The marketing world can feel like a scary place if it’s not what you do, day in and day out. When you’re a busy health clinic owner, not a seasoned marketing manager, it’s pretty easy to make mistakes.
In our work, we see lots of well-meaning businesses having a multitude of marketing mishaps and it hurts our hearts to see the struggle. The good news? Most of these problems can be easily remedied – and we want to show you how!
1. You’re not doing it.
The Symptom
Prospective clients are searching for you online, but your business is nowhere to be found because you’re not devoting any time or resources to marketing.
The Cause
Perhaps you’re an established clinic and you simply haven’t needed to focus on bringing in more clients for a while. Maybe you’re a new clinic and there are too many other things on your plate. There are countless valid reasons why you may not be prioritising marketing at the moment.
The problem is, in the not too distant future, you’re going to need to see the results that consistent marketing activity can generate. And one thing’s for sure, if you haven’t been putting in the work, it’ll take a while to get off the ground.
The Solution
It seems overwhelming but starting is simple, really. Define your business goals and then select some marketing tactics that will help you achieve them.
Start in whatever way you can. You could try setting up a blog, sharing helpful content on social media or even sending out a monthly newsletter. It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant your efforts feel because every little helps and you’ll benefit from the cumulative effect over time.
The next step, of course, is moving from a “shotgun” approach to devising a more comprehensive plan with customised solutions and detailed tracking that measures ROI – but we can help with that!
2. You don’t see the value.
The Symptom
You can see the cost of marketing (that’s pretty obvious!) but you’re struggling to see the value.
The Cause
Perhaps you’ve dabbled in some unsuccessful marketing activity or enlisted the help of an agency who ultimately let you down. When you’ve been burned before, it’s easy to understand why you can’t see a positive relationship between the money that goes out and the results that come in.
The Solution
You need to view marketing as an investment in your practice that takes work but pays dividends.
Much like other types of investment, results from marketing build and compound over time. However, unlike financial advisors managing stocks, professional marketers have a huge amount of influence over the outcomes of their activity.
When smart digital marketing strategies are habitually implemented and fine-tuned, there need be no limit to your success. Marketing can boost your brand awareness, grow your client base, strengthen customer loyalty, ramp up your revenue and help you become a trusted thought leader in your industry – and that’s just the beginning!
“You can expect about 67% more leads every month if your brand has a blog (compared to ones that don’t!).” (G2)
3. Your online presence is poor.
The Symptom
Your online presence (the place your clinic lives digitally) doesn’t have an impact or it’s hard to find.
The Cause
There are many potential reasons for having a weak online presence. It may be that your website is poorly constructed, hard to navigate and doesn’t rank well in search engines. It might be that people are scrolling through their social media feeds and your brand just doesn’t show up.
There could be any number of different places that your clients hang out online but if their attention is in a certain area and your business isn’t there, they simply won’t be able to find you.
In today’s world, most people will search for services on the internet before they even consider making contact with a business. This means that if prospective clients can’t find your health clinic in the digital space, then you might as well not exist.
The Solution
Be honest with yourself. Have you taken a “set and forget” approach to your social media (i.e. you’ve got an account, but you rarely post or engage)? Is your website a bit of a DIY job that was rushed and never really got finished? Are you often too busy to sit down and reply to online reviews?
We get it. As a time-poor health clinic owner, you’re rushed off your feet and all these marketing activities feel a bit like “nice to haves”, rather than essential practices. However, whether it’s you, a team member or a digital agency – someone needs to be routinely handling these tasks.
Your website is the cornerstone of your online presence. It’s your digital practice. At a minimum, your site needs to be up to date, user and mobile-friendly, search engine optimised and in line with medical industry legal requirements. Ideally, you need to consider the patient journey, communicate your unique selling proposition and create the kind of experience that converts.
Next step? Social media. Either train an in-house employee or outsource social media to a professional who can commit their attention to sharing high-quality content, participating in conversations and building an engaged following.
Finally, you should designate someone you trust to regularly respond to reviews – the good, the bad and the ugly! As a health clinic, you could be dealing with client privacy issues, so you need guidelines and a bank of suitable responses that you can adapt and use.
4. You’ve got a short-term mindset.
The Symptom
You think of marketing as a quick fix. You often say to yourself, “Right, I need some new clients. I’m going to throw some money at it, and I bet I’ll have 100 sign-ups by next week.”
The Cause
In our fast-paced world, it can be hard to think about your 5-year plan when you’re already struggling to keep up with your daily to-do list. It’s easy to see why people want speedy results that require little input. In fact, it’s human nature.
Unfortunately, that’s just not how marketing works. Digital tactics take time to set up and relationships with search engines take a while to cultivate. Prospective clients may also view and enjoy your ads, for example, but not yet need treatment. However, if they like what they see, they’re more likely to bear you in mind during their hour of need.
It’s all about the long game.
The Solution
Consistent daily effort is the only way to get guaranteed, sustainable results with digital marketing.
Just like you strive to nurture life-long relationships with your clients, a great marketing agency can futureproof your results by forming strong, rewarding relationships with search engines – and clients.
- So, how do you maintain a long-term mindset?
- Focus on the bigger picture and long-term goals, not short-term wins
- Lay the foundation by building solid processes.
- Avoid “jumping on the bandwagon” of every fad and trend
- Create evergreen content
- Iterate and test, over and over again.
Committing to these behaviours will help you create an invaluable emotional connection between your ideal clients and your brand. In turn, your bottom line will benefit from increased trust, greater loyalty and a reduction in your clients’ price sensitivity.
Keep showing up. It will be worth it – we promise.
5. You’re ignoring WIIFM.
The Symptom
When your clients are online searching for services, the only question they want answering is, “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM). However, you’ve fallen into the common trap of bragging about your business instead.
The Cause
We know you’re a wonderful practitioner and your team is doing incredible things, but the truth is, your clients do not care (or want to hear) about how smart you are, how many degrees you have or how fancy your clinic might be. All they care about is whether you can help them.
It’s not about you.
The Solution
Your marketing message must speak directly to your client. It should clearly convey how you can solve their precise problem. Customer-centricity: the thing that Amazon has down to a T. Clients want to hear about what’s relevant for them. How can your services make their lives better?
One way to do this is by concisely answering any questions that prospective clients might have – on your website, social media, business listing and through any content you publish. This ensures all potential worries and concerns have been resolved, making people feel confident about calling you (and less likely to land on competitor websites).
When you are writing blogs or speaking in videos, make sure you talk about your client much more than you boast about your brand. Concentrate on their dreams and their nightmares before openly offering a specific solution.
Remember, converting new clients is all about connecting with people’s pain points and providing them with an accessible, reliable resolution. Do that job well and people will come running to your clinic (unless they’ve got a knee problem, of course!).
Make an impact with marketing.
Don’t feel disheartened if you realise that you’re making some of these mistakes. No one’s perfect!
The good news is that many of these points are mindset related, so once you change your outlook and understanding of digital marketing, you can begin implementing small steps that ultimately create big waves.
Looking for help with avoiding more digital drama? Clinical Marketing is here to help you get more ideal clients, more often. We specialise in creating game-changing marketing strategies for growth-hungry health clinics. Reach out on 02 4036 3332 to get started today.
