The Clinic Marketing Podcast - Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers

The Branding Decision That Shapes Your Patient Pipeline and Your Future Exit [Propel Playback]

• Darcy Sullivan

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The episode discusses the complexities of personal and company branding for clinic owners, highlighting the advantages and challenges of each approach. It emphasizes the importance of building trust and making informed decisions based on long-term goals.

Episode webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/personal-branding-vs-company-branding/

Here's what we're going over: 

  • Comparing personal branding to company branding
  • Understanding when to utilize personal branding
  • Analyzing the challenges of a personal branding approach
  • Evaluating the advantages of company branding
  • Tips for blending both branding strategies effectively
  • Emphasizing the importance of consistent online presence
  • Recommending resources for clinic owners seeking branding guidance

Episode webpage: https://propelyourcompany.com/personal-branding-vs-company-branding/

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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back to the Clinic Marketing Podcast, the go-to podcast for clinic owners who want to level up their marketing. I'm your host, Darcy Sullivan from Propel Marketing and Design. And today we're diving into a topic that comes up a lot when I work with chiropractors, massage therapists, acupuncturists, and other clinic owners. Should you build a personal brand or focus on the branding of your company? If you're just getting started, this decision can have a big impact on how you market your practice, attract patients, and even prepare for future growth. And here's something to think about. If you might switch locations, change your business name, or even move into a different area of healthcare, personal branding could give you more flexibility. So let's break this down. First, let's talk about personal branding. A personal brand means that you, your name, your face, your expertise are the brand. If you're a chiropractor, your patients come to see you. Not just the practice name on the building. A personal brand helps you build trust, authority, and recognition in your industry. Here's when a personal brand works really well. You're just getting started out and you don't know if you'll stay with the same location or same company long term. You might switch practices or rebrand in the future. A lot of times I see this issue when a company is about to go through a rebranding where they completely halt all of their marketing instead of switch it over to personal branding versus corporate branding, which can be a way to address the switch as you adjust from branding as one company name to branding to another company name. When you're in the time of in-between and transition, you can put together content and represent yourself as you, the person as a personal brand. So when you're making a video, for example, you would just say, hello, this is Dr. Smith. Today I'm going to teach you about fill in the blank instead of saying, hello, this is Dr. Smith from Name of Company. This gives you the ability to continue on your marketing efforts without having the disruption of having to quickly address the fact that you haven't been marketing because you were about to go through the company change or transition. Also, if you want to establish yourself as an expert, maybe through speaking, podcast, or writing, it's great to also focus on your personal brand. You might rely on referrals, word of mouth, or social media to attract patients. And those patients are identifying you as you, the personal brand versus you, a company brand. One of the biggest benefits of a personal brand is the flexibility. If you decide to move or open a practice under a different name, your patients will follow you because they trust you, not just the clinic's name. But there are also challenges too. If you want to scale your business, bring on other practitioners, or sell your clinic one day, it can be harder if everything is tied to your specific name. Now, on the flip side, let's talk about company branding, where the focus is on a business rather than the individual. For example, instead of being Dr. Jane Doe chiropractor, your practice could be named something like Peak Performance Chiropractic or the Balanced Wellness Center. Here's when company branding makes sense. You want to build a team-based practice rather than a solo brand. You plan to sell the practice in the future. You're focused on long-term growth and expansion, maybe opening multiple locations. You want the business to be recognized beyond just your own reputation. With a company brand, the marketing isn't all about you. It's about the clinic, the services, and the patient experience. This can make it easier to delegate, grow, and eventually exit your business. But it also takes more effort to build trust. Patients might not immediately feel a personal connection to a business name, so you have to work on building brand recognition through your website, social media, and online reviews. So how do you decide which approach is best for you? Here's my advice. If you're just getting started out and unsure about long-term plans, go with personal branding. It gives you flexibility until you make those important decisions. If you plan to stay solo or become the face of your brand, personal branding could help you stand out. If you want to scale, bring on a team, or sell your practice one day, company branding is probably the better move. And let's be honest, you can do a mix of both. For example, you might brand your clinic with a company name, but still build your personal brand as an industry expert. One way to blend both approaches is to have a company brand for your practice while still maintaining a personal brand through leadership. Maybe you write articles, speak at events, or host a podcast. At the end of the day, branding really is all about building trust and making it easy for patients to connect with your business. Whether you choose a personal or company branding, make sure your online presence is focusing on your website, social media, and your Google business profile, making sure they reflect your brand consistently. Consistency is key. And if you need help your website or improving SEO to attract more local patients, be sure to check out our website, propelyourcompany.com. There you can find tons of resources to walk you through everything you need to get found online. You can also book a discovery call on that website as well. That's it for today's episode. If you found this helpful, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with others who you think might appreciate this information. Thanks for listening to the Clinic Marketing Podcast. I'll catch you in the next episode.

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Darcy Sullivan

Host