The right kind of physical therapy marketing allows you to precisely track a return on investment, cut through the clutter, and identify with patients on an emotional level.
Big corporations spent millions of dollars in order to be able to achieve these three goals.
Today, patients are exposed to several hundred marketing messages a day. In order to be able to cut through the clutter as a physical therapy business, you need to connect with patients on an emotional level, perhaps even make them smile or laugh.
Don’t make the mistake of saying “humour does not have a place in physical therapy advertising” because it does. At the end of the day, patients are human beings like everyone else and like to laugh. Share stories with them that make them smile and relate to you.
Being able to create a deeper and more meaningful connection with patients is an important strategy for all physical therapy business owners. It’s also important to be able to clearly differentiate yourself when communicating with patients.
Hence, the two key components of effective advertising are personalization and differentiation, both of which can be achieved quite effectively.
The disadvantage with traditional advertising, including brochures, pamphlets and flyers, is it seems fairly impersonal, and the recipient knows it is intended for a large list of people.
What is the kind of advertising that you respond to? Imagine coming home after a long day of work and staring at a big pile of mail. The first thing you do is walk over to the trash can as you flip through the pile, tossing several envelopes unopened into the trash or setting them aside for the shredder. The majority of mail and marketing today fall into the trash can.
I don’t have to tell you that you are doomed if you marketing message and in this pile.
The remainder of the mail is usually split up into two categories. The first category is the mail you want to deal with right away, and it usually includes bills. In some cases, it is the type of advertising / marketing message that catches your attention, that you respond to. The final pile of paper pertains to envelopes and documents that you will get to some day, also called the ‘hopefully soon’ pile.
The truth of the matter is, we never ever get to this ‘hopefully soon’ pile. The moment, it becomes a few inches high (in my case, close to a foot high), we transfer it to the trash pile and toss it out.
What implication does this have for your physical therapy business?
Before advertising to patients and referral sources, ask yourself, where does your marketing message fall?
The trash file, the ‘ hopefully soon’ pile or the immediate attention pile?
Plan your advertising accordingly.
I talk about several marketing strategies, including how you can personalize handwritten mail and send it to patients without having to do all the writing yourself and reveal several tactics to boost referrals and add new patients FOR FREE.
If you want to learn more, and get a FREE COPY OF MY BOOK “Marketing For Physical Therapy Clinics” (on amazon), just enter your name and email address below and you will be taken to the download page.
