What are the common medical marketing mistakes?

Over the years, working with hundreds of medical professionals as a marketing consultant, we have observed the common challenges that prevent them from being able to successfully market their practices:

• They have few or no marketing skills, as medical schools around Australia still deliver very little in the way of business or marketing training.
• They have no overall marketing plan or strategy.
• They have been burned badly in the past with their marketing activities.
• They don’t accept that they can and should market their practice and their services.

And what are the biggest mistakes that medical professionals are making when marketing their practice?

• They have a scattergun and inconsistent approach to marketing.
• They do not track the return on investment (ROI) of the marketing that they have done/are doing.
• They do not know the average lifetime value of a patient, which makes it incredibly hard to set a marketing budget and to think about long-term strategies.
• Because of the overwhelming amount of information, advice, and options when it comes to marketing, they often procrastinate and do nothing.
• They try and do it all themselves, taking shortcuts and trying to save money, resulting in failure and frustration.
• They fail to get the right expert advice, causing a cycle of disappointment. This often leaves them feeling fearful of attempting anything else.
• Many think that there is a ‘silver bullet’ to solve their marketing issues. This leaves them open to unscrupulous salespeople, and to disillusionment and frustration when their marketing efforts fail.

So how can you overcome the long list of mistakes, wasted money, and wasted time? The nine steps I’ve identified not only give you an understanding of what you could be doing to market your practice, but also enable you to plan, track, and execute your marketing campaigns in an effective manner.