S6 EP28 The Social Media Lie that's Keeping Clinic's Stuck

Season 6: Clinic Marketing That Works

Welcome

Welcome back to the Treat Your Business podcast. Today I’m building on what I said last week about most clinic marketing being a complete waste of time. I want to talk about one of the biggest lies clinic owners have been sold in recent years, that the more followers you have, the more successful your business will be.

Episode Summary

Today I'm calling out the follower trap and why it keeps clinic owners busy but not profitable. I explain the difference between attention and intention, share a real example from the clinic, and leave you with a 30 day challenge to focus on what actually drives bookings, profit, and time freedom.  

Key Takeaways

• Followers do not equal success. Clients, profit, cash in the bank, time freedom, and a fully booked diary do.
• Followers are easy to measure, which is why they can become a distraction.
• Attention is cheap. Intention is valuable. Focus on the people actively looking for help.
• If you feel overwhelmed, check what you are spending time on and whether it is producing results.
• Referrals, reviews, and local relationships often drive more growth than posting more content.
• Trust is built through consistency, results, reputation, and exceptional patient experiences.
• AI and modern search are pushing us towards being the most trusted answer, not the loudest voice.

Resources

• Register for my free masterclass at the end of June: The No Fluff Marketing Plan for therapists and clinic and studio owners who hate social media

If you enjoyed this episode, have a fabulous rest of your day. And if you are about to post on social media, maybe today go and do something more useful with your time. 

Treat Your Business podcast is proudly sponsored by Klatch:
Results-driven marketing built for healthcare companies. Unlock sustainable growth and maximise ROI with data-driven digital marketing tailored to your business, backed by patient tracking software from search to revenue.

Find out more at https://www.klatch.co.uk

Resources & Links:

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Website: https://Thrive-businesscoaching.com  

Free Resources: https://treatyourbusiness.com 

Transcript

[00:00:00] Katie Bell: But the reality is, I know clinic owners with twenty thousand followers who aren't paying themselves properly.

[00:00:07] I know clinic owners with five hundred followers who are absolutely flying. So let's stop pretending that followers equals success because they don't 

[00:00:16] Welcome to the Treat Your Business podcast, the show for clinic owners who want real, honest advice and tried and tested ways of doing things. I'm Katie Bell, and this is the new era of bigger insights and bolder conversations to help [00:00:30] you grow a clinic and a life you love. Let's dive in

[00:00:34] Good morning. Welcome back to the Treat Your Business podcast. Last week, I said something that made a few people raise a bit of an eyebrow because I said that most clinic marketing was a complete waste of time. And if you haven't listened to that episode, just stop right now, go back, listen to that because today we're building on what I was talking about last week.

[00:00:57] So today I wanna talk [00:01:00] about what I believe is one of the biggest lies clinic owners have been sold over the last few years. And it is this, the more followers you have, Katie, the more successful your business will be. Let's be honest, like we've all fallen for this at some point. I definitely went through a phase of being convinced that this is what I needed to be doing and building my following.

[00:01:23] And it's not that I don't think that could work. We know we can see lots of industry successful people [00:01:30] within the industry that have grown their following and perhaps grown their business at the same time. But you open Instagram, you might see another therapist with fifteen thousand followers.

[00:01:42] They're posting daily. Their videos are getting hundreds of comments, and you immediately start thinking, "Oh, maybe I need to do more of this. Maybe I need to set up a YouTube channel. Maybe I'm not posting enough. Maybe I need to be on TikTok. Maybe that's why my diary isn't full." But the reality is, I know clinic owners with twenty [00:02:00] thousand followers who aren't paying themselves properly.

[00:02:03] I know clinic owners with five hundred followers who are absolutely flying. So let's stop pretending that followers equals success because they don't and- Really clients. Clients equal success. Profit equals success. Cash in the bank equals success. Time, freedom equals success. A fully booked clinic or a studio equals success.

[00:02:28] Followers, they're [00:02:30] just followers. Now, before someone clips this post and posts it online and says, "I'm not saying followers are bad," I'm saying they're often a distraction, because followers are really easy to measure, which is why often wonderful social media people tell me all the time about what our reach is, and our followers are, and I just and our clicks are, and I just couldn't care less. Revenue is harder. Followers make us feel very productive. Building referral systems requires work, [00:03:00] and the danger is that we could end up optimizing the wrong thing. And I see this often inside Thrive. So a clinic owner will tell me "Ugh, I don't wanna do social media anymore," or, "My social media isn't working for me."

[00:03:15] Or the biggest thing we hear all the time is, "I have no time, and I'm very overwhelmed." And I say, "Okay, what are we spending our time doing, and is it serving you? Is it producing the results that it needs [00:03:30] to?" And I will ask, "How many former patients have you contacted in the last six months?" On the phone, reached out to them, checked in, courtesy calls.

