What ?!? I have to Market?

Determine what makes your orthobiologics practice unique and irresistible to patients! Harness the power of captivating content and a solid online presence, and build a referral network that'll have your practice thriving!
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Stay tuned and learn these game-changing insights today!
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Transcript

Intro

Hey, I'm Dr. Ariana De Mers. I'm an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon, and I have successfully integrated orthobiologics into my busy practice so that I can provide a continuum of care and treat patients who are in the gap. The gap is this gray area in orthopedics where standard conservative treatments have not been effective but surgery may not be warranted. And we usually tell our patients, come back when it's worse. What? These are your patients coming to you for help. Orthobiologics is that solution that can fill the gap and help you treat your patients who are in your office looking to you for help. Orthobiologics can also be an excellent treatment for frustrating problems without good surgical outcomes. This podcast will help you create the orthobiologics business that will make you love your job again. We will focus on the value of orthobiologics, patient selection, how to talk to your patients about money, office set up, and other logistics. If this is something you've always wanted but don't know where to start, join me in "The Business of Orthobiologics" podcast.

Dr. Ariana

Hi, today we're going to be talking about marketing. What? I have to market? I know. I know what you're thinking. I'm a doctor. I don't know anything about marketing. And that is where you're wrong. We market to our patients every day. Marketing is just about education and guidance, why they should do X, Y, or Z, how they can improve their health, how to avoid disease, et cetera. So hang on to your hats and we're going to learn marketing 101 for orthobiologics. Here's what we'll cover: target audience, what you offer and why it's different, online presence, website compliance and the FTC and FDA, content creation, social media, marketing to your current patients, leveraging your referral network. And so we're going to get started. Target audience. Defining your target audience. You have to decide who is your ideal patient population, and then you create your perfect patient avatar. Define your demographics, your patient characteristics, and the needs of the patient. So a word about avatars: we are trained to serve everyone. But we really need to choose our best patients. This will not alienate your other patients. This will just resonate with your favorite, best patients. Don't be the Jack of all trades and master of none. What I want you to do is choose a combination of the patients you love to serve, the procedures you love to do, things that you're good at, and your most successful patients. That should be your ideal avatar. And then you can identify what conditions you can best serve with your orthobiologics and consider the best orthobiologic outcomes, frustrating diagnoses, and the most common injections you do in your practice. Next, we'll talk about your compelling value proposition, what you offer, and why it's different. First, you need to be clear and concise and identify the unique benefits of your services. These unique benefits emphasize what PRP can do or your orthobiologics. And we talk about improving patient care outcomes, accelerating recovery, personalized approach, and minimal downtime. Please make this a part of your unique value proposition. Now, we also have to take into consideration what the world wants, and maybe not what they need, but what they want, and what they will pay for. So really identify the biggest pain points for your patients, trending solutions that are happening now, what you're good at, and what is in high demand, and what do you do that no one else is doing. So next in our Marketing 101, we're going to talk about online presence, website compliance, and the FDA and FTC. So we need to create a professional and user-friendly website, showcase orthobiologics and PRP services specifically. Provide relevant and accurate information about PRP and the treatment protocols, and then include patient testimonials. Please consider these key considerations regarding the FDA and FTC for your website. First, regulatory complaints. FDA regulations, often, orthobiologics fall under the FDA's purview, especially if they involve the use of human-cell tissues or cellular tissue-based products. So, ensure that your products and website comply with the FDA regulations, such as 21 CFR Part 1271, and then any applicable pre-market approval requirements of these things that you're using. Additionally, labeling and claims. Please ensure that the labeling and claims on your website are accurate and do not make unverified or misleading statements about the safety and efficacy of your products. Next, adverse event reporting. Please be prepared to report any adverse events as stated with your products as regulated by the FDA. Part two, clinical evidence. Regarding clinical trials, if you make therapeutic claims about your orthobiologic products, please ensure that you have either conducted yourself the appropriate clinical trials or can provide scientific evidence to support the claims that you have on your website. Please go ahead and cite the papers that you're using to discuss this with your patients and that will enhance your claims of what you're talking