The Biggest Mistake Clinics Make With Their Marketing (And How to Fix It)

Marketing can be one of the most powerful growth levers in your clinic. But it can also be one of the biggest money drains if you're not doing it right.

One of the most common mistakes we see clinic owners make? Marketing to the wrong people — or more accurately, marketing the wrong message to the right people.

Let me explain.

Marketing Misfires: Why Ads Often Don’t Work

Clinic owners often come to us saying things like:

“I want more ACL rehab clients. Can I run Google or Facebook ads for that?”

Now, it’s a great intention — but the execution needs work.

Think about the journey of someone who’s had an ACL reconstruction. Typically, after surgery, they’ll receive a recommendation from their surgeon on which therapist or clinic to visit for rehab. That’s trust in action.

So, if you’re running ads hoping to intercept that person before they see their surgeon or before they follow their recommendation… it’s already too late. They’re not actively Googling “ACL physio near me.” The decision has already been made via referral.

This doesn’t mean marketing is hopeless for these clients. But it does mean that paid ads may not be the best way to reach them, especially when those ads lack trust and context.

Instead, you may want to focus on organic brand-building, fostering referrer relationships, or community partnerships.

A Better Example: Meeting Your Clients Where They Are

Let me share a story from two speech pathology clinics we worked with recently. Both were trying to grow the telehealth side of their clinics using Google Ads.

But here’s the problem: Their ideal clients didn’t want telehealth.

Parents didn’t believe their kids could stay focused on a screen. They thought in-person therapy was the only option that would work.

So what happened when these clinics ran telehealth ads?

Crickets.

Their audience was looking over here while their marketing was shouting over there.

Step One: Understand the Real Problem

We dug deeper. Through a market survey and some clever insights, we discovered:

• Parents were Googling speech therapy for kids, not telehealth

• They believed in-person therapy was more effective

• Their biggest concern about telehealth was screen focus and attention

Armed with that knowledge, we made a simple but powerful shift.

We stopped selling telehealth.

Instead, we ran Google ads focused on the problem — speech and communication delays — not the mode of delivery.

Once a parent clicked the ad and filled out a form, we had a structured follow-up process. That’s where we introduced telehealth, but in a way that made sense to the parent and addressed their concerns head-on.

One of the biggest objections?

“My child won’t focus on a screen.”

This one hit me on a flight once when a crying child instantly calmed down as soon as they were handed an iPad.

Let’s be honest — when are kids most focused? When they’re on a screen.

We reframed the conversation and showed parents that, in the right setting (quiet room, no distractions), children often focus better during telehealth sessions. Plus, in many cases, telehealth appointments were led by the most experienced therapists — another added bonus.

We even offered a 100% money-back guarantee on the first session to reduce risk.

The Result?

More leads. Better conversions. Happy clients. And most importantly — children getting the help they needed.

What This Means For You

So let me ask you:

• Do you have as many new clients as you'd like?

• Are your ads generating the right kind of leads?

• Are you solving problems your audience is actually aware of?

Here’s a little exercise to help:

1. Who are your ideal clients?

2. What problems are they aware of?

3. What do they think the solution is?

4. How can you position your offer to align with that belief first?

5. Where are they looking — and how can you meet them there?

Too often in health care, we expect people to come up to our level of understanding. But the reality is, we need to meet people where they are, speak their language, and solve the problem they think they have — then educate them on the rest.