If you're new here, welcome! I'm glad you joined us.

Today I want to deconstruct marketing for you and put it in the simplest terms. To help me do that, I'll use a car metaphor.

I don't know much about cars, but I do know that they need an engine and fuel to run. And so does your practice. So this is where we'll start.

Many clients I work with often feel surprised and dismayed at marketing being a never-ending activity. Typically, when clients come to me they can be put into two categories:

1. The ones who haven't done much marketing
2. The ones who tried marketing and found it ineffective

When we begin our work together, we start from building a foundation. In other words, we start building their marketing "engine". Both client categories usually miss this part.

To build an engine, we need to first understand what the practice is about, what it wants to be known for, and how best to communicate its value to the outside world. This work includes: branding, marketing analysis, positioning, commercial strategy, and a basic marketing funnel to attract clients.

By the time the engine is built, a practice is ready to attract, convert and receive its best-fit patients without much resource and financial waste. But that's not the end of marketing.

And here's where things get confusing because an engine can't move a car by itself, even if it's the most pristine piece of machinery. To keep going you need fuel, consistent marketing activity.

Once you have the foundation, you need to generate and maintain a client pipeline. For that, you need to keep networking, posting content, optimizing your online presence, etc. But this work must come after the engine is built.

One of the reasons that my clients from the second category become disappointed with marketing is because they keep pouring fuel on a broken engine. When there's no clear understanding of what your practice is about, why it should be chosen or referred to, marketing activities turn into resource leakage. Just like a broken car.

So here's the simplest way to think about marketing your practice:

1. ​Build the engine​
2. Keep pouring fuel into your car

Let me know if you liked this analogy. Or, if you found it completely ridiculous. Either way, I'd like to hear from you.

See you next week,

Avivit