A VerticalResponse survey found that nearly 1 every 2 small business owners spend 6 hours per week (1 hour and 12 minutes per day) on organic social media marketing (this excluded paid advertising).
Assuming that most of the new client referrals were coming from organic social media marketing, that would be fine.
But what if social media marketing is only giving us the impression and satisfaction of being effective, rather than supporting client acquisition?
It’s crucial to understand where your referrals come from for effective marketing. Many healthcare and NDIS business owners heavily invest in certain marketing channels without checking if they bring in any clients (this is usually done through an intake form “How did you hear about us”).
Therefore, the first step would be to analyse referral channels, to focus on what works and save resources on what doesn’t.
Brand Marketing vs. Direct Response Marketing
It is important to understand the difference between brand marketing and direct response marketing. Brand marketing helps increase awareness but can be difficult to measure. On the other hand, direct response marketing, such as email marketing, is easier to track. It provides clear data on its effectiveness because it requires the prospect to take a measurable action (open the email, click a link, make a call).
When planning your next marketing strategy, it would be wise to distribute your resources accordingly between brand marketing and direct response. This will allow you to better measure your Return on Investment (ROI) and allocate marketing resources toward activities that are measurable and can be improved.
Brand marketing focuses on building awareness and reputation
Direct response marketing aims to generate immediate actions and measurable results.
Maximising Effective Channels
If a specific marketing channel isn’t bringing in clients, move your focus towards channels that are proven to work. For example, you could use SEO or email marketing if they show better results. Allocate resources to maximise these effective channels first before focusing on improving channels that aren’t working (yet).
Saving Time on Social Media
Have you found out that social media isn’t helping you gain new clients? Before you consider deactivating your Instagram account and ditching your favourite hashtags, remember that it’s still important to stay active on social media, even if this particular platform isn’t producing results for you.
In today’s technological landscape, we can automate this process so that it’s more manageable.
Start by creating your content in batches, as this will ensure consistency and alignment with your brand’s tone. Use automation tools to schedule posts and keep your content fresh. You can also leverage AI to help generate ideas and Canva to batch-create the artwork.
For example, you can schedule two months’ worth of content in just a few hours. Here’s how I do it for my healthcare business:
- Plan Your Content: Identify themes and topics that resonate with your audience. If you need help with this, you can use the JK5 Method.
- Batch Content Creation: Create all your posts at once to maintain consistency
- Allow for Real-Time Updates: Establish a system for your team to send you photos or videos that can be spontaneously posted to keep your profile feeling current (ask ChatGPT to create a process for this 😀).
- Use Scheduling Tools: Platforms like Buffer or Hootsuite can help you schedule your posts in advance (Pixelcare clients have access to these tools for free).
- Automate Engagement: Set up autoresponders to handle interactions.
Following these steps will help you maintain consistent and relevant content while saving time, allowing you to focus on channels that are more effective for your business.
Conclusion
To grow your healthcare business, focus on what works. Avoid following trends blindly. Allocate resources to effective channels based on data. This strategy will help your practice thrive.
If you found this post helpful, please share it on your favourite social network. Your support helps me create more valuable content. Don’t forget to check last week’s post, where I explaing the top 7 tools we use to streamline our admin processes at Creative Therapy Adelaide.
For feedback or to discuss any of the topics mentioned, contact me at matteo@pixelcare.com.au.
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