no brainer.
Remember, bad reviews come with the territory. Check out the video above for a guide on responding to negative reviews online.
The biggest way of attracting new Google reviews is to…ask! Whenever patients experience great service in your pharmacy, ask them if they’ll leave you a Google Review! Make it easy for them with a handy QR code. Check out our Get More Google Reviews section of our shop.
6. Make Directories Your Directive
The most important pieces of information on your Google Business Profile, website, and across the web are your Name, Address and Phone Number. (NAP)
It’s important that potential visitors have consistent and accurate information on you across all of these sources.
Not sure if your NAP are up-to-date across the Internet?
Simply search your business name and note all of the places your business details are. If they’re not all up-to-date, reach out to the directory owner and update them. Or get us to do it for you.
7. Engage with your community
Google also rewards your efforts to support other businesses in your community.
Build active partnerships with other small businesses around your community.
Build on existing partnerships like your GP surgery. Promoting each other’s businesses through your Google Business Profile, by linking to each other’s website and services are great ways of boosting each other’s business.
Be sure to also activate the messaging feature on your Google Business profile so that people can reach out to you directly. This is becoming more and more popular and we’re seeing an increasing number of messages come through to our pharmacies every week.
Does all of this sound like a lot of work?
We get that. Running a business is a full-time job. Marketing is another.
We love helping pharmacies rank higher on Google Maps. Hit that button below to get in touch.
https://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Rank-Higher-On-Google-Maps.png10801920Saam Alihttps://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Pharmacy-Mentor-Logo-Header-Website-1030x193.pngSaam Ali2022-07-29 16:06:252022-07-31 14:06:127 key steps to rank higher in Google Maps for pharmacies
So many people use Google Maps to get to where they’re going…and a lot of them use Google Maps to find somewhere to go, too. If you’re amongst the first places to show up on Maps, you can be sure you’ll get the lion’s share of people travelling to your pharmacy.
But how do you get your pharmacy to appear first in those results?
There are many factors contributing to a high maps ranking, similar to many factors determining how highly a website ranks on Google.
But there’s a NEW, guaranteed way of appearing first.
Get your pharmacy ranking first on Google Maps with Google Maps Ads
One of the biggest determiners for high rankings on Google Maps is the volume of people who visit the stores. This skews massively to bigger chains, like we see in the image below. Tesco are almost exclusively in the top rankings, because Google tracks people’s mobile phone locations. As people walk around Tesco, Google registers this as a visitor for Tesco Pharmacy. Pharmacies in Shopping Centres also benefit from this.
Google Maps Ads bypasses this, guaranteeing smaller independent pharmacies top the rankings ahead of the big chains.
This is an incredible opportunity for capturing new patients, as people searching for pharmacies on Google Maps clearly don’t have an affiliation or a regular pharmacy. Not only that, but people searching on Google Maps have intent. They’re clearly visiting a pharmacy.
But whilst Google Maps Ads puts you in that position, maximising the appeal of your listing is important.
Let’s run through three quick steps to making your pharmacy look like the best option.
1. Get Google Reviews, as many as you can
As shown in the example, whilst Irwin Mitchell appear top, their overall rating is 3.8 out of 5. Just two positions below them, their competition has 4.4 stars, with more reviews, and because it’s an organic listing, the reviews are displayed.
With more reviews and a higher rating than your competition, it’s more likely that more people will click on your listing.
Of course, being top with a lower rating is better than being 7th with a lower rating, but let’s shoot for the stars.
Want help increasing your Google Reviews? Check out the Google Review section of our shop.
2. Wow with a welcoming Google Business Profile image
When someone clicks on your Google Business listing, it expands into a larger profile. The featured image on this profile is your first impression.
Making a good first impression all but seals the deal. Your shop front makes the most sense, so they can recognise your business from the street. But if you have a run-down shop front, put your best foot forwards. A photo of your interior or your team works, whichever represents your business best. Take a look at what Saam says when he goes through this step-by-step.
3. Keep your Google Business Profile Updated
Special offers, opening hours, and current services are amongst the next things people will see on your Google Business profile.
Make sure they’re updated.
Nothing turns people off a visit to a business more than uncertainty. If you haven’t manually added your opening times into your Google Business Profile, it comes up with estimated opening times for you.
No one’s driving somewhere that might be open when there’s somewhere else that’s definitely open.
Too much for you to keep up with?
