Enquires and new clients are the life blood of any health services business. Although repeat clients and great customer services are the rocks that keeps your business going, it is unlikely that your business can survive with just your current group of clients. Is marketing through Google Ads going to be enough?
This means that you need to form relationships with people who do not know you, may not have heard of you and your business before but MAY potentially buy your services.
What do you do if Google ads are just too expensive or do not yield enough results to be worth your while.
Earlier this year, we invested in a significant Google ad campaign with very disappointing results. Despite a lot of direct payments departing my account and entering the account of Google, the enquires did not flow or they were very poor quality leads. The most common leads we received were people calling to book an appointment for another clinic OR for the contact details of a physiotherapist from another clinic (and being surprised why we can’t book them in with the person who doesn’t work with us).
After a good 3 months and a massive drain on our resources I had to stop the cash bleeding and try a better approach.
These were the steps that I took
Marketing – If Google ads are not enough – Client Personas – Finding out more about our ideal client
The first step was to go back to the drawing board and interview the clients that fall into our “ideal client” category.
Our ideal clients are intelligent professionals, usually 45 plus who want good quality health to have a good quality life. These were some of the surprising but important findings from the interviews:
• The researching stage for these clients was longer than I expected. Often, because they are intelligent, they will research health services and the topic for about 6 months before choosing where to try. They would have Googled the topic to find out more about it, then asked their friends, family or trusted professional about where to try
• After they had been given a recommendation to see you (by their trusted friend, family or professional), they would look and read your website. They would look to see that you are professional, that you know your stuff and that you will provide the service they want and expect.
• They will also check your reviews and comments, looking specifically for comments from “people who look like them”. So, someone who is a mid 50’s female is looking for comments and reviews from other mid 50’s females, NOT from a mid 20’s influencer. The wrong target market on your website puts them off and makes them look elsewhere.
• By the time they enquire about your services and book an appointment, they already have a good idea of who you are and what to expect (They have usually already decided whether they will buy from you or not). Your aim at this stage is not to “sell them”, but to confirm their expectations that you are the service/person that they think you are
Have you interviewed your ideal client and found out the “journey” they took before they knocked on your door. Ask about this journey, you’ll be surprised and it will guide your marketing direction
Marketing – If Google ads are not enough – What is the point of your social media accounts?
Not until this year did I really start taking my social media account seriously. Why? Because I really didn’t understand the point. I’m not interested in flogging product on my accounts, nor was I interested in being an “influencer”.
But, after completing the client personas, I understood the whole point. It was to give the clients a real feel of what it would be like to be “present” in your centre or use your services. They are asking themselves, “If I go there, will I fit in?”
Understanding what the clients want from our social media made our lives a lot easier and our marketing a lot more straight forward. I started posting a lot more photos (and videos) of our clients and our staff. They didn’t have to “sell” anything or often say anything, they just had to show potential clients what our current clients look like and whether they would feel like they would “fit in”.
Clients and all other human beings want to feel like they belong and our social media pages were a chance to do just that.
I didn’t use any agencies for this, just connected to Meta Business Suite and went from there. After spending a few days exploring the software, it was pretty easy to use. Biggest advantage is that it is free, it allows you to set-up posts in advance and post to Facebook and Instagram directly. (No surprise, I also post more business and technical articles on LinkedIn, which is appropriate for that market).
The great thing about this media is that: IT’S OKAY TO GET IT WRONG. If your posts are not working and you’re not engaging with your clients and target marketing, keep trying and changing your approach until you start to resonate.
It took us a few months, but our posts are now very different than initially. They aim to achieve a combination of education and to show clients what it’s like to spend time with us. The engagement is better and the staff have jumped on board and have some fun with the posts. I will now, often, have conversations with the clients about something we have posted on social media and it brings a smile to everyone’s face.
What do your ideal clients want to see from your social media sites? What would make them more comfortable to walk through your door?
Marketing – If Google ads are not enough – When they do walk through your door, make them feel like they belong
Having people feel like they belong on social media is not enough. When they walk through the door, you must make them feel the same.
• Do you know their name when they timidly open your door? Knowing their name and greeting them as they walk into a new place is the first step to making them feel like they belong. Often, you have their name in your diary before they come in, so use it and take the first step in reducing their anxiety
• Call them after they have tried you service for the first time. At this stage they are still nervous about buying from you and are going through a degree of “buyer’s regret”. Didn’t they do they right thing? Did they approach the right person? Following up the next day helps to ease their mind and helps answer the question, “yes, I did the right thing and I am on the right track”.
• Don’t be afraid to introduce them to other clients, who are there at the same time as them and who look like them. Sometimes it’s as simple as saying hello to the other person in the waiting area and calling them by their name. You would be surprised how often this will begin a conversation between the two clients and this will further allow the new client to say, “yes, I belong here”.
• Map out and understand the major “anxiety” points in the client journey. It is not only when people first buy from you, but also other points in the episode of care. One classic point for us is about 2 weeks after starting the process. At this stage, they have tried a few sessions, maybe felt a mild difference, but it may not be clear to them the long term direction they are heading OR we may not have met their expectations. Having an honest conversation with the client at this point is extremely important as it means that you can either change direction early journey OR assure them that they are on the right track and manage their anxiety. Either way, you are looking at a better long term outcome and a happier client.
This is by no means a complete example of all the steps to take in improving the client’s journey, but a few practical examples that can be put in place in your business immediately.
What immediate, short term steps can you take to improve your client’s journey, taken from your client persona interviews?
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