Have your New Years resolutions to be more organised with clinic marketing already fallen by the wayside? Fear not this blog gives you a handy guide to getting a clinic marketing plan up and running, without stress, overwhelm or writers block.
The more you can do now to organise, plan and align your clinic marketing early on in the year the more you will reap the benefits. So lets get cracking!
1. Consider Your Business Objectives
PR and marketing done in isolation will never truly deliver the results you want for your business. To maximise your valuable time, energy and money, these activities must be tied to your broader business strategy and objectives.
Consider your overarching business objectives for the year, such as:
Are you looking to grow, or maintain your current income?
By how much, and by when? Set realistic targets and deadlines.
Will there be new developments in your clinic, such as more treatments, more staff or additional premises?
Again, mapping out deadlines will help you plan backwards for promotional campaigns to drive awareness and demand
Are you looking to establish more of a leadership position, or tackle any key competitors?
You might want to step up your social media advertising, or revisit your messaging to ensure you are positioning yourself and your clinic in the right way
2. Start Big and Work Downwards
Use a big visual aid, like a calendar wall planner with different coloured post-its or pens to map out the big trends for your clinic over the year. We are looking at core topics or milestones at this point drilling down into nitty gritty comes in the next step!
Use a different colour for each and consider each month, what could be happening in terms of:
Environmental milestones / trends
New Year, Weight loss, Valentines, Spring skin, Bridal Season, Summer skin, Back to School, Winter Skin, Christmas
Treatment / Product Focus
What core products or treatments do you want to profile each month, that align with the environmental milestones? Dont forget any new launches or your signature treatment
Clinic Milestones
Your clinic birthday, awards season, new staff, staff birthdays, events, charitable activities etc, congresses etc.
3. Drilling Down
Now that youve got the big picture you can drill down into the nitty gritty of what your core clinic communications and marketing needs to focus on each month.
For each month, try to brainstorm and plan out with your Post-Its or pens the content topics for AT LEAST:
– x1 patient newsletter try to keep a consistent structure so it is easier to plan the content in advance
– x2-3 clinic blogs try to come up with the title now to keep you focused! (500 words minimum, posted to your website and links included on newsletters)
– x1 email or social media advertising campaign what do you want to promote that month and drive ACTION for? Maybe a new treatment, or for lapsed patients to come in for a free skin review, or to promote an event etc.
If you dont have an external social media management supplier, you should also map out a monthly framework for posts on each of your channels to include x2-3 posts per day with:
a generic library of information, tips, advice, inspiration images
promotional posts tied to specific events or promotions that month
treatment information and before/afters
ad hoc / personal touches (nice flowers from a patient, something funny youve seen)
4. Action, Responsibility, Deadline
Now you should have a comprehensive overview of what your marketing looks like over the course of the year so your days of worrying what to write for that months blog will be a thing of the past! If you have a team or clinic manager, consider delegating some of the responsibilities to them as part of their role perhaps to compile the newsletter, or write one blog per month based on your plan. Having clear actions and deadlines will help ensure that the marketing becomes an integral part of everyones function in the clinic not an add-on or a burden which keeps getting forgotten.
5. Keep Track of Success
Marketing and PR are an investment and they need to demonstrate value. Ultimately, if your blogs arent driving traffic, or people arent opening your newsletter, or nobody is clicking your social media adverts – you need to know. Undertake regular reviews of the analytics on your website, through your CRM system, via your social channels to identify engagement, interaction and ultimately what is being delivered in terms of revenue. If something is not working effectively, best to find out early on and adjust your strategy accordingly till you get it right!
With everything on your plate, it can be difficult to find the time for marketing and PR but with a bit of advanced preparation you can make cut the time and effort in half. Remember, new clients wont come through the door if they dont know about you, and existing patients can drift away if you dont nurture the relationship – so if you truly want to grow your business and bring in more revenue, youve got to make marketing an integral part of your business.
For more information about clinic PR and support, please go to www.kendrickpr.uk
April 6, 2017