Before we begin talking about how to market rehab services, we need to understand what marketing is (and what it’s not). Let’s start with what marketing is not. Marketing is not branding, logo design, website builds, advertising, campaigns, promotions, copywriting, or even PR. These things fall under the umbrella of marketing, but in truth they are what it looks like when you execute a marketing strategy.
Strategy that gets your ideal customer to know, like, and trust you enough to become a paying customer. While it is important to execute the tactics listed above well, before you can begin advertising, you need a strategy.
It may seem like a question that doesn’t need answering, but many professionals —including clinicians — do not truly understand the importance of marketing in healthcare. In fact, many of the clinicians I speak with have an idea that selling their brand through marketing is “dirty,” “manipulative,” or simply not necessary. They think that clinical skills and expertise should be and are enough to attract business to their clinics.
I can see why that would make sense. If you’re good at your job and your patients get good results, you’ll build a good reputation and referrals will start coming in, right? That’s true in a sense. A good reputation allows you to seek referrals and testimonials from happy patients. And that can increase referrals to your clinic. But again, unless that is specifically part of your marketing strategy, then you’re likely not going to get the most benefit out of those happy, satisfied patients. That’s not to say you shouldn’t try to build a reputation of authority and expertise in your chosen field, but that should be an intentional part of your marketing strategy.
A marketing strategy is ultimately what gets new patients into your clinic’s door. If you have a job as a clinician treating patients, it’s because someone did the work of marketing you, your clinic, and/or your services.
So keep this in mind: marketing plays a vital role in the long-term viability of any clinic or practice.
Long gone are the days when word of mouth was an elusive, difficult-to-quantify marketing metric. From social media platforms to customer-review-driven websites, clients are used to making their opinions known early and often. Those who treat them fairly and well are rewarded, and those who do not pay an ever-more-predictable price over time.
More importantly, you have complete control over your medical spa’s digital presence online. And it is difficult to overstate both the opportunity this provides and the simple truth it represents: To prospective clients, your digital identity is your identity.
Before an important face-to-face client meeting, everyone knows the drill. Significant research and preparation, impeccable professional appearance, confident and welcoming demeanor. You put your best self out there and get immediate, moment-by-moment feedback on how well things are going.
Understand that a version of this very interaction is taking place every moment of every day online. If your website is overly simplistic, outdated, or appears to be an afterthought, you are driving away most of your would-be customers. The level of attention and detail, the consistency of voice, the ease of navigation…each of these factors contributes to not just a visitor’s beliefs about your website, but their beliefs about you.
How proud are you of your business? How much care do you take when conducting yourself in the public eye (and how does this reflect on how much care you likely take when conducting yourself behind closed doors in the privacy of your practice)? How well do you understand what clients want, what drives their decision making? What hours are you open? How do I get to your office?
Your website is your proxy, answering these questions 24/7/365 for your average client, who will visit your website before they ever contact you directly. Do you have a blog with fresh content, demonstrating your ability and willingness to directly engage, to keep your client base current with your thoughts on news and developments that might be helpful to them?
While the transactional nature of in-person meetings and even phone calls provides valuable feedback that allows for improvement in best practices, your online presence needs to anticipate client questions and to avoid common pitfalls well ahead of time. A client not finding the information they want, or finding an overall presentation that falls short of what they expected, is unlikely to tell you that. They will simply move on to your competition.
Existing in the space between your website and your offline practice is social media, the living, breathing, back-and-forth conversation that gives your medical spa a chance to play an active day-to-day role in the lives of clients and potential clients.
Different platforms call for different approaches:
The connectivity between your social media accounts is powerful as well; a picture leading to a video leading to a blog post can easily lead to a first consultation. Exactly what content you provide, however, is contingent upon understanding who you are attempting to reach.