Medical Marketing

Our marketing strategies are designed to build and maintain long-lasting, referrer relationships within a collegiate and educational environment, adhering to AHPRA guidelines.

The word “marketing” often carries negative connotations for doctors. The medical profession believes in the referral system – the underlying concept being that it is a doctor’s peers who should provide an endorsement by sending work to that doctor, rather than the doctor having to endorse themselves in a cheesy advertisement.

As a doctor, you are providing a service to your colleagues and as such have a professional responsibility to ensure your colleagues and patients are able to discern what your areas of expertise are, how a referral should be made and when and where you will be able to see the patient. Consider the situation in reverse. Just imagine it is you that had a patient needing care in another specialty. Consider how grateful you would be to already know who is suitable, available and in your geographical area. Marketing enables such information to be known.

Hence, in the professional/medical context, “marketing” means something quite different to commercial organisations. Medical marketing is a key part of collegiate, professional practice. 

Furthermore, it is essential for your patients to also be able to understand your areas of expertise and know your contact details. Therefore, marketing at RWS means the creation of appropriate communication and educational channels to allow patients and referrers to know about you.

This may involve any or all of the following: 

  1. Correspondence sent directly to your referrer catchment
  1. Making sure your specialty information and up-to-date contact details are available to your referrers and patients
  1. Providing educational resources for your referrers that attract CPD hours from RACGP
  1. The creation of a professional presence online so that referrers and patients can know who you are, what services you provide and how they can contact you
      
  2. Regular analysis and benchmarking of your practice progress.

RWS can help you create a marketing strategy that adheres to AHPRA guidelines and enables your referrers to get to you know, and vice versa.

Marketing to Patients 

Ensuring your patients view you in a professional light and can easily discern what you do and how you are contacted is another vital component of your marketing strategy. See here for further information about our websites for doctors.

Further to websites, social media is also an option to consider to ensure appropriate information pertaining to your practice can be found by your patients. Statistics show that 80+ percent of patients will use a search engine, such as google, to find out information about you directly online. Similarly, 80+ percent of patients search online to find information regarding procedures they may be having. Therefore, social media presents an opportunity to be found by your name, your specialty and the procedures you perform. Be assured that social media is a marketing tool to be handled with caution and left to professionals. RWS can create a social media presence that is appropriate, relevant and dignified, ensuring Ahpra guidelines are followed. Nothing is posted without your direct authority, our team works with you to create posts at the frequency you choose to ensure information is meaningful and educational.

RWS will meet with you to discuss if social media can be an effective marketing strategy for your practice.

Education Sessions 

The RWS team help our specialists to provide meaningful and relevant clinical education to referrers. Educational sessions enable referrers to stay up-to-date and informed whilst developing strong collegiate relationships, and attaining CPD hours from RACGP.

Medical education is extensive and subject to change. As such, providing current clinical material is of great benefit to your referrers. RWS organise many educational sessions for our doctors each year, so we see first hand how beneficial such sessions are to the general practitioners in attendance.

RWS works with you to coordinate such educational sessions which can be held online or face-to-face at times to suit you and the practice in attendance. RWS organise everything for you, including CPD hours, invitations, RSVPs, catering, venues, required technology and follow up activities.

Doctors can educate referrers via the following media: 

  • Face-to-face or online ‘lunch and learn’ sessions 
  • Face-to-face or online evening education sessions 
  • Summarised journal articles – noting the key take-home messages 
  • Doctor-to-doctor medical podcasts 

Educational topics are screened for suitability by our General Practitioner Network. Such education will include general information, new information as it comes to hand, anonymous case studies and triaging of conditions. 

Sessions are followed up by providing valuable resources to the general practitioner, pertinent to discussions had and points raised during the presentation. For example, a triaging flow-chart directing surgical intervention may be sent to attendees post an event. This would provide an excellent resource for the doctors whilst reminding them of your name and services you provide.

The RWS team can talk to you about potentially providing educational sessions for your referrers.

Medical podcasts

RWS also provides medical podcasts recorded by specialists, which serve as an educational resource for general practitioners. We provide this via our medical podcast library which is known as PodMD. This library has been in effect since 2017 and hosts a wide variety of clinical topics for general practitioners to access with an extensive listener base.

The podcast library is regulated by co-owner Dr Sean Mackay (Upper GI), and is supported by our panel of hosts who are all medical specialists. Our GP advisors provide guidance in relation to topic selection as relevant. Many of our podcast topics have been suggested by general practitioners attending educational sessions. This means that recording a podcast can provide a suitable follow up activity after a dinner or lunch with your referrers. Most RWS clients record podcasts for this purpose. Once recorded, podcasts can be sent by RWS to all GPs in your catchment. Furthermore, podcasts uploaded to the PodMD channel attract CPD hours for GPs through RACGP, making them an attractive and accessible resource.

Our education methodologies cover a range of specialties general practitioners need to be familiar with including: 

  • ENT 
  • Cardiology 
  • Colorectal 
  • Gynaecology 
  • Obstetrics 
  • Plastic Surgery 
  • Orthopaedics 
  • Oncology 
  • Psychology 
  • Gastroenterology 
  • Vascular 

To name a few… 

The RWS team can talk to you about creating educational podcasts.

Social Media at your Practice

Social media can form part of your marketing strategy and can be very effective if used professionally and appropriately. Recent search data indicated that 80+ percent of patients used a search engine such as Google to find information about doctors online and similarly, 80+ of patients searched online to find out about a procedure they were having*.

So, our philosophy regarding social media is that you should only consider it to assist your patients to find you and easily discern what services you provide.

When used wisely social media can present an opportunity for you to be found by your name, specialty and the procedures you perform however, what you post matters, and it is of paramount importance that your professional standing and reputation is maintained.  This means you must ensure posts uploaded keep the above mentioned aims in mind.  Furthermore, social media posts must strictly comply with AHPRA guidelines so it is not wise to commence a social media campaign if you are not sure what you are doing and what the rules for doctors are!  It is recommended you look for professional assistance in this area.

RWS can provide assistance for you by devising a campaign that you control.  Posts are suggested in discussion with you and uploaded once approved by you. This ensures continuity on your chosen platform/s, a posting frequency that suit your needs and speciality area and provision of information to your audience that is meaningful and educational in nature.

Contact RWS to discuss the use of social media at your practice.  Our team can ensure a campaign is devised to assist you in being found and provide education around your speciality areas whilst remaining professional.

*RACS Preparation for Practice, 2023 – ‘Online’ Presentation.

Holiday Marketing

The holiday season is a wonderful time to show appreciation to the referrers who support your practice through their ongoing trust and collaboration. A thoughtful gesture can strengthen these relationships as you head into the new year.

At RWS, we make this easy by creating beautifully branded holiday cards with personalised messages for your key referrers. Each card reflects your logo and colours, providing a polished, consistent look, and includes important details such as your holiday closure dates, so referrers know when you’re closed and when services resume. We also organise festive gifts to add a personal touch that leaves a lasting impression. In 2025, we worked alongside you to coordinate hampers for nearly 1,000 referrers across Australia and designed and delivered 10,000 holiday cards, ensuring you had time to do what you do best.

It’s also a great opportunity to add extra marketing touchpoints. Seasonal newsletters, bespoke letters, podcasts, website pop-ups, email signatures, and other festive updates all help to keep you and your practice visible.

If you’d like to learn more, please reach out to our friendly team on 1300 073 239 where we can guide you from start to finish.