Every physical therapist knows that repeat patients are very important to the success of their practice. Repeat patients not only ensure a steady flow of business, but they are often the best source of word of mouth referrals and testimonials. That is why it is so important to keep them coming back. If your clinic has some patients who no longer come in for treatment then you need to consider how to reactivate them. One of the best ways to do this is via a social media reactivation campaign. Let's take a look at some of the ideas you could incorporate to welcome back former patients using your social media channels.
A large number of physical therapy clinics are focusing all of their attention on finding new patients. However, it costs far less to retain an existing patient than it does to find a brand new one, so it makes good business sense to do everything in your power to retain as many of your patients as possible. This is where a reactivation campaign comes in. The latest research indicates that for the average business, more than 10% of their client list is inactive.
There is a good chance that your dormant patients are still following you on Facebook and Twitter. You can re-activate these patients by running a contest via your social media pages. This costs nothing to run, other than the cost of whatever incentive you are offering as a prize. There are near endless possibilities for the type of contest you can choose. A couple of examples might include asking past patients who follow you on Twitter to re-tweet something in order to be entered into a draw for a free treatment or asking your Facebook fans to comment or share explaining why they used your clinic. These are excellent ways to not only reach a new audience, but also to encourage your past patients to come back.
There is a reason why your former patients stopped coming back. If you can identify those reasons then you are halfway to winning them back. Common reasons are usually price increases or your clinic not being able to provide what they were looking for. That's why you should make sure to include content in your social media schedule that targets past patients by addressing these concerns. Promote any new services you are offering and highlight advances in the industry which can help to encourage patients to get back in touch. You have a 20%-40% chance of reactivating an old patient as long as you can hit on the reason why they have not been visiting.
One of the reasons why social media can be a great tool for reactivating past patients is that you can use it to make the process easy for them. When you remove all potential hurdles you can encourage patients to come back even after a lengthy period of dormancy. With social media it is so easy to leave a link which allows patients to book in through an automated system or perhaps request a call back. You can even include a click to call link so that mobile users can simply click and call you for an appointment while they have their phone at hand!
One of the things that is really going to make you stand out is having a more personal approach. Why not cross reference your list of dormant patients with your Twitter followers or Facebook Fans and send a direct/private message straight to them offering a discount on a consultation since you haven't seen them for a while. This is a great way to make your patients feel valued and they are likely to take you up on the offer because of this. When it comes to reinforcing personal relationships with your patients, social media is a very valuable tool and should be utilized as much as possible.
Even if you have not seen some of your patients for a while, they are not necessarily 'lost'. With some smart social media marketing you can soon reactivate some of these patients. Why not get in touch with PatientSites today and discuss how we can help you with your clinic's social media strategy.