Digital First: A Smarter Growth Strategy for Independent Cardiologists

By Kathy Meyer and Michael Cuello

Intro

For decades, independent cardiologists relied on physician referrals and word-of-mouth to drive patient volumes.However, the digital landscape is reshaping how people seek healthcare information, and these traditional methods alone will no longer sustain long-term practice growth.

To effectively compete with larger medical groups and health systems, independent cardiology practices must invest in strategic marketing that builds their online visibility, differentiates their expertise, and makes it easy for patients to find and choose them. That’s where a marketing strategy comes into play.

The most successful marketing strategies seamlessly connect a practice’s digital presence with traditional referral networks and in-person community outreach. When digital efforts are optimized and aligned, they amplify one another—extending your reach, building trust, and driving patient growth. Let’s explore why a strong online presence is a must-have for practices and how to make it happen.

Understanding where patients begin their healthcare journeys today

A smart marketing strategy starts by meeting patients where they are, and today, that’s online. Recent data from Kilo Health featured in Becker’s Health IT shows that 93% of Americans have searched for health information online, up substantially from 61% reported by the CDC in 2008.

Even older adults—once thought to be less digitally engaged—are turning to search engines, health websites, and online reviews as part of their healthcare decision-making process. The numbers clearly indicate a growing trend among mature audiences and an increasing comfort level with digital health resources. 

Uses online channels to communicate with their doctor’s office (CDC data)

Uses online channels to communicate with their doctor’s office (CDC data)

These trends make it clear that in today’s patient journey, a strong online presence is essential for generating visibility, building trust, and ultimately driving sustained practice growth. Combined with traditional efforts, CardioOne supports practices in implementing digital marketing to not only boost a practice’s brand awareness, but also drive new patient volume. In this blog post, we’ll share a glimpse of our digital marketing playbook below–with a focus on increasing new patient acquisition.

Winning online: Optimizing your digital front door

An independent cardiology practice may not be able to saturate the town with billboards and print ads like a large health system does, but focusing on digital is where you can attract potential patients who are actively seeking care and health information.

A winning digital marketing strategy begins with your website, local business listing, and social media. Together, these channels create your digital front door. A clean, modern website that lets patients book appointments leaves a strong first impression. That foundation can be amplified through a geo-targeted local business listing, and consistent, engaging messaging on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Your digital channels should emphasize the authenticity of your practice, your staff, and the unique value you bring to the local community. Patients are drawn to practices that feel human and approachable—something many large systems struggle to convey. Include patient testimonials and provider bios on your website and behind-the-scenes photos of your staff to bring your practice to life online.

If your practice offers same-day or next-day appointments, highlight that benefit prominently. This will differentiate your practice and convey your commitment to timely, patient-centered care that larger health systems often can’t match.

Show up where patients search, and amplify

Building a website and social media presence is often the easier part of marketing for independent cardiology practices. The real challenge lies in guiding patients from their initial search (usually on Google) to your practice online. Doing so requires a mix of both organic (free) and paid digital efforts.

Organic Growth: Boost your online presence naturally

Organic discovery starts when patients search for symptoms, procedures, or local doctors and your practice appears in the search results. Factors impacting how high up a practice appears on a Search Engine Results Page (SERP) in Google include:

• Offsite and onsite search engine optimization (SEO): SEO involves two types of tactics—onsite and offsite—that work together to raise your potential SERP rankings. Onsite SEO includes optimizing your website’s structured data, load time, mobile experience, and content, often incorporating keyword-rich blog posts that answer key patient questions, such as, “What’s the difference between a heart attack and stroke?” Offsite SEO, meanwhile, builds credibility and domain authority through backlinks from reputable sources, such as referring provider websites or professional organizations.
• Google Business Profile: This display listing appears whenever a patient types in the name of your practice. It’s free and should include your practice’s hours and services. Your business profile also allows patients to contact your practice and to write online Google reviews of your practice. Make sure you keep your listing up to date and embed a link to your website’s appointment booking page.
• Reputation management automation: Patients increasingly rely on online reviews to make informed decisions when selecting practices and healthcare providers. Positive patient reviews and SERP results go hand-in-hand. As an example, when a patient searches “best cardiologist near me,” search results are automatically filtered to local practices and providers with at least a four-star rating. 
• Organic social media posts: Being consistent and intentional about posting on social media channels raises brand awareness and trust. Plan to make at least 12 posts per month on your channels of choice.

Beyond Organic: Accelerate patient growth with paid campaigns 

While SEO and other organic marketing efforts build brand awareness, long-term visibility, and credibility, paid marketing helps practices convert online searches directly into new patient appointments. Unlike traditional advertising like billboards or radio, digital campaigns allow you to reach high-intent patients in targeted geographic areas delivering a higher return on investment (ROI). To drive results, focus your paid efforts on:

• Search engine marketing (SEM): SEM helps your practice show up right away in health-related searches, often toward the top of the search engine results page. Google paid search campaigns lets you target location-based searches and high-intent keywords such as “cardiologist near me” or “high blood pressure treatment” that patients are actively using to find care. This approach is known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, where your practice pays only when a person clicks on your Google ad. To maximize ROI from paid campaigns, it’s important to set your campaign goals upfront and build a well-structured campaign strategy that understands your core demographics and uses highly focused and cost-effective keywords. As the ads run, it continually optimizes the campaign targeting people most likely to convert based on real-time conversion data becoming even more effective over time.
• Social media ads: Though not technically part of SEM, paid ads on social media channels also help build visibility to your practice. So, too, do “boosted ads” generated through existing organic posts, which means you pay a small amount so you can get your most popular posts seen by a fresh, new audience.

While digital marketing drives the biggest value, traditional tactics still play a key role in growing your practice. We’ve found that outreach like educational sessions at senior centers and participation in local health fairs are some of the most effective in-person marketing tactics for independent cardiologists today.

The ROI of digital marketing: Your competitive edge

An effective digital marketing strategy doesn’t just increase visibility. It also drives measurable and sustainable, long-term growth. For independent cardiology practices, digital marketing is the key to attracting the right patients, strengthening reputation, and standing out in a competitive market.

Want proof? See the return on investment (ROI) these two CardioOne practice partners have achieved with a smarter digital marketing strategy:

• One CardioOne practice saw a 60% surge in new patients after CardioOne implemented its marketing playbook. Additionally, by automating  patient review requests, their Google reviews also skyrocketed going from 2.2 to 4.8 stars in just a few months.
• Another CardioOne practice saw its organic traffic increase 91% in just 3 months, and today their digital marketing channels account for more than one-fifth of their total new patient volume with cost per acquisition of new patients below $100.

Lay the groundwork for marketing success

Without a strategic, consistent approach, practices will not be able to realize the full value of their marketing campaigns. Build a marketing plan that contains a healthy combination of digital tools and traditional outreach, remembering the importance of meeting patients where they are, both online and in your local community.

A smarter marketing mix isn’t just about attracting clicks—it’s about attracting the right patients, strengthening your online reputation, and sustaining your independence in an increasingly competitive healthcare landscape. By investing in a strong digital foundation and pairing it with targeted, measurable marketing campaigns, independent cardiologists can successfully take control of their growth trajectory and stand out in a crowded market.

Learn more about how CardioOne can improve your practice’s visibility, grow your patient base, and keep your independence strong.