Creating Headlines to Attract the Right Patient

You're listening to Podiatry Marketing, conversations on building a successful podiatry practice with Tyson Franklin and Jim McDannald.

Welcome back to Podiatry Marketing Podcast. I'm Jim McDannald, your host along with Tyson Franklin. Tyson, how are things going today?

Oh, fantastic. Jim, how have you been going over in oh, up. Up and across in Canada.

No. Things are good here in Canada. Yeah. It's and I guess we're getting to the the middle to end of summertime, so now things are good just, know, back to school here in Canada with the kids. So no complaints whatsoever.

Somebody said to me once, there's no point complaining because if you do complain, 50% of people don't care and the other 50% are happy. Happy that you've got complaints as well.

Because

everyone everyone sort of thinks that everybody else is its grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and that nobody else has problems or concerns. So I I just sort of think, you know, whatever's going on in your life, no matter what's happening, there's somebody else who was probably doing it worse, so don't complain.

Yeah. I mean, there's always stuff you can complain about. Right? But I've got my health, my family's healthy, and I just spent the summer back with my parents for a bit. So, know, life is good and you try to keep on the sunny side of things as much as you can.

I think so. And that's why we do this podcast is to when people listen to us, not only to learn some marketing stuff, but hopefully, we we cheer them up along the way to put a bit of a smile on their face.

Oh, that's right. We do a mark a podiatry marketing podcast.

That's it. We do. That's why we're here. I know sometimes we forget we're actually recording. We just go off on a tangent.

Yeah. So so speaking of that, what are we gonna be talking about today, Tyson?

So today's topic is is something that I've done a a workshop a couple of times. I do it for a dental group. I've done it for a podiatry organization. So after anyone hears us today, if they sort of go, oh, I'd love to hear the whole workshop, just reach out to me, and I can come in and talk to your group. So we're gonna talk about creating headlines to attract the right podiatry patients, which is really, really important.

No. That is hugely important. I think, you know, as as someone who does a lot of writing myself, maybe I didn't realize it as much while I was in practice, but, you know, the a killer headline, a subject line of an email, or just the headline, you know, the the the wording that's put onto your website can really, you know, position a potential patient to to trust you, and it gives you an opportunity to make an impression on somebody. So I'm really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on how to create and write great headlines.

Well, the part that's in a lot of people don't realize is one wrong word can attract the wrong patient. And to give a perfect example, it could be the difference between the word premium or the word budget. So you might have a headline that says, oh, five premium ways to yeah. Such and such. We might go, oh, yeah.

Five budget tips or five premium tips. Now depending on how you use that word, there's gonna be certain patients out there. And when they hear the word premium, they go, yes. That that's definitely me. I always like a premium service.

Or if somebody hears the word budget, they're going, yeah, that's for me because I'm price conscious. So it's really important to sort of understand that the patient is actually making a buying decision sometimes basically on the words that you use. And a good headline can help a patient could actually work out for a patient if they're a good fit for your business or not.

Yeah. We've talked about that a little bit in the past. Right? Kind of finding those right fit patients for your practice. And like you said, word selection is hugely important there.

Are you gonna find somebody that's like, you know, budget the words like budget and cheap will

kind of

attract a certain type of clientele. And premium, like high quality, different things like that will definitely attract a different type of person to your practice. So it's all kind of what seems like a small word choice can have a huge impact on the type of, you know, patients that come to your practice.

It has a massive thing. And they reckon that five times more people will read the headline without even reading the body of the text. So they'll they'll read the headline. They may even read just the first paragraph, and they've already made the decision that this is probably the place I wanna go to. So putting the wrong word in the headline can really but the whole idea is to attract and repel people really, really quick and to and and also it takes it sort of it makes them realize that, yeah, this is or is not the place that I wanna go to.

Yeah. It helps them, like, self select. Right? Like, they're looking when people are jumping onto a new website or new web page about a a clinic or a practice, they're trying to see whether or not that's the right place for them. And if you have the right messaging with the right wording and the right word selection, then, you know, it it's powerful for attracting people.

