Osteopathy Marketing: Where to Start
- Alan Zaia M.Ost
- August 24, 2021
- Getting Started With Marketing
Here’s where to start with osteopathy marketing
Create, automate, expand
Let’s talk about where you need to start with marketing your osteopathic clinic. As osteos, we understand that osteopathy marketing can be confusing for many osteopaths. So we’ll explain a practical step-by-step plan and an exercise that you can implement in your clinic to get started with osteopathy marketing. When it comes to osteopathy marketing and where to get started, we’re going to cover three things:
- Creating a solid foundation
- Future planning and organisation
- Implementing practical changes
But before we dive in, we need to address an issue that stops numerous osteopaths from marketing themselves or their clinic. Some of you may feel like you should be doing more osteopathy marketing.
Many osteopaths we speak to express that they think they should be doing more marketing, but it feels like a step backwards because you’re not doing what you want to be doing- treating patients. So they express that they aren’t doing what they want to be doing, which is treating patients.
But, at Osteohustle, we know that if you’re spending time creating, automating and then expanding on your osteopathy marketing, then you will be able to reach the number of patients you want to treat over your career consistently.
You can’t treat patients if no one’s able to find you
You need to make sure that you’re findable so you can treat more patients. So if you’re currently doing osteopathy marketing and you feel like you’re taking a step backwards, think of it as looking back temporarily to set yourself up for the rest of your career moving forward.
The chances are that you don’t know where to start. Maybe you’re confused because you weren’t taught marketing as osteopaths at university, like many of us weren’t and still aren’t.
We will show you how you can set up your marketing, so it’s automatic and requires little time to maintain.
Change your thinking about osteopathy marketing
Start thinking of osteopathy marketing as simply good, effective communication, much like patient communication skills.
Patient communication is an essential part of our training and CPD for a reason. It allows us to effectively share our knowledge with our patients to understand our diagnosis and prescribed treatment plan.
In other words, as we grow and refine these skills through practice, our patients get the best experience possible.
It’s the same with osteopathy marketing. If we practice and get our name out there, we will naturally get better at it.
This idea applies to all osteopaths, regardless of career stage
For those who have tried osteopathy marketing before, you may feel like you didn’t get the results you were looking for the last time you tried.
Of course, that could be due to burnout, lack of patience, or putting money into something and not getting that money back. But we want to assure you that this is different.
We can guarantee it’s different because branding will fix your osteopathy marketing forever. Branding is where all marketing starts.
If you’re new to marketing yourself as an osteopath, maybe you’re a recent graduate, or you’ve never even tried osteopathy marketing before, this is perfect for you.
Imagine you’re climbing a ladder
Right now, you’re at the base of a ladder, and I want you to think that as you grow your clinic, you’re climbing your ladder.
As you begin to treat more people, you’re taking the first few steps. It feels pretty sturdy to start with, but your foundation begins to wobble as you climb higher. So, how do we concrete our foundation to ensure we’re sturdy as we grow our clinic? Branding.
Subscribe to The Hustle
The greatest osteopaths in the world never stop learning.
Get the best business and marketing resources for osteopaths in 30 words or less into your inbox every Monday.
By subscribing to The Hustle, you agree to our terms and conditions. We’ll never send spam.
Creating a solid foundation: Marketing step 1
You can automate 90% of your osteopathy marketing, and to do that, you need to start by creating a solid foundation with branding.
Branding is effectively your blueprint.
Picture your career as a house and you’re holding some blueprint. Why do you have blueprints? To use as a guide as you build your house, right? Therefore, having a plan allows you to grow your patient list upon solid foundations.
At Osteohustle, we believe that branding is a turn page moment for the osteopathic profession worldwide. In our experience, it triggers a lot of penny drop moments for many osteopaths; “Oh, it makes sense now.”
Future planning and organisation: Marketing steps 2-5
At Osteohustle, we have a clear five-step plan that we believe every osteopath should follow.
The critical thing about this plan is that it’s automation-focused. We’re fixated on the importance of automation because you need an osteopathy marketing plan and systems in place that can run whilst you are busy doing other things. So, whether that be treating patients or just enjoying your life.
You need to have an on and off switch for osteopathy marketing that runs in the background. Therefore you’re not lifting a finger when it comes to getting new patients through the door and getting that satisfying feeling of a patient booking in online or a patient phone in your clinic and booking in with you with minimal effort.
