Marketing to Run Clubs: One-to-One vs. One-to-Many

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In this episode of Podiatry Marketing, Tyson Franklin and Jim McDannald, DPM, explore marketing strategies for podiatrists to connect with running and jogging communities. They discuss the importance of building trust through one-to-one interactions, leveraging group talks for one-to-many engagements, and the ripple effect of community involvement.
They also highlight strategic sponsorships and visibility opportunities, like organizing open houses or runner-specific events at clinics. This episode is packed with practical tips for podiatrists looking to expand their patient base among runners.
āļø Contact: jim@podiatrygrowth.com
You're listening to Podiatry Marketing, conversations on building a successful podiatry practice with Tyson Franklin and Jim McDannald.
Tyson E. Franklin:Hi. I'm Tyson Franklin, and welcome back to this week's episode of Podiatry Marketing. With me, as usual, is Jim McDannald, aka Big Jim Mac. How you doing today,
Jim McDannald, DPM:Tyson, I'm doing well. Excited to chat with you here. You know, we got we're closing in on 200 episodes.
Tyson E. Franklin:So It's not far away.
Jim McDannald, DPM:No. No. Two two hundred is pretty big number. So, yeah, it's exciting times here at the Podiatry Marketing Podcast.
Tyson E. Franklin:Yeah. Will tell you one thing at Cannes at the moment, it's wet. It's that wet. If if the big big guy down the road with the big beard starts collecting two of every animal, I'm gonna start panicking. I tell what it is at the
Jim McDannald, DPM:moment. It's it's arc weather.
Tyson E. Franklin:It is arc weather. Yeah. I reckon Noah would look at this and go, hey. This brings back memories. Because it that's it is very wet.
Tyson E. Franklin:So what are we talking about today?
Jim McDannald, DPM:Yeah. So today we're gonna jump into you know, in the past we talked a little bit about pickleball
Tyson E. Franklin:Yeah.
Jim McDannald, DPM:And some opportunities for marketing and around pickleball. I think a lot of people that, you know, are in clinic and have a practice are aware of runners. I think there's really been an uptick here in the last basically, kinda during the pandemic and post pandemic of what they call these kind of run run clubs or kind of jogging clubs where it's kind of a mix of exercise and kind of a social aspect of things. The younger generations aren't aren't always going to bars and clubs and hanging out. There's all kinds of statistics, at least in North America, where people are drinking less and less alcohol, but people are working longer and then doing exercise and trying to find ways to be social.
Jim McDannald, DPM:So I thought we could maybe, you know, talk about some different ways to maybe get market to these folks and some different tactics between kind of, you know, one to one marketing versus kind of one to many.
Tyson E. Franklin:Okay. So Big Jim, what is the first part of this topic for today?
Jim McDannald, DPM:Yeah. So I think the first part that to kind of jump into is the kind of building trust through one to one conversations. You know, there's different ways about doing this. Obviously, if you're a runner yourself, you can, you know, maybe attend some of these run clubs just as kind of socially to see what it's like. You know, obviously, that that gives you an opportunity to talk to people one on one at these events.
Jim McDannald, DPM:But, you know, they're gonna trust someone else that is a runner, you know, maybe a little bit more. So but if even if you're not a runner, there's some different ways to kinda make yourselves available to these, you know, clubs or maybe the club is associated with the store. So maybe it's a quick, you know, five minute conversation with the the owner, you know, kinda maybe you have a half day where you can go and visit a bunch of different running shoe stores and kinda get a sense of dual background information if they have any run clubs or any, you know, running groups associated with their store. But it can be really kind of a powerful way to kinda get out there and to and talk to folks one to one as opposed to, like, you know, just kinda, like, doing kinda generalized marketing. You know, when you have more time than money, kinda making those personal connections can be really, really big.
Tyson E. Franklin:Yeah. And I think it's what you said is really important that if you're a runner, I think it's just logical. You're probably gonna know a whole pile of other running people. But if you're not a runner, which I am not a runner, but I think it's important that even if you just look like a runner so on the outside, I actually look like I could run, but I don't. And this was an episode I did on the podiatry legends podcast where I had one of guys, and we were just talking about fitness and health in podiatry in general, that as a health profession, I think it's important that we pay a little bit of attention on our external appearance.
