Is $895 per month a good investment for guaranteed* double-digit growth in your PT practice?
Answer: Yes, read on. No, Click away.
How We Help Physical Therapy Businesses Grow…
The PT Referral Machine (PTRM) is absolutely, the most complete and affordable marketing resource available for PT businesses, big and small. If you are good at what you do, PTRM sets you on a path for double-digit growth in as little as 60 days – guaranteed.*
You need effective marketing, plain and simple. What you don’t need is more “how to” advice from consultants who charge thousands for seminars, workshops, and other traditional agency services. Consultants and seminars can look appealing because you want to learn how to be a better marketer and try and handle the job yourself. But for most PT practices handling the marketing in-house is usually a really bad idea. It’s just too expensive to hire a trained marketing professional, and then they need to outsource most of what you need anyway. Is finding an Industry Solution a better idea? We think so…
So stop banging your head against the wall. There is no need to waste your time struggling with marketing anymore…
Get Your Complete Physical Therapy Marketing Department – A Senior Executive With Support Staff And A Proven Track Record For Results For As Little As $895 A Month.
Services Include: See all this and more on a 60 minute Strategy Session.
• Strategic Planning
• Custom Website
• Search Engine Optimization
• New Patient Email and appointment confirmations
• Blog
• Internet and social media
• Patient information materials
• Physician materials
• Event promotion and materials (seminars, workshops, in-services, open houses, grand openings)
• Receptionist training and scripting
• Direct mail programs
• Results tracking
• Agency services
- Graphic design
- Copy writing
- Media analysis, purchasing, and discounted printing services
*Before ordering your service, sales targets will be set. When we proceed with implementation and you do not meet the agreed sales projections, we will credit or refund 60 days of service.
What Is PT Referral Machine?
PT Referral Machine is a complete resource for planning and executing Fortune 500-Style health care marketing systems on a small business budget.
See our programs and pricing here.
Looking for a complete turnkey marketing solution for your website or other special ailment treatment program? Call David directly at 774-255-1125 to learn more and discuss your unique requirements.
Have general questions about our PT marketing industry solution?
Visit our FAQ page.
Sincerely,
Executive Letters From Physical Therapists Now Reach More Physicians
Thanks to technology, snail mail provides a better opportunity to be noticed
What Physicians Will Read And What Gets Tossed
What Gets Tossed: Letters that appear to have no clinical relevance, bury key ideas in the text, or come across as a self-serving sales pitch.
What They Will Read: Problem solving information (about their problem, not yours) that is easy to scan, clinically relevant, and holds the promise of something helpful to them, not simply another plea for referrals.
Physicians are no different than any other business person. They are constantly scanning their environment for solutions to everyday problems. Their problems create opportunities for you to be heard if you have something important to say. If your letter does not immediately seem to help solve one of their problems, then it gets tossed. It’s that simple – no need to over-think it.
Is it really true that the letter should be limited to just a paragraph or two, and no longer than one page?
NO! Don’t worry about the length of the letter, worry about the formatting, flow, and the total Power Level of your message following the results formula you will learn below.
A COMMON MISCONCEPTION is that anything more than a few paragraphs or a single page will not get read. But think of it this way, when you receive valuable information about a solution option to a problem you’ve been experiencing, do you really judge it by its length? Have you ever received that kind of “I’ve been looking for this” information and said to yourself, “Boy, that’s really timely and helpful stuff, but it’s more than a page, so I’ll just toss it away and wait for another letter that keeps it to one page.” Of course not. That would make no sense. But the point is this: If your good ideas and concepts don’t easily shine through without making the reader labor, then the letter will likely get tossed.
Consultants that recommend the “keep it short or it won’t get read” philosophy are correct in one sense: When your information is not that compelling or valuable, the reader will only invest a moment in reading before giving up. This common “keep it short” principle should be restated as follows: Your reader will give you an instant to start building a compelling problem solving case, so make sure you use that moment well.
