Six Marketing Goals for 2014 for Your Medical Practice

We are a little over a week into 2014, and if you haven't set your goals yet for the upcoming year it is time to get those down. Here are some goals of my marketing clients for your inspiration:

Goal 1: Have fun with it. Hold a contest, do a giveaway, enlist a mascot, volunteer in the community, the possibilities are endless to market your practice, drive new-patient numbers and make it fun.

Goal 2: Create a marketing calendar for 2014. Many practices are not marketing at all. And there are a few that market intentionally and it is rare to find one that plans their annual marketing calendar. This simple step can help keep you on track for the year and make sure that your marketing efforts are maximized. Many other marketing goals can be achieved simply with this one little goal.          

Goal 3: Get blogging on track. Practices must be posting one post per week (if you are a single-practitioner office and more if you have multiple providers) for optimal blog utilization. If you have checked Goal 2 off your list this will be a breeze. In the meantime, if you are stumped for content look to community based information, health information, office information, and staff bios, or share moments of office life. The possibilities are endless.

Goal 4: Form a marketing committee. You will likely be surprised at the employee willingness to promote your practice and by their creativity in finding new and unique ways to do it. This steering committee can meet regularly to come up with ideas, be in charge of the nuts and bolts of local events, or simply create the marketing calendar for the year.

Goal 5: Go social. Use social media to your advantage, to increase search engine rankings, to build a community, and to communicate to your prospective and current patients your authenticity and transparency in who your clinic is and who they serve. Don't forget, you can promote yourself on social media but it is also important to promote and share other people's content that your fans and followers will find useful. Don't worry about promoting a competitor as there are plenty of patients for everyone.

Goal 6: Get help. Here is the deal: Often times people in healing professions have a steep learning curve when it comes to marketing and growing their practices. That's okay, get help. There are tons of amazing resources that will help you get your marketing on track. For example, we offer done-for-you marketing packages as well as instruction for the DIY marketer. Getting the help you need to succeed is better than falling behind in what is best for your practice.

It can be difficult for some practitioners in this ever "reforming" climate to even think of their practice as a business. It is now more important than ever to ensure that you are reaching out and pulling your ideal patients to your practice in order for your practice to grow, succeed, and thrive.