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Marketing for Doctors: How to Make Content Marketing Work For You

Chances are you’ve landed on this page because you’ve either been following along on social media, or you’ve typed something along these lines into Google: 

“Marketing for doctors”

“How to find patients online”

“How to grow your practice online”

Either way, you’re in good hands, friend!

As a long-time clinician and business owner, I help practitioners get transformative results for their patients, while also building a profitable practice for themselves. 

And a big part of being profitable is… you guessed it – marketing! 

Earlier this month, I wrote about the importance of choosing a niche to become known as a true expert in your area of choice, and today I’m going to talk about how to make content marketing work for you.

We’re going to focus on the concept of “content stretching” – creating one single piece of content and finding multiple ways to use it in order to get the most out of your marketing efforts. 

Marketing For Doctors: Content Stretching 101

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “work smarter, not harder”, right? 

Well, “content stretching” is a perfect example of this. 

Also known as “content repurposing”, content stretching involves extracting multiple pieces of marketing content from one original source.  

For example, let’s say you create a video on how to use nutrition to balance hormones. This is considered your “pillar” content. Then, you can “stretch” that content by turning it into a blog post + 4 social media posts!

Get the idea? 

Marketing For Doctors: What Makes Content Stretching So Great?

As health professionals, we have a natural tendency to geek out on new science & get excited about sharing everything we’re learning. And sometimes that’s great! 

But the reality is that creating content is time consuming, and you’ve got to be strategic if you’re going to run a profitable practice. 

So, here’s what I want you to do.

Next time you block out some time to think through your marketing strategy, start by taking inventory of what you’ve already created!

Sift through any content you already have – videos, podcast episodes, and/or blog posts. 

Choose one that has performed well for you, and ask yourself how it can be repackaged for use on:

  • Pinterest
  • Facebook & Instagram
  • Your Email List

Posting the topic across several marketing channels means more eyeballs on your message, and because you’ve already done the research and thinking on that topic, it’s going to take less time 👏 

Pro Tip: Look at the metrics on each platform to see which content has performed the best 💯 And if you have an administrative helper, this would be a perfect task to outsource.

Marketing For Doctors: Content Stretching Ideas

When it comes to stretching your content, just as we did in the example above, I usually suggest picking a longer-form piece of content such as a podcast, video, or blog post to start with, and extracting shorter pieces like emails & social media posts. 

However, if you have some social media posts that performed really well, use those as “blog starters” or “newsletter starters”. 

Here are some more ideas to get you thinking strategically about your content: 

1. Patient Success Stories

You know those great testimonials you’ve worked so hard to collect? 

How about expanding your most powerful ones into patient success stories? This is a great way to showcase the transformation that is possible when working with you!

Simply include the problem each person came to you with, what the treatment looked like, and the amazing results they experienced thanks to your help. 

Once you’ve put that success story together, stretch it by sharing it in the following ways:

  • A “results” page on your website
  • A social media post on each of your accounts
  • An email to your list

2. YouTube Videos

If you’re like most people, talking comes a little easier than writing!

Which is why many practitioners love to do YouTube videos. 

Consider having someone transcribe your videos into writing. This transcription can be easily converted into a blog post, which can then turn into a few social media posts. 

Pro Tip: There are companies that offer transcriptions at a pretty affordable price, but most of them use Artificial Intelligence (robots) to create them, so you’ll still need to block out time to “clean up” the transcription. One of our favorites is Descript. Give it a try and see what you think!

3. A Digital Quiz

What does your audience come to you for help with? Think about how you can use this information and turn it into an online quiz that helps your audience solve a problem. 

For instance, your quiz might help someone discover the best home remedy based on their symptoms. To get the results, the reader enters their email address, which makes this a fun way to grow your email list!

You can use a quiz-building platform like Interact to make the process super easy. Now you’re probably thinking:

“Okay Ronda, that sounds fun, but how is this related to content stretching?”

So glad you asked!

Part of the quiz creation process is writing out a results page for each type of result that a patient could get. 

So, let’s take our example of a quiz on “best home remedies”. 

Based on the user’s answers, they could get one of four results: 

  • Epsom Salt Detox Bath
  • Castor Oil Pack 
  • Bone Broth Regimen 
  • Fenugreek Tea 

You’ll create an informative results page for each possible outcome, explaining the benefits & how to use this remedy at home to heal. That content can be ‘stretched out’ and leveraged even further.

Each results page can easily be turned into a blog post on each one of your results + 2 social media posts. 

That equals out to:

(1) evergreen (ongoing) quiz to capture leads 

(4) blogs to boost your rankings on Google

(8) social media posts to engage your audience 

All from a single source! 

Wahoo – I get soooo excited about this stuff!

Pro Tip: If you have the marketing budget, consider hiring a copywriter to create the quiz for you, and then stretch it yourself to get the most bang for your buck 🔥

4. Blogs

We’ve chatted about this one already, so you’ve got the idea.

If you love writing blogs, all the power to you, but if not, this is also a perfect place to hire a copywriter. 

Once you receive the professionally written blog back from a copywriter, post it to your blog page and stretch that content into a newsletter + two or more social media posts! Or have your assistant do the stretching. 

Working smarter, not harder! That’s the name of the game, here. 🙂

5. Podcasts

Podcasts might sound intimidating… especially if they’re totally foreign to you. But if you’re willing to get outside your comfort zone, podcasts are a powerful tool for growing your practice. 

This might be a great option for you if the idea of interviewing people excites you! 

Plus, it’s fairly easy to repurpose podcasts. Once you’ve recorded an episode, you can simply post the recording on your blog and share interesting excerpts on social media. 

But Wait – What Content Should You Repurpose?

Moving forward, build this new concept into your overall content strategy so that you’re always getting the most out of your marketing efforts.  

But, in terms of your existing content, start with your most popular content!

  • What have people responded the most to? 
  • Which posts have received the most engagement? 

If it performed well on one marketing channel, chances are it will perform well across the board. 

Work Smarter, Not Harder!

As doctors & healthcare professionals we have a tendency to stretch ourselves thin (see what I did there? ;)). 

But there are plenty of ways to maximize our assets – our time, money, and skills.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed trying to figure out your content marketing, our Clinical Catalyst platform can help. 

Each month, we write high-quality blog posts & emails on your behalf so that your audience stays engaged while you get to focus on serving your patients. 

You can read all about it on our website!

Ronda Nelson

Hi, I’m Ronda Nelson and I help wellness practitioners grow thriving, profitable practices that allow them to work with ease, live a life they love and make an income they can be proud of.
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