PT Practice Marketing Plan [How-To Guide]

How often do you plan out your practice’s marketing? Do you have short and long term plans—for the month, three months, or year? A marketing plan aligns with your business development goals and keeps you on track to see results for the practice. Your marketing plan should be your blueprint, roadmap, and checklist to build campaigns, organize promotions, and monitor the impacts. Every PT practice should have at least a monthly marketing plan to ensure that you are consistently communicating with prospective patients and referring physicians.

Download our free guide for tips on marketing your PT practice and getting more new patients

Build your marketing plan

Your marketing plan should focus on the key audiences that will support your business objectives and the way in which you are going to encourage them to patron your practice. Most practices focus on patients and physicians, but you can also market to community organizations, healthcare centers, and businesses. Once you know your marketing’s recipients, you can identify what campaigns and promotions to use to engage the respective audiences. Below are some examples of different ways to market your practice:

• Mailing a monthly practice newsletter to patients and physicians
• Mailing a monthly physician mailer
• Sending postcards for targeted campaigns and promotions
• Emailing an e-newsletter
• Having a high-quality, responsive website
• Managing social media profiles and posts
• Networking with physicians and referral sources
• Sponsoring community organizations or events
• Having professional brochures, rack cards, and in-office promotions

The above marketing programs require an investment of time and money to develop and execute. In your planning sessions, you want to decide what programs to use to market your practice and how you will implement them throughout the month(s) or year. You can also identify “big” projects, such as redesigning your website or adding a new direct mail campaign, that require additional preparation to get started. Your practice’s marketing plan keeps your efforts on track and working towards the big picture—a busy practice that generates growth and revenue!

The team at Practice Promotions works with you to develop your practice’s marketing plan, complete projects, and monitor the results. We make it easy for you to put together amazing campaigns and programs that help your grow your practice. For more information, call us today at 800-594-7656 or contact us.

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Managing Your PT Practice Marketing Budget

What is the right marketing budget for your physical therapy practice? How should you be spending that budget to get the maximum amount of return on investment? Most practice owners know they have to spend money on marketing, but many struggle with finding the right balance and budget. Answering a few simple questions about your practice can help you define your marketing goals and the budget needed to achieve them.

Is your practice seeing growth, stability, or declines in patient volumes?

Most PT practices experience almost all stages of business development throughout the calendar year so take a look at your quarterly or yearly stats to determine your overall trend. At that larger view, practices tend to be growing, aka seeing more patients, or shrinking, seeing fewer patients. While growth is almost always the preferred state of the business, you can be intentionally scaling back due to market or operational constraints.

If you are experiencing a roller coaster, inconsistent growth or decline trends, it could be related to the effectiveness and consistency of your marketing program. You need to be marketing campaigns and promotions that are attracting new patients and referrals, and you need to be doing so on a regular basis to keep growing. Once you have a solid, successful marketing program, you want to keep investing in it. Monitor your volume of patients, explore new marketing opportunities, and plan your business development to align with your practice’s long term goals.

Download our free guide for tips on marketing your PT practice and getting more new patients

What is the right marketing budget for your practice?

A standard rule is that you need to invest 8-10% of gross income on marketing to support business growth. However, many practices spend less than 5% of their gross income on marketing, which can lead to declining patient volumes or stagnant growth. Check your current budget by taking your monthly marketing expenses, without including any dedicated marketing staff, and divide by your monthly gross income.

(Monthly Marketing) / (Monthly Gross Income) = % of Income spent on Marketing

What is your practice’s marketing budget? If it is less than 5% of your gross income, you should try to spend at least 3% more on marketing per month and put that investment towards high return projects. We recommend improving your website, expanding your newsletter, or mailing monthly postcard campaigns. If you are spending more than 5%, you are on track! Closely monitor your data and consider scaling up your marketing budget and programs to align with your business development and growth goals.

