Five Online Marketing Strategies to Help Grow Your Practice
You just want to make sure that your clinic and its services are visible in online
search engines.33
Nancy Singleton
One of the biggest challenges your office faces is the constant flow of new patients. As a chiropractic assistant, you can help your office grow by enhancing your presence online.
A 2002 study showed that only 7.7% of the US population utilized chiropractic care. By 2006, another study showed that 12.6 million US adults—one out of 226 million—visited a chiropractor. That is only 5.6% of the population, which means the numbers of people seeking chiropractic have actually dropped.
So how can you grow your practice if the market share has decreased?
The answer is marketing.
In the past, chiropractic marketing done for your office probably included newspaper advertisements, billboards, television ads, mailings, or other similar campaigns. However, you may have noticed that the effectiveness of these traditional marketing methods has decreased.
In fact, the landscape of marketing has completely changed in the past 10 years to accommodate new campaigns, such as social media marketing and online
search marketing. So, if you are struggling to find an effective marketing method to grow your practice, here are five online marketing strategies that you can use to get more patients this year.
Strategy ‡‡1
Establish Your Online Presence
When someone googles your clinic, what comes up? That information is important. You want people to be able to find you online, which is why it's important to claim all of your local listings and work on establishing a strong online presence in your community. You can do this by activating your Google+ page, updating your Yelp page, creating YouTube videos, doing SEO on your website, creating a Facebook page, etc. It doesn't matter which method you choose. You just want to make sure that your clinic and its services are visible in online search engines.
Strategy ‡‡2
Facebook Ads
Facebook ads are a game changer for chiropractic clinics. The great thing about
Facebook is you can put your offer directly in front of your ideal patient because the social media site aggregates hundreds of data points about their uses. This includes a person's age, purchase behavior, income, interests, etc.
Unlike a newspaper or TV ad, you can show your offer for chiropractic to someone who recently expressed interested in back pain services. With such precise targeting, you can expect a better return on your investment with Facebook ads.
Strategy ‡‡3
Video
YouTube is the second most popular search engine, right behind Google. Facebook Video is not far behind either. The use of video to teach about your services and modalities and to share patient success testimonials can be a powerful marketing tool for your clinic. Video allows potential patients to get to know you, learn about your services, and get their questions answered before even stepping foot in your office. It's the next best thing to a referral.
Strategy #4
Reviews
Speaking of referrals, how are your online reviews? These days, patients turn to online reviews before deciding to contact your clinic. You want to make sure that your reviews showcase excellent service and results. How do you do that? Simply ask your patients to express their thoughts on the various review sites. Give your patients instructions on how to leave a review, as many of them might not understand howto do this.
t6As a chiropractic assistant, you can be a huge asset to your doctor in establishing your web presence and increasing the marketing you do
online.33
£iThe use of video to teach about your services and modalities and to share patient success testimonials can be a powerful
marketing tool for your clinic.33
Strategy ‡‡5
A Lead-Generating Website
Does your website make you money? Many chiropractic offices are unsure about how to answer this question. If you have a billboard up on the highway and don't get any calls for an entire month, you'd know for sure that the billboard wasn't worth the money. The same can be said for your website. You need to know if your website is giving you a return on investment. Your website should be a lead-generating machine. You can do that with gated content, discounted offers, and other incentives to collect the contact information of potential patients. This way you can keep in touch with these leads to offer future services or invite them into your office.
As a chiropractic assistant, you can be a huge asset to your doctor in establishing your web presence and increasing the marketing you do online. Your doctor is an expert at treating patients, but probably not an expert at marketing online. You can step in and help with this.
The prospective patients in your town are searching online for the things you offer in your clinic, so make sure you are doing everything possible so they find you!
Nancy Singleton is a 1989 graduate of the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic Assisting. She has been consulting and helping doctors grow their practices for more than 20 years. She and her husband' Dr. Todd Singleton, are the founders of SingletonSystems.com. Together they teach chiropractors how to implement multiple cash systems into their existing practice utilizing effective marketing techniques. For more information about online marketing, please visit LeadGen 180Marketing.com or call 801-899-3818.
