How to Write Social Media Posts for PT

Writing effective social media posts for your PT practice is different than posting personal updates to friends and family. Your business page and its content needs to align with your overall brand strategy and marketing. There are also key considerations and insights that can be gained from trying different messaging and content strategies within a single social media platform. Let’s look at the different types of posts for PT practices…

The first step to writing social media posts is to identity the post’s goal—do you want to create brand awareness, market a new service, feature or staff member, or advertise a specific promotion? Brand awareness can be either your practice’s brand or that of physical therapy in general. In many cases, viewers may be unfamiliar with the benefits of PT so informative content can help to educate them on its value (and encourage them to visit your clinic for care). Marketing content, such as services and practice news, helps to add personality to your brand. Add explanations to the services and fun updates for news content to increase engagement. Promotional posts need to be clear and pointed, without losing your brand voice or being too “sales” oriented. Keep the promotion short and easy to remember, and include appropriate imagery to get attention.

Examples of Social Media Posts

The typical social media audience responds best to posts with images, either uploaded photos or links with thumbnail images. When writing your posts, think about the intended goal—brand awareness, marketing, or promotion—and tailor your content to that goal. Some suggestions for posts are:

Brand awareness: share a consumer-friendly post or article from the APTA or MoveForwardPT, link to an article about PT from health or fitness sources (magazines, influencers, or celebrities), or link to any awards or recognition articles that your practice has received, such as those from the local news or community organizations.

Marketing: link to your practice website’s pages on different treatments and services that are relevant or seasonal or create original posts with images to announce clinic updates. For example, in the winter, write a post about back pain from shoveling snow and link to your website’s page on back pain or write a post for golfers about getting back into the swing of spring and link to your shoulder rehab page. Original posts (those without linked content) are good for practice updates, such as announcing a new staff member (with a fun picture) or adding a new group exercise class.

Promotions: follow this easy formula to write promotional posts that get viewers attention.

• Start with a teaser sentence that keeps to your brand voice. “Time for spring cleaning! Get your house in shape without breaking your back”
• Introduce the promotion clearly, starting with the big payoff. “Get 1 Free Massage with the purchase of 4 sessions”
• Include any key specifics “Valid on session packages purchased in April.”
• Close with the Call-to-Action “Call us today at 800-594-XXX to book your next massage”
• Upload your promotional image (a stock photo of massage therapy with your promotion in a readable font) to stand out on newsfeeds.

Social media marketing might well be today’s modern newspaper ad (and it’s free!). Keep you posts aligned to a strategic goal, include relevant and interesting content, and monitor your insights and analytics to see what works best for your practice.

For more social media marketing tips and consultation, contact us today!

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Marketing PT to Athletes and Sports Teams

Athletes and sports teams are often in need of physical therapy services—from injury recovery to preventative treatments. Marketing your practice to athletes and sports teams can generate a steady stream of patients, especially during pre and post season training. There are several strategies to promoting your services to this key population including campaigns, sponsorships, and event marketing.

Athletic and Sports Marketing Campaigns

Most communities, from small towns to large cities, have a variety of sports and activities that keep residents busy throughout the year. Athletic and sports marketing includes more than just team sports (ie. football, soccer, baseball)—it also encompasses fitness activities such as running, swimming, and golf. Your practice’s campaigns can take either a specific, targeted approach or a more general health and wellness message.

Strategies for sports marketing are:

• Direct mail campaigns to teams or associations. Network with local club teams or associations, such as the travel soccer team or recreational sports department, to acquire mailing lists for direct mail marketing. Options include postcards or mini-newsletters that use messaging and imagery tailored to a specific sports. For example, if you connect with the local soccer league, you can send a postcard on knee injuries and the benefits of PT. Use soccer imagery and get creative with your headlines, “Don’t let knee pain keep you on the sidelines”.
• Email promotions. Send a promotional offer to athletes’ email addresses that markets a specific discount on your PT services. Choose services that are frequently needed by the specific sport or activity. For example, baseball players may need shoulder care during their pre-season conditioning. Offer one free appointment if the patients refers a teammate to your clinic. This referral-based promotion is especially effectives for teammates who all need to be a peak performance for the team to win. Include a “Refer a Teammate” CTA button on the email that links to your website’s referral form. Then, you can collect the friend’s information and call to follow up and schedule an appointment.

For more general fitness and wellness marketing, such as campaigns for runners or swimmers, go for a relationship-building and brand awareness strategy. These athletes are active year-round and thus, you want them to think of your practice first anytime that they are in pain or need PT. Brand awareness campaigns often do not drive a ton of appointments or engagement right away. The goal is to get your practice’s name and expertise out there often—driving home the message that your clinic provides the best care for athletes.

