T04 - Spaghetti Throwing Marketing is Over!

The COVID-19 pandemic brought stress, loss and uncertainly to our practices. However, the crisis also created an opportunity-- an opportunity to learn as managers and leaders had no choice but to take a deep dive into every aspect of their practice. For many physical therapists in private practice, pre-COVID, marketing was the 'side-kick component' of running their business. The areas of operations, payment and human resources revolved around strategy, objectives and goals whereas marketing was the more abstract, creative part of running a practice. But COVID-19 changed this. Decreases in new patients by up to 80% in some areas meant that practices realized that to survive marketing needed to become a priority. Practices couldn’t afford to simply, 'throw spaghetti against the wall' and see which idea worked. COVID-19 is a wake up call for marketing. Every practice needs to be strategic and disciplined when it comes to marketing their practice. This presentation will guide participants through developing a marketing a plan specifically for their practice that includes measuring the return on their investment of time and money. A multi-pronged approach will be presented that includes not only traditional forms of marketing, but the value of engagement and communication with staff, patients, referral sources and the community as a whole.