The number one private practice marketing mistake (and what to do about it)

Uncategorized Jun 25, 2024

The owners of a small healthcare practice find themselves in many different situations when it comes to their local market. Some are in a wide blue ocean with no "competitors" as far as the eye can see.

Others find themselves with a few nearby(ish) practices, so feel some sense of competition, and then others, in developed urban areas, find themselves feeling surrounded by fellow practitioners.

So the need to nail your marketing may not feel as pressing for some as it is for others.

But beware . . .

They are coming . . . your local competition

Please do not rest on your laurels thinking you have nothing to worry about in terms of getting savvy with your marketing.

The private practice sector is growing rapidly in many westernised and developing countries. There are thousands of entrepreneurs worldwide who are looking at the small healthcare practice sector as an untapped gold mine.

They are coming.

In the UK, US, and Australia I have already seen an increase in the number of high street healthcare chains and franchises, as well as nonpractitioners creating healthcare practice businesses. So I predict it won't be long before another practice pops up in some shape or form somewhere near you, and quite possibly already with their marketing sizzle together.

So there is no escaping it - YOU NEED TO GET GOOD AT MARKETING

Brilliant Vs good enough

As much as I'd love every practice owner in my world to be smashing it with their marketing, the truth is you don't have to be brilliant at it. You can protect and develop your practice by just getting good at marketing. There is no need to be brilliant, you just need to be good.

It's a bit like my husband said when we were living in the US, and were walking in bear country, "I'll be fine because I know I can run faster than you 😳"
He's such a romantic caring type 😆

The same principle applies to your practice marketing.

There are generally enough patients around that you don't need to be brilliant at marketing, you don't even need to be better at it than the other local practices, you just need to be able to differentiate your practice from the majority of your local competitors and you and your practice will survive and thrive.

Are you obviously different?

STOP making this one mistake

So where do you need to focus your attention in order to make those gains in your marketing?

Well, there is one mistake I see thousands of practice owners making all around the world, that is putting their practice at the mercy of new competition.

They are building a magnolia practice.

I'm sure you know some magnolia practices even if your's isn't one.

Practices where:

Their premises look like so many others, inside and out
They are marketing to everyone who has any problem they could help with
They have no clear target audience
They are corporate, lacking all personality
They have no clinical specialty, offering every service in their profession
Their website is full of stock photos
Their social media profiles lack all human connection

In short, they are bland, boring, samey, totally unremarkable and a potential patient will struggle to see themselves becoming a loyal patient and raving fan - there is nothing to rave about.

This is exactly the kind of practice
any new competitor
would be thrilled to set up across the street from!!

3 Magnolia Marketing Mistakes - and the solutions

There are 3 key marketing mistakes I see so many practices making, which result in them building magnolia, unremarkable, practices. If you can correct these 3 mistakes in your practice you will be doing way better at standing out than the other practices in your area - unless they are also reading this blog 😜.

MISTAKE 1

Not knowing exactly who you want to attract so you use mediocre generic marketing.

If you don't know who your dream patient is, you will attempt to attract everyone with a problem you can solve. So your marketing will have to be broad brush and generic to try and appeal to as many people as possible.

One of my favorite marketing quotes:

"If you're marketing to everyone, you're marketing to no one"

Seth Godin

Generic marketing is never going to be remarkable. It's going to make you stand out.

SOLUTION 1

Do the work on getting to know your dream patient - really really well so that your marketing speaks directly to them and their "pain" offering a clear solution. Your marketing will resonate well with them, draw them to you, and make them see you are the practice to help them. It will be remarkable to them, and make you stand out in their eyes. N.B. it only needs to stand out in the eyes of your dream patients, not everyone else.

MISTAKE 2

Copying what other practices are doing with their marketing.

I see so much copycat marketing, or marketing by committee, in our industry.

Practices using the same stock images to represent their profession on their website and social media. Podiatrists with THAT image of a family of feet sticking out from under a duvet - I'm talking to you!!

Practice owners asking in forums, what everyone else is doing about pricing.
"I'm offering this service, what do you charge for that?" you've seen those posts.

Your job is to stand out.

Copying what other people in your industry are doing doesn't help you because:

Most practices do not know what they are doing when it comes to marketing
Your practice will not be obviously different

Honestly, there is SO MUCH generic healthcare marketing out there and it's working for no one.

I hope you know exactly the kind of things I mean.

A website that has zero personality
Social media profiles full of stock photos
A local advert that only promotes opening times & available services
A business card with a name, list of qualifications, and a phone number, or a social media profile
Bland same old same old premises

No attempt to be an individual or team with personality.

No attempt to deliver a unique service to a specific kind of patient.

No effort given to becoming a thought leader in their area.

Just bland hum drum product development and promotional marketing.

SOLUTION 2

Stop asking/copying what others are doing. Instead start working towards developing a unique practice, with a real personality and a clear voice. Use your own imagination, photographs, practice statistics, stories, videos, and voice.

Your practice is unique - or at least it should be, so:

Tell stories your way
Talk to your dream patients
Package services your way
Price your services in a way that makes sense to you

Forge your own path - work on being famous locally for the things you do and you'll start to stand out.

MISTAKE 3

Thinking professional = corporate

I see so many small and tiny practices, made up of 1 to 3 people, trying to portray themselves as "professional" but in doing so losing all sense of identity and human connection.

They use their logo as their social media profile, most of their website images are stiff and starchy, often devoid of human faces or any "real" people at all and they write all of their website copy in the third person.

I know you know the practices I'm talking about.

SPOILER ALERT

You can be hugely professional but still have real character and personality.

People buy from people, especially in healthcare, so marketing your practice as a bland faceless "corporate" practice is not going to help you build human connections with your potential patients before they meet you.

That's the other ridiculous thing. If it is only you in your practice - talking about "we", "us", and "our" is going to paint a false impression of the practice for when your patients do inevitably come to the practice and realise it's just you. Better to be upfront about that from the get-go, so they know what to expect.

SOLUTION 3

You do YOU

Shine a light on your personality, and let people see and hear the real you in your practice.

Use photos and videos that give real insight into you as a person.
Tell stories that help people see the kind of person you are
Style the practice to reflect your personality
Write your email templates and blog posts so that if you read them out loud it sounds like you talking.

Don't be shy about using you and your personality as part of the character of your practice branding. It will all help you build human connections and differentiate you from your competitors.

I hope that has helped you take a fresh look at the marketing you are currently doing and the practice you are building, and evaluate whether it is helping you attract potential patients to you and build relationships with them, or just wasting your time, energy, and money with bland generic marketing that is really just promoting your profession & the work of your competitors, not your specific practice.

Be known for something

Thank you soooo much for taking the time to stop by my healthcare marketing blog today.

I really hope you found value in spending some time here today.

I’d be so grateful if you could spare me just another 5 minutes to share your thoughts & feelings in the box at the end of this page. I’d love to hear from you.

Oh and please use the social share buttons if you think other people you know might benefit from seeing this.

Until next time, stay curious

Thank you