7 Marketing Strategies For Chiropractors

Medical check at the shoulder in a physiotherapy center

As a chiropractor, your competition isn’t limited to nearby practitioners offering similar services. You also have to compete with different types of doctors and alternative-medicine practitioners who specialize in pain relief. To ensure that patients think of your name first whenever they need pain relief, you’ll need to have a solid marketing strategy. Here are 7 ideas to help you get started.

1. Build a strong website

Today’s healthcare consumer is smart and savvy when it comes to choosing their providers. According to a 2012 report by Think With Google, 77 percent of people search online for symptoms, treatments and providers before booking an appointment. “Back pain” is among the most frequently searched health terms, according to Google Trends.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the key to being found online, but your website’s layout, navigation and design matter too. Your website is an important part of your brand identity; it shapes patients’ initial impression of your business. Potential patients are looking for a chiropractor who’s both trustworthy and capable of relieving their pain. 

Instead of using a free website builder, which looks unprofessional and scrappy, invest in digital branding professionals, including a web designer and copywriter, who specialize in the healthcare industry. They can help you communicate your unique selling proposition (USP), meaning the qualities that distinguish you from other local chiropractors.   

2. Ensure your listings are accurate

Your Google My Business page helps new patients discover your practice, find your contact information and website, and read patient reviews. If your location and contact information are not up to date, however, you run the risk of missing out on new patients and opening yourself up to negative reviews.

  • Make sure your business page and other online profiles are accurate.
  • Include your profile photo, not an avatar — another patient gripe.

3. Request feedback and monitor reviews

When searching for a chiropractor, patients will read reviews from sources like Zocdoc, Facebook and Google. These reviews are vital because they can boost a provider’s SEO rankings and bottom line. According to a 2016 report by Software Advice, more than a quarter of patients say they’re willing to go out of network to see a provider with stellar reviews.

  • Request feedback from patients via email in a timely manner to increase the chance they’ll leave reviews.
  • Monitor and respond to negative reviews — after all, it only takes one disappointed patient to share their experience and hurt your business. 

4. Try targeted advertising

You need to have a Facebook business page to help new patients to find you, engage with your business and read positive reviews of your services, but Facebook advertising is another way to increase your brand exposure and pinpoint potential patients. Facebook ads let you target users based on their interests and demographic factors, such as location, age, gender, education, income and relationship status. This strategy, called “micro-targeting,” can help you get your business in front of the patients most likely to need and solicit your services. 

5. Blog

Posting at least two pieces of relevant, educational and engaging content on your blog each week will boost your Google search rankings and brand awareness. Blogging can also help position you as a trustworthy voice in the chiropractic community. 

  • Create and maintain an editorial calendar with ideas for blog posts that address questions and concerns patients commonly search for.
  • Write blog posts about different types of pain disorders and chiropractic techniques, among other topics on which you’re an authority. 

6. Use email marketing

Email is still one of the most effective ways to use content to engage current patients and convert new patient leads into customers.

  • Ask patients to submit email addresses in exchange for an opt-in download, such as a special treatment offer, a how-to guide, or a report on pain-relief research. 
  • Send out weekly emails with content about health conditions affecting your patients, chiropractic techniques, wellness tips, practice updates, and announcements about deals and events.

7. Create videos

Video marketing is an effective way to reach new patients, especially those hoping to find a quick fix for their pain. In fact, according to a report by Mashable, 15 percent of people regularly use YouTube to find health information.

  • Create a welcome video introducing yourself.
  • Additionally, consider posting a mix of patient testimonial videos and informational videos on relevant health conditions, treatments, and expert-backed tips.