We get that. Running a pharmacy is a full-time job. Marketing is another.
We love helping pharmacies rank higher on Google Maps. Hit that button below to get in touch. Whether it’s Google Maps Ads, or helping you rank organically, we can help. Click here to contact us today.
https://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Pharmacy-Google-Maps-Ads-Get-seen-first-on-Maps.png10801920Saam Alihttps://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Pharmacy-Mentor-Logo-Header-Website-1030x193.pngSaam Ali2022-07-22 11:00:592022-07-22 11:44:13Pharmacy Google Maps Ads: Get seen first on Maps
Big Data played a massive role during the pandemic, and it’s set to continue changing the world of pharmacy.
Big Data affects pharmacy owners and pharmacists of any kind. And its impact is growing exponentially. How can I say that with such certainty? Because Big Data is shaping the future, which affects everyone. But in this article, we’re concentrating on the specific impact that Big Data may hold for pharmacy in the future.
What is “Big Data”?
Big data is information, and lots of it. So much, in fact, analysis by anything other than powerful computers is impossible. In healthcare, hospitals and clinics across the world generate 2,314 exabytes annually. An exabyte is to a gigabyte what the Sun is to the Earth. If that seems like too much to wrap your head around, it’s because it is. Even traditional computers cannot compute that much data.
Every minute, on the Internet:
2.1 million Snapchats sent.
3.8 million searches on Google.
1 million people log into Facebook.
4.5 million videos watched on YouTube.
188 million emails sent.
That’s a lot of data. And though it might not seem like it, data tells stories. Advancing into a more data-centric world, understanding these stories influences our capacity to adapt.
Working against the numbers is like sailing against the wind. Working without numbers is like sailing without a compass. Naturally, working with the numbers is the preference. So a future with more numbers gives us a better chance of making better decisions.
How does Big Data work with AI?
Artificial Intelligence is inextricably linked with Big Data. AI learns best with the massive amounts of information provided by Big Data. And Big Data is too big for anything except automated systems and AI to collate and manage.
So how can Independent Community Pharmacy use all that data?
Because of the scale of Big Data, I can’t see Community Pharmacies harnessing Big Data directly. The infrastructure required isn’t affordable or even worthwhile for a comparatively small business.
What is a possibility is centralising all this data and making relevant data accessible to pharmacies. Third party service providers utilising Big Data may also improve the quality of life for Pharmacists, as we’ll explore later.
It’s also likely with pharmacy’s integration with the rest of the health service, that as Big Data impacts healthcare, pharmacy will feel the ripple effects.
Your pharmacy’s data as part of Big Data
Rather than using the Big Data, Community Pharmacy may find itself being used by Big Data. Community Pharmacies provide anonymised patient data into the huge database, where it can provide that bigger picture. Obviously this is a subject of much discussion, balancing privacy and data-protection with the wider benefits of data-sharing from a health perspective.
Since companies like Meta & Google already harvest (anonymised) personal data for profits, lobbying for improved individual healthcare through shared data doesn’t sound too underhanded.
Privacy Concerns
Protection of this data from privatisation & for-profit ventures, however, is a notable concern. There is a lot more red-tape, as always, when it comes to health data too. A technical employee from Facebook hypothetically seeing information about your account is one thing. But health records are a more serious breach.
When it comes to Big Data, a single Community Pharmacy may also be impacted, not because of what you can see and action because of that bigger picture, but because you’re a part of it. As the bigger picture is seen clearly, decisions could be made which hold ramifications for every community pharmacy, or individual ones. An example could be the value of individual pharmaceuticals if the processes for drug trialling becomes radically simplified.
Another practical example is identifying certain geographical areas prescribing more antibiotics compared to other areas. Regulatory bodies can identify pharmacies and surgeries in these areas using Big Data and run targeted campaigns aimed at either reducing these prescriptions, or increasing them in surrounding areas if they’re also showing reduced hospital admissions.
Is Big Data impacting pharmacy right now?
Big Data is very much underway as a phenomenon in the both the industry and the wider world.
Tracking footfall with smartphone GPS
There exists already an advanced form of advertising tracking, typically for humongous advertising behemoths (think McDonald’s level), where through smartphone tracking, advertising agencies can trace someone who was within line of sight of a billboard, for example, and then visited a McDonald’s restaurant.