Strategies for general athletic and fitness marketing include:

• Social posts and website marketing. Brand awareness campaigns perform well through social media as the goal is to keep your practice’s name actively in front of potential patients. Try to send at least one post per week with an athletic or fitness message. Keep the message general, but include specific imagery that will attract runners, swimmers, golfers etc. Link these posts to your website and the specific page that discusses fitness or health and wellness. Your content should be meaningful—too many practice’s opt for general copy that doesn’t tell the reader anything new. Share your PT expertise with specific examples of how treatment can get the patient back to their active lifestyle. Include patient testimonials that are relatable, such as one where a patient was able to complete a long race or get back on the green after PT.
• Brochures, flyers, and advertisements. Spreading the word about your practice’s physical therapy treatments can also be achieved through passive marketing. Create a specific brochure for your fitness and wellness treatments—market any special equipment, certifications, and corresponding programs. Does your practice offer a free month of gym use following discharge? Include this prominently on the back panel. Have your marketing staff coordinate with local health clubs, YMCAs, and studios and leave copies of your brochures in the waiting room. Often, parents will browse this marketing while waiting for their children’s lessons to conclude.

Advertisements do not always mean a pricey TV ad or radio spot. Many gyms have several TVs throughout the facility that run a series of full screen ads for local businesses. Create a bold, easy to scan ad that clearly tells the viewer your practice name, PT services, and any promotions. A good rule of thumb for TV or banners is the “5 foot test”—if you stand 5 feet away from the ad, can you see and read the entire ad in 10 seconds? If not, then remove extra copy and imagery so that the ad can be quickly read. We recommend that banners include:

• 1 full color image showing a happy patient in PT
• 1 headline, max 6 words with at least a 48pt font size in a neutral color (Arial or Helvetica are easy to read fonts, white or black are readable colors)
• Your practice name and logo centered on the screen and at least the size of an index card (for the logo) and at 36pt font for your name

Marketing PT to athletes and sports teams can easily become part of your monthly marketing plan, with regular campaigns and promotions. Generating a steady flow of patients, who are active and want to return to their sport or fitness routine enables you to build brand awareness and a loyal client base that can refer teammates and friends.

For more on PT marketing, direct mail or digital campaigns, contact us today!

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Discounts and Promotions that Generate Patient Appointments

Most practices run a series of both recurring promotions, such as a Free Screening offer in the monthly newsletters, and seasonal offers to encourage patients to come to PT. Sometimes this marketing strategy works, and other times you may only get one or two patients who take advantage of the offer. What makes a campaign successful and drive patients to book appointment for physical therapy? Take a look at these key considerations in creating your next PT promotion.

Go with marketing over math

Use your retail shopper hat here. If an item is worth $10, it is better to say “Save 20%” or “Save $2”? Two dollars sounds small—the price of a coffee or a candy bar. But, “Save 20%” sounds like a big savings, even if it is the same discount. Think about your promotion like a savvy shopper and go for the sticker sell.

For a discount of $20 off a personal training session, which normally costs $60, your promotion should say “Save 30% Off a Personal Training Session”. A good rule of thumb is to always choose either the dollar value or percent savings with the larger number (ie. 30% is greater than $20).

Give value to your promotions

Offering something for “free” doesn’t necessarily correlate to a savings or discount to your patients—unless they know the full price value of the service. If you would normally charge $35 for a 15 minute free screening, market the $35 value of the free offer. “Get One Free Screening, a $35 value” gives quantifiable weight to your standard promotion.

Use orange in your promotion design

It might sound too easy, but people inherently associate the color orange with savings. The prominence of orange in advertising, from car commercials to store sale stickers, has lead our minds to psychologically associate the color with a discount. You can use orange subtly so as to not conflict with your brand and marketing style guide. Think about adding an orange flag to the corner of your marketing or a dashed, orange border around your coupon.

Avoid excessive capitalization and punctuation

It can be tempting to add @#!! to EVERYTHING to draw attention to the offer. But extra punctuation and all caps doesn’t equal increased engagement or patient visits. You want your practice to maintain a professional voice and consistency in its marketing communications. Reference the advertisements for corporate services, high-end retailers etc. These promotions typically use a clean, readable font and standard grammar. Mirror these style guidelines for your promotions.

Keep key details minimal, but prominent

If you have a coupon or printed promotion, be sure to include your practice logo, name, and phone number so that the patient can call to redeem the offer. Even if this promotion is included with other marketing materials, the paper may become separated and thus needs to stand alone as an individual component. For digital promotions, such as social media or email offers, include a link to your appointment request form or contact us page to facilitate easy booking.

For more tips on physical therapy marketing and promotions, check out our blog posts or call us today!

