Are You Visible To Your Prospective Clients?

When you first start your clinic, marketing seems easy. You just print up some business cards, and pop up a post on Facebook. Right? But the more you work towards a viable practice, the more you realise it might not be so easy. Many practitioners say that they spend heaps of time marketing. But the one thing they need to think about is how visible they are to their prospective clients.

Here are the steps I recommend using to get your offers in front of your ideal clients online.

Step 1: Figure Out Your Prospective Client Base

This is a vital step. You might think you know your ideal client. But often, practitioners are so worried about getting people in the door that 'anyone' is their ideal client.

But you don't want to see just 'anyone'. You don't want to see clients that are going to step over your boundaries. You don't want cases that are your least favourite health concern ever. So before you worry about how visible you are, figure out who you want to be visible to.

Make sure you know:

• What their sex/gender is

• The age range they fall into

• Their major area of health concern

• Any other major identifying lifestyle factors - such as 'mums' or 'athletes'

This doesn't mean you'll be saying no to anyone who doesn't fit the bill. But it does mean you will be targeting that sort of person in your online sharing.

As an example, my target market is: female health practitioners between age 20-50 who struggle to create consistent content for their practice. I wouldn't turn away males, or a 52-year-old practitioner - but this is the target audience I create content for.

Step 2: Get Visible

Next, it's time to put yourself out there. It can be scary at first, but the earlier you do it, the better.

• Get a website up and running. It doesn't have to be expensive to start with. But it does need to be your own little corner of the Internet. If you want to outsource this process, I highly recommend Shonelle over at Tech For Pracs.

• Have a Facebook page to share your work-related posts. It's the number one social media platform, and it's also the one that people use most to find services.

• Find your way into relevant Facebook groups. You'll want two types - one to support you in your journey, and one where your prospective client might hang out.

Step 3: Stay Visible

This is where many practitioners might stumble. It's one thing to join all these groups and write a few posts, but staying consistent can seem hard. However, it's probably THE most essential step for using social media to reach clients. So let's get smart about this:

• Plan your content ahead of time. This means you know what you're posting about when. It's easy to be visible if you don't have to think about what you want to share! Having a calendar for social media and website content is one of the best things you could ever do for your biz AND your sanity.

• Know your groups. A solid 80% of my leads for work come from Facebook groups, and that's because I know them well. I know which have a high percentage of my ideal clients.

• Make sure you share value into those groups. Of that 80% of leads, only a fraction are from my promo posts. This week, I was contacted by a client because I shared my goals for that week that included a service she wanted! But often, they come in because I've already shared some value with one of my blog posts or tips.

• Keep sharing. The more you share, the more likely it is that someone will see it. The more they see it, the more likely they will interact with it. And the more they interact, the more it will be visible to their connections. It's a ripple effect.

Keep being visible!

It doesn't have to take up huge chunks of your time. In a week, I spend 30 minutes per day sharing into about 10 different groups. Then there's maybe an hour or so total for writing a blog post or two and scheduling Facebook posts. In fact, most of my Facebook and blog content is pre-scheduled 2-3 months in advance!

If your social media isn't working for your biz, now is the time to look at why. Are you targeting the wrong people? Are you not visible enough? Or are you not consistent in sharing your value with others? 

Want some help with creating a content calendar? My 1:1 content support session is the service for you. To book in, click on through!