Five tips for those who do not want to play chess with pigeons
1. Company leaders and owners who are not (that) familiar with online marketing are certainly not in an easy position if they want to reach their clients and patients in the online space! They need to be present, they need to deliver results in a playground where they may not necessarily know the rules of the game, and without background knowledge, they can indeed run into „experts” who may do more harm than good.
2. Unfortunately, over the past 19 years, we have not once „rescued” partners from the clutches of colleagues who shone with big numbers but without real results, or who worked unethically for multiple competitors at the same time, or who simply offered poor quality at astonishingly high prices.
3. My current post was inspired by an event a few days ago. One of my very dear private practice partners and their doctors received a similar inquiry through their social channels (ctrC – ctrV):
“4. “Hi, I’m writing because I help doctors with customer acquisition through online advertising, and I noticed that you are not advertising on Facebook, which means you might be missing out on significant revenue. If you’re interested in how I could help, I look forward to your response. 🙂 5. Regards: XY”
6. I replied with interest (a good scholar learns until death, perhaps there is something that others can do better!), and we scheduled a time for a phone discussion.
7. In the conversation, the „colleague” bled out in two steps. I share my experiences with you so that if you encounter something similar, your warning lights can turn on:
8. Show me your cards, and I’ll tell you who you are!
9. Instead of an introduction, XY asked for such internal information in the opening of the conversation, such as where we communicate, how much we spend, what our goals are, etc.
10. Before I would have disclosed the internal information (no-no), I asked back if he had experience in the healthcare field, because a different marketing strategy is required for a winery, another for a cosmetic business, and yet another for a private healthcare company, and if I want to be very strict, then in the healthcare field, the target group can be reached completely differently in gynecology and, say, 11. orthopedics.. 12. The patients' needs, their doctor selection habits, and their booking methods are simply different, which is not a problem if at least they are familiar with it by hearsay.
13. Before we could really dive into professional questions, it turned out that the colleague had two clients operating in the healthcare field, one of which was a competitor in orthopedics(!)
14. At this point in our conversation – even if I had still been inclined to learn about the „sure solution” – it ended here.
15. Why is it a problem if your consultant, your online marketing expert works in the same competitive field?
16. In a PPC campaign or search engine optimization, our goal is to reach our relevant target group as cheaply as possible, whom we convert into leads (customers, clients, patients) by directing them to our online platform, and all this while trying to outpace our competitors. If your marketer is going to target the same audience, keywords, and area (e.g.: 17. orthopedics), who will the targeting favor? Who will be prioritized? In the case of a PPC campaign, the two campaigns will compete with each other, so both clients will actually start or continue their campaigns from a negative position, which the colleague who set up the campaign will likely hide from the untrained eye.18. The conversation actually ended here. Even if I had still been inclined to continue playing the interested client candidate who does not advertise on the "sure channel and intentionally gives up potential leads" (where I had previously tested the effectiveness and only very few valuable leads came in, and at significantly higher costs!), I indicated that I consider it unethical to lead the online communication of those working in the same competitive field, as in a competitive situation, which one of them will (and why??) be put in a competitive position?.
19. To avoid situations like the above, I have put together a few tips – without claiming completeness – for the Marketing Secrets blog for those who are present in the online space but may not understand this area that well.
I have brought a few tips to avoid similar situations as the above – without claiming completeness, for the Marketing Secrets blog for those who are present in the online space but may not understand this area as well.
Five tips for those who do not want to play chess with pigeons
1. Be careful with self-proclaimed online marketing experts! Instead of cold calls, ask for professional recommendations!
A decent PPC or online marketing professional will not initiate „cold” outreach via Facebook message, and most likely will not use informal language with their prospective client.
„Instead of ”cold call" inquiries, ask for recommendations from acquaintances you know work with an online marketing expert and have a successful business!
2. References, focusing on results
If you already have a candidate, look them up, ask for references, and check them! Don't spare the time! You can lose much more with a hasty, bad decision than by researching your future consultant/marketer! When it comes to references, you can also inquire about results: where they started and where they ended up, which project they are most proud of, etc.
3. NEVER START with those who also work for your competitor!
I already wrote about this above, but I assume you wouldn't be happy if you were competing against yourself in a PPC campaign or SEO process. You can also protect yourself with a contract, you can ask for exclusivity, although I think this is basic, you don't even need to ask for it with us...
4. Focus on the essentials, don't let yourself be diverted from what truly provides value to you!
We also deal with communication, so we know how to twist words quite well, and unfortunately, there are those who take advantage of this! We can always show numbers that look good. For example, I once had a client whose page was optimized at a very high cost by colleague XY for a keyword combination that, although it reached the first position (they even gave a beautiful presentation about it!), no one was searching for that specific term, so in reality, the marketer's work was a waste of money, and our Partner did not understand why their appointment chair was empty despite such beautiful results.
Beware of vague statements, and ask for precise data, numbers, information, and strive to discuss results that represent value for you. For example: how many bookings were there this month, how many were there last month, etc. Everything else is unnecessary bullshit.
5. If you don't understand online marketing, ask for a „second opinion,” hire an external consultant!
As patients, we, laypeople, know that we have the option to turn to someone else, and if there is no chemistry, or we are uncertain about a particular specialist, we dare to consult another expert! This option is always available to you too! And while it will cost money, it would still be less than the loss from a poorly structured campaign.
Kata her further articles on the marketing secrets blog here!