Like any technology, when first introduced, they’re expensive and generally unavailable to the wider public. But just like 4KTV’s, Smartphone location tracking draws nearer to the mainstream. It already exists in diluted form, if you’ve ever seen on your Google My Business profile, this is GPS phone tracking in action.
Imagine this, but with more insights for your pharmacy business. Where do they travel from? Where did they go before your pharmacy? What’s the average age of people who visit you on a weekend? How many of the people who saw your social media post visited your pharmacy in the next 7 days?
How might Big Data impact Community Pharmacy in the future?
Big Data’s impact on Community Pharmacy will increase exponentially, parallel to data’s impact on our lives in general.
The limitation is the same as data’s limitation has always been – the people analysing the findings and the way that we collect data.
Assisting with Pharmacy Purchasing, both for purchasing pharmacy assets and pharmacy businesses.
Not all of these directly impact pharmacy, but pharmacy feels the ripple effects of the shock waves in healthcare.
How wearable technology helps Big Data
Wearables are small electronic devices that, when placed on your body, can help measure temperature, blood pressure, blood oxygen, breathing rate, sound, GPS location, elevation, physical movement, changes in direction, and the electrical activity of the heart, muscles, brain, and skin.
These measurements help with all levels of assessment for a wide variety of ailments.
Think about trying to diagnose someone without any information. Naturally, the more informed we are, the better our judgment becomes.
Informing Patient Interactions with Big Data
Big Data from health apps, medical records and other sources revolutionise your conversations with patients.
Pharmacy is an analytical profession. Interpreting patients data alongside Big Data trends means better prescribing pre-treatment, and better medication assessments post-treatment. Of course, for individual care like this, opting-in to data tracking becomes necessary for patients.
As a pharmacist, there will almost certainly be a consultation opportunity either to address these Early Warning Signs, or to monitor the use of and advise on the data provided by wearable technologies so that it never reaches that stage.
Wearables should in theory hand agency and power over to the patients. Whether this inspires a new generation of health-conscious patients, time will tell.
What are some of the barriers to Big Data for Pharmacy?
The biggest barrier is in both the centralisation of data and the privacy associated with data tracking. Maybe approval for centralised data never arrives. Perhaps in ten years, the public are hyper-aware and precious about their personal data and turn GPS tracking off.
Preventing databases from hacking and exposing large amounts of people’s health data is obviously a great concern. Mitigating and preventing this is necessary before approaching anything like centralised health data.
Whoever holds the data holds the power
Meta & Google currently hold vast quantities of the world’s data. They don’t exactly hold the best reputation as a result of the profits from this data. When basing big decisions on the data, trust in the source and credibility of this data is a pre-requisite. Large corporations hardly have a clean record of telling the truth with data.
What do I need to do as a pharmacist?
Informing your decisions with data is always a smart move. Big Data will bring more data to your door. Getting experience handling and basing business decisions on data now is great preparation for a data-filled future.
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https://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/How-is-Big-Data-changing-pharmacy.png10801920Saam Alihttps://www.pharmacymentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Pharmacy-Mentor-Logo-Header-Website-1030x193.pngSaam Ali2022-07-21 13:30:282022-10-10 09:06:40How is Big Data changing pharmacy?
With different forecasts for how a digital Metaverse could change the world, let’s examine what a metaverse pharmacy could look like in the future.
What is a Metaverse?
The Metaverse, the most renowned metaverse, is a virtual reality project being worked on by the company formerly known as Facebook, Meta. Their goal is creating a hybrid community spanning both real and virtual worlds.
However, metaverse is a term (dating back to the 70’s!) used widely across developers for any virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users. (Essentially, Meta just piggybacked the term so that their Metaverse sounded like the original).
A vision of Meta’s Metaverse
What’s the difference between a digital presence and a Metaverse pharmacy?
A metaverse pharmacy is like if your pharmacy and your pharmacy website had a baby.
So the main difference between a digital presence and a metaverse pharmacy is the way users interact with it, as well as how pharmacists would interact with it.
It will depend on the direction that metaverse development takes in the future.
What is the future of the metaverse?
The problem is that there’s lots of different metaverses out there. Meta have theirs, Microsoft has their own version…even Fortnite, (that’s a video game, if you don’t have kids) has something they label a metaverse, but none of them interact.
Right now, a lot of companies are building their own ring-fenced versions of the metaverse for their very specific needs and niches.