Tyson E. Franklin:Not that we should be vain and, oh, look. Look. Have ripped abs, but just be mindful of how you're seen by the public can either open or close doors to certain areas.
Jim McDannald, DPM:No. I think that's that's that's exactly right. I think you if you're not, you know, taking care of yourself or kind of taking care of your own health or have a interest in health, it's going to kind of shine through, right? If they are severely overweight or don't have any kind of background in any type of sport, people are going to kind of stiff that out and it's not going to feel as authentic coming from someone that doesn't at least have their own healthy regimen or exercise regimen. So having somewhere like that can be a, you know, a real kind of confidence booster for for other folks.
Jim McDannald, DPM:Like you said, you don't necessarily have to be a runner yourself, but if you have knowledge of the local marathon or if you volunteered or if you have a friend or a family member that's kind of in the running scene Mhmm. At least knowing kind of those kinda hallmark races or competitions around the community can be a good way of just kind of bridging that gap a little bit. I know that when I lived in in Oregon, you know, obviously, we hosted a lot of the Olympic trials events, but there was also, like, you know, a big marathon in the spring. There were some other races throughout kind of the the the racing calendar, which were kind of well known events where a few thousand people would show up at them. It's something called the Butte to Butte over fourth of July weekend.
Jim McDannald, DPM:So just knowing kind of what those events are going or are happening, you know, whether you volunteer them or not, kind of gives you some baseline to kind of talk to these people and talk to these runners about.
Tyson E. Franklin:Yeah. I think it's important. So why does this work so well?
Jim McDannald, DPM:I think it works really well because one, you know, like you said, you're kind of building trust with with folks. Like you're not just kind of like, you know, coming off the street and not knowing things. And when you do have kind of a knowledge of, you know, the sport or you you've you've done this stuff yourself, you just have kind of, you know and it's not gonna it's gonna feel a lot less sales y in a way. Right? You know, like, someone says, oh, my my Achilles have been bothering me.
Jim McDannald, DPM:You know, if you are a runner yourself or you're knowledgeable about it, they're much more willing probably to kinda take ask you questions or feel open to discussing those things with you.
Tyson E. Franklin:Okay. So what's next? What should they do next?
Jim McDannald, DPM:Yeah. So next is kinda like, kinda switching from that kind of one to one interaction to kind of a one in one to many educational opportunities. And I think we may have brought this up previously, but I think it's always good to remind you and the and the our listeners out there is that, you know, you wanna it's great to have one on one and positive relationships with people, but, you know, you're trying to sometimes find those kind of connectors. You know, where are those you know, whether it's like a run club or other places. What is the, you know, the one opportunity where you can get in front of ten, fifteen, 30 people all in one shot and really just kind of get yourself out there?
Jim McDannald, DPM:It's gonna save you time. It's gonna, you know, obviously be beneficial for the people you're talking to. But, you know, whether it's like a thirty minute injury prevention talk at a local running shoe store, you know, talking to these different run clubs that are not associated with the run store, I think that's a a great way to kind of establish your kind of authority and expertise in a way to really kinda, like, endear you to that to that group. Because, you know, if you're coming in and, you know, obviously, being being willing to kind of provide some of your own time upfront and show that you do care about, you know, their well-being and the kind of the kind of community of athletes or and runners that they have. It's just a great way to kinda make make connection there.
Jim McDannald, DPM:So, you know, there there's different topics you can discuss. Obviously, you know, when you get in touch with these different run groups, there's different websites you can check out. But, you know, kind of talking about these kinda related topics that have an impact on them. Maybe it's, you know, avoiding training mistakes when you're doing a marathon. When you position yourself as a go to expert, it's a great opportunity to really kinda kinda move in that direction.
Tyson E. Franklin:Yeah. And I've done a few of these things you've mentioned. I've gone in, done a talk to running groups about common running injuries. Might have been twenty, twenty five people in the room. I guaranteed every time I did one, you would get at least half a dozen of those patients.
Tyson E. Franklin:Maybe get two or three that week, and you get another couple over the next couple of weeks, so they would come in. But even those patients that then came in, the word-of-mouth that you got from them was great as well. But I've also done one where not so much a running club, but just a sporting group went in and did some strapping demonstrations and had over 200 people in the room one day while I was doing these strapping techniques. Talk about pressure. Didn't wanna mess up there.