about on your website. Next, we're going to talk about transparency on your website. Please clearly communicate the level of evidence supporting your products and avoid overhyping their benefits. I would not ever use the word cure or regenerate cartilage because we know that that's not true. Additionally, if you're going to be using wording such as stem cell, that's going to get you very quickly under the scrutiny of the FDA as they have bots that are crawling the web right now looking for physicians and their websites talking about stem cell therapy. So there's nothing else you learn from this, please do not put stem cell procedure or stem cell therapy on your website just as a precaution. So when we talk about content, we have to make sure that you have accurate information and that it's up to date and supported by the scientific evidence. Please avoid false or misleading statements. Please also include clear disclaimers about the intended use of your product and the limits of their effectiveness. Whatever you do, do not promote the off-label use of your products as this can lead to regulatory complaints issues and increased scrutiny by the FDA and FTC. I'd like you to also protect customer data and implement robust data security measures and comply with all of the HIPAA protection laws, if applicable. When we talk about advertising and marketing specifically for your website, the FTC, Federal Trade Commission guidelines about marketing and advertising, they recommend disclosing any material or financial connections or financial interests related to the products that you're using. Also, if you're using endorsements or testimonials, ensure they are genuine and not making unsupported claims. So if you have a patient who climbed Mount Everest after having a knee injection, that may be true. But this does not across the board show that anyone who has had a knee injection can climb Mount Everest. So really be very clear as to what you're saying. And in your testimonials, make sure that they themselves are not making unsupported claims because this is extended to you as you are voiced when it's on your website. So if there are any patents or trademarks, please ensure that your products don't infringe on any existing patents or trademarks and it doesn't infringe on any intellectual property. Please, if you have any concerns or questions, don't hesitate to consult with legal experts who specialize in the FDA and FTC regulations, as well as your website and business practices. And then have a way for a system to handle customer feedback and complaints and then address them properly and professionally. And then obviously, more as a part of a business practice and not as a marketing website practice, please make sure you maintain thorough records of product development, testing, marketing, and customer interactions, and that you can demonstrate this compliance. Then also, regularly review your website. I would recommend at least a quarter-- especially in the orthobiologic space, update your website and marketing materials to ensure ongoing compliance with the changing regulations. And then finally, please train your staff to understand and comply with FDA and FTC regulations, especially those involved with customer interactions and marketing. So, this compliance with FDA and FTC regulations is really essential to avoid legal issues and protect your orthobiologic business reputation. It's really crucial to seek legal counsel and stay informed if you have any concerns or questions, as this is a quickly evolving field and we really want you to stay safe. Next in our Marketing 101, we're going to talk about content creation for marketing and social media. So our marketing strategy is to educate, engage, and provide value to your patients. So when we talk about content creation, we want to create informative blog posts, articles, and videos that address common orthopedic concerns, the benefits of PRP or orthobiologics, and some success stories. So where do you share this content? You share this content on your website, on your social media platforms, in your email newsletters. And then I'm going to make a recommendation to create this content in bulk. Leverage ChatGPT or AI creation, use templates, use scheduling devices, and then any content you recreate, make sure you're repurposing that for all the other applications. So if you're using a video, then you can use the transcript as your email content for your newsletters. So definitely, I want to make sure that you're leveraging your social media, include your social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Now, please understand, they have different purposes and different viewers. So number one, we want to find out where your ideal patients are hanging out and post preferentially on those platforms. But please also understand that YouTube and Facebook as well as Instagram are used differently and are connected to search engines. So we have these patients who are searching for your services and they are entering into a search engine. What's the best way to help my meniscus? And so then if you're creating content that is included, this is going to drive patients to your content. So what content should you be sharing? First of all, right now, I want you to understand video is king. Yes, I know. Video is really daunting and annoying and disconcerting. We were not trained to do this. Definitely, trust me, this has been a learning curve for me as well. And so what do we share on video for our patients? First of all, I think educational content is super helpful