The vast majority of podiatrists trying to market their practices do it completely wrong. Their costs are high and their return on investment (ROI) is low, which means they end up burnt out and unhappy with their efforts really fast. If you’re feeling frustrated with your practice marketing results, chances are you’re doing it wrong, too. This isn’t necessarily your fault—probably you weren’t taught to do it any other way. But you can fix this and see that serious growth you want.

Why Your Marketing is Backwards

The real problem is that both your current and potential patients don’t really care about you. They’re too distracted and busy with their own families and problems. We live in a world of information overload, and brands are flooding every possible venue with advertising about themselves to try and catch people’s attention. People tune most of this out because it doesn’t apply to them or their lives. They don’t care what new service you have available—they’re too busy worrying about the reality of their pain and health. This means that “traditional” practice marketing is doomed to fail, unless you’re a big-name company like Geico or Progressive, which has almost unlimited funds to spend in advertising.

Here’s the hard truth and why most traditional marketing doesn’t work: people are going to forget about you. People who don’t care about their foot and ankle health won’t listen to what you have to say. That’s ok; you don’t want or need to reach them. They wouldn’t have come to see you, anyway. Those who do care, however, are the ones you are trying to reach. They are the ones who will notice your marketing and think, “Oh, I’ll have to remember that name.” The problem is that they forget you within minutes.

The Better Approach

At Top Practices, we encourage a different approach: information marketing. Instead of telling people why you’re the best and asking for something from them, you give away valuable information that answers people’s questions and shows how you can help. Dan Kennedy, the “father” of information marketing, put forward this concept for businesses. We have taken the concept and used it to build a successful marketing model for podiatry practices across the United States and even internationally.

Information marketing repeatedly gives something of value to patients across multiple platforms. It doesn’t say, “Come see how great we are;” instead, it says, “You are concerned about your health or the health of a loved one - here’s what you can expect to happen and here’s how my practice can make it better.” It enables you to speak directly to the people you are actually trying to attract and address the worries and health issues they already have.

The Practical Part: Putting It to Work for You

Speaking directly to those current and potential patients means meeting them where they already are. This means contacting them through social media, e-mail, traditional mail, direct referrals, in person, and any other venue available. However, you can’t do this just once or even twice, or use only one of these methods. Remember, even when people want to remember you, they will forget you shortly after they move past your information. You have to use every opportunity—repeatedly.

At Top Practices, we have a plan we call the Four Pillars of Marketing that we use to address every venue for marketing successfully. Putting all of these pillars into practice so they work together and focus on your patients and their needs is the best way to see the explosive growth you want. If you’re frustrated by the results you see in your current practice marketing, just remember that you don’t have to be. You can change your approach. Take a look through the Top Practices website to learn more about how other podiatrists who’ve already made the switch are seeing more of the patients they want. You can also contact us by calling (717) 725-2679 or emailing [email protected] for more information about our Mastermind group and how we can help you.