Tyson E. Franklin:But every time you you get out there and you do one to many, you always get a really good response from it.
Jim McDannald, DPM:No. I think that's a great point. You know, like I talked about, the kind of more you can get in front of those folks, and this kind of leads into point number three is that there can be kind of a ripple effect of these community activities. Right? When you're getting in front of twenty, thirty, or 200 people, yes, you are you have a chance to kinda build that expertise and rapport with the people in the room that day.
Jim McDannald, DPM:You know, we are sticking around a little bit later to ask one off questions and just, you know, having your business card available or just some other tips and techniques I would probably recommend people consider when they go to these types of things, you know, just just kind of that awareness piece. But then that kind of ripple effect is that, you know, maybe that person is a deal with an injury right now, but, you their spouse is at home with plantar fasciitis and couldn't make it to the run that time. Or, you know, they have a brother or a sister or a a family friend or a coworker who's struggling with some type of either running injury or just a foot injury in general. And by getting out there and kinda helping them get back to training, you know, not only do, you know, you kind of spread some awareness, but then if, you know, someone does actually make an appointment with you and they have a great result, that could be another catalyst for this kind of positive word-of-mouth, whether it be just just word-of-mouth or digital word-of-mouth where people are leaving positive reviews that have, you know, things like keywords about running and sports medicine.
Jim McDannald, DPM:So, you know, while, you know, a newsletter, social media, you know, kind of these the running clubs will sometimes have those channels. So, know, you can sometimes utilize those channels as well to help kinda amplify your reach, and maybe it does attract people from just even beyond the club. So, you know, every personal success story or every opportunity you have to get in front of people is not just necessarily that people in that room that one time. You know, there's ways to make, you know, inroads in awareness about all the type of care you provide that can be spread by word-of-mouth or, like I talked about, digital word-of-mouth through reviews or through those clubs' social media channels.
Tyson E. Franklin:Yeah. I think the newsletter thing you mentioned is really important because I know each time I did a talk to a running club or another sporting group, it would be in the news that have probably four to six weeks leading up to it. Say, podiatrist from, you know, Parash Podiatry is gonna be. They're be talking, and they'd give the title of what the talk was gonna be about or what the presentation or the goal was for for that actual talk, and that's what increased the numbers. So even the group of people you had sitting in front of you, there were probably dozens more that actually saw the newsletter that didn't arrive, but they still heard about you.
Tyson E. Franklin:So the the benefit you get from marketing in all these different channels is amazing.
Jim McDannald, DPM:No. Absolutely. That kind of leads into the point number four and that being that, you know, when you do have these these different groups to have to find some way to coordinate and communicate. Right? Some maybe sometimes it's on a Facebook group.
Jim McDannald, DPM:Sometimes it's on an email newsletter. Maybe it's sometimes a group chat. But this does lead to opportunities for strategic sponsorships, you know, or, you know, taking some leadership roles if you're more into that. But when you have these strategic, you know, sponsorship opportunities, meaning that, you know, a lot of these groups are kind of homegrown. You know, sometimes they are associated with the store, but maybe it's just like a group of you that get get together kind of organically.
Jim McDannald, DPM:And you can ask about, you know, do they have someone sponsoring their own newsletter? Because you know if they have you know, maybe it's 50 or a 100 runners that are, you know, getting their kind of weekly train you know, we're meeting on Monday at the park and Tuesday. They sometimes, you know, two or three different times they're meeting, and there has to be some consistent communication between these folks. If you can sponsor that newsletter, you know, that our new news launcher newsletter sponsored by Tyson, you know, Tyson Franklin Pinatree. Yeah.
Jim McDannald, DPM:And having your logo there and a link back to your website about how to make an appointment or or like you said, or if it's just some one offs in a lead up to the a specific event. That that sponsorship can be a really, really powerful way. It means your logo's on the website, your logo's, you know, you're sponsoring the newsletter. These people are gonna get injured at some point in time, and they're gonna need someone like you. So that that's a that's a huge opportunity.