[00:03:40] Silence. How many reviews have you collected? Silence. How many referrers have you spoken to this quarter? How many local businesses have you partnered with? But you've posted four times a week, and you've posted your clinic availability. Here lies the problem. [00:04:00] The problem isn't always about visibility.

[00:04:02] It's that they're focusing on the least valuable part of their marketing, and the distinction I want you to understand is that attention is cheap and inattention is really valuable. So attention is someone scrolling past your reel whilst sat, sat on the toilet. Intention is somebody typing, "Physio Sheffield," "Women's health physio near me," "Running injury specialist."

[00:04:25] One of those people is bored. The other needs help. [00:04:30] Who do you wanna speak to? And recently we had a situation in the clinic where we had some spaces created on our really small classes of our Osteofit, which is specifically for people who have a diagnosis of osteoporosis, and it's a very small three to one class.

[00:04:49] So actually, to do a load of marketing for it is not really that important because we can fill those spaces with some internal great comms that go out there. But one of the [00:05:00] suggestions was maybe we need to do some social media around it. And I was like we can," but the social media posting needs to be- to the daughter or son of the parent who has this because those that have, that we're targeting of the age aren't sat on Facebook all day, every day, and they're certainly not looking for a solution to their problem on there.

[00:05:22] But we might have a son or a daughter scrolling that might be like, "Has y- your parents fall- fallen? Have they had [00:05:30] repeat fractures? Are they struggling with their balance? Are you worried about leaving them?" "Are they losing their independence?" That might capture somebody's attention that would lead them then to book their mom and dad in to come for a taster at one of our classes.

[00:05:43] But really I was like, "Can we just sack off doing all of that? Because actually where our people are here, and can we not just go and target them specifically over there?" So we can become obsessed with attention, with reach, with impressions, with views, with engagement. Meanwhile, we've ignored [00:06:00] intention.

[00:06:01] The people actively looking for help. At KB Physio, when I look back over the years, the biggest wins haven't come from viral posts. They really have not. - They've come from becoming known in our community by our patients, by local businesses, by GPs, by fitness professionals, by moms, by runners, by people who can recommend us Recommendations be- reach every single day of the week.

[00:06:28] And think about your own [00:06:30] life. When was the last time you booked something important because of a random Instagram post? Think about how many times you've bought something because somebody recommended it, like a restaurant, a hotel, a tradesperson, a dentist, a nursery. Trust really matters. And trust is built differently.

[00:06:47] Trust isn't always about shouting louder. It's it's built by being consistent, results, reputation, delivering exceptional experiences, which funnily enough are exactly [00:07:00] the same things or exactly the things that help clinics and studios grow. And one of the things I think AI and modern search is doing is exposing this even more because the future isn't necessarily around those who can create the most content.

[00:07:16] The future is about who becomes the most trusted answer. Who is easiest to recommend? Who has the most reviews and good reviews? Who has the [00:07:30] reputation? Who is known for something specific? That's where we're heading. So the question that I wanna leave you guys with this week is, if you stop worrying about your followers tomorrow, just for 30 days play the game with me, what would you focus on instead?

[00:07:52] Would you focus on referrals? Would you focus on reviews? Would you actually pick up the phone to every [00:08:00] single person that's just dropped off your list in the last 30 days and ring them? Would you focus on partnerships? Maybe you would focus on Google Ads, or updating your Google My Business profile.

[00:08:13] Would you double down on patient experience? Because I suspect that's where the real opportunity is hiding And if this is resonating with you, then make sure that you've registered for my free masterclass at the end of June. It's the No Fluff Marketing Plan for therapists [00:08:30] who, and clinic, and studio owners who hate social media.

[00:08:33] And I'm gonna show you exactly where I think clinic owners should be focusing their time, their energy, and their effort over the next few months and perhaps years. I'm gonna tell you exactly next week what I'd do if Instagram disappeared tonight, and I'm gonna give you the KB emergency marketing plan.

[00:08:53] But rather than just listen to these podcasts and just consume a whole load more content that you'll probably [00:09:00] do nothing with, get yourself booked onto the ma- onto the masterclass. It's 90 minutes. It's with me. It's completely for free. You're gonna get a chance to ask me hot seat Q&A questions. So "I don't know, should I do this?

[00:09:11] Should I keep doing that? Should I start that? How would you do this if you were in my position?" You can bring any of those questions to this masterclass But marketing often is what we perceive to be our biggest gap and our biggest problem. And so this is why I'm dedicating all of June [00:09:30] to marketing and getting clearer and giving you the permission to stop some stuff, to scale what's actually working, and perhaps start some new stuff.

[00:09:42] If you've enjoyed this episode, have a fabulous rest of your day, whatever you are doing. And if that is posting on social media, perhaps today go and do something more useful with your time. Goodbye. 

[00:09:58] [00:10:00] Thanks for listening to the Treat Your Business podcast. Hit Subscribe now and keep joining me for bigger insights, bolder conversations to help you build a clinic and a life you [00:10:30] love.