Marketing and Public Relations Committee Report
By Michelle Collie, PT, DPT, MS
The importance of marketing and public relations in our practices remains strong, and the changing needs of our communities means our approaches must evolve.
The most recent PPS strategic plan continues to highlight that members want and need marketing and PR education, support, and resources. As the chair of the committee, I am excited to share our “projects” that are supporting our members, our profession, and our communities.
Based on the new strategic plan, our committee is charged with the task of educating members by developing and delivering resources to promote business excellence. To do this, committee member Scott Wick has led the initiative with input from the Education Committee in developing a system for classifying patients who come to our practices. This new system will result in decision-influencing data that practices can use to manage marketing investments, resulting in business excellence. Significant education will be provided through Impact articles, webinars, and conference presentations to educate members willing to not only adhere to the system but also to ensure the accuracy and quality of the data. Members will be able to utilize the data gathered for internal benchmarking and use it to measure the effectiveness of the resources offered by our Section.
What a joy it has been to hear examples of how members are using the monthly toolkit in their communities! Professionally written and emailed to all members monthly, the toolkit is timeless with past and present versions available on the PPS website. The toolkit consists of a press release, social media posts, and content for a blog or newsletter, all of which can be edited, branded, and personalized for members’ use. We’ve responded to members’ requests, developing a toolkit focused on the annual exam, and later this year will develop content promoting physical therapists as the primary provider for musculoskeletal and neuromuscular health. Thank you to committee member Darren Rodia for doing a stellar job overseeing and managing this project. The Fit Factor (www.fitfactorsurvey.org) is an interactive online survey designed to increase consumers’ awareness of the scope of private practice physical therapy, drive people to local private practices, and provide a fun opportunity for people to benchmark where their physical health is compared to the rest of the population. Thank you to Steve Albanese who is overseeing a task force to revamp the Fit Factor including layout, questions, and resources. An updated and more streamlined platform will increase how appealing and useful this tool is for physical therapists, attracting new patients, reengaging with past patients, and as an educational tool. By the end of this year we plan to have a Fit Factor version that practices can brand as their own.
The 99 marketing ideas library is growing! Found in the marketing resource section of the PPS website, we now have 32 vignettes showcasing marketing ideas from private practice physical therapists. Thank you to committee member Jamie Bryant who has ensured this project continues to move forward, providing inspiration and ideas to help in our marketing endeavors. If you are on Facebook or Twitter, stop reading and start following @myphystherapist. This is our social media handle that provides consumer-ready posts for members to share on their platforms. Thanks to committee member Jan Scorpian who oversees this task force and our newest committee member Jenna Kantor, blogs and supporting social media images have been developed for two different personas and are available for member use. In addition, all posts are available for members to download and use straight from the PPS website. We will continue to produce consumer-ready material for members to use.
Finally, thank you to our awesome board liaison Ali Schoos, and PPS staff Mariesa Bergin and Danielle Openshaw for their support and their work. As a reminder, all of the resources mentioned and more are available on the private practice website (www.ppsapta.org). I always love to hear how our resources are being used to help practices grow, so please feel free to reach out with comments, questions, or suggestions.
Michelle Collie, PT, DPT, MS, is the chair of the PPS PR and Marketing Committee and chief executive officer of Performance Physical Therapy in Rhode Island. She can be reached at mcollie@performanceptri.com.