Jim McDannald, DPM:The other side of it is if you don't wanna do the sponsorship thing is that if you do join the local club, you know, show if you do enjoy it, you show up weekly, you kinda become one of them. Right? So, you know, it gives you an opportunity to kinda be an important resource. You can't join every club, so I'm not, you know, advocating that you have a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, different clubs and those things. But, know, if you do find a couple of clubs that make sense for your schedule and you enjoy going to, you know, just just showing that you're an active member of the club and, you know, even getting into some leadership roles can really not only do you have that medical expertise, people see you as an important part of their own community and probably more likely you're gonna they're gonna see you more often, be more aware of you, and that could probably lead to additional people coming to the into your practice.
Tyson E. Franklin:But it's even if you don't wanna take it overly serious, whether you do you have park runs where you are?
Jim McDannald, DPM:Yep. Yep. There's park runs Yeah. In in Montreal.
Tyson E. Franklin:Yeah. So there there's a lot of park run groups that you can go there, and you don't if you can't run a lot, you can just jog for a little bit, walk for a little bit, jog for a little bit, walk for a little bit. But as you get to meet people, it becomes very social. It's they'll ask questions, you'll be able to answer them, and you'll get word-of-mouth from there. But do you have the Hash House Harry as well?
Jim McDannald, DPM:That's something that they had, I think, in Portland when I was there. Don't think we have that in
Tyson E. Franklin:Montreal. Yeah. They're drinkers with a running problem. That's that's how they describe themselves. So they they run, but then they have they have social drinks afterwards.
Tyson E. Franklin:That's all part of it. They they earn the drink. That might be a a group that will suit somebody.
Jim McDannald, DPM:Absolutely. I think that's a great point. Kind of for the last point, what you know, we kinda talked a little bit about this, but I think it's being very strategic about kind of the events that you offer, whether these running groups or running stores, because there are some different kind of one to one opportunities. Right? I think when you do go to provide a talk at a running shoe store or at a at a running group, make sure you have plenty of information about who you are and what you provide.
Jim McDannald, DPM:Right? This is gonna be stuff that, you know, people are interested in. They can they can take home with them. Right? You know, like, whether it's your business card or maybe it's just kind of a a brochure or kind of a you know, maybe we give people like a free a or maybe a discounted rate on their initial consultation to come to your clinic.
Jim McDannald, DPM:That can be really something that could be really, really, really important. Also, you know, I've seen some different people do this is having kind of a runner's night at your podiatry clinic. Mhmm. Kinda open almost like an open house for runners at at your clinic so they can get a general sense of, you know, introducing it to them about and you can kinda tailor make it a little bit more specifically as opposed to, like, I would say a generic open house, but just an open house for everybody where you're having to talk about maybe nail care, surgery, other stuff. But when you have an open house for runners at your clinic, you can really tailor make it to specific running issues you've dealt with or giving people a general sense of what it's like to have them come in there.
Jim McDannald, DPM:And then they'll already have been once inside your clinic, and there's that less, I would say, apprehension, but the nerves that people have sometimes about not seeing, is this is this doctor legitimate? What are the you know, how are they gonna treat things? They can kinda get that out of the way and have a general sense of who you are and that you might be able to help them because of, you know, just kinda the look and feel of your practice and and how you're describing, how you take care of runners. So I think, you know, don't let visibility kind of stop you know, awareness of your clinic, but also create some different pathways for for patients to get to know you, build trust, and, you know, and show up in your clinic.
Tyson E. Franklin:Yeah. And I think that's really important too when you said about having the podiatry not having them in your clinic. There's a lot of podiatry clinics that have so much on the windows in graphic design that you can't actually see inside the clinic. I know some people have to do it because of depending where the sun is rising or setting, and and I have seen clinics where there's a lot of sun, so they've had to block it out. But I know myself when I've considered going to business, and I can't see in the business, the only way I can see it is I have to open the door, I'm actually a little bit apprehensive to do it.
Tyson E. Franklin:Whereas if I can actually see through the glass and into the business, and I have a look around and go, okay. It looks safe. I'm more inclined to walk in. So if you go to clinic that doesn't have a lot of exposure to inside the clinic, I think getting people in there on a podiatry night is a perfect way to break down that barrier, that little bit of fear that they may have.
