As someone who mentors other physicians on the ins and outs of starting a direct primary care practice, marketing is the toughest thing for most doctors to wrap their minds around. Maybe it is due to some fallacy that we believe as physicians. A lot of docs think, “there will always be a need for doctors so if I open a practice, people will just come to me.” The “if I build it, they will come” mentality is unfortunately not true for any small business really, but especially for a medical practice.
Another thing that makes marketing tough is that we, as physicians, might not be used to being in the driver’s seat when it comes to the business of medicine. Maybe it is our “take a backseat” approach to the business part of medicine that has been ingrained in us for all of these years. Both of these mentalities need to be overcome before you can set out to market yourself and grow a successful direct care practice.
Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone
When I started building my pediatric DPC practice in 2018, I was in an area of town where no one knew me as a pediatrician. In the earlier part of my career, I had been a newborn hospitalist who cared for newborns in the large delivery hospitals. In addition, even if people had known me as a general pediatrician, I was still a small fish in a big pond. I was starting a small direct care practice in a land of gigantic hospital owned pediatric practices in a large metropolitan area. This is a place where there is a medical clinic that accepts insurance on every corner. Also, there was not a single other person that was offering what I was- a cash only pediatric practice operated by a board certified pediatrician. As a result, I got met with a lot of platitudes and “I bet you will do great” pats on the back from friends and family. In addition, I received many blank stares from potential patient families as they couldn’t even conceptualize that a pediatrician would come to their house to care for their kids.
As a result of these barriers and my own personality leanings, my marketing strategy needed to be outside of my comfort zone. I was one of the best introverts that you would ever want to meet. For the majority of my life up to that point, I did not have any need to put myself in front of other people and convince them to buy something from me. But if I wanted this practice to succeed and wanted to help people in the way I knew was possible (and honestly, to prove the naysayers wrong), I would need to figure it out. So my strategy became, “talk to anyone who will listen.”
Marketing is more than one and done
As one of the first pediatricians in the country to open a direct primary care practice, I overcame a lot of barriers. Other pediatricians seek me out to mentor them to start a direct primary care practice as I can guide them through what to expect and how to overcome these obstacles. In my time of mentoring other doctors, I have found that the place where many doctors get hung up is marketing. Often the frustration comes when they decide to do one thing to market their practice and it doesn’t produce results right away. This often results in feelings of failure and futility.
Marketing is more than just doing one thing and hoping that it works. Marketing takes time, effort and patience as well as a multi pronged approach. I mean think about it. Do you always buy something the first time that someone tells you about it? Especially if it is a newer idea and/or a more expensive item or service? No, it usually takes multiple exposures to something before you decide to buy it. This is why your marketing needs to have a clear and consistent message over time and be in places where people consume this type of information.
As an example of how the long game works in marketing a pediatric DPC practice, last year, I had a patient family sign up for my practice. Mom was pregnant and she had an almost three year old at home. When I went to do her enrollment, I found her email address on my marketing email list. She had been on the list for the two years previous to her enrollment in the practice. It took two years of regularly emailing her valuable information along with some changes in their family’s finances before she decided to sign up for my practice. What if I had decided that my email list was pointless because no one was responding? Marketing takes a consistent message over time through multiple channels before some people will truly raise their hand and want what you are offering.
Practice makes perfect
In the world of networking groups, people talk about your elevator pitch. In other words, you should be able to tell someone about your practice, what you offer and how it is valuable in the time it takes to ride from one floor to the next in an elevator. Internalizing your talk will allow you to be able to clearly communicate what your practice offers when you talk to people in person, over the phone or through media. A consistent message that is focused on the value of your offer and how it impacts your listener needs to be the cornerstone of all of your marketing efforts.
When my entrepreneur minded husband first introduced me to the concept of the elevator speech, I rolled my eyes. Who wants to constantly be pitching to everyone they meet? But I gave it a try and it was true. The more that I practiced and focused on the ideal person that I wanted to serve, the clearer my marketing became and the better my message attracted the right people.
Practical Ideas for Marketing a DPC practice
There are many ways to market a dpc practice, but the underlying theme is to talk to as many of the right people as possible with a clear and consistent message. Instead of focusing on the things that you don’t offer (i.e. “No, we don’t take insurance.”), focus on the value that you offer. Without sounding conceited, convey the privilege that you are offering. You are offering people the chance to have a well trained physician on call for their family.
Once your message is clear, you need to make your practice visible to others by:
- Networking groups in the community
- Networking with other physicians
- Bringing meals/treats to practices that align with your values and can refer patients back and forth with you
- Doing talks or teaching at local community events
- Offering inexpensive classes or teaching on health topics at your office on a regular schedule
- Getting in front of other people’s audiences through social media or other types of collaborations (physical therapist, lactation consultants, etc)
- Regular social media posting (pick one platform to start with, be genuine)
- SEO on your website through regularly writing articles on your own blog
- Paid media – google ads, Facebook ads (be sure to enlist the help of an expert for this so you are spending your marketing dollars wisely)
- Podcasting – starting your own (only if you can be consistent) and/or interviewing on other people’s podcasts
- Put regular video content on YouTube
* For more ideas on marketing and SEO for small medical practices, check out my webinar in DPC Academy
Visibility is Key
Most small businesses fail simply because people don’t know that they exist. Marketing your practice takes hard work and consistent effort. Just like you brush your teeth everyday, you need to engage in marketing your practice in some way each day in order to grow your visibility in your community. The rewards for your efforts will be enormous when you run a successful DPC practice that serves your community well.
Dr. Andrea Wadley owned 127 Pediatrics from July 2018 to December 2024. Although she retired from clinical medicine, she is still a huge proponent of pediatric DPC.
