7 seconds. What can you accomplish in 7 seconds? If you are marketing you better have the best first 7 seconds of a pitch if you want to successfully sell. Think about it. When you meet someone for the first time, before they even finish the introductory sentence, you know on some level whether you are interested in hearing more or not. The problem is most of us do not have the fine tuning to trust and follow that initial feeling. The people that you usually market and try to sell, especially investors, have that feeling fine tuned to a razor sharp edge. So, how do you guarantee a successful first 7 seconds? We will work up to that. Let’s talk about a few things first.
Healthcare marketing is unique, in some ways. In the world of physical therapy, marketing is mainly on a B2B level. Physical therapists (business) market to physicians (business) in hope of gaining customers (patients) via referral. Some do it better than others. Luckily for you, one of the best in the industry, Jerry Durham, tells you how he does it on the podcast (you’d prefer to hear it from him than read it from me anyway…right?!) But what about the ever growing B2C marketing?
In physical therapy, we are very focused on evidence based clinical practice which is a good thing, to an extent. How about evidence based marketing practice? Companies like Apple, Starbucks and Google spends millions and millions and then a few more millions on marketing research. They analyze the research then apply it to their ads, websites, colors etc. It’s a science. They study human nature and make decisions based on what data tells them. Do you? When you made your last marketing campaign what did you use as your metrics? Are you using something like Google Adwords to track any of your online marketing endeavors? Ok, I know… I know, enough with the questions. Lets take a look at some of the basic elements that you need to know.
- Audience: “Not everyone is your patient” said Ann Wendel, Prana PT owner, writer and fitness/nutrition/being at awesome guru. Ann joined the Therapy Insiders podcast (below) to offer her advice on finding your audience. The idea is to know who you are targeting with your product or service. As Ann says “you don’t want to think about standing there screaming on the corner into a bullhorn.” You need to know demographics, focus keywords (www.buzzsumo.com is a good place to start), insurance status and more that you can find out on the podcast.
- Social media advertising with promoted posts: Ok by now you know about social media. You’re on social media…right?! If you don’t have a Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter or preferably all of the above please stop reading this and get an account. Then while you are at it make sure you sign up for YouTube. Once you’re signed up you need to look into promoted posts, which are offered by the aforementioned social media services. This means that you create a post, then boost it via money, to gain greater visibility. The beauty of promoted posts is that you can narrow down your audience via focus keywords (see above). For a few dollars you can reach a LOT of people. I do it all the time for arc advertising and it works. For more specifics, you guessed it, tune into the podcast.
- Authenticity: Remember way back in the beginning of this post I asked you how to nail the first 7 seconds of a meeting. This is it. Authenticity is important in online marketing as well as in person connecting (also discussed in the podcast at length). Sure there are techniques you can (and should) use to help your cause such as making and keeping eye contact in a relaxed matter (no death stares please) while shaking hands. On a deeper level it comes down to delivering your message by telling your story (so much about the on the podcast about this that I’m not even touching it here). The one unique element that you bring to any discussion is your story. When my partner and I auditioned for Shark Tank, we had to create a 60 second pitch that told everything about us, our product and why it was worth the attention. The pitch started with our story while inviting the audience (this case a producer) to be part of it. How? We simply started by asking a question. The rest of the pitch was providing the answer.
Thanks to our guest Ann Wendel of Prana PT and various other articles, publications and videos. You can find Ann on twitter:@PranaPT and do yourself a solid and follow her. Also, thanks to Jerry Durham who made the transition from guest to co-host. If you haven’t heard Jerry offer his advise on running a out of network practice, check out our previous three podcasts (seriously right now…). Jerry will also be in Chicago on August 22 giving a one day seminar, you don’t want to miss it. You can check it out and sign up for it here: Seminar.
Enjoy the podcast and let us know your marketing strategies or if you have any questions!
Dr. Gene Shirokobrod
Therapyinsiders@gmail.com