The metaverse happens when you’re able to jump between digital worlds seamlessly. And it’s unclear as yet whether this will ever happen.
When will society fully embrace metaverse technology?
Before wider society embraces the metaverse, a number of issues need solving.
Clunky eyewear, with battery issues
Regulations (which will constantly change)
Motion sickness
Security and data privacy issues
Complex & costly hardware
Could pharmacy exist in a metaverse?
Yes. In fact, it already does. A pharmacy in Decentraland. Which, if you’re wondering, is a digital location. That’s right…a physical location in an unlimited digital space. Depending on which way the metaverse develops, physical digital addresses are either extremely valuable or completely worthless.
Whilst it’s worth bearing in mind that this is a blend of cyberspace and reality, the idea that it matters where something is located in this world is…debatable, at least.
What would a metaverse pharmacy look like?
Let me paint a hypothetical picture of a potential metaverse pharmacy.
1. Getting to the pharmacy
I pop on my digital glasses, and I open up a top-down digital map of my local town centre, like the interactive ones you get in shopping centres. After browsing, I find Metaverse Pharmacy, and select “Enter Metaverse Pharmacy.”
The virtual door opens and I find a bunch of avatars from my local community also visiting the pharmacy (at the moment these Avatars look like they do on the Nintendo Wii, so, room for improvement). I’m after a new sun cream for my child with sensitive skin.
I approach the pharmacist’s avatar, highlighted with a Green Cross floating above their head. They’re “engaged in a private consultation”. I join a queue, which automatically brings me into a private chat with the pharmacist when they’re available.
2. Virtual shopping
Whilst I’m waiting, I’m exploring a virtual shelf which asks me what I’m interested in. After selecting sun creams, the range is pulled up in front of me and I swipe through the options. All the relevant information displays alongside them, including a “Pharmacist recommends for” section, which explains the different SPFs. Pretty swizz. I like this system, I couldn’t have imagined it better.
Suddenly, I hear a beep and see a countdown, alerting me I’m being brought into the private consultation with the pharmacist. I’m now face-to-face with the pharmacists avatar. They’re wearing a white coat and glasses, and look bloody trustworthy.
3. Private online consultation
They state their name and GPhC number, before checking my name, date of birth and address for security. Once that’s clarified, they ask how they can help.
After quickly consulting me about my child’s skincare issues, the pharmacist tells me “Garnier Ambre Solaire Kids Sensitive Advanced SPF50+ is hypoallergenic, has no perfume or colourants, making it ideal for children with sensitive skin.” They couldn’t have said it better if they’d copied and pasted it from a pharmacist’s recommendation online.
4. Paying digitally for real products
They ask if I’d like one sending to my address, and tell me it will cost 5 metacoins. (It’s highly likely a metaverse will run on some form of cryptocurrency-based economy.)
I confirm I’d like that, and before departing, they ask if I’m going abroad anytime soon. I say yes, that’s why I’m buying the suncream. After discovering I’m going to Thailand for a wedding, they book me in for a travel vaccination in the real pharmacy. I’m given the option of paying in cryptocurrency or GBP. Since we’re in my imagination, I’m rolling in metacoins. So I book and pay for my travel vaccines there and then.
Returning home, by which I mean removing my digital spectacles, the sun cream I needed is on its way and I’m booked in.
How could a metaverse pharmacy operate?
There’s an obvious reality that cannot be digitised. You cannot physically treat a digital avatar. Any metaverse pharmacy could focus on prescriptions and consultations, health advice and e-commerce – but vaccinations and other physical treatments would still require a physical location.
Would a metaverse pharmacy expand the boundaries of catchment areas?
This depends on exactly how metaverse technology develops.
If it develops into a singular cyberspace, a platform like the Internet, then it would benefit pharmacies with a strong digital presence across social media, or pharmacies with lots of directory links from other places.
Monopoly Concerns
However, if a company like Meta monopolises a single metaverse, with restricted digital real estate, it’s entirely possible that one monstrous behemoth metaverse pharmacy employs tens of thousands of pharmacists to manage millions of virtual reality goggle-wielding patients. After all, if geography is no longer a barrier, there’s nothing stopping a once-limited by physical space conglomeration from serving everyone who needs a health consultation.
It’s an open door for tech-giants like Amazon – fulfilling a centralised prescription/eCommerce logistics contract in partnership with a huge centralised pharmacy. Perhaps Amazon even becomes that huge centralised pharmacy.