to educate and guide our patients. You can share your patient testimonials, updates about your PRP or orthobiologic services, and engage your audience by responding to the comments or inquiries. And then the more you engage, the more value you can reap from your social media. An ideal video, ideally post daily, use your iPhone, you can post directly, and make mistakes. This does create that likability that you're not just talking head, that they get to know you and be yourself. Everybody is looking for a doctor that they resonate with, that they connect with. So don't try to be someone you're not. And if you're goofy, be goofy. If you're serious and research-oriented, be research-oriented. This is what they're looking for. So this will attract the patients that are looking for you. Let's talk a little bit about your ideal video structure. Step one, I want you to go ahead and define your objective, and determine what your goal of your video is. Is it to educate? Is it to promote your services? Share success stories? Just clarify before you proceed. Next, step two is to know your audience, understand who you're looking to talk to, and what their pain points are, and then tailor that video content to address their needs and concerns. Step three, plan your content. So, outline those key points that you want to cover in your video, and consider these elements. Introduction, obviously introduce yourself and your clinic. Highlight the most common orthopedic problems, also identify the problem. And then why orthobiologics is a potential solution? Explain your solution. So explain what orthobiologics are and how they work. Showcase the benefits of the orthobiologics, such as reduced pain, faster healing, minimally invasive procedures, and such. And then share success stories. Include patient testimonials or before and after images if possible. And finally, the most important is don't forget your call to action. Encourage your viewers to contact your clinic, visit your website, and follow you on social media. It's super important. Step four, a script. Write a script that guides your video's narrative. Keep it concise and engaging. And this is one of these things that is really helpful for getting out those jitters. Sometimes when you're doing a video, it's really hard to think on your feet. And if you write it out, sometimes it can be really helpful to follow the script so you don't get weird, awkward pauses or anything like that. Next, step five, gather your equipment. I'm going to urge you to do a little bit of gathering, ensure you have a good quality iPhone camera and microphone. A ring light is super helpful with a tripod, which is ideal because honestly, high-quality visuals and audio are essential to get your message across. Step 6, choose your location. You can choose your clinic, you can choose your home office, and outdoor setting, depending on what message you're trying to send to your patients. Step seven, record your video. Follow your script while you're recording. If you want to pay attention to framing, lighting, and audio quality, that would be great. I'm going to recommend using a teleprompter. This has been a game-changer for me as I really when I got into doing videos and delivering my message, I really struggled to start. And a teleprompter really made it quite easy. There are a lot of free teleprompter apps that you can use to record your video. So that has been super helpful for me. Step eight, edit your video if you need to. Sometimes you can trim the unnecessary parts. You can put captions or graphics, but you don't have to. If you want to incorporate your clinic's branding or logos, that'd be great. But honestly, done is better than perfect. So please, please, do it, post it. Don't get caught up in the editing and the logos and all these things. And then upload your video. So if you don't upload it, nobody can see it. So please don't forget that step. Next in our marketing 101 will be our simple marketing plan, implementation. So really, really easy, best practice, the easiest thing is to market your orthobiologics to your current patients. People want to buy from those they know, like, and trust. These are your patients. They already know you. They already like you, and they already trust you. All patients are looking for other options. So provide education, guidance, and value. A little bit about marketing. In my business, I call my marketing department my education and guidance department. And like we talked about, we market to our patients every day. We convince them why they should do this or this. We educate them on the choices that they have and why one may be better than another, how they can improve their health, and avoid disease. And so please provide another opportunity for education and guidance with this new innovative treatment that can help them. If you don't offer it, they can't say yes. So provide an opportunity for your patients to say yes to you. So this is a simple in-house strategy. Email to your list, email to your patients, educate, and offer an opportunity to learn more. You can offer a free evaluation, an educational seminar, and then have them call to book this opportunity and maybe provide an opportunity for orthobiologic treatments and then you schedule the treatment. That's my simple in-house marketing strategy that seems to be quite easy to implement as you don't have to go get other patients, you don't have to do anything crazy. Just market to the patients who already know, like, and trust you. Provide them with education and guidance. So next in our