Once you establish a strong functional medicine marketing funnel, you’ll start to see a steady stream of leads arriving in your inbox. It’s the first step to helping your practice grow to the next level.
Most often, people will find your practice through search and social, where you’ll have an active presence thanks to Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and an active content marketing strategy. They’ll click through to a polished landing page on your website, where you’ll educate them about what functional medicine is, and all the different ways you can help. They’ll reach out to you and either schedule a free consultation or request a free download. Just like that, you’ve got a lead.
That means you’re going to have tons of business, right?
Maybe! Abundant leads are a very exciting part of the growth process, but truthfully, it all depends on whether or not you can close them. After all, numbers are only meaningful if they follow through to a sale. You can develop the best website traffic, the highest social engagement, and the longest list of leads, but they’re not going to help you unless you can drive conversions.
So how can we close the gap and ensure functional medicine marketing leads to sales?
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Converting functional medicine marketing leads
One of the most important things to remember in health marketing is that your business might not be the only business that prospective patients are considering. They’re looking to solve a problem related to their health, which means they’re experiencing a certain level of discomfort, which in turn leads to a sense of urgency. They’re looking for answers, and they’re looking for them now. The first functional medicine practice to give them the information they need is likely to convert.
You can’t expect your leads to sit still, so you need to make time a priority. As internet entrepreneur Neil Patel says, “first to call is first to close.” According to Xant, a revenue acceleration company based in Utah, 50% of leads end up choosing the company that reaches out first. There are a few reasons for this: the fact that your practice comes across as being organized and professional, the perception that you have answers and are eager to help, and the fact that you make it easy.
In this respect, automation can be your friend. Once someone hits “submit” on a request for a consultation or phone call, send an automated email thanking them for their request, providing a link where they can get more information, and letting them know a realistic timeframe.
Time really is of the essence. Five minutes is better than 30 minutes, which is better than an hour, which is better than a day. The earlier your respond, the better your chance of converting a new lead you’ve received through your functional medicine marketing strategy.
Read more: Is marketing the new sales?
Try, and try again, to close functional medicine sales
The internet is theoretically endless, and every page is fighting for attention. That means there are distractions are every turn. People have short attention spans, which means they move on quickly. Chances are, they’re not sitting by the phone and waiting for your sales call.
We assume you’ve heard the famous quote: “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” It’s believed to have originated in 1840, but it’s as relevant today as it was then. Don’t stop after just one or two emails or calls. Be polite, and don’t hound your prospective patients, but remember a little bit of persistence at this stage shows that you’re willing to go to the extra mile for them.
Need help refining your strategy? Schedule a free consultation.
Making sure functional medicine marketing and sales match
Digital functional medicine marketing requires a constant flow of feedback, not just from between your practice and its patients, but between your marketing and sales strategies. If something isn’t working, ask why! Are you attracting the right type of leads? Are your messages getting mixed? Do you need to bolster the educational part of your process to help people understand what you offer? Is your price point too high? Is there a weakness in the funnel, like a broken link?
Effective functional medicine marketing strategies aren’t “set and forget.” You need to check in constantly to adapt and modify things as best practices change, you should run A/B tests to see what’s going to be most effective in your area for your desired clientele, and you should think critically about how things are working and why to ensure your process is optimized.
If you can’t figure it out, go right back to basics. Who is your ideal client? What do they need? Who are your leads? Do they match your ideal client profile? If not, why did they reach out? Once you have answers to these questions, you’ll be able to ensure both your functional medicine marketing strategy and your sales process address the right pain points to convert the right leads. It’s important to be consistent across all your patient interactions so you can start building trust.
Read more: Anatomy of a high-converting landing page.
Finding your functional medicine marketing niche
Every functional medicine business has a unique value proposition. It comes with the territory: by nature, you’re an out-of-the-box thinker. That means some aspects of your business might be better suited to driving sales through a functional medicine marketing strategy than others.
For example, you might have an integrative cardiology program you can use to deliver results for people with heart problems, which allows you to focus your efforts on a really narrow niche. You might have a 12-week anxiety program, designed to help people reset their mental health through functional medicine practices, which allows you to hone in on a highly-targeted market. Perhaps you specialize in helping people with autoimmune conditions, or migraines, or obesity. Great! Use that to your advantage and make it the focus of your functional medicine marketing and sales process.
The best thing about finding a niche is that it allows you to research your competitors, find out what they’re doing, and think of ways you can do it differently or better. It reduces the competition, which means you’re likely to see a return on investment much sooner than you would otherwise.
Finding a niche is a great way to streamline your funnel, align your messaging, and fine-tune your process. Once you’ve nailed it on one aspect of your business, you can build up to your other programs and speciality areas, to ensure you’re doing it in the most effective way possible.
Read more: Why having a mission statement matters.
Helping your functional medicine practice grow
If you’re new to the world of sales funnels, you’re rebranding, or you’re serious about wanting to grow your business, you may benefit from hiring a digital marketing agency. They’ll be able to conduct research on your behalf, advise you about the best way forward, and build all the pages you’ll need to refine your funnel. They’ll also be able to provide training to ensure you’re ready to receive sales calls and you know exactly what to say to get convert new patients for your practice.
Ready to get started? Schedule a free consultation.
