The laser therapy market in North America is a fast-growing industry, slated to grow over 650 million between 2020 and 2027. Because it represents a promising, safe and effective treatment option for conditions ranging from pain to foot fungus, many physicians consider integrating laser therapy into their services and treatment plans.
While laser therapy offers so many benefits, many patients have no idea it’s an option for them. It’s up to doctors like you to educate your patients and help them find the treatment options that can provide the best outcomes. Learn how to sell laser therapy to your patients and market this promising treatment option from the experts at Erchonia.
1. Find Your Target Patients
As with marketing any business or product, your first step is to know your market. You need to understand who is a good candidate for low-level laser therapy (LLLT) and what benefits appeal most to them. While many patients like that it is a painless, effective, noninvasive and drug-free treatment option, the way you frame these benefits may depend on who you’re talking to. When you understand your target market’s needs, you can tailor your pitch and manage each patient’s expectations.
Some patients who are good candidates for LLLT include:
- Athletes: Athletes and exercise enthusiasts who are in rehab for an injury are excellent candidates for cold laser treatments. They may also seek laser treatment for performance enhancement, as clinical studies have shown that low-powered pulsed lasers can improve performance and post-exercise recovery.
- Patients with personal injuries: Others who are experiencing injuries may see laser therapy as an attractive option for acute pain treatment. These patients usually like that laser therapy can save time and doesn’t require surgery or drugs.
- Patients with chronic pain: Those suffering from chronic pain are often attracted to innovative and promising new treatment options. If they’ve found limited success with other treatments, laser therapy may be what they’ve been looking for.
- Workers’ compensation claimants: Injured workers often want fast treatments that can get them back on the job quickly. Adding LLLT to a treatment plan can lead to better patient outcomes and faster recovery.
- Older patients: Older adults may want to stay active as they age, manage pain and reduce their prescription drug intake. Laser therapy can help them achieve each of these goals.
As you begin implementing laser therapy, carve out a niche by focusing on one of these groups first. Many physicians have found success picking three to four patients within a particular group to offer the treatment to first. You can use these trial patients to master the marketing process and gain experience implementing individualized laser treatment plans.
Focusing on one niche at a time can also aid word-of-mouth marketing. Athletes may share their experiences with others on their teams or in their networks. Likewise, older patients may talk about their laser therapy with family and friends in the same age range.
2. Create Marketing Materials for Your Website and Office
The science of laser therapy is still relatively new, and many patients have never even heard of it. It may not be something your patients know to ask about, which is why physicians need to educate their patients through marketing collateral and digital content.
Create pamphlets, posters and other collateral for your office, and talk to your supplier for any laser therapy marketing resources you can offer on particular products. Brochures and posters should educate patients on how LLLT works and help them understand the different classes of lasers and what they’re for. You can also consider sending similar collateral via direct mail. Online, you can curate educational webpages on your LLLT services and even promote them with paid advertising, email blasts and social media content.
While your promotional materials should highlight the benefits and outcomes for patients, it’s also important to demystify the laser therapy process. Offer evidence from clinical trials and help your patients understand exactly how this process works and why it’s effective.
With your marketing materials in place, consider how to introduce them to patients. Often, when a patient arrives with a condition that’s a good candidate for LLLT, you can have staff present them with a brochure before the physician sees the patient. You might also host an LLLT info session to talk about the procedure with interested patients and distribute more collateral.
3. Educate Your Staff
Think of your technicians and staff as key influencers in the treatment option decision-making process. Your patients may ask staff members questions about laser treatment before you’ve had a chance to introduce it to them as the doctor. They might also seek more information after meeting with you about it. In either case, ensuring your staff understands and truly believes in the treatment is crucial.
Give your team the resources they need to understand LLLT from a clinical technician’s perspective. Consider directing them to clinical research or educating them yourself. You can also sign up your team for our laser therapy webinars to get everyone familiar with the technology and its applications. Consider letting your staff try the treatment themselves so they can become evangelists for it. When they know how LLLT works and have experienced the benefits themselves, they’re more likely to talk it up to your patients.
4. Create a Package Deal
When introducing laser therapy at your practice, deciding how to price the service is essential. One benefit to patients is that LLLT is cost-effective compared to other invasive procedures, so it’s critical to frame your cost structure appropriately.
A package deal is an excellent marketing strategy for laser therapy because it keeps patients engaged in treatment. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that LLLT can provide short-term pain relief. However, treatment is a process. Offering laser therapy as a multi-session package deal encourages patients to continue the full treatment plan so they can see results over time. It also prevents them from discontinuing treatment because they didn’t see results right away.
5. Offer a Free Laser Promotion
Laser therapy is an unfamiliar treatment option to many patients, which is why it’s so helpful for patients to try it out while they’re considering it. Consider offering a free laser day or letting existing patients get their first laser treatment for free. This can give your existing patients added value by letting them be the first to try the new technology. It can also give you the chance to talk with patients in more depth about LLLT’s benefits as they’re receiving the treatment.
Get Marketing Materials for Your LLLT From Erchonia
If you own or are considering a laser from Erchonia, we offer many resources to help you implement the treatment into your practice. We offer the Erchonia Marketing Portal, which you can use to print ready-to-use laser therapy marketing materials or use our graphics to create your own marketing materials.
We want to be a trusted partner for practitioners using Erchonia LLLT products. That’s why we offer educational seminars on laser therapy applications and other helpful training and education resources through our eCommunity. As an Erchonia customer, you’ll also be able to list yourself as an Erchonia laser provider on our website.
To learn more about Erchonia laser therapy products, reach out to our team today.
