We’re almost at the end of the year, and there’s no better way to usher in the decade by setting your dietitian business up for more success. It’s the perfect time to challenge yourself and channel the motivation into actionable ways to grow your dietetic practice.
Would you believe it if we told you more than 50% of your business success depends on sales and marketing strategies? It is established that sales and marketing strategies are essential for the growth of any business. But due to very little knowledge in the area, dietitians and nutritionists are often confused. With a slight difference, dietitians and nutritionists are experts in nutrition and food and advise clients on how and what to eat to gain and lose weight. Dietitians work in many settings including personal clinics, hospitals, nursing homes, cafeterias, and for state and local governments.
To pursue a dietitian's career, pupils usually need at least a bachelor’s degree. And are also advised to have supervised training through an internship program with an authenticated certificate or license to work in the industry. Planning and marketing your skills is not just for independent dietitians, even if you’re working at the local hospital you need to market your skills. Before getting started on the marketing tips to grow your dietetic practice let’s tackle the challenges a dietitian will encounter.
Difficult Clients
If a client reaches out to you, they’re already ready to make the change. They’re expecting you to say things like “don’t do emotional eating” and “eat less sugar” but what they might not be prepared for is exactly what advice like that means in practice. Many clients have a hard time accepting the switch is important, change is important. When the dietitian is suggested as mandatory for the client, clients tend to have no faith in the recommended diet plan and they’re adamant about the change. Giving dietitians a hard time.
Earnings
It’s important to be sufficient with your business growth without worrying about the amount of your paycheck. Regrettably, dietitian jobs don’t pay well. Dietitians' salaries vary based on such criteria as skills, experience, location, and sometimes even gender. Are you a dietitian who is reading this, would you like to pause for a moment and ask yourself if you have been in any of the below-mentioned scenarios:
● An under-appreciated employee at a pharmaceutical company.
● A moonlighting salesperson at a gym.
● A well knowledgeable person at a hospital whose job is to only follow orders dished out by doctors.
If reading one or all of these made your body squirm, then the way to go! You’re a skilled dietitian with understanding and respect for your profession. And now as promised to you, here we will look at various marketing tips to grow your dietetic practice.
List Your Business on Professional Directories
There are several ways for your clients to find your dietetic business. One of the reliable and traditional ways is online professional directories. Professional directories not only increase your online presence, but they’re also a great way to connect with qualified leads. With directories like SuperPages, HealthProfs, and Zocdoc you can build your profile and list your whole business details including services, specialty, location, and payment structure.
Invest in Client Service and Relationship
More than your service, your behavior will make your patients remember you. A personalized reminder before the appointment or sending some affectionate greeting after the visit asking them if they’ve any doubts or queries. Use Picktime, an online patient appointment scheduling software, designed to make your life stress free by handling your patients and staff as well. Using Picktime, allocate particular services to designated staff, if your business has more than one working team. Picktime provides a personalized booking for your business to go with your brand theme. Picktime lets you send automated messages to your clients when any appointment is booked even if at more than one location. Get your website to work as a booking engine with Picktime.
Sign up for Picktime today and avail the exciting offers and discounts. Another simple tip to maintain the relationship with your patients is to register them for a newsletter with useful information, birthday wishes, and the latest news updates. This way not only your bond will improve with your patients, but they’ll also recommend you to other people.
Be Online!
There’s no marketing without online marketing and social media anymore. If you haven’t planned it yet, now is the right time to start promoting your dietetic practice online. Everyone is highly searching for guidance online, so why not give information on some high-quality services?
Build a trustable and easy-to-use website, where your clients can quickly find the information they need or your contact/ support details. It’s not sufficient only to simply be present online. Build a tried and trusted robust brand. Get known by your public, seek help from SEO, and use exciting content, keywords, video marketing, and professional help to grow your dietetic practice. Social media is an easy and effective way to understand your patient. Regardless of Instagram, LinkedIn, or any other platform you use, create an institutional page for your dietetic practice. Always try to maintain a bar of excellent services for your patients.
Know Your Audience and Your Niche
When it comes to running a successful dietetic practice, you have to decide on your niche. Niche is not only about the expertise that you’re going to work in - food allergy, diabetes, digestive health, or weight loss. More broadly a niche can be applied to the group and age of people that you’re interested in serving. Other than your expertise, a niche helps you understand your audience.
Plan Your Marketing Strategies About Them, Not You
This marketing tip to grow your dietetic practice is pretty basic but let’s start over. What’s the one question that pops into your head when you start thinking about being an entrepreneur? What are the challenges that my potential clients are facing and how can I resolve those, right or wrong?
When it comes to marketing make sure to ask this question yourself and then plan accordingly.
● Find people in your target market and research - What struggles are they facing in their lives?
● Who else are they following? What sort of topics are they looking forward to?
● Research your competitors.
● Use social media polls to discuss with your audience.
To gain traction in so much competition, you need to know your market and focus on making content that specifically targets that audience.
There you have it - 5 proven marketing tips to grow your dietetic practice. When you desire to play to your brand’s strengths, give your audience the content they desire. Marketing does take time and effort but the effort pays off. Always.