And like you also said, though, it can be powerful for kind of not repelling, but just, like, people realize that that's not the right place for them. They'd rather not, go to a place that is about budget or cheap or, or maybe they just that that's kind of what they're looking for. So there's like you said, that first impression will really kind of like it can be almost a yay or nay without them having to read any bit anything more on your website or on that web page.

Yeah. And like you said before, it's I mean, people think of headlines. It's think of all the areas where you you could be using headlines. So whether, like you said, it's a blog, could be a a social media post, could be the subject line in the email. I mentioned to you off air that the amount of times I will close an email and not even read it, or I will read an email based on how good that that subject line is.

And I've noticed that myself when I do my email newsletters. The the headline of the newsletter has made a huge difference to the amount of so certain newsletters that are that are opened compared to ones that aren't. Because I could put a headline that means a lot to me, but when you read it, if it doesn't mean anything, go, yeah. Just I'll bypass it. I remember a newsletter we did with our patients, and one of them, the most popular newsletter we did, the headline was bunions and onions.

Why? I don't know, but it must have just been people saw that and then went, that is interesting. Bunions and onions. And we were talking about bunions, of course, was one of the main articles, but we also had an onion recipe. This recipe that had a lot of onions in it.

But it was surprising how many people opened up. And when I had patients come through and I said to them, oh, did you see our email? They went, bunions and onions. Yeah. Saw that one.

It it sort of stood out. And even though we didn't use catchy words or anything in there, there was just, like, crazy sort of things that you would actually put together. It just works. So that's why I think it's just really important for people to realize headlines aren't just in your your advertising, your marketing. It's anywhere where you're communicating with a with a patient.

You can use a a good or a catchier headline to get their attention.

Yeah. I think we get so much so many emails these days. Right? If something doesn't look either unique like bunions and onions or something that, you know, has a clear benefit for us to open it and kind of explore further. I think sometimes some people do their own marketing.

Right? They're trying to get this exercise in headlines is understanding what the patient's needs are. And then, like you said, either creating some awareness through some creative ways of writing, with some creative headlines or really focusing on the benefits, the types of services, in a unique way. Right? It's not just, like, you know, make appointment at, Tyson Franklin Podiatry or, you know, it those things are just gonna get, you know, either deleted at best, and at worst, you're gonna be reported for maybe spamming people because they're just like that people don't wanna see that in their inbox.

And even if they had, you know, opted in to receive your newsletter, if it's too overtly sales oriented, it's gonna turn people off.

Yeah. And there's certain words that I know that my email filter will grab hold of. If they you put the word rich in there or there's there's certain keywords. I was gonna say something else. If it's certain and not that we would put that in an email normally, but somebody just gotta be careful of certain words you think are safe words that are actually being flagged that, no, they are normally attached to spam.

So if you're finding you're talking to patients, you're going, no. I didn't get your email. Try and find out, yeah, are they going to the to the junk mail, and is it being is it sort of being tagged that way? But what I thought would be interesting is have a bit of fun with sort of explaining the structure of how headlines work in certain keywords, and I've written down a few here that are used. And people, when they hear some of these, will go, ah, yes.

I've seen these seen these things used before, and then it'll actually make sense. So first one I wanna say is numbers make your headline catchier. You could just say, yeah, how to fix your heel pain, or you could say seven ways to fix your heel pain or five ways. I did an article recently, and it was seven and a half questions you should ask your business coach. So not only seven, there were seven and a half questions, a little half question in there that people had to sort of identify.

You you would have seen the numbers before, Jim?

Yeah. Definitely. I mean, it's it's just it's more visually, like, stimulating to see something instead of just a bunch of letters to have that number there. And then you you know, with you adding on that seven and a half is gonna cause even more kind of like, what what is this half thing doing there? So it it's kind of like both visually it's more visually appealing, but it's also like a bit of a a question or a bit of a like, what what's what are they getting at there?