Finally! A Way To Know If Your Physician Letters Will Get Results Before You Even Put Them In The Mail
The Results Formula –
3 Elements For Your Letters and Other Strategic Communications:
Element 1: Interrupt & Engage. Use powerful headlines and sub headlines to expose the problem and give the promise of more educational problem solving information to come. The most effective headlines tap into the emotion of curiosity and self interest, that’s why focusing on problems in your headline or subject line is so compelling. Everyone is interested in solving their problems, and they are curious about any solution. Good headlines suck the reader in. If you have read to this point, chances are our “Why letters from PTs are now read by more physicians” headline poked your brain on a practical, problem-solving level. You then scanned for additional clarifying information, and quickly found it with simple formatting techniques like bold text, underlines, and indents. Spend as much time or more on creating your feature headline as you do writing the letter.
Element 2: Educate By Case Building. Body copy, text, and other “showables” build a logical case that helps the reader draw a conclusion about your solution option. Physicians and staff are judging you like a jury judges an attorney’s case. Does your letter demonstrate special expertise? How does your information compare to that provided by other “similar” solution providers? Your reader can only compare based on what you teach them in your communication. Building a strong case using charts, graphs, tables, and other compelling information positions you as the expert. Use headings and formatting that helps the reader get the logical flow by simply scanning.
Element 3: Offer and Call To Action. In addition to your invitation for qualified referrals, give your readers other ways to take next steps in learning more about your particular problem-solving process. Most executive letters end by simply saying, “Give us a call with any questions.” This kind of offer is self evident, and lacks the power to spur immediate action. Your offer should include more resources for learning about what you do and how you do it. Your offers need to build confidence in your expertise. Your offer should be formatted and set off from the body copy so it will be scanned even if the body copy is not read. The exception to this would be a “concealed offer” designed to appeal only to the most highly qualified, eager readers.
Red Sharpie Time: See How We Apply The Results Formula To 2 Of The Crummiest Letters We’ve Ever Seen, And Then Try It Yourself On 2 More.
See the 4 Crummiest Letters Now and How We Rip 2 Of Them Apart With The Results Formula And Score Their Power Level (You Can Rip Apart The Other 2).
Register for a 90 minute Writing Workshop, get expert advice, and see examples of KILLER letters that get results. Register here.
Tips For Getting Started Using The Results Formula On Your Own:
1) Pick an expertise to market where you excel. If you are good at what you do, and there is a market for your solution, running this formula gets outstanding, consistent results.
2) Create 50 headlines and sub-headlines that expose the problem and promise a solution from your reader’s perspective. You will need lots of headlines to form the basis of your strategic campaign.
3) Create several valuable “offers” for more ways to learn about the benefits of what you do. Make sure the offers have a memorable marketing “handle.”
4) Gather compelling evidence that can be used to build a case in your body copy.
5) Write the letter making sure to place and format each Element for optimum scanability and readability.
6) Test, Test, Test. Each element of the formula can be tested, but pay particular attention to the headlines and offers. Testing can be done effectively with little or no extra investment.
Finally! A Way To Know If Your Physician Letters Will Get Results Before You Even Put Them In The Mail
The Results Formula – 3 Elements For Your Letters and Other Strategic Communications:
Element 1: Interrupt & Engage. Use powerful headlines and sub headlines to expose the problem and give the promise of more educational problem solving information to come. The most effective headlines tap into the emotion of curiosity and self interest, that’s why focusing on problems in your headline or subject line is so compelling. Everyone is interested in solving their problems, and they are curious about any solution. Good headlines suck the reader in. If you have read to this point, chances are our “Why letters from PTs are now read by more physicians” headline poked your brain on a practical, problem-solving level. You then scanned for additional clarifying information, and quickly found it with simple formatting techniques like bold text, underlines, and indents. Spend as much time or more on creating your feature headline as you do writing the letter.
Element 2: Educate By Case Building. Body copy, text, and other “showables” build a logical case that helps the reader draw a conclusion about your solution option. Physicians and staff are judging you like a jury judges an attorney’s case. Does your letter demonstrate special expertise? How does your information compare to that provided by other “similar” solution providers? Your reader can only compare based on what you teach them in your communication. Building a strong case using charts, graphs, tables, and other compelling information positions you as the expert. Use headings and formatting that helps the reader get the logical flow by simply scanning.