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How to Get More Referrals for Post-Surgical Rehab

For many patients, post-surgical rehab and physical therapy go hand in hand. After a orthopedic surgery, joint replacement, or injury, PT can be one of the most effective treatment options that both restores mobility and function, while keeping the patient active. Rehabilitation patients are often known for coming to all their appointments, working hard, and achieving great results—creating a mutually favorable relationship. So how can you get more physician referrals for post-surgical rehab?

Network with surgeons and specialists

Even in large communities, there are often only a few top doctors that perform orthopedic surgery, joint replacements etc. This niche market is prime for a strong referral network. Start by researching who the key doctors are in your local area. See who already refers to you and who you want to start referring patients. Once you have this list, begin your referral marketing campaigns and public relations efforts.

• Check that these professionals are on all your mailing lists for direct mail marketing campaigns.
• See if you have extra copies of your post-surgical rehabilitation mailer and send one to each physician at least once a quarter.
• Look for patient testimonials from past referrals. Send a personal note or card and include a copy of the testimonial inside.
• Call the office and see if the physician is available for a quick coffee or lunch. In person meetings can be both marketing and PR opportunities. Use that time to make personal connections, share stories (ie. “talk shop”), and build a relationship.

Promote your post-surgical rehabilitation services

As a key source of both referrals and patients, post-surgical rehab should be prominently featured in your print and digital marketing. Look for opportunities to reference these treatments, special equipment, and staff certifications in all your key services. Do you have a webpage on knee pain? Include a short paragraph about post-surgical rehab post knee replacement surgery. Marketing campaign and promotions ideas include:

• Newsletters and physician mailers on post-surgical rehab. Include patient testimonials and results to personalize the content.
• Brochures and rack cards. Keep these on hand to distribute to doctors, at events, and in the office. If you frequently work with athletes or sponsor sporting events, these can be included in the giveaway bags.
• Website. Have a dedicated page on your website that describes post-surgical rehab, the PT treatments, and the improvements to recovery. Include specific testimonials on the page to highlight your successful care.
• Postcards, email campaigns, and social media. Post-surgical rehab is not for every patient so be careful about over-marketing the service. Consider sending a targeted promotion once a year—say during the spring or fall sport seasons, to market your practice’s treatments.

Defining and growing small segments of your practice’s patient population can lead to big results for both your marketing and business. Post-surgical rehab may only be a few patients a month, but you can turn that service into a major source of physician referrals, patients, and revenue for your practice.

For more marketing tips and business consultation, contact the experts at Practice Promotions today!

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How to Overcome PT Reimbursement Challenges

As the insurance landscape continues to change and evolve, physical therapists are struggling to overcome reimbursement challenges. Practice marketing expert, Neil Trickett, has a one minute video with tips and strategies to improve your practice’s finances and management.

Click the video above to watch and learn!

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How to Host a Physical Therapy Workshop

Many people have not been to physical therapy and may wonder what goes into a course of PT treatment. Will it feel like a workout with a personal trainer or an alignment at the chiropractors? One way to demonstrate the types of treatments and their effects is to host a physical therapy workshop. This gives you the opportunity to show prospective patients PT in action, share your expertise, and help them feel better—building community engagement and public relations for your practice.

Tips for hosting a successful physical therapy workshop

Choose the right location and audience. You want your workshop to be held in a space that easily accommodates demos and exercises without a lot of set up. And, you want to attract attendees who can really feel the benefits almost instantly.

• Look for community centers, retirement communities, or athletic facilities that have large, open rooms with space for both a seated information session and active demos.
• Target a small population segment. Open houses are best suited for general interactions and can be held at the clinic to show off your practice. Physical therapy workshops should bring your services into the marketplace and create a comfortable space. Invite groups of people who already have a shared connection, which can encourage attendance and provide support. Groups such as retirement communities, civic groups, or faith-based programs can be a great source of connections.
• Set a minimum and maximum number of attendees. You don’t want to have 30 people show up in a space that is meant for 12. They might feel crowded or have trouble hearing/seeing the presentation. Plan the maximum headcount so that each person can have both a chair for the info session and a floor space, say the size of a yoga mat, for interactive demos. You also don’t want only a few people to show up as they might feel uncomfortable trying exercises in a small group. We recommend having at least 6 people to encourage engagement and boost morale.

Focus on the interactions and not the presentation. Remember in college when your professor droned on and on about something and you felt like you were in a trance. Don’t become Professor Boring! Plan your content and agenda to keep the audience engaged.

• Start with an activity. This immediately sets the tone that you will be hosting a fun, interactive physical therapy workshop. Ask participants to do a few simple stretches in their chair to gauge their mobility and flexibility.
• Keep the presentation short and relevant. Don’t go into philosophical backgrounds or the history of PT. Focus on your clinic, your services, your certifications, introduce staff at the event, and emphasis the benefits of PT.
• Change presenters. As the practice owner, you should probably lead the presentation and then let a lead PT coordinate the demo. But, if you really aren’t a fan of public-speaking, then let someone who likes the stage take the lead. Introduce yourself and spend time creating one-on-one interactions with attendees.