So I think there's some some interest that can be peaked by, like you said, not only what you say, but the way you you type it out and the way it's visually there in the headline can make definitely a different type of experience or make something more intriguing for sure.

Well, especially if you had something that said, yeah, five ways to do whatever. The next thing someone's gone, 25 ways to do something. Go, my god. I thought there were only five ways. So the numbers just make you realize, okay.

There's just not one way to skin a cat. Yeah. There's more ways to skin a cat. So to me, putting numbers there makes them realize, oh, I have options here on how I can actually help heal pain or whatever the problem is. Another thing that I reckon is using what they call engaging words.

Reasons, tips, secrets, hacks are examples. So if you went seven secrets of, yeah, preventing heel pain, people go, oh, secrets. These aren't the things that everybody else knows. These are secrets or seven hacks. It means it's sort of like a bit of a shortcut or seven tips or seven reasons why you should do something.

So they reckon that just it gets people more engaged in just you could have seven ways to do something, but if you got seven secrets to do something, they reckon that actually attracts people a little bit more.

Yeah. I think there you know, the reason why I come in to see a podiatrist or search for podiatrist online in the first place is they are looking for those those reasons or those tips. Right? Otherwise, you know, sometimes they're looking to do it themselves. But other times, you know, they're looking to have an expert, explain to them what's happening and what are the options to to to getting better.

So I think you're right that, you know, when you kind of have to lay out those reasons or those things that they couldn't find out for themselves in a way that makes sense, it's appealing because it it it kind of, like, emphasized that you've already thought about these things or you're the expert, and you've organized it in a way to help them, not only, like, you know, maybe even in the clinic, but the the blog post or the email you sent out, you spent time, you know, providing that information and providing them some value.

Definitely. And the next thing the next word they can use is what they call shortcut words, which is like easy, simple. So you could say seven well, you actually use the word shortcut. Seven shortcuts to preventing heel pain or seven easy ways to treat heel pain. So straight up, people go, oh, good.

Because I'm not looking for the seven hard ways to treat my heel pain. I want I want the easy ways. I want the shortcut. I want it fixed faster. Derek, and that's really important.

The other one is using what they call trigger words, which is using the words how, why, what, and when. So that's that sort of will trigger people that actually want to know a little bit more. And I love this one too, creating intrigue. Myths, lies, and proven. So you could have seven secret ways or seven proven ways, or it could be five myths behind incorrect footwear.

So people are going once again, it's sort of like, oh, there's myths, like the Loch Ness monster.

Yeah. They kinda wanna, like people realize that some of the things they do are may maybe the best way to treat things. So when you could kinda bust some of those myths or, you know, like, go against kind of, like, the normal conventions or kinda some what people feel like it's common sense that may not actually be common sense, I definitely will connect with some folks.

Yeah. I like how they're called. They're like intrigued. If if you said, yeah, five lies you've been told by your general practitioner, I tell you, people even I reckon podiatrists I wrote that in a podiatry article and said, five lies you've been told by the university. Podiatrists would go, oh, actually, I might use that in my next newsletter.

Might put that in there. Five lies. Let's see see what the open rate is. That would be interesting. Another one here that got is use emotion.

Guaranteed methods to do such and such. People go, oh, good. This is guaranteed. So therefore, it must work. And I think it goes back to the other word creating intrigue where you use the word proven.

Your seven proven strategies to prevent bunions. So those type of things get people sort of thinking about it a bit more, but also reckon if you use an emotional word is going back before when we mentioned premium and budget, they are emotional words. So if you go, you know, such and such providing a premium service or a budget service, that actually creates a bit of emotion.

There's a lot a lot of patients just wanna be reinsured that you are that expert. Right? That you have that knowledge and that you're the one that can provide a high quality of service to to get them over their problem or to work with them to, you know, create a course, of treatment that will lead eventually for them to be pain free or back to activities. Like you said, when you kinda connect emotionally with them and give some reassurance through some of these ways of writing headlines, it can be a very powerful thing.

