Five Winning Traits for Marketing Your Medical Practice

There are many options to market your medical practice - the only option off the table for a successful practice is sitting idly and not marketing its practice at all. Whether you choose to hire an individual on staff to perform your marketing duties or hire a professional company specializing in marketing medical practices, or even a combination of the two, here are a few traits to look for:

1. Passion. You could take the standard dictionary definition of passion, but that isn't necessarily what I am talking about. You want to find a company that has authentic burning passion, right from its heart and gut. Look for companies that are excited about helping you to grow your business and teaching you strategies to implement marketing best practices, based on your desired level of involvement.

2. Self-Starter. There are essentially two types of companies when it comes to marketing a medical practice - "batteries included," and "batteries not included." Meaning it's better to hire a company that will proactively work on your behalf. You want a marketing partner that understands your objective, direction, and strategy, and that can help you fine tune it. You want to find a company that can take your vision, run with it, and bring back campaigns that get you excited about what is coming down the pipeline. You want someone that can be proactive and get the tasks accomplished.

3. Creative. Creativity is the birthplace of innovation. Marketing your medical practice authentically requires a spark of creativity and vision. I am not referring to just fonts, logos, and color either: creativity is reaching your niche of ideal patients, and helping you to discover who your ideal patients are.  Seek out companies that can see your medical practice in a new light and challenge your own beliefs about your practice; this will help others do the same.

4. Consistent. Consistency is important in so many ways when marketing your medical practice. When a potential patient consumes the same message in the same way across all points of contact, it builds your brand awareness, differentiates you from your competitors, and it can even help ensure that people talking about you will do so in the way you want them to. It is also important to deliver that message consistently and not let time slide by while your patients wait for a newsletter or social media post. Look for companies and people that deliver consistently, to help you do the same.

5. Tri-athletes, not sprinters or even marathoners. (Not in the literal term - but hey it might be an added bonus if they were.) Practices are not built in a day. Look for companies that will go the long distance using many different modalities to market your medical practice. It takes time to develop, test, and implement the perfect marketing strategy, and then a little more time to see the results. Be sure and seek out people that will work for the duration.

Marketing your medical practice authentically can set you apart from the crowd and flood your office with droves of ideal patients. Remember that no matter how amazing your marketing company, you still bear the responsibility of living up to the image that is broadcast. You are responsible for the marketing message your practice presents - the company you hire is just the instrument.