It is no secret that many doctors and healthcare organizations remain “marketing-shy” more than 30 years after the landmark 1977 Supreme Court case Bates V. The State Bar of Arizona made marketing legal for doctors and other professionals. What’s more, while the licensing boards deemed marketing to be ethical in the early 1980s, and over time many thousands of healthcare practices and organizations nationwide began marketing, many doctors still feel uncomfortable because they are worried about coming across as “needy, cheesy or greedy.”

If that sounds like you, we certainly understand your concern. After all, your most precious asset is your reputation, and you certainly wouldn’t want to jeopardize it through distasteful or unethical marketing.

What’s important to remember, however, is that the way you market your practice or business — and therefore the reputation you build — is completely up to you. Think of it this way:

Marketing is an important channel for positive influence in shaping how others think of you. You’re telling patients, prospective patients, colleagues and others what you do, and reminding them when, how and why to think of you and your organization. The message that’s received depends entirely on the message that you send, so you want to control and direct this process.

Healthcare marketing—done professionally and using the right strategies and tactics—will produce professional results in measurable growth, and actually enhance your reputation in positive ways. (And, of course, the reverse would also be true.)

The starting point for marketing is like a blank canvas: people who don’t know you are completely unaware of what you do and have no image of you at all. The professional marketing messages of your organization communicate your credible, impressive, ethical and highly professional image and reputation.

Surprisingly, many doctors would argue that marketing is actually more ethical than not. Their rationale?

Marketing is a positive tool to inform and influence people toward a better quality of health and life. On the other hand, NOT marketing would be withholding valuable and helpful information. So which is the more ethical approach?

Unfortunately, like most tools, marketing can deliver a disastrous outcome if you don’t know what you are doing or understand how to use it properly and effectively. So, you’ll want to do proper homework and then seek out expert guidance prior to embarking upon a new marketing program.