The five-step marketing plan:
- Branding
- Website
- Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business)
- Google Ads
- Business to business relationships
Steps 1-3: Branding, website, Google Business Profile
The next three steps are your website, Google Business Profile, and Google Ads.
Everything starts with branding. Then the following three components are a website, Google Business Profile, and Google Ads. All of those are automatic. Now everything can run in the background while you’re doing more important things.
In terms of the online space, most people find osteopaths through Google.
In our opinion, Google is where people are in this mindset to book in with you. They are actively seeking an osteopath to book in within the next week or so. So you’ll find that there’s a lot of search terms like ‘osteopath near me’. Terms like these are a keyword, and Google recognises that people use it when they intend to see an osteopath.
So whenever someone searches for ‘osteopath near me’, you want your website SEO to be ranking high so they can find you. Then they’ll be aware of you and land on your fantastic website.
Moreover, you need to have Google Business Profile set up. Having Google Business Profile is the best way to show up for terms like ‘osteopath near me’ inside Google maps.
Google will be actively giving your location and website to people who want to come to see you. So that’s all automated.
Step 4: Google Ads
Now, this is where you start to put a little bit of money into your business monthly.
When we spoke about website SEO, that’s free. So you’ve got that organic level of awareness and reach.
Google My Business is also free and allows you to double down on being found. Both Google My Business and Google Ads will show your website to people with specific search queries, including ‘osteopath near me’.
We must spend maybe $1, $2, $3, $4 to bid on that keyword so that when somebody does search for the keyword ‘osteopath near me’, not only does your website show up, because it’s powerful SEO, but your Google ads also show up. So this means that you’re doubling, maybe even tripling, the chance of people landing on your website and ultimately becoming your patient.
Step 5: Business to business relationships
Networking with other local small to medium-sized businesses is essential if you’re going to grow your reputation as a trust-worthy osteopath. Even if you’re networking while representing your business (so to build trust with all practitioners at the practice), creating connections with business owners who are likely experiencing the same struggles and problems as you is a fantastic way to grow your business. Extend that olive branch!
Implementing practical changes
Osteopathy marketing starts with branding, but branding is more than your logo; it’s about inward and outward-facing factors and combining the two to come up with your unique brand. That is essential.
Here are the steps to dip your toe into osteopathy marketing:
- First, get a notepad and pen and write down 5 of your personal values and 5 of your professional values.
- In clinic, ask a few patients why they choose to come to see you specifically.
- After some time (a few days to a week), look at your current logo.
- Ask yourself: Does my logo make me feel like the notes that I’ve written down? Does it represent my personal values? Does it represent my professional values? Does it reflect my patients’ feelings when I asked them why they come and see me specifically?
Every osteopath goes through almost standardised training
We all, to some degree, believe in a particular osteopathic philosophy.
However, as you start to develop as an osteopath, as a character and as a person, you begin to build your unique style of osteopathy in your unique manner of treating and communicating with patients.
So what we want to do is take everything that makes you unique and factor that into your branding.
The branding process will give you a distinctive edge over your competition because they can’t steal that away from you. Your brand can be as unique as your fingerprint. So, identifying these values is a part of the branding process.
You will be carving your own space in the market. You’re not going to have to worry about ASA and AHPRA because all you’re going to do is share your values.
Showing your values will connect you with people who share your personal and professional values as you thread those values throughout your digital and real-life osteopathy marketing.
Look at a very visual aspect of your brand, like your logo, and ask yourself, does my logo represent everything I personally and professionally believe?
If not, it’s a sign that branding is your first step in your osteopathy marketing.
Summary
Osteopathy marketing starts with branding to create that solid foundation for yourself. Next, move on to getting a patient-friendly website, GBP and Google Ads. Lastly, tackle creating mutually-beneficial business to business relationships. We’re very passionate about teaching osteopaths about osteopathy branding.
Written by Alan Zaia M.Ost
Founder & CEO of Osteohustle. You’ll find Alan coaching osteopaths, travelling in a van or writing our weekly newsletter, The Hustle.
Grow your business today
Work with our coaches to grow your clinic
Get osteopathy business coaching to overcome your biggest barriers in 10-14 weeks. Mix short-term coaching and accountability with long-term strategies. Brainstorm, plan and take action every week with the Osteohustle team so you can break through to the next level of being a clinic owner.
Subscribe to The Hustle
The greatest osteopaths in the world never stop learning.
Get the best business and marketing resources for osteopaths in 30 words or less into your inbox every Monday.
By subscribing to The Hustle, you agree to our terms and conditions. We’ll never send spam.