Which Takes The Most Money, Internal or External Marketing? (Part 2/5)
This week I’m discussing the differences between marketing FOR patients and marketing TO patients.
To thoroughly understand and have the right context, if you haven’t read the previous email, please do so before reading this one.
In a nut shell, marketing FOR patients is what is called “cold list” marketing: attempting to attract patients who are not referred in. Again, if you haven’t read the previous email, please do so otherwise today’s email won’t make much sense to you.
Cold list marketing costs time, money, or typically both.
Cold list marketing attracts tire kickers. Therefore, as part of the marketing, systems must be in place that prequalify prospects BEFORE they have an opportunity to make an appointment and NOT after an appointment is made.
For example, if you attract new patients online, chances are many of those new patients aren’t following through with your recommendations.
So if you factor in the time it takes to process them (paperwork, consult, exam, report of findings, etc.) and the value of your time, “free” patients are not free.
That is why marketing FOR patients takes more time and more money than marketing TO patients.
Nevertheless, IF you are going to continue marketing on and/or offline to cold prospects, make darn sure you don’t stop marketing to those who DO start care because that’s the ONLY way you will make all the front-end effort and expense pay off.
And when it comes to marketing TO patients, birthday cards and an annual patient appreciation day aren’t nearly enough.
You must provide them value even when they are not coming in. That’s how we fill that market gap and opportunity for Chiropractors and how we market our enterprise as well.
Done right, over time, you will finally be able to get rid of those less efficient ways of attracting patients and enjoy a practice that is referral and reactivation based.
Related Posts:
Internal vs External Chiropractic Marketing Strategies: Part 1
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