Chiropractic practice building is like training for a marathon – it’s not fast – it’s not easy – and it doesn’t happen by accident. Building your chiropractic practice is not something you do overnight.
But you already knew that.
Instead – building your chiropractic practice takes time and planning. One of the most important, practice building tools you can put to use to grow your practice is a comprehensive marketing strategy.
There are three words that keep chiropractors poor and holds them back from building a successful practice. Those three words are:
“I HELP EVERYONE.”
When that is the basis of your comprehensive marketing strategy – when you’re targeting EVERYONE – in essence, you’re targeting no one.
The KEY element to building a successful chiropractic practice lies in these four words:
IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET PATIENT.
Your target patient is your ideal patient. So ask yourself, “Who is your ideal patient?”
Try not to think about which procedure is the most “profitable”… rather look back on your day and ask yourself which days seem to FLY by. Which patients bring a smile to your face when you see their name on your schedule?
What if you could have dozens of patients – just like those that bring a smile to your face – booked back to back every day?
This “ideal patient” is the key to building the chiropractic practice you’ve always dreamed of having.
For one chiropractor – there was nothing more heart warming than the sounds of children playing in the waiting room. So she targets her practice towards families with children. Her “comprehensive marketing strategy” includes creating a child -friendly environment in the reception area of her office.
The walls are adorned with the hand prints of each child she’s seen and treated. When the children return for a follow up visit, the first place they go is to their hand print on the wall – to see how much they’ve grown since the last time they were seen by her.
When she advertises her clinic – she chooses family friendly publications – like the area homeschool newsletter. She’s also invited the local homeschool group to come visit her clinic on an annual basis – and the families have responded enthusiastically to her generous offer.
If this doesn’t sound like “traditional” marketing and advertising advice- it’s not. However, it is the kind of advice that, if you embrace it, will literally change the face of your practice.
For another chiropractor – his passion is sports. His busiest days seem to FLY by when he’s treating area athletes for their injuries – and it shows. His waiting room is adorned with motivational prints showing athletes in competition. ESPN is playing on the television in the waiting area and the magazines range from golf to racing and every sport in between.
This chiropractor is a dedicated youth athletics sponsor. If there’s a sport in season – chances are good you’ll see this chiropractor’s name emblazened across an entire team’s chest. Their appreciation plaques adorn the walls of his office. He even offers school physicals at a ridiculously low rate – just to entice area high school athletes to visit his office for their yearly sports physicals. He does this because he knows his passion for sports will help him make a connection with these high school athletes.
By focusing on your “ideal” patient – you can then begin the process of developing a comprehensive marketing strategy – with that ideal patient as the “centerpiece” of this marketing strategy.
Once you have a clear picture of your “ideal patient” in mind – then marketing your chiropractic practice can become positively easy – maybe even fun. You’ll find you can quit playing a game of “spray and pray” with your marketing and advertising dollars.
With your idea patient in mind – you can decide whether placing an ad on a placemat at a local bar would be a good investment of your advertising dollars.
If you’re the first chiropractor – the one who targets families with small children – the answer is probably “no”… while a few of the parents may be regular “bar flies” – a majority of your ideal patients probably won’t ever see that ad on that placemat in the bar.
However, if you’re the second chiropractor – the one whose ideal patient is the injured athlete – and you know for a fact that the placemats will be used at the local watering hole for the men’s softball team you sponsor – then the answer is a resounding “YES”.
Not only does your comprehensive marketing strategy let you know WHERE to place your ads – it also allows you to decide WHAT KIND of ad to place. The second chiropractor – the one whose ideal patient is the injured athelte – might decide to purchase a large display on the placemat – and include a sports trivia quiz as part of the ad.
One of the most closely guarded chiropractic practice building secrets is to identify your ideal target patient. It’s covered in complete detail in the 7 week comprehensive e-course on internet marketing for chiropractors.
