Marketing Magic for Your Medical Practice

I have mentioned in this forum before that during my nursing career, my surgeon nicknamed me Radar, because I could always anticipate what was coming next. That post is now over two years old, but received a lot of comments about the nickname at the time.

I still feel that most of the work I do is anticipatory or intuitive in nature, part of that is because I am so selective about the clients I take on. I am honored to share that yesterday one of my clients gave me a new nickname "The Marketing Magician." It kind of has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?

The nickname Marketing Magician is the inspiration for today's five marketing tips that work like magic to grow your patient base:

1. Get social. Pick out two to three social media platforms to interact with your ideal patients. (Hint: Make sure this is where your ideal patient hangs out online.) Show up there, share your practice, your team, your compliments, your concerns, what inspires you in your practice.

2. Stay-in-touch. Don't let patients walk out your door and then wonder if and when they will come back. Stay in touch with them on a weekly basis with e-mailed newsletters.

3. Be present in your community. Get out and meet people. Join the Chamber, make friends at the local news outlets. Offer your expertise and opinion. Meet the school faculty and administrators, volunteer your time for causes that are important to you. Practices that aren't active in the community have to spend advertising dollars in the hopes they will be seen in the newspaper or heard on the radio. It is far better to get out and be present in your community, and let people get to know you and your practice personally.

4. Don't be afraid to ask. Ask your patients, fans, and contacts what you can do to make their experience better. I help my clients do this at least once per year - and for growing practices or troubled practices, after each visit to quarterly. Ask specific questions about their experiences in your practice and how you can improve. Don't forget to limit your questions to 10 and set a time limit to respond to the survey. Depending on your audience you may even offer an incentive to participate.

5. Give. No, I am not asking you to give away care. I am asking you to operate your practice from a space of giving and not taking. Practices that give back to their patients through helpful weekly newsletters, active, positive, and educational social media platforms, are present in their community, and ask for feedback, naturally attract the patients they want, like magic.