Marketing, Advertising, and Sales Strategies for the Modern Podiatric Practice

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In an increasingly competitive healthcare environment, podiatric practices must balance clinical excellence with strategic marketing, ethical advertising, and patient-centered sales promotion. Understanding how patients think, communicate, and choose care is essential to building visibility, trust, and long-term practice sustainability. 

Key Takeaways: 

• Effective podiatric marketing begins with a clear unique value proposition and a strong, recognizable brand tailored to the target patient population. 

• Ethical advertising and modern digital tools—including SEO, social media, and targeted outreach—are critical for reaching and engaging today’s patients. 

• Patient-focused sales, supported by well-trained staff and positive experiences, drive loyalty, referrals, and sustainable practice growth. 

In today’s competitive healthcare landscape, effective promotional strategies are essential for podiatric medical offices to attract new patients, retain existing ones, and build a strong community and practitioner reputation. While the primary goal is to provide quality care, one must not overlook the business side of healthcare. Strategic promotion helps ensure that podiatric services reach the right audience and contributes to the practice remaining financially sustainable. 

Unfortunately, I find that there is often a detachment among podiatrists and the patients they seek to treat. Both might share the same goal, but there’s often a difference in perspective. Podiatrists and would-be patients have different communication styles; especially in an age where technology has greatly changed the way we talk with one another. Expectations and priorities between these two populations can also often dramatically diverge. Those structural gaps can hinder collaboration and trust. 

To bridge this divide, you must understand how prospective patients think and be able to adjust your practice’s Marketing, Advertising, and Sales promotion approach accordingly. 

Begin With the Basics: Marketing  

Marketing is the business process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying patients’ needs and wants. It is how you share what makes you different or better than the podiatrist down the street. In business terms, it is your practice’s unique value proposition (UVP).  

Marketing begins with understanding the target demographic. This includes analyzing metrics such as the community’s age groups, income levels, health concerns, and preferences. A podiatric office, for example, might target older adults. Once the audience is defined, the office can then tailor its messaging, branding, and outreach efforts accordingly. Marketing also involves building a recognizable brand. One might achieve this through logos, color schemes, and tone of communication, specifically, one that conveys trust, professionalism and compassion. 

For example, a provider’s UVP might include specializing in biomechanics, gait, orthotic devices, podopediatrics, sports medicine, arthritis, diabetes, lower extremity neuropathy, wound care, hospitals, nursing homes, house calls, surgical procedures, or emergency department call. 

One very UVP is the American Society of Forensic Podiatry (ASFP), which promotes podiatry in forensics medical cases using evidence related to the human foot. A former classmate is a member and past President with Masters degrees in both forensic medicine and forensic anthropology.  

Of course, digital marketing has become a cornerstone of modern podiatric medical promotion. A well-designed website with clear information about services, credentials, insurance and contact details is crucial. Search engine optimization (SEO) helps the site appear in relevant searches, while content marketing, such as blogs on foot health topics, can establish the office as a thought leader. Social media platforms offer another avenue to engage with patients, share updates, and promote wellness tips. Email newsletters and patient portals can also help maintain ongoing communication and loyalty. 

And so, marketing is actually your strategic competitive advantage (SCA) which differentiates yourself from competitors. It is the “moat” around your business; according to economic thought leaders.1 

Adding in the Concepts of Advertising and Sales 

Advertising in the context of our practices is communication that employs an openly sponsored message to promote or sell a podiatry product, service, clinical practice, or even idea. Advertising is communicated through various mass media outlets including traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor advertising, or direct mail; and digital media such as blogs, vlogs, social media, Facebook campaigns, Google Ads, YouTube videos, or secure text messages. These digital platforms enable offices to reach specific groups based on location, interests, and behaviors, maximizing return on investment (ROI). The actual presentation of the message is referred to as an advertisement, “ad” or advert for short.  

Of course, ethical considerations are paramount in any medical advertising. Claims must be truthful and nonmisleading. Testimonials, before-and-after photos, and promotional offers must avoid misrepresentation or HIPAA privacy violations. Nevertheless, podiatric advertising is simply how you disseminate your strategic marketing competitive advantage to potential clients.  

Sales in podiatry or any medical specialty differs from traditional retail sales. It’s less about pushing products and more about guiding patients toward beneficial services that will help them meet their lower extremity health goals. This might include educating patients on elective procedures, foot wellness programs, preventive screenings, or relevant components of their Medicare, Medicare Advantage [Part C] program, or private insurance. Front desk staff and medical assistants play a key role in this process, offering information and answering questions with empathy and clarity. 

So, training staff in sales communication and patient service is vital. A positive patient experience—from the first phone call to follow-up care—can lead to word-of-mouth referrals, online reviews, and long-term loyalty. Offering flexible payment plans, transparent pricing, and insurance assistance can also enhance the sales process by reducing barriers to care. 

Assessing the Benefits and Final Thoughts 

The benefits of a Marketing, Advertising and Sales plan are: 

• to develop or improve your unique value proposition. 

• to develop or improve your strategic competitive advantage. 

• to increase your practice visibility. 

• to understand the needs and expectations of patients. 

• to offer successful experiences to patients and, of course, build a strong, effective, dominant brand in your health care ecosystem. 

• to create a solid reputation among patients, referring physicians and the community, writ large. 

Marketing, advertising, and sales are integral to the success of a podiatric medical practice. When executed thoughtfully and ethically these strategies not only grow the practice but also improve patient access to quality foot care. By combining professional care with smart promotion, medical offices can thrive in a competitive environment while staying true to their mission of healing and service. 

And so, do you have a podiatry practice marketing, advertising and sales plan, and more importantly, how well do you execute it?   

As a former Professor and Endowed Department Chair in Economics, Finance and Entrepreneurship, Dr. Marcinko was a healthcare marketing consultant for more than a decade. His many textbooks, dictionaries and manuscripts are redacted in the Library of Congress, Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health [NIH] and Amazon. 

References

1. Gratton P. How an Economic Moat Provides a Competitive Advantage. Investopedia. Updated January 19, 2025. Accessed January 27, 2026. https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/05/economicmoat.asp

Additional Resources

Marcinko, DE and Hetico, HR: The Business of Medical Practice [3rd Edition]. Springer Publishing, New York, 2010. 

Marcinko, DE and Hetico, HR: Hospitals & Healthcare Organizations [Management Strategies, Operational Techniques, Tools, Templates and Case Studies].  Productivity Press, New York, 2012. 

Marcinko, DE and Hetico, HR: Financial Management Strategies for Hospitals and Healthcare Organizations. Productivity Press, New York, 2013