WELCOME NEW CLIENTS
ByDeena Fournier, VPof Operations at PracticePromotions 3 WAYS TO REDUCE THE HOLIDAY PATIENT SLOW DOWN
CLIENT RESULTS
2. BRAND GOAL: COMMUNITY RELATIONS
Believe it or not, now is a pivotal time to start prepping your practice for the holiday season. November and December are busy times for your patients and the community. So, it is important to keep your practice top of mind during the holiday rush. One way is to send out holiday postcards to past patients and referral partners. Holiday postcards can be more than just well wishes—they can generate new appointments and referrals to reduce the holiday slow down in your practice. The core component of effective postcard marketing is to keep it simple. You have limited space to convey your message so adding in too much can confuse the recipient. Instead, opt for a straightforward message that is both easy to understand and visually appealing. Let’s look at some ideas for holiday postcards for your PT practice: The holiday season brings its own host of seasonal injuries and pains. Whether its cold weather joint stiffness, back pain from shoveling snow, or strains from carrying heavy boxes and decorations, the holidays are often a time for PT. But, patients usually drop this to the bottom of their long to do list. You need to emphasize the importance of taking care of oneself and staying healthy—so that they can truly enjoy the holidays. Holiday postcards for patient reactivation should use realistic imagery like shoveling snow or carrying shopping bags. Include a thought-provoking headline, “Breaking your back shoveling snow? Or Are you in pain from decking the halls?” Next, use easy to follow steps to get patients to book an appointment. Lastly, drive home your Call to Action (CTA) to get patients to visit your website to make an appointment today. It is important to drive home the “today” piece as many patients already have a million things going on during the holidays—they need to act now. 1. MARKETING GOAL: PATIENT REACTIVATION
The holidays are a great time to network with local businesses and organizations. We do not recommend sending out holiday postcards to individual members of the community. During this time of year, people’s mailboxes are already filled with catalogs and greeting cards. Instead, reach out to 3-5 community groups like the Chamber of Commerce, Junior League, Ruritan/Kiwanis Clubs, country clubs etc. Ask if you can distribute postcards at their holiday event or have some included in gift bags. This gets your postcard directly into the hands of a potential patient. Be sure to use a design and messaging that suits your audience—such as a higher end look for Junior League or country clubs, or a holiday-neutral theme for business associations. 3. BUSINESS GOAL: PATIENT TO PATIENT REFERRALS During the holidays, people often meet up with friends and family that they don’t see throughout the year. This means catching up on how everyone has been doing the past months, which may mean talking about injuries or surgeries. What if your patients could help a friend or family member in pain by referring them to your clinic? Holiday postcards with a clear referral marketing strategy get patients to share their positive PT experience with others and to help them feel better. A referral incentive, such as a free item or gift card, can help encourage patients by keeping your postcard top of mind. As the holidays approach, you want to have your practice’s marketing ready to go well in advance. You should coordinate your holiday postcards to be mailed by early December so that they arrive before folks are too consumed with seasonal events. If you are supplying postcards to a community event, you want to have them at the office at least 2 weeks beforehand so that they can be added to gift bags or programs.
“Practice Promotions has really helped grow our referring doctors. I have gotten 20 new referring doctors in the last few months! We went from 371
patient visits a week when we started, through many highest-evers, reaching currently 661 patient visits a week. - Michael Brunet, Owner, Back in Motion Physical Therapy, LLC
POWERFUL PT MARKETING TIPS
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