When you run a private physiotherapy practice. Getting clients will be one of your primary goals. As more people take up wellness pursuits and activities, there is a growing demand for physiotherapy services. With an ageing population, the older generations could also be in need of physiotherapy services more than ever.
This is good news for private physiotherapists, but it also means there’ll likely be more competition.
As a physiotherapist, you’re probably happiest when you can find the underlying cause of a client’s issue and help them reduce or cure it. This means you don’t have long-term clients and instead need new clients regularly.
So how do you attract clients when your town or city has many physio practices to choose from?
Giving the Gift of Knowledge
When a client comes to you for physiotherapy, they’re paying for your knowledge, personalised for them.
Trained and expert in your field, you’re well-equipped to help each person who walks through your door. But you only ever get to solve their immediate problem and then they’re gone. With a wealth of general health and fitness knowledge, you don’t get to share information unrelated to each client’s specific problem.
But…you could.
When you create a blog, you’ll be starting on a marketing path called content marketing. Content marketing is different from advertising as it’s geared around providing your audience with information-rich, engaging content rather than selling your services.
Creating a blog filled with articles your audience will find useful is a fantastic way to share your knowledge widely and help your audience lead a healthier life.
But it’s not just a selfless pursuit. Content marketing has many benefits for you as a business owner.
Developing Trust
Choosing a physiotherapist can be difficult for many people. Some prospective clients may feel worried about their bodies and health and feel embarrassed to seek help.
As a physiotherapist, or healthcare professional in general, it’s important that your clients trust you. A website alone doesn’t generate much trust, no matter how many stock images of smiling people you have on there!
By writing blog posts, you have a chance to connect with prospective clients before they sign up for your services. By sharing helpful, relevant information on your blog, they can see that you are both knowledgeable and care about their wider health.
A blog gives the reader the opportunity to get to know you and your personality too. They can read about your success stories, common issues you see and how to stay strong, flexible and active.
With so many fluffy health articles online, reading the expertise of a trained physiotherapist gives your audience genuine, practical information.
Reach a Wider Audience
Without a blog, you have few chances to appear in search engine results. If a person is searching specifically for a physiotherapist in your town, sure, your website might pop up. But what if they’re searching for, ‘hamstring pain while running’? Your practice won’t pop up then.
Many people search first for their issue, perhaps not even realising it’s something a physiotherapist can help them solve.
By creating an in-depth blog dealing with subjects your audience cares about, you have more opportunities to appear in search results.
If a reader searches, ‘hamstring pain while running’ and you’ve got a blog post on just that, they could well choose to read your post as it’s from a physiotherapist, rather than a generic online magazine post on the same subject.
They may not live anywhere near you but their engagement with your blog isn’t for nothing. The more people read your blog and visit your website, the more important search engines think it is. Greater traffic helps boost your website in search results. This way, you reach a wider and wider audience.
Client Aftercare
Chances are, your physiotherapy appointments are geared around one thing. Dealing with the problem at hand.
But few of us are 100% healthy with just one, specific injury. Many of your clients may benefit from further lifestyle advice and even ask you for it. But time constraints and priorities mean that you can’t give out an hour of fitness advice when you’ve got your next client in the waiting room.
To give an outstanding service to your clients that continues long after their issue has been solved, you can direct them to your blog.
If it’s filled with health, fitness and lifestyle advice, you’ll have gained a regular reader and a loyal customer. They may not need a physio appointment for another five years, but as they’ve been learning from you in the meantime, you’ll be the physiotherapist they return to when their knee starts playing up.
Putting your knowledge and advice into blog form allows you to reach many people, while advising a single client on taking walking breaks only helps them. When all your clients can read your blog, they’ll get more benefit from your practice than just their original physio sessions.
That’s good client aftercare.
A Blog Can Future-Proof Your Physio Practice
A blog on your physiotherapy practice website can have a hugely positive effect on your business, your clients and your wider audience. Not only will it educate others, but it’ll help drive more traffic to your site and your business.
Blog aren’t hard to set up and you don’t need to be Shakespeare. You just need to be open, helpful and perhaps a little entertaining!
We hope we’ve given you some food for thought. We love blogging and sharing our knowledge here at Meridius. If you’re starting a blog, send us a link, we’d love to read it!
If you’re looking for physio supplies, we can help you out there too. We hold a wide range of essential supplies for physiotherapists, including kinesiology tapes.
