Chiropractic Marketing | Chiropractic Advertising | Chiropractic Ads

Do you have your marketing plan set up for 2009?

While you don’t need to have every day detailed and mapped out, having at least an outline to work with will make your chiropractic marketing strategies even more effective.

Here are  7 “must-have” plans for the next 12 months of a successful practice.

#1. Use Chiropractic Internet Marketing

It’s new, it’s hot, but even better it’s low cost and very effective (if done right). The internet is only going to get more popular for looking up health information. Not to mention its use as a ‘yellow pages’ for the younger generations. And my not talking about just having a chiropractic website either.

#2. Use Proven Newspaper Advertising

There’s been some talk about dropping newspaper rates in larger cities around the U.S. and many suggest you should advertise there. Others propose the internet will do away with newspapers and yellow pages altogether. I’ve got news for all these fortune tellers…newspapers are here to stay, at least for a while longer. (They predicted the internet would kill direct mail too, and direct mail has only gotten bigger.) Sure, big city newspapers are struggling (maybe as a result of their one-sided stories?) but mid to small town papers are booming. Baby boomers like to read about local arts and crafts, religion, and other community ‘goings-on’ not easily found online. Also, you have sports stories and other interesting sections.  Open any major newspaper’s Sunday edition and see what falls out. Yep, people are still stuffing ads in there. Better get your proven chiropractic ads in the newspaper in 2009. (Big announcement on this subject on this blog Dec. 29)

#3. Get Better At Patient Communication

I’m not talking about what you say when the patient’s in the office, but what you send to them when they’re not. You need to be developing a rock-solid relationship with your current patients during this recession. This form of ‘internal marketing’ is an extremely important part of your practice, second only to new patient marketing (some gurus try to convince you this is the most important aspect, however they usually aren’t great at new patient marketing). Examples of must-have relationship builders are print newsletters, email marketing, and blogging.

#4. Networking

The potential behind networking with other businesses is huge for chiropractors. Look for groups and organizations that make this one easy, so you don’t have to cold call and “sell” yourself to local businesses. For example, local BNI chapters meet weekly and are composed of 15-40 business professionals that are expected to work with and refer to each other.  BNI is much more effective than any Chamber of Commerce meeting, at least in populated areas. Look for a chapters near you at www.bni.com

#5. Use Direct Mail

Direct mail does work. But I find most chiropractors do it wrong. The best way to do direct mail is by testing advertising pieces online and in newspapers first. Then once you have a winner, roll it out on postcards or in letter format. Shiny, pretty, and slick mailers don’t work — because they look like junk mail, they end up where all junk mail does…the trash.

#6. Referral Marketing

Referrals are a popular phrase at any chiropractic consultant convention. When I attended, I was always lead to believe that getting referrals from patients was child’s play, any chiropractor should excel at this. The only problem was the required pushy tactics and outright forceful “you gotta bring your family in” or else type of influence. These techniques didn’t sit well with me, because I would never like it if someone acted that way towards me. But there are ways to get referrals indirectly from your patients, many in fact, that you should be using in your practice. One is called using a “stick letter” where you follow up with new patients right after they start care and offer them a chance to refer others.

#7. Focus on niches

This is a great strategy because it sets you up as an expert in your town. I used to get quite a few spouse referrals simply because the wife would tell the husband about some cool new equipment I had in the office. He would come in as a patient and tell me “I came here because my other chiropractor never did this.” (His previous chiropractor should have followed my advice on #3 above!) We could waste time talking about why we should discuss symptoms and conditions with patients, but I won’t do that here. Suffice to say, becoming a “specialists” of sorts in your community is a smart thing to do, and one you should definitely focus it in 2009. And you shouldn’t just become a specialist on one condition either, but diversify your practice (and your marketing) on multiple ones. The days of “chiropractic helps everyone with everything” isn’t going to work anymore. It may be true, but prospective patients just see it as fluff. Also, even for the few that take your word, they see you as more of a “jack of all trades, master of none” type of chiropractor. Who makes more money in dentistry, medicine, and law, the specialists or generalists?

All 7 of these strategies are guaranteed winners for your chiropractic marketing plan. You must implement each one of them every month in 2009.

The study of marketing and advertising is one of my life’s passions. I’ve read and studied the greatest sales letters and ads of today, as well as successful ads of the past 100 years. (I’ve even handwritten a replica of a Master Copywriter’s 50 page sales letter, a marketing autopsy if you will .)

