Digital Marketing Strategies for Doctors | Pras Murthy from Doctor Multimedia

Ernesto Quezada: Pathmonk is the intelligent tool for website lead generation. With increasing online competition, over 98% of website visitors don’t convert. The ability to successfully show your value proposition and support visitors in their buying journey separates you from the competition online. Pathmonk qualifies and converts leads on your website by figuring out where they are in the buying journey and influencing them in key decision moments. With relevant micro-experiences like case studies, videos, and much more, stay relevant to your visitors and increase conversions by 50%. Add Pathmonk to your website in seconds. Let the AI do all the work and get 50% more qualified leads while you keep doing marketing and sales as usual. Check us on pathmonk.com. Welcome to today’s episode. Let’s talk about today’s guest. We have Pras from Doctor Multimedia, CFO with them. How are you doing today, Pras?

Pras Murthy: I’m doing wonderful, Ernesto. How are you?

Ernesto: I’m doing great. Thank you so much for asking. And, well, Pras, I’m sure our listeners are tuning in, wondering what Doctor Multimedia is all about. So, in your own words, tell us a little bit more.

Pras: Yeah, thanks. So Doctor Multimedia is a full-scale digital marketing agency for doctors and healthcare professionals. We help small private practice doctors—think dentists, optometrists, veterinarians, podiatrists, chiropractors—those types of doctors. We help them with the online marketing for their practice. That might be as simple as a website or as comprehensive as helping with social media, reputation management, paid ads, all the way up to full marketing consulting. It just depends on what they need, but we provide solutions for any private practice doctor.

Ernesto: Okay, great. So now that our listeners have a better understanding, what would you say is the key problem that you guys like to solve in the medical world?

Pras: At its core, doctors are busy, probably too busy. And for small practices—think two to five doctors—they’re trying to see patients, manage the business, and somewhere in there, they’re supposed to market the business and help it grow. One of the core problems we solve is that it’s rare for a practice to have its own internal marketing department or person, let alone a website team. So, we allow doctors to not worry about that and outsource it to our company. Once we’re involved, we’re probably doing it at a higher level than they could themselves. A lot of them just don’t do anything in that regard, so we help them be more competitive. With today’s changing medical industry, it’s getting more competitive for the same patients, especially as doctors look to move away from insurance-based systems and into more cash-pay. They need to differentiate themselves, which boils down to marketing—not necessarily the medicine part, but the practice’s people and style.

Ernesto: I would definitely be one of those recipients, right? You want everything to go smoothly. So awesome to hear that from you. And as far as a vertical, I mean, you mentioned doctors, but are there specific practitioners you prefer to work with? Is it dental, eye care, chiropractors, or others?

Pras: Yeah, great question. They are all very different. You could lump them together and say they’re all doctors, but they have different personalities, buying decisions, and tendencies. We’re a volume-based agency, so we work with all types. Dental, for example, is more competitive in terms of marketing, while chiropractic might be more volume-based with lower-end solutions. But for us, the ideal client is someone who knows they need to delegate and hire. They’re looking for a partner to hand over the reins to while being involved but not pressured to do everything themselves. Our most successful clients are the ones who let us take the lead while keeping them updated, rather than micromanaging the process.

Ernesto: That makes total sense. So how would a doctor usually find out about Doctor Multimedia? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Pras: We’re very sales-heavy. We do a lot of cold calling and attend medical conferences to get doctors’ attention. Thankfully, we’ve grown large enough that some have heard of us through other websites we’ve done over the years. But doctors are so busy that it’s tough to get their attention, so we stay aggressive with phone calls and conferences until they’re ready to talk.

Ernesto: Great. So for any doctors listening, they can check you out at doctormultimedia.com. What role does your website play in client acquisition?

Pras: For us, we make it easy. It takes about 3 seconds to fill out our contact form, and someone will call you right away. Doctors don’t have much time, so we make it as simple as possible. For our clients, their websites are about creating a connection with patients. Patients usually aren’t evaluating medical ability when browsing websites—they’re looking for basics like how to contact you, where you’re located, what insurances you take, etc. But they’re also looking for a feel of the practice, so having a warm, inviting site with good reviews is essential. The easier you make it for patients to reach out, the better chance you have.

Ernesto: Perfect. Are there any tips or tools you recommend for website lead generation?

Pras: In our industry, the medical marketing space is behind other verticals, so we still get by on the basics. We use Google Analytics and Adwords, and we build in WordPress with plugins for SEO optimization. But it’s all data-driven, and for doctors, they don’t have time to sift through data—they want the analysis. So, it’s about making the information easy to digest. We focus on key metrics and make sure our clients can understand everything in 30 to 60 seconds.

Ernesto: Great, thanks for sharing that. Let’s switch gears a little and talk about you as a leader. You’ve been the CFO at Doctor Multimedia for nearly ten years. What are some key tasks you focus on in your day-to-day work?

Pras: There’s what I’d like to focus on, and then there’s how the day actually goes. As one of the founders and owners, I have my hands in everything—from managing the staff, working with clients, to doing some sales. I’m involved in business management, doing tasks no one else can do, and making sure our company systems are running well. My favorite part is teaching. Before this, I had a tutoring business, so I enjoy teaching our new hires and old hires how to maintain high customer service while managing a high volume of clients.

Ernesto: Sounds like you’re always busy! How do you stay up to date with trends in the marketing world? Is there a preferred channel you use?

Pras: Great question. One of my favorite marketers is Neil Patel, so I keep up with his YouTube channel and blog posts. Early on, I was able to take his lessons and repurpose them for our doctor clients. Besides that, I pay attention to our own clients. We serve about 9,000 practices, and our top clients often try new ideas that we can share with others. So, our clients themselves help us stay up to date, as well as appearances on shows like this, where we listen and learn from others.

Ernesto: Thanks for sharing that. Now, let’s jump into our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready?

Pras: Fire away.

Ernesto: First, what’s the last book you read?

Pras: I’m currently reading Train Your Brain for Success by Roger Seip. It’s all about wiring your brain for better memory and learning.

Ernesto: Great read for our listeners. Next, if there were no boundaries in technology, what would you want to have fixed for your role as a marketer?

Pras: I’d love to have a handle on my email inbox! I feel like I waste so much time managing emails, and AI could definitely help with that. It would free up valuable thinking time.

Ernesto: That’s a great one. Lastly, what’s one piece of advice you’d give yourself if you were restarting your marketing journey today?

Pras: Absorb information quickly and move on. There’s so much out there, and it’s easy to get bogged down. Focus on pulling one lesson from what you learn, implement it, and see what works. The more mistakes you make, the better. As for running a digital marketing agency, focus on sales and high-level customer service. Clients care more about good experiences than fancy features.

Ernesto: Excellent advice. Well, Pras, we’re coming to the end of the show. But before we wrap up, if someone forgets everything from the interview, what’s the one thing they should remember about Doctor Multimedia?

Pras: That we are a marketing solution for private practice doctors. If you’re a doctor and need help managing your business, we can handle the marketing.

Ernesto: You guys heard it—check them out at doctormultimedia.com. Web solutions designed for doctors. Pras, thank you so much for being with us today, and to our listeners, thank you for tuning in. I’m looking forward to our next episode of Pathmonk Presents.

Pras: Have a great day.