Get the most out of your marketing budget and call us today for more information 800-594-7656

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Public Relations for PT Practices

Public relations is the practice of spreading information about your business to the public—focusing on communicating your mission, knowledge, and expertise. Public relations differs from marketing in that PR centers on building awareness of your practice’s brand whereas marketing promotes your practice’s programs and services to prospective clients. The perfect combination of PR and marketing creates compelling campaigns and promotions that encourage new patients, increase physician referrals, and expand business partnerships.

Public relations for PT include:

• Developing a practice mission. This should be 1-3 sentences that convey your point-of-view (POV) on physical therapy and how your practice approaches PT. Share your mission on your website, in printed materials, and in presentations. A good test of your PR and marketing is that each promotion and campaign should be able to relate back to at least one core component of your practice’s mission.

• Building your brand involves increasing its recognition with key groups, such as physicians, medical offices and their staff, and community organizations. You want these individuals to immediately think of your practice when they think about PT.

Download our free guide for tips on marketing your PT practice and getting more new patients

• Sharing practice news and updates. This is where PR and marketing can work together to attract new patients. The public relations efforts are directed towards writing press releases and copy for clinic news and updates. The marketing efforts are promoting this content in your monthly newsletter, on your website, and on social media.

• Handling the tough stuff. Occasionally, your practice might make news and not for positive reasons. You need to use PR to influence the media and public’s impression of your practice towards a positive light. Developing media statements, handling inquiries, and ensuring a consistent response keeps your practice looking polished and professional.

Public relations takes your practice’s brand and shares it with the larger community—helping you be known as the PT experts who achieve great results for their patients. For help with your PR and marketing, call us today at 800-594-7656 or contact us online. 

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2 Steps to Brand Your PT Practice

A brand is defined as a particular identity or image regarded as an asset of your company. The way your company looks and its messaging should be the same across all communications and platforms—from your website to your newsletter to your letterhead and envelopes. Your practice’s brand image defines the impression that potential patients and referring doctors will have of your practice. Thus, it needs to be professional, consistent, and memorable.

1.      Choose your brand image

Image is everything—from first impressions to conversion to loyal customer. Both consciously and unconsciously, people demand a certain look and professionalism from a business or service. So what is the right look for your practice?

First, it depends on your patient population, types of services and treatments, and location/demographics. For example, a pediatric clinic is going to have a different image as compared to sports physical therapy as compared to a physical therapy practice for Medicare patients.

Pro Tip: Make sure your colors are eye-catching and complimentary. Choose your inspirations from your natural environment and have a palate of 2-3 logo colors.

2.      Define your brand message

A brand message should be your practice’s tagline—a short 3-5 word phrase that epitomizes your mission and promotes your services. Look for positive, inspiring, and motivating words that encourage action. Be sure to include a concrete term or result…movement, motion, health, wellness, active, lifestyle etc.

Convey your expertise in a patient-centric and approachable way! Promote how you achieve exceptional results with your patients.  Use patient testimonials to add credibility and authenticity to this achievement.

Pro Tip: Stand out from the crowd with a brand message that is innovative and inclusive. Your practice’s demographics and services may evolve over time so you want to your brand to be able to flex with your changes and growth.

For more marketing tips and to talk to the experts, give the team at Practice Promotions a call today!

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5 Ways to Increase Physician Referrals to Your PT Practice

The best way to increase physician referrals is to have a rock solid answer to the question, “Why should a physician refer to your practice?” You need to be able to provide a quick soundbite that you can easily share.  Your soundbite needs to convey your expertise and success at helping patients feel better and get healthy. You also need to build the providers’ trust that your practice coordinates patient care and referrals effectively.

Make your physician referrals process easy

1. Have a “Physician Referrals” page on your website

This page should be prominently visible and easily accessed via your website’s navigation. It should include information about how to refer patients to your practice, phone numbers, fax number, and a frequently monitored email address. To increase the promotional messaging, consider having a patient testimonial and/or physician testimonial on the page to add credibility.

2. Have a dedicated phone number or extension for your referrals coordinator

Just like your own front desk, the doctor’s office staff is often busy multi-tasking and anything to streamline their efforts increases the likelihood of them referring patients to you. Even if your practice does not have a dedicated referrals coordinator, you should have a phone number or extension that is exclusive to physician communications. Use this number, in addition to your primary contact number, in your doctor marketing and be sure to check the respective voicemail box throughout the day.

