It is no secret that growth is often slow following the holiday season and into the new year. In the same respect, profits are often to come by – especially for physical therapy practices. The holiday season is full of expenses – décor, food, and gifts often put a dent in the bank accounts of consumers. Additionally, many are still experiencing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and may even be feeling the effects of the heightened flu season.
Financial and mental struggles are common this time of year. The same holds true for physical struggles. This is where you come in! The first step to getting patients in your practice is to catch their attention. In this guide, you will be introduced to several marketing strategies that will render you high levels of success in that endeavor.
1. Create a Written Marketing Plan for Your Practice
There are many factors that go into determining how to get new patients into your practice. These include hiring tactics and complications, inflation challenges, and – of course – your competition. You must evaluate the plan that you have for marketing each year. Creating a written marketing plan for your practice is essential. Failure to do so may result in the following issues:
- Inconsistent Patient Volume
- Lack of Control
- Unpredictability
- Lack of Structure
- Overspending
To create a written marketing plan for your practice, do the following:
- First, write out the goals that you have for your practice and the amount of money that you are able to dedicate to the process.
- Identify the audience that you want to target and come up with specific branding statements for your practice.
- Outline the marketing goals that you have and come up with target points that relate to each.
- Next, outline the key areas where you need to place your focus and come up with a way to measure your success when reaching each one.
- Next, outline individual tasks that you must complete in order to succeed in your marketing endeavors.
- Get everyone together in your practice and outline your marketing goals. This will ensure that everyone is on board and all hands are on deck in achieving your goals.
2. Update Your Website
Chances are, you already have a website for your practice. If you don’t, now is the time to get one! You should allocate funds to enhance the site. In short, your online presence is the ultimate foundation or basis for all of your marketing endeavors.
For most patients, the website is the first point of contact that they have with your physical therapy practice. You want to make an excellent first impression.
Include information about your practice, all of the services that you offer, a comprehensive introduction to your staff, and other relevant information – such as keyword-rich health articles and guides – to help lend to your reputation as an “expert” in your field.
3. Place an Emphasis on Patient-Centered Marketing
When coming up with a marketing scheme for your physical therapy practice, avoid the mistake of worrying about your profits first. No, turn away from that train of thought and focus on patient-centered marketing, instead. This places your patients at the front and at the center of all decisions that must be made to ensure their optimal health.
This means that you must avoid marketing to third-party payers and market to patients.
Focus on collaboration with your patients, higher levels of transparency, and even the integration of tools and resources that will help in optimizing interoperability.
4. Launch New Services
If you have a goal to stand out from your competition and attract new clients in the new year, you should place an emphasis on launching new services.
You already offer standard services, but what about other types of services? Examples include health classes, dry needling, vestibular therapy, balance training, custom orthotics, classes for performing artists, and treatments for certain parts of the body – such as the head for migraine sufferers, the knees for athletes, and even the back for industrial workers.
The list could go on and on! Simply gather your staff and come up with innovative services and offer them in the upcoming year! You are sure to see an increase in clients!
5. New Year Savings
Now that you have come up with and started marketing some of your new services, offer discounts for the new year on your older services. Yes, most practices will offer the traditional “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” deals, but you will not find too many offering deals for the new year.
In fact, this is the one time of the year that you could really corner the market! It is almost a guarantee that other practices will miss this opportunity. By getting yourself out there and in front of your potential clients, you are sure to find that many appreciate the unique savings that you have to offer!
6. Referral Bonuses
The next marketing strategy that you may utilize for the new year is a referral bonus. Simply give your current clients the ability to get a discount on their services if they refer new clients to your practice.
Say a new client comes named Sally that was referred by a current client named Tina. Well, you could knock off 25% of Tina’s next service with you and 25% off of Sally’s new service. Yes, you could look at it as losing 50% of your profits – but that is not what happened. When Sally signed up as a client – even though you gave her 25% off – she still brought you in 75% more profit! If you include the deduction of Tina’s 25% off – you are STILL in the green! That is, you still have a 50% increase! Integrate referral bonuses and you will see a dramatic increase in signups AND profits! Guaranteed!
7. Integrate Telehealth
During the first couple of years following the arrival of COVID-19 in the United States, telehealth services took off! This came as a result of the shutdowns and individuals staying isolated to avoid the spread of the disease.
Now, many people have come to enjoy telehealth. It is easy, convenient, bypasses waiting room wait times, and is inexpensive!
You may not think that – as a physical therapist – you can do telehealth services, but you can! Not only can you conduct basic telehealth exercises, but you can also provide educational information, nutrition information, and follow-ups with telehealth! Best of all, it is easy and convenient – for both you AND your patients! By offering this type of service, you are sure to instantly attract new clients!
Conclusion
As you can see from the information that has been shared in this brief guide, there are many simple and exceptionally easy solutions to marketing your physical therapy practice in the new year. Remember, all marketing efforts should be patient-centered. Yes, you want more patients and yes, you want to increase your profits, but no, you should not focus on these areas. If you place your patients front and center in ALL that you do, you will find that your client base and your profits increase – all on their own and nearly instantly!
To provide a boost to your practice, we here at Colorado Physical Therapy Network would like to invite you to join us today. Not only will we help get your physical therapy practice to a new level – in terms of success – we have a vast array of tools and resources that we would like to share with you to optimize your career! For more information, contact us today by calling the following number: 303-757-7004
