{"id":2851,"date":"2013-04-09T06:29:50","date_gmt":"2013-04-09T11:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/?p=2851"},"modified":"2013-04-09T07:38:54","modified_gmt":"2013-04-09T12:38:54","slug":"the-chiropracticpromotional-mix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/the-chiropracticpromotional-mix\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding the Right Mix for Your Chiropractic Promotions"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE PROMOTIONAL RIVER<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I sometimes receive emails and calls from chiropractors requesting a quick fix for their lack of new patients.\u00a0\u00a0 I often wonder if they ever got the idea of symptomatic care versus corrective and wellness care.<\/p>\n

Effective marketing requires more than just a killer advertisement or long copy reactivation letter or a spinal screening.\u00a0\u00a0 It has been said that good marketing doesn\u2019t depend on one promotion to get 50 new patients, but rather 50 promotions each generating one new patient.<\/p>\n

Generating a high volume of new patients in your chiropractic office requires multiple channels of communication.\u00a0\u00a0 Consider how a river grows \u2013 through lots of tributaries. The Mississippi starts out like a creek, but then other creeks run into it and it grows and grows.<\/p>\n

We call this the promotional mix \u2013 the blend of different approaches you use to communicate the benefits of your services.<\/p>\n

On the following page, we have listed just a few important categories of effective promotions for your office.\u00a0 Of course, there are others, but we have found that these work well and can act as a good foundation.<\/p>\n

\"Mississippi\"<\/a><\/p>\n

FOUNDATIONS OF PROMOTION<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Effective promotion starts with individual and team motivation. It then should be entwined with all of your basic routines each day, from the way the phone is answered to the consultation and patient examination.<\/p>\n

Beyond this, you can schedule specific health topics months in advance and offer them as workshops or \u201cAwareness Weeks\u201d where you provide a free screening exam and info.<\/p>\n

Occasional special promotions should be scheduled, such as \u201cKid\u2019s Day\u201d, and community services should also be scheduled, such as screenings, relationship building with external referrals sources, and workshops.<\/p>\n

Your presence on the Internet has to be constantly added to.<\/p>\n

These are some of the main categories of your promotions, though advertising and public relations events can also occur now and then.<\/p>\n

\"PromoMix\"<\/a>(larger image) <\/a><\/h6>\n

KEY PROMOTIONS<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em> Motivation<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0 You and your team\u2019s desire to promote the benefits of your services create the energy to make your marketing work. Constantly nurture this.\u00a0 Start with WHY?<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 Basic Service and Chiropractic Care Procedures<\/span><\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 This is your foundation. Marketing is embedded in the heart of all the basic duties you do every day.\u00a0 You should constantly review and try to improve on the marketing aspect of your procedures.\u00a0 Be ever more cheerful, more genuine, more caring, and giving of extra-ordinary care and service.\u00a0 Have \u201cPresent Time Consciousness.\u201d It is helpful to have a checklist of these procedures to review.\u00a0 Little things can slip aside and go unnoticed and a checklist helps flush everything out for inspection.\u00a0 Work on a procedure or two every month so that you are constantly improving.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0 Special Promotions.<\/span><\/em> These are promotional events that can be internal, external, or both. For example, flowers to women on Mother\u2019s Day, a Kid\u2019s Day, Community Appreciation Day, Anniversary Day, etc.\u00a0 They can be tied in with holidays, community days, parades, donation drives, etc. Most have an offer for a free service, but not all. These are IN ADDITION to the monthly education themes. Schedule these every other month or so. Promote these on the Internet and in newsletters.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0 Community Education Program\u00a0<\/span> <\/em>(Monthly Health Themes) We have found that this program gradually builds momentum and if managed well, brings in more patient referrals, external new patients, and returning patients directly and indirectly. Here are some steps to make it successful.<\/p>\n

a.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Select monthly themes around a condition or healthful topic. Can include headaches, kid\u2019s health, motherhood, nutrition, cooking class, exercise, golf clinic, etc.
\nb.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Schedule a workshop time or \u201cAwareness Week\u201d (free screening exam last week of the month)\u00a0 at the end of each month.
\nc.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Customize a poster. Samples on our Members site or make up your own.
\nd.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do a YouTube video on the subject the month before. Post on Facebook, web site, YouTube channel and embed in your email
\ne.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Send out an email notice promoting the event, with a link to the video Health Tip, testimonial, etc.
\nf.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Send a hard copy newsletter with testimonials mailed to some of your patient files now and then (3 months) and all files every 6 months.
\ng.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Posters distributed locally and as statement stuffers.
\nh.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Press releases can be sent to local papers\/electronic calendars.
\ni.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ads are an option.<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em> Community Services<\/em><\/span>. These are scheduled each month and include screenings, workshops and external referrals source development (MDs, businesses, DDS, auto body shops, etc.)<\/p>\n

6. \u00a0\u00a0 Keep The Conversation Going: Internet And Newsletter.\u00a0<\/em><\/span> Update your Internet presence and post new info regularly. Set a goal of how many hours it gets worked on each month, eg.\u00a0 1 hr a week.\u00a0 You could also use a checklist (we have one on our PM&A Members site). This would include Facebook postings, YouTube, directory sites (Yelp, Healthgrades.com. etc.), and search engines (Google, Bing, etc.).\u00a0 And, of course, your website\/blog.\u00a0 Add patient testimonials, photos, and health tips. Keep posting \u2013 but keep most of the info local and \u201cnewsy,\u201d just short of gossipy.\u00a0 Also, send out electronic and hard copy newsletters with similar newsy content and notices for upcoming promotions, talks.<\/p>\n

7.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em> Public Relations and Advertising<\/em><\/span>.\u00a0 Radio ads and print ads promoting specials events can be helpful now and then. Public relations such as press releases and donation drives can add long term good will and should be done a few times a year<\/p>\n

3 Month Marketing Planner<\/strong> [Link]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE PROMOTIONAL RIVER I sometimes receive emails and calls from chiropractors requesting a quick fix for their lack of new patients.\u00a0\u00a0 I often wonder if they ever got the idea of symptomatic care versus corrective and wellness care. Effective marketing … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[176,5,155,171,10,11,13,172,211,191],"tags":[361,363,359,255],"class_list":["post-2851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chiropractic-2","category-chiropractic-marketing","category-chiropractors","category-extra-ordinary-service","category-marketing","category-marketing-planning","category-patient-education","category-patient-referrals","category-patient-retention-chiropractic-marketing","category-staffteam-training","tag-chiropractic","tag-management","tag-marketing","tag-planner"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2851"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2871,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2851\/revisions\/2871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmaworks.com\/observations\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}