Bring your marketing materials and giveaways, plus food and drinks. It’s a no-brainer to bring your practice brochures and flyers, but be strategic about how you hand them out. Giveaways, food, and drinks always add to the event and you can quickly throw together a strong physical therapy workshop spread.

• Use your brochure during the information session. Have a copy available on every seat and walk through your services, practice history etc. during the presentation. This makes the participants actually read your brochure and get valuable information.
• Have plenty of old newsletter available. Bring several on a variety of topics and have extra copies to encourage attendees to share them with family and friends. Also, have a sign up station where people can opt-in to receive mailed newsletters and other promotions.
• Bring fun, seasonal giveaways. If you are hosting a physical therapy workshop in the warm weather, bring sunblock sticks and water bottles with your practice logo. Cold outside—create small goodie bags with tissues, chapstick, and hand sanitizer for some healthy winter giveaways.
• Keep the food and drinks simple. You want people to remember the workshop and not the meal. Opt for healthy options like veggies, dip, crackers etc. Avoid nuts and other allergens. Go for individual drinks, like mini water bottles or juices, that don’t require pouring and open cups. Spills and hot beverages can create commotion and a mess during the demo.

Hosting physical therapy workshops gets easier with practice. Set a goal to host one a quarter each year and try a variety of formats and venues. Tailor the presentation and demo to the intended audience, such as mobility and balance for seniors and injury prevention with flexibility for athletes.

Our last tip is to have a follow up engagement plan. Send a thank you letter to attendees approximately 1-2 weeks after the workshop to remind them to come see you for PT. Include a promotion, such as a free screening, and track the responses!

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Instagram, Snapchat—What’s Next for Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is ever evolving, from new updates and features to entirely new platforms. For most PT practices, it can be challenging to keep up with the latest trends and manage your existing platforms. How do you know where to put your resources and time? What platform is giving you the best return on investment? What is the true value of social media?

Social Media Marketing and the Big 3

Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the big 3 of social media. With the lion’s share of active users, these platforms have key similarities and differences that make them still one of the most wide spectrum lenses of business’ social media marketing. Twitter continues to grow in followers and increased engagements, quickly becoming the top social media platform for many objectives. Tweets are short, sweet, and to the point. You can send 2-3 tweet per day without risking being too spammy for followers. Twitter also continues to roll out advancements that boost performance. For example, Twitter Cards are simple codes that you have a developer add to your website. Once that code is properly installed, your tweets automatically have added features that increase impressions, clicks, and engagements. If you aren’t already using Twitter or Twitter Cards, learn how to get started today.

LinkedIn also continues to grow in users, though it is decidedly more oriented towards professionals and job seekers. PT practices benefit from using LinkedIn for two main reasons: public relations and recruitment. LinkedIn is a great platform for connecting with doctors, medical representatives, and professional organizations (ie. APTA). Maintaining a business profile and syncing your regular social media posts to go to that account keeps your presence active without adding much additional effort. You can also easily recruit new PTs and staff through LinkedIn and those candidates will often check out your business page to get a feel for the practice. We don’t recommend spending more than 30 minutes or so a week on LinkedIn (unless you are actively recruiting) as the ROI in terms of getting new patients is not really high for this platform.

Facebook continues to be a front-runner for social media, but is starting to see a decline in both users and engagements. Most practices are already active on Facebook and this platform is the bulk of their social media marketing. We definitely recommend continuing to market your practice on Facebook, but monitor the engagements. Also, if you are running monthly paid marketing campaigns—closely watch the quality of the results as compared to your business metrics. Are you seeing a lot of likes, but not necessarily new patients? As more customers leave Facebook in favor of other platforms, you might not be able to attract the same quality leads.

The Future of Social Media Marketing

As the playing field changes, your marketing needs to adapt to the new ground rules. If a new platform gains traction (think Instagram, Snapchat etc.), be sure to set up your business profile to ensure that you protect your brand image. Whether Instagram is the next Facebook (or not), you want to ensure that your practice’s name and  account are secured for future use and marketing.

If you do want to try a new social media marketing tactic- start small and closely monitor the results over time. Its easy to see huge growth in the beginning and have that taper off after a few weeks. Conversely, it might be hard to get the wheels turning with attracting new followers and figuring out what to post and when. The new platforms are not a one to one match to Facebook. They are more specific and require different marketing strategies and content.

Want to learn more about social media marketing for PT practices? Stay tuned for new blogs and tips to help you maximize your results!

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