Goal setting sounds easy enough, right? I want to lose weight; I’m going to be a better person; this is the year I will spend more time with my family. We all set goals for the new year but for most of us, by March (or often sooner), these goals become a thing of the past.
The same applies to the objectives you set for your growing your medical practice. If you want 2018 to be the year you attract and retain more patients, add more doctors, makeup ground on the local hospital system, then you need to set goals that:
- Are highly measurable so you can adapt based on ROI
- Have KPI (key performance metrics) that get revisited on a weekly, monthly, and quarterly basis and are tied to something that matters (like incentives for staff)
- Include a budget to help you achieve your goals (instead of just talking about them)
The Art of Goal-Setting
The more specific you are in setting your goals for 2018, the easier it will be to attain them. The more targeted the strategy, the more specific you can get with the actual tactics you will deploy to reach your goals.
Here’s an example of an effective marketing strategy:
The Goal: To increase patients by 10% (assume you currently see 100 patients per month)
The Strategy: Use digital advertising to get in front of the right patient at the right time with the right message.
The Tactics: Google AdWords and Facebook Advertising
CPC (cost per conversion): $17.45
@17.45 per conversion (a conversion is an appointment request) = $175 per month to achieve 10 new patients
Key Performance Indicator (KPI): 10 new patients per month (adjust your budget as needed)
A Responsive Marketing Strategy You Can Trust
When you break it down, by spending $175 per month on targeted AdWords and Facebook ads, your practice will expect to see an increase of ten new patients every month. You’ll be able to review your budget as well as your tactics on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis to adjust your game plan if needed.
The days of throwing money down the advertising black hole are over. Welcome to the new era of targeted, responsive, results-driven digital medical marketing.