The problem
You pay for Facebook ads, a leaflet drop and a directory listing and have no idea which brings in patients. If you spend £300 a month (£200 on Facebook, £100 on leaflets, an assumption), a channel that brings nobody wastes up to £100 a month.
What the AI does
Cliniko says it lets you track and record your clinic's performance over time and see which marketing channels work best. You record how each new patient found you, in the way Cliniko's settings allow, and review its reports each quarter to cut the channel that isn't working.
A worked example
A solo osteopath in Brighton spends £300 a month: £200 on Facebook and £100 on a leaflet drop. After three months of recording where 12 new patients came from, none came from leaflets.
Before
£300 a month spent with no idea what works
After
Leaflet drop stopped after the data shows no patients from it: £200 a month spent on what works
What it's worth
About £100 a month saved if one channel brings none (illustrative), against $45 (about £34) a month for Cliniko, which also runs your diary and notes.
How to set it up
- Check how Cliniko records the source of each new patient; ask support if you can't find the setting.
- Add a question to your booking process: 'How did you hear about us?'
- Enter the answer for every new patient, without exception.
- After three months, look at the report with your spend per channel and work out cost per new patient.
- Stop or change the weakest channel and recheck three months later.
What goes wrong
- Twelve patients is a tiny sample. Don't cut something because of one quiet quarter.
- Patients often credit the last thing they saw, not the first. Treat the numbers as a guide.
- Don't use patient lists or conditions to target ads. Health information is special-category data under UK GDPR.
- If you already pay for another practice system, adding Cliniko only to track marketing won't pay back.