Element 3: Offer and Call To Action. In addition to your invitation for qualified referrals, give your readers other ways to take next steps in learning more about your particular problem-solving process. Most executive letters end by simply saying, “Give us a call with any questions.” This kind of offer is self evident, and lacks the power to spur immediate action. Your offer should include more resources for learning about what you do and how you do it. Your offers need to build confidence in your expertise. Your offer should be formatted and set off from the body copy so it will be scanned even if the body copy is not read. The exception to this would be a “concealed offer” designed to appeal only to the most highly qualified, eager readers.
Red Sharpie Time: See How We Apply The Results Formula To 2 Of The Crummiest Letters We’ve Ever Seen, And Then Try It Yourself On 2 More.
See the 4 Crummiest Letters Now and How We Rip 2 Of Them Apart With The Results Formula And Score Their Power Level (You Can Rip Apart The Other 2).
Register for a 90 minute Writing Workshop, get expert advice, and see examples of KILLER letters that get results. Register here.
Tips For Getting Started Using The Results Formula On Your Own:
1) Pick an expertise to market where you excel. If you are good at what you do, and there is a market for your solution, running this formula gets outstanding, consistent results.
2) Create 50 headlines and sub-headlines that expose the problem and promise a solution from your reader’s perspective. You will need lots of headlines to form the basis of your strategic campaign.
3) Create several valuable “offers” for more ways to learn about the benefits of what you do. Make sure the offers have a memorable marketing “handle.”
4) Gather compelling evidence that can be used to build a case in your body copy.
5) Write the letter making sure to place and format each Element for optimum scanability and readability.
6) Test, Test, Test. Each element of the formula can be tested, but pay particular attention to the headlines and offers. Testing can be done effectively with little or no extra investment.
If your idea of how to track marketing results is to instruct your receptionist to ask each caller, “How did you hear about us,” then this article may be for you…
The devil is in the details, but when the devil is your poorly equipped and poorly trained receptionist, you might not get any details, never mind accurate ones. Even if the “where heard” information gathered is correct, the source of the information (your patient) is frequently WRONG. They forget and just tell you whatever pops into their head. For example, they may have received your direct mail piece, and a few days later searched for you on Google, and Google is what they report.
Some clinics spend a lot of money on marketing and advertising, and still have no idea if it is producing a return on investment. It’s like the old advertiser’s adage, “I think one half of our advertising budget is working, I just don’t know which half…” Is that really the best you can expect, just a guess as to what expenditures produce results? We say heck no!
In fact, if you implement a disciplined system for tracking, you’ll always know what works best to produce results. In addition to making your advertising work better, a disciplined tracking system will provide an even bigger business benefit – a window into what may be holding your practice back from exciting, satisfying growth. Well planned tracking systems with disciplined implementation will uncover and document the following key strategic elements:
- What headlines and selling slants have broadest appeal, and which ones are duds.
- What “need to know/want to know” information is most important to the prospects in your area.
- Which offers for more information and calls to action are most effective.
- What points of contact in your business have the most potential to drive the top line, and which ones are driving away prospects.
A quick example of a basic tracking system-
You run a postcard campaign with the tracking elements below in place:
- A website landing page – a unique website page that can only be viewed by knowing the address. Visitors to these pages can only be from the postcard.
- A website “tracking” URL – a unique domain name that is reserved for the marketing campaign.
- Website tracking code – lines of code placed in your site pages that track visitors, which pages they view, length of visit, in which order, and what links they click on.
- A variety of actionable offers – each “offer” requires a specific action from the prospect that can be measured and compared.
- Tracking phone numbers – unique phone numbers and/or extensions reserved for specific ads or campaigns. These numbers should be equipped with reporting and call recording features. The incoming call volume is measured, and the caller experience is captured. In addition to measuring response, the insights gained from these recordings should lead to other business innovations and staff training opportunities.