Yeah. Another emotional one was like fun ways to whatever the headline's gonna be. So it could be, yeah, five fun ways to reduce your heel pain. And people are going, good. Easy.

I want it could be five easy fun ways. You're thinking, okay, I wanna get rid of my heel pain. Wouldn't it be it's awesome if they can make this fun and it's not gonna be not fun. So what's why what what would be the opposite of fun?

Injections. Five ways to avoid a heel injection. Right? Like, if people had avoiding needles is kind of a big fear for some people. So if you can even not scare them emotionally, but just say that, like, if you do these things, maybe you don't have to get a shot.

Like, you'll probably get people opening that up, I would say.

Yeah. Avoid surgery. So and then it's got here use urgency words or something that's relevant, which is like today, now, fast. Like I said, when people listen to this particular episode, you go back and listen to it again and actually take notes while you're listening to this one. If you're in the car, don't do it while you're driving.

But when you get home, listen to it again, take notes, and then go to grab a magazine, go to a newspaper, jump online, and you have a look at headlines that people use and you'll see how they basically do it. And and this is where you can actually learn The best way of doing things is when I'm doing my my workshop, if I'm doing it live, I get a I have a whole pile of old magazines, and I just get people going through it. And they look at an original headline, and they rewrite it to suit themself. And then I'll go around the room and you get people to actually start sharing some what some of the headlines have come up with. And when you're doing it in a workshop environment, it is just amazing.

And the feedback, usually afterwards, I ask people, how did you find this? And they'll go, one of the best things and most useful things they actually go through. Now you can do it yourself, and it'll be beneficial. But if you can do it with a group of people, it actually works even better. Last thing I want to say on this, though, is you can combine all these things together.

So you can get seven proven ways to avoid heel pain that you need to take action now. So it's actually combining all the different types of words together. And one of the best industries that I think do it than anywhere else is the dental industry. You look at dental ads, and they they tend to do it really, really well.

Yeah. I definitely have seen them them and even chiropractors at times, at least in The US. Oh, yeah. Use a lot of, you know, copy like, kind of highly skilled copywriters to, like you said, utilize those words that that kind of provoke action and provoke people to, like you said, either think that's the right place for them or not the right place and just kind of move forward with things as opposed to just I think even when we're in school, whether it's high school, university, podiatry school, writing is something we're always doing. But to really look at it from a strategic and, like, a marketing perspective is, like, something that, like you said, takes some practice, whether it's at a, you know, at a, you know, conference or at a workshop with you or just paying a little more close attention to, you know, newspaper headlines or advertisement headlines, just seeing how they're utilizing words in the in the ways that they're trying to drive specific types of action or behaviors.

Once you realize there is that level of kinda tactics or just kinda, like, being very specific about what they wanna get from, an advertisement, I think, you know, you can really, utilize it in your own practice, in a way to help other people. It's not just to, like, line your own pockets, but it is provide great care for the people in your local community.

Yeah. And this is this is a skill that you don't learn once and then go, okay. Now I'll know it. It's something you just you keep you're constantly working on it. So, yeah, I have to pay a lot of respect to Dave Freeze who I was at his event in Arizona that we did this the first time just going through headlines.

And then I've dug into this a little bit deep, and I've added a lot of my own my own information. But every year, we get back to Arizona. We do this as a as a group, as a workshop every single year. And every time we do it, you learn something new, or somebody will say something you go, wow. That's a great way of looking at that, and you write notes down.

So I've gone through this myself with other I've done it in workshops with at least half a dozen groups. I've done it myself in Arizona at least five times. And like I said, I never get bored doing it because it's it's always new. You can look at a magazine you can look at a a front page of a magazine today. Look at that same page in the year's time, and you'll see something completely different because it just depending on on how your brain is actually thinking.