However, there are question marks here over how viable these mass-market solutions are. Amazon have issues keeping their warehouses fully staffed as it is. So, hopefully, this type of monopolising conglomerate never materialises. But if it does, I for one welcome and have always welcomed Overlord Bezos.
Avoiding this requires a decentralised metaverse (like the aforementioned Decentraland.) The community governing the rules means less capacity for tyrannical power.
A new meaning of social networks and links
At the moment, backlinks work by linking from one website to another. Building links on a metaverse could transport you from one place to another.
For instance, imagine ending a metaverse GP visit with a link to a metaverse pharmacy, transporting you instantly from the metaverse doctor to the metaverse pharmacist. You get an NFT prescription unique to you, with an EPS system which works on the blockchain. And within 10 minutes, issuing and delivering your prescription is complete, securely and conveniently.
In that way, your prescription base could be entirely dependent on your metaverse partnerships. Your professional network online could form the foundation of your metaverse business. The more metaverse GP’s linking to your metaverse pharmacy, the more referrals you get.
Of course this is conjecture right now. But based on the way the Internet works currently, it’s a realistic projection of how the metaverse could function.
So how far away is mainstream metaverse pharmacy?
For any metaverse going mainstream, it requires a few different technologies working together.
Currency, being crypto or otherwise.
Blockchain
NFTs (ownership of digital assets)
Internet of Things
Whilst this tech is all in its infancy, it’s unlikely we’ll see mainstream adoption of metaverse. Healthcare is probably the last industry the metaverse will affect, since it’s so highly regulated.
But smartphones had issues when they first came out, and there’s no doubting the impact they’ve had on our world.
In 5-10 years, when these technologies develop, the metaverse will follow shortly after.
So should I…y’know…do something?
My personal advice for preparing for something like the Metaverse is treating it a bit like cryptocurrency.
Being aware of its existence, and understanding potential consequences is fundamental.
If you wanted to try and get in early, the potential returns could be massive. Imagine being the only fully operational metapharmacy, if prescriptions suddenly became able to be dispensed through the metaverse…
However, caution is mandatory with such a rapidly shifting landscape. Investing thousands into a metaverse pharmacy only for the technology to change could render your entire investment worthless.
I think it’s a case of when, rather than if, pharmacies will enter the metaverse.
Understanding that you might need an entry plan at some point means that when the time comes, you’ll be readier than most.
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I’m confident that unless you’re one of the few people I’ve spoken to already, you have no idea what is happening on Bing & Yahoo Search for pharmacies. Fair warning: what you’ll read about in this article might annoy you…
If you Bing “pharmacy”, and you’re a community pharmacist, you’ll encounter a problem. Though you may not realise it.
This is something I noticed by accident, stumbling across the issue when one of Pharmacy Mentor’s laptop browsers was set to Yahoo Search by default.
Big pharmacy companies are advertising on Bing search engine across the whole of the UK for the term pharmacy. You might question why. You might question why you should care. Let’s explore both of these questions step-by-step below.
What is Bing?
Bing is the Microsoft equivalent of Google’s search engine, only less popular. Because Bing is Microsoft’s search engine, it comes pre-installed on all Microsoft Devices as standard.
Other search brands use Bing’s search engine too
Yahoo Search is just Bing search with a different branding, and is the default search function for Mozilla Firefox. Yahoo’s search engine is powered by Bing, which means both Bing & Yahoo deliver the same results, including adverts.
Why should pharmacies care about Bing, or Yahoo Search?
The fact is, Google dominates the search engine market, with 92.47% global market share (91% in the UK) as of June 2021 (Statista, 2022). It seems most people don’t care about Bing or Yahoo Search. So why should you?
Bing Pharmacy PPC (Pay-per-click) Advertising
Advertising on Bing, which feeds through to AOL & Yahoo, has a considerably smaller Cost-per-Click (CPC) than Google.
Still irrelevant to you?
Go to a Bing-powered search engine
Search for “pharmacy near me”, or even your own pharmacy name.
Look at who appears first.
Saving you a bit of time, I’ve already done searches for “pharmacy near me” as well as “Pharmacy John O’Groats” and “Pharmacy Lands End” below, demonstrating the issue for pharmacies anywhere in the UK.
Scroll through the image sideshow below to see the searches.