Jim McDannald, DPM:Yeah, there's all kinds of fear, right? People, either they're afraid of doctors' offices in general, or there's like, think it's like a torture chamber or something. So showing people the different kind of modalities, demonstrating different things to them, just making them feel comfortable. So they're they already had that first experience in your practice It's gonna make it much easier for them to feel like, oh, yeah. I've I've been there before.
Jim McDannald, DPM:It seems like he knows what he's talking about. I'm happy to kinda go get treated there.
Tyson E. Franklin:Yeah. And the other thing I wanna point out, you mentioned it before about having a business card on you. If you have a podiatry clinic, you never leave home without your phone. Never leave home without having one of your podiatry business cards on you because there will be times you will just bump into people, it'll come up in conversation, and you can just hand them a card. And I know there's some younger business owners that go, oh, I don't need a business card.
Tyson E. Franklin:That's so outdated. And I'm like, it's not. It's to me, it is still a very useful, simple tool, which is inexpensive. And well, my brother is a dentist. He used to be a a fast bowler in cricket.
Tyson E. Franklin:You know what cricket is?
Jim McDannald, DPM:I do.
Tyson E. Franklin:Like baseball, but different. And he used to always carry a couple of dental cards on. He said the amount of times he would he would bowl to somebody and hit him in the head, and they'd knock a tooth out, and he could easily give him a card. But he said just in general, you you meet people at different places, and they complain about a problem straight away. Bang.
Tyson E. Franklin:Put his hand in his pocket and pull out a card. So get business cards, people, if you don't have them.
Jim McDannald, DPM:That's a great way to get patients, though, knocking their teeth out with cricket balls.
Tyson E. Franklin:Well, I did that at Tenpin bowling. I actually had the Tenpin bowling ball there, and it slipped down my hand, and it landed on the other person's foot. And it was a 16 pound ball too, and it's gone bang. I thought they were going, ah. They complained.
Tyson E. Franklin:And I said, what do you do again? I said, podiatrist. And they went, my god. He's trying to drum up business. And I thought, not bad.
Tyson E. Franklin:Not a bad idea, but it wasn't. It was accidental.
Jim McDannald, DPM:Sure. Sure. She's schizontastic. I believe you.
Tyson E. Franklin:So, anything else you wanna recap before we finish up?
Jim McDannald, DPM:Yeah. I'll just, you know, summarize by saying, you know, marketing to run clubs is all about kinda striking that right balance. You know, one to ones let you kinda build deep trust and, you know, it takes a little bit more time, but you kinda can build some trusted relationships. You know, one to many gives you kind of that authority and scale. So when you kinda combine the both of them, you know, you're not just a sponsor or a guest speaker.
Jim McDannald, DPM:You kinda become a podiatrist that's known to runners locally that they like and that they trust. You know, that's gonna really, really help you kind of gain a steady stream of new patients into your practice. So if you wanna treat runners, I know everybody wants to, but this is one way, a few different ways to, you know, attract those patients to your website and hopefully they'll schedule and book with you and your practice will grow from there.
Tyson E. Franklin:I think the best thing about runners too is they're prepared to spend money if it's going to make them run better, yeah, run faster, pain free. They they they don't mind spending it. That is it is one group of sports people even if they say running is a cheap sport, you just need a pair of shoes. But the people I know who actually take the running a little bit more serious and look after themselves, they buy really good shoes. They'll go through a couple of pairs a year.
Tyson E. Franklin:If you're prepared to do that, they're prepared to spend money on treatment to keep themselves running because it's their entertainment. That's what they enjoy doing.
Jim McDannald, DPM:Yeah. It's their mental health check and daily kind of meditation and kind of gets them out of the it's get them out of the office or kind of gets into a good healthy routine. But this has been a great chat with you tonight. I'm looking forward to upcoming episode 200. I think we're gonna have a very special, maybe even a magical guest join us for the two hundredth episode.
Jim McDannald, DPM:So
Tyson E. Franklin:Oh, well, we've we we will be recording that very soon. And when we do, tell you, people, tune in for it. Do not miss episode 200. Okay, Jim. I look forward to next week when we're actually doing 200.
Tyson E. Franklin:It's gonna be fun.
Jim McDannald, DPM:Sounds like a plan, Tyson.
Tyson E. Franklin:Okay. Talk to you later. Bye. Bye now.
Jim McDannald, DPM: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.