Empowering doctors through digital to become self-sufficient

The pandemic is tough for everyone, especially for doctors. They are stuck between a hard place and a rock due to the current situation. However, several thousands of doctors are equipping themselves with digital skills so that they are not only more skilled, but better equipped and prepared when we all come out of the pandemic.

Advit Sahdev is a well-known marketer in India and has consulted numerous doctors, clinics and hospitals. Just before the lockdown in India started, he launched an online program for doctors to learn digital skills . His objective is not just to teach, but also to help doctors succeed. He gives 1:1 sessions to doctors to help mitigate distraction and create a friendly atmosphere.

Can you tell us some interesting growth hacks/tools which can be used by doctors?

Doctors need a lot of social proof. When someone goes online and searches for doctors, they will see the ratings and reviews. It has become very important for them to have good ratings in large volume.

When the patient goes to get a bill, you can ask them to honesty rate your services on Google. When the patient submits the feedback, you can wave off the consultation charges on the bill as a token of goodwill.

This simple exercise helped a clinic get a few hundred testimonials on Google in just one month. The same tip can be used by everyone who has their own clinic or hospital, because at the end of the day, if you need to compete with corporates and the internet experts, you need to get good at their own game and beat them.

Why is management consulting needed for doctors? What was idea behind it?

As the pandemic started, doctors faced a very unique challenge of how to sustain their livelihood. They are the only ones who can save us by treating and creating vaccines for us. Yet, I know many doctors who are struggling to survive during these tough times. They don’t know how to use internet enabled technologies and move forward.

Given how important doctors are to society, this is my humble attempt to enable them with all the necessary skills so that survival is not a question for them. This course will definitely put them ahead of all the corporate run clinics and hospitals and help empower them digitally.

Do you feel growth hacking results varies from Industry to Industry?

Not really. Growth hacking is a constant innovation domain where every day we invent new ways of growing. This is not really a science, it is more about learning as you go. So in growth hacking no one can predict if the next big campaign will be for a B2B giant or a doctor. The spirit of Growth hacking is intelligent experiments.

Please tell about how the digital landscape has changed over the years...

Today the digital landscape has again become sane. There was a time when everyone was focused on likes, comments, fans, followers, impressions and so on. Businesses are again focusing on the right metrics, which are revenues, ROI, ROAS, profitability and growth. These are the things that really make or break a business. Brands are also creating meaningful content as the days of click-bait is slowly disappearing.

Which online platform do you feel is the best for leads and growth?

It all depends on which platform you understand the best and how you can leverage it. I understand Facebook Ads better than 99% of marketers in the world and thus can get the maximum out of it. It’s all about commitment to learning and then innovation. I can run B2B campaigns more effectively on Facebook than most people.

How do you improve the digital visibility of doctors?

There are several ways to achieve this. The first thing that I mentioned was the ratings and reviews. The second thing is having a strong social media presence with unique content. Social media is not just Facebook and Instagram, but it is also Whatsapp status messages, podcasts, blogs, Linkedin, Quora. Youtube, Twitter etc.

Choose a platform where your competition is not present and where you have a good active base. This is where you should build your presence. However, always remember that the content has to be extremely relevant and meaningful. Before posting, always think 5 times as to why your audience may not read it.

What was the driving factor behind the inception of ODigMa?

It was by accident that I discovered my love and passion for marketing. I have always been good at numbers and this was the first time I could merge creativity and numbers together.

I am not a marketer by education. I didn’t even study anything about marketing before ODigMa. But since then, I have studied more than any Marketing PhD scholar. I have done thousands of campaigns. I have learnt almost all marketing channels and methods and this is what I did at ODigMa too.

Do you feel that your Digital empowerment classes are foolproof for doctors that are wanting to establish themselves digitally?

If a Doctor learns and implements even 5% of what I teach, they will easily double their income. I am confident about it as I see results every day. We keep receiving hundreds of testimonials and we update the course content every month to always stay relevant.

Tell us about multiple companies that you have been a part of?

I started my professional life at Intel. Then I was with MindTree, Infosys and finally decided to start ODigMa. I worked with several global clients and handled global projects for Unilever, P&G and many other large brands. Those were fun times and I learnt a lot from these mega companies. Now I am sharing my skillset and knowledge with doctors.

With the Pandemic speeding up digitisation, how important will Digital Marketing become?

The answer is obvious. If you don’t know digital marketing now, you cannot survive. Some might be able to sustain without digitalisation but failure is inevitable.

Competition, Collaboration or a bit of both?

I don’t believe in competition. I believe in creating unique brands that cannot be copied. But we all do need to collaborate as we part of the same ecosystem.

Tell us how Digital integration of businesses has become the new norm.

Digital integration means that you automate a lot of manual and laborious work. So either you can hire a 100 people or you can automate it. You can digitize it. For example, let’s take an example of a doctor. Once the patient pays at the counter, the billing details are sent to you over an email. The data from that email is automatically sent to your CRM. The data from your CRM is then automatically sent for segmentation and then personalized emails, SMS and whatsapp messages. All this can be done in seconds. Every day. This is a very tiny example of digital integration.

How can one overcome failure and push forward?

Learn, Practice and Take Action. It is that simple. There is no other method to success.

Would love to hear 3 lessons from your life

Create a daily plan and act on it. Don’t keep it very tight, but make sure you complete it. Always praise others and Have a dream that you want to achieve.

Disclaimer: The views, suggestions and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Forbes India journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.