So I think it's a it's a task that you can do yourself. You can get a group of people and do it. If you got a team at work, get your team together. And this is one of your meetings. Have a meeting on creating headlines.

Look at all the stuff you've done in the past and go, oh, I wonder why that social media post got one like, and it was from my mom. It's because you probably the headline was crap. You might get that same post, go back, change the headline, and repost it and see what happens, and there will definitely be a difference. Well, talk to you and I. I was gonna say that if people wanna know more about how to actually do this and they wanna say just work on it is contact you or contact me, and we can run through this stuff with them in a lot more detail.

No. That's a great idea. I think one of the cheat codes that I use, and this is related to headlines, is, you know, what are those competitive markets, you know, in your in your country? Like, for me, you know, being in North America, you know, New York, San Francisco, LA, those are the places where you're have a lot of, you know, local business competition. So what I'll sometimes do is, you know, whether it's a plumber, whether it's a roofing company, whether it's somewhere, look up, like, San Francisco roofing company.

Look up San Francisco banking, San Francisco Plumber, and see what are those, what kind of ads, like, whether it's Google Ads or whatever pops up in Google. Like, what it you know? And you're restricted by the number of words you can use on either Google Ad or a headline. But, like, what really connects? You know?

And, like, people aren't gonna be spending a ton of money on well, hopefully, on these ads if they're not working. So it's a way to kinda, like, see what's working out there in different industries and then, you know, kinda craft it with your own message for your own patients. But, yeah, I'll that's the fun thing about this is that all this stuff is kind of out there. It's almost something you don't really see until you realize it. It's almost like an invisible thing that you're just bombarded with kind of, like, from other sources until you realize that this is something you can flip and turn around to your own benefit to benefit your clinic, yourself, and your patients.

And then once you see it, you're like, oh, I like that from this magazine ad or this from this article or from this online advertisement or this headline. And then you just kinda make it your own. But like you said, Tyson, it it's all about being consistent and practicing. I mean, that's the thing about me now. I'm since I'm not practicing anymore, I'm doing all this marketing.

I can really, like, focus on I I write so much more than I used to. And the more you write, the better you get at these things. And whether it's with Tyson in a workshop or it's a different type of workshop or conference you go to, or made by yourself with a small group of people, Practice, practice, practice is what it's all about.

It's incredible the amount of times I've gone through this, and people who have come up to me afterwards and said, you have just saved me a ton of money. They said, we were just about to send out something or do some ads and and we're looking at what we're about to do, and they've shown me on their computer because we'll say be at a conference. They go, we're about to send this out. And just looking at that now, we realized this is rubbish. And they've just made a couple little tweaks and then sent me an email a week later and gone, just so glad we we actually turned up turned up on that day to hear that.

And like you said, all this information is right in front of We don't realize that's how you know this works. It's because copywriters have been putting this in front of us for so many years now, and we have been attracted to it for one reason or another. And we have taken action on what these copywriters have have put in front of us, and that's the whole purpose. They write this for us to take action. They don't write it just for what do they call that?

Shit and giggles. Yeah. So that's all I want really wanted to say on this subject was really just get people thinking about if you're better, send a newsletter, blog, do some type of advertising, wherever it is, just think about the headline. Give it a little bit more thought before you just put it out there and look at things you've done in the past. If it's not working, there's no harm in reworking it and and reusing it.

Couldn't agree more, Tyson. This is a great lesson, and I hope people take away some of those pearls that you shared today. I think it will definitely level up some people's, you know, headlines on the website, email marketing. There's there's a lot of uses good writing can really provide to somebody's practice. So so thanks for that.

No. That's great. I absolutely love this topic. So talk to you next week, Jim.

Sounds great, Tyson.

Okay. Bye now.

Thanks for listening to Podiatry Marketing with Tyson Franklin and Jim Mcdonald. Subscribe and learn more at Podiatry Marketing. That's the website address, podiatry.marketing.