What I didn’t search for, was your specific pharmacy name. Open a Bing search, and search for your pharmacy name.
If you didn’t just utter “you crafty cusses”, or words to that effect, you don’t yet understand what is happening.
So let me enlighten you a little more.
(N.B. If you don’t see Ads, it might be that the adverts have reached the maximum daily/monthly budget. But they’ll be back.)
Who uses Bing?
91% of the UK uses Google. 5% use Bing. Whilst 5% doesn’t sound like a lot, it translates to approximately 3.35 million people using Bing.
According to the macro statistics, if you open up your browser and Bing is your default search engine, you probably go into your browser settings and change your default search engine.
You know who doesn’t do that? People who don’t know enough about browser settings, or don’t know how to do it.
You know which demographic doesn’t know how to work the Internet? The one that needs prescriptions the most.
It’s an incredibly savvy tactic.
Have another look at those screenshots. Can you see how minimal the indicators are that the top results are adverts? Again, the people with eyesight sharp enough for “Ads related to: pharmacy near me” aren’t generally the ones using Bing.
Advertising over people’s businesses on Google is noticeable.
Why?
Because the business owners use Google. So they’ll probably see.
But doing this through Bing is sneaky. You avoid a snarling dog, because it’s obvious. But the mosquito that gets you in your sleep bites you all they like.
What can you do about it?
Unfortunately the only way to fight Bing Ads is with Bing Ads. (The same is true with Google Ads.)
If someone puts a poster over a signpost to your pharmacy, preventing that means either asking them to stop, or putting your own poster up over their poster. If it’s a local competitor who’s doing the advertising, there’s a good chance of finding an agreement that works for both parties.
But do you think the companies who’re paying for adverts targeting “pharmacy” all over the UK will stop because you asked nicely?
Are Bing Ads for pharmacy it worth it?
These big pharmacy companies advertising on Bing think so.
It’s worth noting, they advertise on Bing, but not on Google. The budget on Google is too high to cover the entirety of the UK all the time, but because of the smaller user base of Bing, it’s possible.
But they wouldn’t continue to do this unless they had a valid reason to. The reason is that the predominant user base for Bing is people who don’t know how to change to Google. And that’s pharmacy’s target market.
How much does it cost?
Advertising on Bing obviously has a cost, typically between 25-50 pence per click. Pay-per-click on Google for Pharmacy is more like £1-3 per click, for reference.
But don’t worry about competing with a big company advertising budget. Competing with them in your local area won’t cost anything like that much.
Weigh up whether or not remaining inactive whilst these big companies skim the cream off the top of your catchment area is worth less than to you than a couple of hundred pounds a month.
Worth noting: The patients these companies pick up could be searching for your pharmacy, but they could be from any pharmacy searches in the UK. You aren’t being directly targeted.
Not Just Protecting Your Pharmacy Business
And don’t forget – advertising on Bing isn’t just protecting your pharmacy’s existing patient base. You’re actively promoting your pharmacy and attracting new patients too. Advertising on Bing is probably a worthwhile endeavour even if you weren’t being forced into it.
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This community pharmacy wanted increased Travel Clinic bookings. On the cusp of summer, making immediate impact was high on the agenda. The pharmacy already had an optimised Travel Clinic page on their pharmacy website designed by Pharmacy Mentor. With a budget of £300, they talked with us discussing their needs and our Diagnose & Prescribe team recommended a Google Ads strategy.
Challenges
Appearing efficiently for target audience.
Tracking return on investment.
Ensuring effective use of budget.
Creating copy for the ad which encourages clicks.
How we did it
Pharmacy Mentor created and ran a smart Google Ad in the pharmacy’s area, which appeared throughout Google’s search network. We linked the advert directly to the pharmacy’s Travel Clinic page, which has a call to action button “Start a Travel Consultation.”
Tracking
We placed an analytical tracker on the “Start Travel Consultation” button on their website, measuring the amount of people who not only visited their website, but actively began the booking process.
Results
After just £277 (not even the full £300 budget):
2.3k people saw the advert
333 clicks
82 consultations started online
35 Calls direct to the pharmacy
The pharmacy took plenty of bookings and they were delighted. They couldn’t wait to reinvest those profits in additional advertising. We have continued to propel their Travel Clinic to this day with Google Advertising.
Interested in boosting your Travel Clinic with Google Ads? Simply get in touch with us and we’ll be glad to help.
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The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
