Over the last two years, doctors, attorneys, and contractors (referred to as the “Big 3″ in this article) have stepped up their movement away from some forms of traditional marketing and are now shifting into Internet marketing and lead generation. They are quickly learning the ins and outs of this new medium, including running aggressive SEO and PPC strategies in-house or through SEM agencies, as they bring more dollars online to drive advertising ROI and new lead generation. Those involved in SEM need to be aware of the new competitive playing field and the continued convergence into online by the Big 3. The market is competitive, and only aggressive, smart strategies will work.
For over 50 years, the medical practitioner, legal, and home services industries (including contractors, plumbers, electricians, etc.) have invested the majority of their advertising dollars into Yellow Pages, TV commercials, outdoor billboards, and print ad campaigns. However, according to The Kelsey Group’s Annual Forecast (2007-2012), some traditional forms of advertising – including the print Yellow Pages – are on the decline, with Internet advertising expected to climb. Interactive advertising represented $22.5 billion in total spend in 2007 and is expected to balloon to $62.4 billion by 2012.
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Great post. We are actually seeing the same trend. And we love it. Many of our new clients are professionals (doctors especially) trying to navigate the internet. Just yesterday I ran across a new “access the doctor by email” service on a health care provider’s site. It makes total sense to open the portal to your practice by marketing on the web.
Lise
Lise’s last blog post is: http://www.companystoryandbrand.com/2010/10/07/small-and-nimble/