Hey Fabulous Health Professionals,

Gearing up for the Private Practice Marketing training coming up on March 30 (it’s free and online by the way – grab your spot here), I wanted to talk this week about measuring what matters when it comes to marketing.

I think especially as you start out in private practice and find our footing, it can be easy to get caught up in measuring results that might “feel good” but actually provide us with little tangible benefit.

These are the vanity metrics.

For example, how many likes does your Facebook page have? Unless you know that focusing on likes will get you more clients (and the kind of clients you want), trying to get more likes on Facebook is an exercise in vanity.

To figure out the metrics that matter, you need to ask yourself what you’re actually trying to achieve through your marketing efforts – and to make the distinction between marketing and actually making a sale (or getting a new client). There’s a different process for each and you need to be clear on what the process looks like in your business.

Another example of a vanity metric is the amount of visitors to your website. This number is totally meaningless unless you also take into account what happens once people land on your page. What are they doing? Are they taking the action you want them to take once they find you?

The same applies to real world marketing, building relationships and making connections. Putting yourself out there is just the first step – but are you measuring what happens in the aftermath, and whether it’s getting you closer to what you actually want? A lot of people don’t think this process through and then… that’s where the wheels fall off.

Jo, you’re so vain

I have plenty of experience in measuring the vanity stuff instead of the important stuff. Last year, on my website, I offered a printable graphic that brought over 300 people onto my list within a couple of weeks. This was huge for me and that number felt good – really good.

The problem was, the people who opted in for this freebie weren’t my ideal clients, and they weren’t engaging with anything I shared with them in the following weeks. Suddenly 300 wasn’t feeling so good.

I had to take the time to ask myself what sort of people I wanted to attract and share my message with, and what sort of information they needed. So I changed it up and started offering bi-monthly free online trainings for clinicians in private practice, and while the number of people who come to those trainings are smaller, they are the people I want to be connecting with.

And it’s working. My people are more engaged with me than ever.

It’s a classic message of quality over quantity. 

Where could you pursue higher quality in your own marketing?

How might you refine your process so you can get back to doing more of the work you love, the way you love to do it?

Let’s chat about this further – save your spot here for the free training on how to measure what’s working (and address what’s not) in your own private practice. 

– Jo