Converting Clicks into Patients: Building a Better Weight Loss Practice

Clinic Marketing Group (CMG) - New York, NY - CMG, a digital marketing platform designed specifically for doctors specializing in weight loss, launches in three new U.S. markets and announces the publication of a new book written by CMG founder and CEO Tim McGarvey.

“Converting Clicks into Patients: Building a Better Weight Loss Practice,” is a guide detailing how to leverage digital technology and exploit social media platforms to grow a profitable medical and weight loss practice. Clinic Marketing Group (https://clinicmarketinggroup.com/) is a New York City-based digital marketing agency launching in key markets in the U.S. Designed specifically to find and direct new patients to independent physicians and clinics, CMG’s how-to guide details how their platform and systems work and offers practical tips for implementing those ideas into a medical practice.

“Converting Clicks into Patients: Building a Better Weight Loss Practice,” is a must-read for anyone who thinks they know about digital marketing generally, and social media for weight loss clinics specifically. A few chapters in, and most readers will find they still have a lot to learn.

Unique in the industry, CMG is a medical weight loss marketing agency, based upon seven years of testing all aspects of online marketing to identify the key strategies that drive measurable results in the industry. Not just in terms of internet traffic, but actual calls from new patients seeking help with weight loss. This is a step-by-step book, detailing how the program has been used to grow weight loss practices over the last ten years, which is being offered at no cost to qualifying practices and physicians.

Giving away trade secrets for free would seem counterintuitive, but according to founder Tim McGarvey, the approach makes perfect sense. “The truth is, most business owners, especially independent practitioners, don’t fully understand the big picture of online marketing and SEO,” he says. “They’ve been sold piecemeal services that result in superficial busy work rather than business growth. They are convinced online marketing doesn’t work.” The book is intended to change that false perception, he says. “This is our way of giving practices an opportunity to begin incorporating digital marketing methods into their practices right away, but also to realize how much time, work and expertise is involved if they want actual measurable results.”

McGarvey is betting that most independent physicians will read the guide and come to understand that their time is better spent treating and helping patients and running their practices, as opposed to trying to master the complexities of internet marketing and technology in their free time which is limited. With time and patience, however, using the book as a guide, doctors can make some improvements in their online marketing strategy.

“I have a number of clients who have come to me after they’ve spent many late night hours tinkering with SEO, social media accounts, Googling themselves to death, and they’ve never gotten new patients in the door.” McGarvey says the reason this is so common, is that there are too many SEO, marketing and off-the-shelf services that approach medical practices with promises of new business that don’t make good on the promise. “They sell low-cost SEO, social media or listing services-whatever. These seem like they will be good for the practice, but it ends up being too little, too late. It doesn’t bring in new patients,” he states. McGarvey claims that what physicians really need is an overall, robust plan that is goal-oriented with results that can be tracked. So, that’s what CMG developed, and is shared in the book.

CMG shifts the business model commonly used by independent physicians and clinics. By offering medical weight loss services, practices achieve stability and profitability through a steady flow of new patient calls. These are people pre-qualified, already seeking help with weight loss who represent out of pocket income and monthly repeat visits. The strategy works for any type of medical practice being supervised by a licensed physician, whether the main area of expertise is weight loss or other specialities. He says, “Without a steady influx of new patients, a practice isn’t sustainable and won’t be around long enough to help people achieve better health. This is a great way to build a solid foundation.” As an added benefit, it is a good way to start a patient doctor relationship, because being overweight can lead to other serious conditions that doctors can work to prevent.

CMG team builds and codes platforms and plugs them into an expansive network of accounts that features great content. This drives a reliable stream of new patient phone calls to subscribing member practices who are featured on the platform and in the content. Subscribing practices are given strong online promotion, support for building a great reputation online, and additional marketing help as needed, including the collection of five star reviews, cross promotion on social media platforms, video marketing, even help with Client Management Systems (CMS) and staff training. All of it works together to trigger calls from new patients and turn them into patient visits.

According to a physician that began working with CMG seven years ago, “I can’t think of a better way to spend my time as a physician, helping people deal with their issue of being overweight. Whether they recognize it or not, this should be their number one health concern, because it can lead to more serious issues down the road.” Says another CMG client, “Joining the platform didn’t just change my practice, it helped me excel as a physician. When new patients arrive, they have the sense that they already know me, and they trust me. I gained the freedom to spend less time on administrative busy work, and more time helping patients.”

The flow of new patients and the increase of income it represents, is what inspired the launch of CMG in the first place. CMG founder McGarvey says, “Seeing a struggling, invisible medical practice transform into a bustling clinic-one that is well-known and respected in the community-that’s what I’m about. It’s why the book exists, to help physicians build a practice they can be proud of.”