These tracking mechanisms create a complete picture with real data – details even the devil can’t dispute.
Want to see a live tracking system and learn to set one up for your practice? Join us on one of our webinars to see tested concepts and a live (not a demo) tracking system in action.
Thanks for reading.
We hope you don’t fall for this one…
If your marketing guru tells you that direct mail is dead and that you should focus most of your attention on internet strategies, you may want to read on.
Sure, internet marketing is important, but direct mail is far from dead. In fact, the National Mail Order Association projects spending in direct mail to rise 3.6% annually between 2010 and 2014. Why? Many experts write about the increasing difficulty with reaching prospects online, and suggest that direct mail is still one of the most effective and efficient ways to reach your target audience. For example, we are currently running a PPC (Pay Per Click) campaign for a manual therapy provider that started at $1.52 per click, and now, less than 120 days later, the average bid for the same search terms has climbed to more than $5.00 per click. We also know from our experience tracking internet and direct mail leads that a direct mail lead is 5-10 times more likely to convert.
Here are a few more reasons why direct mail continues to be an important part of any physical therapy (and healthcare) provider’s marketing mix:
- Gaining access to prospects online is becoming increasingly difficult.
- With the deluge of electronic information getting dumped on us every day, prospects you do reach have difficulty sorting through the pile.
- Many of your competitors have abandoned direct mail, putting your message at the forefront.
New technologies like QR-Codes* are making it easier and easier for prospects to respond to your print messages with their mobile devices. Your website or landing pages are just a click away – no more typing in those long URL’s.- Search engine marketing has become the modern day “Yellow Pages” where people only find you if they know what service they are looking for, and then you’re at the mercy of the online advertising service to place you near the top of the list. Have you ever paid for an online advertising package and then discovered you are buried near the bottom of an endless list of local competitors?
Direct mail gives you more influence over both online and offline buying decisions while delivering highly qualified, more valuable leads.
Here is what a couple of our clients are saying:
“When we stop our direct mail we have a noticeable decline in new patients, when we start it up again the new patient flow goes back up. We like to keep something going out every 2 weeks or we get spikes in business when the postcards go out and dead times about 2 weeks later” – S. Strang
“I would never cut out direct mail – that is where the majority of our patient flow comes from” – M. Ulmer
So, one way to supercharge your online presence, is to broaden your reach by including traditional direct mail with a technological twist in your marketing toolbox.
If you are contemplating putting all of your marketing budget into some SEO expert’s pocket maybe you should think again.
Sincerely,
David C. Steinberg & Trent Wehrhahn
The PT Referral Machine
Direct Mail Tips For Physical Therapists:
- List: Instead of sending to everyone, define who your ideal patient is and then send to that type of person. You can get lists based on many different criteria.
- Headlines: The headline is the “ad for the ad” – messing up here means no one will read your message.
- Offer: This does not have to be expensive. Be sure to include offers for more information as well as incentive offers.
- Testing: Before you blow your entire budget on a concept you are “sure” will work, test and track the results.
- Set goals that are appropriate: Everything depends on the average value of a patient. Determine your break-even point based on this value.
- Postage: with postage running about 40%- 50% of your direct mail costs you should be aware of 2 key factors
- The size and weight of your mail can have a major impact on your costs.
- Choosing the right bulk mail program can save 50% or more.
Looking for a way to try our services without becoming a subscriber?
NEW! Direct Mail Trial Package.
It only takes 5 to 6 new patients each mailing to double your money.
Here’s What You Get:
- 3 Mailings – 4 weeks apart
- 5000 Jumbo postcards – full color both sides – printing and mail service
- Complete graphic design, copy, and customization for your facility
- List – 5000 targeted prospects from areas around your clinic
- Tracking phone number to measure response
- QR code inserted for your website URL
- Postage not included. (Please allow 19 to 26 cents depending upon list selection)
- Total price per mailing before postage: $995
To get started, email us at info@ptreferralmachine.com or
call 508-444-0056.