While the words, strategies, and offers in these ads may have changed over time, the 5 “secrets” to making them successful never change.

I call them secrets, because if they were well known, more practices would be using them in their chiropractic ads. But I’m going to reveal them here, so you’ll forever know them.

1. Have A Compelling headline. Famous ad man John Caples, author of Tested Advertising Methods and writer of what may be the greatest ad in history, accurately stated the headline is responsible for 80% of the ad’s results. Your headline is the “ad for the ad”. If the headline isn’t noticed, you’re ad is surely doomed.

2. Use an advertorial style ad. If you’re a well-known company making billions of dollars, you can run an ad with only your name, picture and some pretty colors. For those of us that have not yet acquired that level of success, it’s been proven that an educational style ad called an “advertorial” works much better. An advertorial looks like an article, or an editorial, so hence the name. They are typically bigger than a display ad and are written by an expert copywriter. And who in the world would actually read all those words in your ad? Your ideal patient who wants to refer all their friends and family  members in, that’s who!

3. Make an offer. While it’s not a requirement in chiropractic to give a discount on the first visit, it will certainly bring in more new patients when offered in your ads. If you’re going to spend the money to run an ad, then you should give an incentive to the reader to pick up the phone and call now. You don’t need to make a special offer because you have to, (as if chiropractic is some second-rate type of healthcare) but because you want to do it so more people will respond to the ad. This allows you to help more people, build a bigger practice, and live a better lifestyle.

4. Use a photo with a caption. A caption on a well placed photo can be the second most read part of your ad, after the headline. You must be careful to use this one right though. We aren’t going to make the focus of the ad the photo. On the other end of the spectrum, even a lot of average copywriters get this one wrong. They think using any kind of of picture is bad marketing. And the photo doesn’t necessarily have to be a picture of you. It depends on what the ad is written for.

5. Give proof. Your ad should have as much proof as can be squeezed in it. Two powerful forms of proof are testimonials and scientific studies. Testimonials work because they back up the fact you really can and do help people. Studies prove you aren’t just making stuff up. For example, if your ad focuses on headaches, it should mention the Duke University Study or the study in the Journal of Neuromusculoskeletal System 2002.

Does your advertising follow these 5 guidelines?

While everyone has heard that they should implement systems in their practice, actually doing it is another story. I know it was for me. But I also realized the immense power systems had, mostly because it would put things on autopilot for me.

Here’s just a few systems you can have to make your practice more profitable, more successful, and much less stressful.

• New Patient Marketing
• Employee Hiring And Training
• New Patient Conversion
• Reactivations
• Referrals
• Internal Marketing
• Office Flow
• Patient Financials

Also realize many of these bigger systems should be broken into small systems. For example, new patient marketing should include different channels like chiropractic internet marketing, newspaper marketing, direct mail, etc.

Who has the time to create all these systems anyway?

Finding and putting in the time to write out (or even make videos) of these systems is quite time consuming. This is why you should buy systems that are already done-for-you, so all you have to do is implement them in your practice with very little hassle. Here are a few systems (all of which I have used or created myself) put into place with very little effort…

*   Insurance Compliance System
*   Chiropractic Internet Marketing System
*   Patient Home Care Rehab System
*   Insurance Appeal Process
*   Office Software System
*   Email Newsletter And Autoresponder System

Not all the systems you would need are available (yet!) for chiropractors to purchase and quickly implement in their practices.

So you will have to bear down and create a few systems on your own.The easiest way I have found to do this is to write an outline of the main points you want to cover. Then explain each section in as few words as possible, creating an instruction manual you can have employees (yourself) refer back to on a regular basis.

In 2009 I’m going to be bringing you some very good systems you can apply to your practice. Especially done-for-you systems that help with the biggest problem in chiropractic: your marketing!

In a comment to my last post, Jay said…

What I’d like to know is how to build value in what I offer, such that the potential patient sees that value and is therefore willing to pay FULL FEE for my exam. (Is there really a need to give away our exams for $17 or $27?).

And, do the above in a non-cheesy format. I’m not really interested in sending out free reports/sales pitches to my prospective patients. I think today’s consumer is privy to these “reports” and they know it’s just a sales pitch.

And, while you are seeking my questions; I’d like to know how to market my practice such that I’m not offending any of my potential patients. (Let’s face it, some of the chiro marketing gurus’ marketing methods are downright offending and low class). And that last statement is true, no matter how many patients were attracted with a particular ad.