marketing 101 is I'm going to implore you to activate your referral network. Talk to your colleagues, your primary care physicians, your sports medicine physicians, your physical therapist, your chiropractors, and your hematologists. They are seeing these patients who are your ideal patients, and maybe they don't know, like, and trust you yet, but with a referral from their practitioners, they will gain trust and you can serve them as they have these patients sitting in their offices. So reach out and make it easy for them. You can do email campaigns to your colleagues, you can do in-person meetings, you can do webinars. You can drop off referral slips that make it super easy. I'm going to recommend considering a lunch and learn or an evening of orthobiologics, where you educate on what it is, how it works, who can be treated, who the ideal candidates are, who you can not help. Educate on the regulatory landscape, discuss the non-coverage of insurance, and give them a generalized pricing. I would not go into pricing. What I would tell them is this is an individualized approach to treatment, and it's going to vary depending on diagnosis and recommendations based on their candidacy. And then highlight how easy it is to refer to you. That has been really helpful for me, and it's been so enjoyable because now I am empowering my colleagues to provide their patients with a really good opportunity or choice for treatment. Next in our Marketing 101 is monitor, manage, and measure. How do we determine if all of these things that we're doing is successful? We want to talk about engagement, feedback, and asking every client where or how they heard about my services. Please consider putting that on your entry paperwork or questionnaire, your online questionnaire, is how they heard about you. Consider the 80-20 rule where you put 80% of your marketing resources into the 20% that brings you the most business, consider the ghost referral program. This is what we do in our business. And so when we have patients who we ask, Oh, how do they hear about this? Who do we refer? Who do we thank? Patients who refer other patients get a benefit that they don't know exists. And the next time they come in for a treatment, we let them know, hey, thank you so much for referring your friends and family. Thank you so much for trusting us with your friends and family. To that end, we'd like to extend $100 off your current treatment, or, oh, this is free of charge due to your kind referrals, so thank you very much. And then we also keep track of our physicians, colleagues, or physical therapists who are sending us a lot of business and we thank them with either consultations or expedited scheduling for their patients or even holiday time. We really want to thank them for trusting us with their patients. I want you guys to understand when you're engaging with colleagues' patients, please don't give away the farm. Don't give all your knowledge and information and expertise away. Definitely provide value, but give away the what, the education of what this is, not the hows that they may be able to recreate. That's your intellectual property. Don't give your intellectual property away, but please, please, please definitely educate. And then please request reviews and testimonials. This is important. And the way that I ask my patients is, hey, I know that you've had this experience. Would you be willing to share your experience so that other patients who are in your same shoes can identify whether this may be helpful for them? I think coming from the patient's mouth is so much more powerful than looking at a website or saying, trust me, I'm a doctor. The last thing I want to say about engagement is please respond promptly to negative feedback and really identify what the problem is. If they're unhappy, really go out of your way to make it right. Either make it right or refund their money and ask them if they could please kindly take down the negative feedback as it does affect your ability to help other patients. Remember, marketing is an ongoing process. So it's essential to continuously evaluate and refine your strategies based on your feedback and the results. So to review our simple six-step marketing plan. Number one, identify your target audience. Number two, identify your unique value proposition, what you offer, and why it's different. Number three, create your online presence, understanding the website compliance, FDA and FTC requirements. Number four, create content and put it on social media, engage in those patients who are looking for you. Number five, market to your own patients. They're already there in your office looking for opportunities, looking for solutions. And then number six, leverage your referral network. So how do we win at marketing as a physician? Identify your ideal patient, identify your unique value you provide, and educate and guide your patients. So in the words of Bryan Chesky, founder and CEO of Airbnb, "Build something 100 people love, not something one million people kind of like". I hope that this has been helpful. Please stay tuned for the next discussion on our regulatory considerations when integrating orthobiologics in your clinic and how to stay safe. Have a great day.

Outro

This has been "The Business of Orthobiologics" podcast. Thank you so much for joining us today. If you want to know more, please join us on the website, "PRP-Now.com", and click on the FREE masterclass. Also, don't forget to subscribe to this podcast to get more guidance on integrating PRP in your busy practice. Bye for now.