Promote your services throughout your physician marketing materials

 

3. Provide informative content about the benefits of PT

Many physicians are aware of physical therapy at a general knowledge level, but they might not know all the benefits. The challenge is to present educational and specific information in a way that comes across as enlightening and helpful. Especially for physicians that specialize in areas that commonly refer to PT, you should list the specific benefits of PT for their patients and conditions. A physician mailer can be a great marketing campaign that allows for monthly topics that can appeal to different medical specialties. Physician mailer topics can include back pain, shoulder pain, post-surgical rehabilitation, and more.

4. Showcase patient success stories and physician testimonials

Patient success stories instantly add credibility and personalize your practice’s marketing. Be sure to include at least one patient success story in each campaign and, if possible, tailor it to the specific topic you are promoting. Another excellent marketing resource is to solicit physician testimonials or feedback from physicians who frequently refer to your clinic and whose patients have seen great results. These build your practice’s reputation in the medical community and can distinguish you from other PT clinics. Physician testimonials should include the providers name, specialty, practice name (if in a multiple provider group), and their recommendation of your care and services.

5. Include your referrals information on your print marketing pieces

Every marketing piece has the potential to generate a referral—so it is important that your referrals information is on there. Physician marketing campaigns should treat the referrals information with the same prominence as you would a patient promotion. Use appropriately larger fonts, bolded typeface, and noticeable designs to draw the physician’s attention and encourage them to refer their patients to your practice.

Physician referrals are one of the most reliable sources of new patients to your PT practice. Optimize your marketing to information physicians about your services, build credibility about your care, and encourage physicians to refer their patients to you.

For more information on building your physician referrals program, give us a call today!

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How to Increase Word of Mouth Referrals for PT

The most powerful form of advertising has always been and probably will always be word of mouth. PT practice marketing cannot compete with a personal recommendation from a trusted friend or family member. However, that also means that every patient who has a positive experience at your clinic can share word of mouth referrals about your care. It is your role as the practice owner or marketing manager to encourage patient endorsement by providing easy tools to foster word of mouth referrals.

Best practices for word of mouth referrals and marketing

Start by introducing programs and incentives for word of mouth referrals while the patient is active in their physical therapy treatments. This is when they are physically present in your clinic and seeing positive results from your care. You need to capture the patient’s feelings of happiness and achievement and convert them into a desire to share those emotions with their loved ones—by referring them to your practice. Train your physical therapists and the front desk to congratulate patients on their progress and asked them who they know that could benefit from being pain-free and actively mobile. Take time to listen to their friends’ needs and provide informative brochures on how PT can help. Lastly, explain your practice’s referral program and give the patient referral cards to share with friends.

Word of mouth referrals are a personal exchange—your patient is advocating your practice and care as a means to improve the life of a friend. You and your staff need to value this interaction and commit time to genuinely listen to your patient and encourage them to refer others to PT.

Empower your patients to spread word of mouth about your practice

Patients may hesitate to approach others and to recommend service or product, especially one that is related to health and personal wellness. Empower your patients and make this conversation easier for them by sharing your practice’s knowledge and expertise through marketing materials—referral cards, rack cards, newsletters and brochures. These materials put your deep knowledge of PT into the patients’ hands and allow them to be your brand ambassador.

Keep getting more word of mouth referrals

How do you continue to encourage past patients to send referrals? A patient from 2 years ago probably will not be actively talking about your practice unless they are reminded about their results from your care. This is where mailing a monthly patient newsletter can boost your word of mouth referrals program. Even if the patient is doing well and does not need PT, receiving an informative newsletter can spark their interest and may relate to a friend’s current condition. They can give the newsletter to a friend and talk to them about their positive experience at your clinic—providing a word of mouth referral.

For more information on increasing word of mouth referrals through your physical therapy marketing, call us today at 800-594-7656!

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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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