So…bottom line, is there a method of marketing that is classy and effective??? (That’s the million dollar question).

Jay brings up a valid question that many chiropractors have, so I decided to dedicate today’s post to the subject.

The first issue Jay brings up is he wants his new patients to pay full price for an exam. That’s fair. You can certainly collect $200-300 per exam, I’ve done it as well as many other doctors. However, at this price level there are many prospective patients who simply will not “try” chiropractic if this is what they perceive each visit to cost. So yes, you can certainly charge full price for each exam, but how much are you loosing out on. What we have to ask ourselves is wouldn’t you rather have the patient come in at a lower cost then realize you aren’t a weird doctor, so they stay with you for life and refer their circle of friends? There’s no “need” to charge $17 or $27 for an exam (especially if you are doing well), but there’s no doubt this offer is going to lower the risk for someone to overcome the rumors they’ve heard of chiropractic.

How to build enough value in your practice to actually collect $200-300 for an exam would make this post too long. I’ll address it in a post of it’s own at a later point.

The next issue Jay addresses is “cheesy marketing” and the use of free reports. Assuming he means “cheasy” as in the overhyped, hard selling techniques and kits being sold and taught to chiropractors today… I totally agree. There is a lot of hype in some of those free reports I’ve seen.

Yes, there is marketing that is classy and effective…but not much of it out there. There’s a lot of fancy-smancy stuff that doesn’t work (pretty websites,brochures, cards), and there’s certainly lots of non-classy junk that doesn’t work (although some docs will swear up and down it does work).

[This offer has expired and is no longer available.]

Over the years of running my practice, I’ve not been happy with any of the newspaper ads I bought or I received as part of a coaching program. Why?

Two reasons: not enough new patients and a low return on investment.

After spending the last year and thousands of dollars to fine tune my own copywriting skills, I’ve written a couple of ads that have already produced awesome ROI’s (return on investment) for myself and another doctor. A few colleagues and some well known copywriters suggested I write more ads for chiropractors to use in growing their practice.

Here’s where you can benefit…

I’m working on a set of chiropractic newspaper ads that are designed to get results and will be launched later this year. Because I want all my ads to be tested and proven before they are launched to the profession, for a limited time only, I’ll be accepting a handful of chiropractors to beta-test my ads. The ads will be given to you for free, in exchange you’ll report back the results as part of a case study. You’ll of course be responsible for paying the paper to run them, and making sure they comply with your state laws. The ads can be run as full page, half page, (even 1/4 page if your paper is big enough) or inserts – you decide.

Ads already written and tested include: Sciatica/decompression and fibromyalgia. Future ads to be written will be for headaches/migraines, weight loss, cold laser, work comp, PI and more.

If you are interested in participating, post a comment below and I’ll contact you via email by Monday.

**You will be only licensed to use the ad for your practice (you can not share it with anyone else – copyright laws will be enforced!)**

This is me and internet copywriter Ray Edwards at the recent World Internet Summit. Ray has written copy for some of the biggest selling websites and made his clients millions of dollars in just the last few months.

During the summit, Ray Taught on his “4 Part Selling Formula” that he uses to write web copy. I’ve listed them with my notes on how they translate into your chiropractic marketing plan.

1. “Here’s What I’m Selling” — This is what you say in your advertising or even when describing your services to a new patient. These are the features of your offer. Maybe you offer a special type of adjusting, or you have a decompression table, or have a special plan for fibromyalgia patients.
2. “Here’s How it helps you” – Many DC’s fall short on this one. We assume that the prospect understand the benefit, but many do not. You have to explain to your prospective patients how what you do will help them. These are the benefits of  your offer. And specifically how it will allow them to do the things they enjoy in life. ie golf, playing with the kids, dancing, etc. Remember, the patient is saying “what’s in it for me”.
3. “Some questions you may have” — This one is huge in our profession! We need to handle their objections before they even ask them. Common objections are cost, skepticism of chiropractic (does it work?), fear of chiropractors, “Do I have to go forever?”, “will it come back”, etc
4. “Here’s exactly what to do next” — In your marketing, you have to tell the prospective patient exactly what to do next. You can’t just assume they will know what to do. “call now” or “click here to schedule an appointment” are examples of this.

Ray Edwards also mentioned the following that I thought applied well to our practices:

“They wouldn’t be on your website, unless they weren’t silently begging you for help with their problem.” This applies to when a new patient calls you too.

How can you apply the above marketing strategies to your chiropractic marketing plan?