This is a time of mixed blessings for chiropractic. An astonishing 20 to 25% of practitioners are leaving the profession because of insurance demands, rising expenses, and falling income, according to a study reported in Forbes magazine. There's no shortage, though, of patients seeking the kind of relief offered by chiropractic, which, as the healthcare newsletter The Milbank Quarterly has asserted, is "at the vanguard of complementary and alternative medicine . . . and ... is being increasingly integrated into conventional medicine." Your greatest source of new patients could be those who prefer alternative therapy and see it as a continuing route to overall wellness rather than simply as a cure fora specific pain or illness. One of the largest groups of these patients is the millennial generation (also known as Gen Y). which is comprised of the approximately 75 million people born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. They're health conscious but distrustful of the medical establishment and willing to spend their rising disposable income on things that make their lives better, which makes them perfect candidates for alternative treatments such as chiropractic. How do you reach these tech-sawy young people? By going where they arc: online. Millcnnials live online and on their cell phones, swiping their way through social media sites (Faccbook) and socializing via text and chat sen ices. They're not just sharing photos of their cats and concert experiences on Faccbook; Gen Y has matured and aged into twenty- and thritysomcthings who steer each other to restaurants, travel experiences, and healthcare providers. Their interest in health and wellness is powering the rise of fitness-related apps that let them stay constantly updated on their health condition. Facebook Ads: Helping New Patients Find You You won't reach these patients through the Yellow Pages or with other traditional advertising methods. Faccbook ads arc a far more effective means of tapping into this tech fascination to generate new patients for your practice. Facebook ads are simply a way of bringing visitors to your website because you promise to deliver something of value. You post engaging content on your site and then use Facebook's targeting tools to get your ads in front of people who arc likely to make an appointment with you. That's the tricky part. The old hard-sell. "Buy me now!" ads don't work anymore. Millcnnials want you to prove your claim and even prove your expertise before they "11 listen. Crafting an effective Faccbook post takes some time and some skill. Here's what works best: 1. Create highly targeted posts that speak directly to peo ple with the specific issues you treat, and only to them. For example. "Is lower back pain a problem? Then this is something you have to do!" This will pull in someone immediately who's suffering from lower back pain. Highly targeted posts arc far more effective than the "cast a wide net" approach we're used to seeing with traditional advertising. Be sure that every post sends readers straight to the page on your website that speaks about lower back pain and only lower back pain. Don't send them to your homepage and make them hunt around your site for the page they want to read: they're likely to get fnistratcd and click off. Make it special and make it about them. People want to know that you're properly trained and experienced as a chi ropractor, but onh because it tells them what you can do for them. Highlight the sen ices you provide and how they can help readers. Tell them what's special, new. different, and effective about what you do. Express what you believe to be tnic about your practice as it relates to readers. Write clearly and simply. Remember that you arc prob ably not talking to other chiropractors. Offer value. A free consultation is a great way to get people to submit their information, but call it something other than a "consultation" because every chiropractor offers that. Call it something more descriptive. A "full assessment" suggests you'll be doing more than talking to them. Be sure to state the dollar value of the free sen ice—"A full assessment worth $200." Create a sense of urgency. Give your offer an expiration date and make it as soon as possible. Next time you're in line at the grocery store or in someone else's waiting room, look around and sec how main people in their twenties and thirties arc peering at their cellphone screens. Now imagine them reading in your waiting room. Online advertising could be your most effective strategy for getting your message in front of the people you want to help. Dr. Mark Saima is a member of the Chiropractic Summit, the AC A Governor s Advisory Board and a board member of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress. He is the president and CEO of Breakthrough Coaching (www.mybreaklhrough.com 1-800-723-8423). Ialerie \ lajor is CEO of Target Wide, a digital agency specializing in helping practices generate and grow revenue through advanced online marketing. Since 2007. her company has created and executed successful palienl acquisition campaigns in over 40 stales. For more visit largetwide.com and @valeriemajor on twitter.
