Marketing: What Works Now

Hint: Its not YouTube spine cracking videos.

Chiropractors have a love-hate relationship with marketing. They recognize that in order to run a business, you're going to need to do some form of marketing. However, most of them hate the process and consider marketing a necessary evil. In fact, some chiropractors regard any and all marketing as just plain unethical.

This wasn’t always the case.

Chiropractic marketing has always had a flair for the dramatic. The roots of this phenomenon can be traced back to BJ Palmer who borrowed heavily from the showmanship of P.T. Barnum.

Palmer’s era was characterized by bold, sometimes outrageous, advertising claims. Chiropractors during his time often touted miraculous cures for a wide array of conditions, creating many of the misconceptions that still persist today.

Modern-day chiropractors aren’t helping advance chiropractic’s image much either. Cracking videos performed on supermodels in short shorts, ring-dingers, microphone amplified audio etc. Much of the new marketing has familiar characteristics of the same circus-like tactics.

The problem with these flashy marketing gimmicks is that they work, at least in the short term. They attract viewers who are drawn to the spectacle and might become curious enough to visit a chiropractor.

However, there is an inherent risk in this approach. While these tactics may draw in a niche audience, they also have the potential to alienate a broader, more skeptical population. Unfortunately, the exact cost of this alienation is hard to measure.

There comes a point when overuse of these sensational marketing strategies leads to diminishing returns. As more chiropractors adopt the same flashy tactics, what was once novel and attention-grabbing becomes cheesy and sales-y.

In the early 2000s, a patient of mine who ran the local car show invited me to set up a booth in the wellness section of his event. I saw an opportunity because, to my knowledge, no other chiropractors in town were doing screenings.

I found it easy to engage with people, having done screenings in chiropractic college. The response was overwhelmingly positive; people were grateful for our presence and many admitted they would never have considered visiting a chiropractor otherwise.

Over the next four days, we performed posture screenings and booked an astounding 223 new patients! It was a whirlwind of activity, and we were busy processing new patients for weeks afterwards.

The following year, the situation changed. Two other chiropractic offices set up booths, and our new patient bookings dropped to less than 50. By the third year, with four different chiropractic booths at the car show, we booked less than 10 new patients. The worst part was the perception shift among the patrons. What started as a novel and cool addition to the car show quickly became weird and suspicious.

By year three, we were met with “why are there so many of you here?” and “I guess business must not be great.” One chiro at the event even received a Board complaint which was later dismissed.

Chiropractors have to market their business, the same as any other service-based business. Face it. There will always be those in the profession who think that marketing for healthcare professionals is unethical but I can assure you that the dentists, plastic surgeons, physiotherapists, naturopaths etc. do not have the same opinions.

For some chiropractors, it's almost a sense of pride to be able to build a practice without marketing. While this may have worked in the 50s and 60s when there was little competition, it is no longer the case today.

Also, we have an educated public who is seeking professionals and likes to do their own research. They don’t simply rely on word-of-mouth anymore. Chiropractors practicing today need to be marketers and promoters of chiropractic rather than simply technicians of chiropractic.

The challenge is figuring out that delicate balance that maintains professional integrity, while still reaching and educating potential patients.

First, let's define “works” as it relates to marketing. I am of the opinion that in order for a marketing activity to be considered effective, we need to see not only new clients but also a good return on investment (ROI).

ROI is simply the amount of gross income generated from a particular marketing activity, versus the total cost to market your service.

Ideally, I would always like to see a 5 to 1 return on my marketing investment within a 4-month period. It's a high standard for any business, but I believe that number is very obtainable in the chiropractic profession.

I've tried various forms of marketing over the years. Some have been very effective while others were not as effective. I want to be clear: Much of this is going to depend on your skills, location and personal preference as well as how effective a marketing campaign is. I’ve spent years of trial and error figuring it out:

• Print ads in newspapers and yellow pages

• Spinal screenings

• Print flyers

• Website SEO

• Open Houses

• Internal workshops

• External workshops, Lunch and learns

• Online courses

• Facebook and Instagram Ads

• Google Ads

• Spinal screenings

• Referral cards

• Dinners with the Doc

• Patient Appreciation Days

• Video Testimonials

Remember, every marketing strategy works to some extent. You need to balance the benefits with the costs, effort, and time.

If you're going to invest in marketing, focus on messages that let patients share their own stories. People love stories and short videos, especially ones where they see "people like me do this for their health." Instead of bragging about yourself, let your satisfied patients do it for you.

Here’s what works for us now:

• Short, well-produced patient stories on social media (FREE)

• Email Funnels and Online Courses ($)

• Asking for Google reviews (FREE)

• Corporate talks and lunch and learns (FREE)

• Building relationships with managers and HR departments (FREE)

• Well crafted Meta ads ($$)

You’ll see that most of our current marketing efforts are one-to-many tactics versus a less efficient one-to-one, mostly free, and time efficient. Screening at a wellness fair for 24 hours this weekend doesn’t appeal to me anymore.

Today, our marketing efforts look more like relationship building with local businesses and patient education, rather than hard sell tactics, flashy ads and special offers.

In the end, the goal is to create a marketing strategy that bring in new clients and provides a good return on investment while maintaining the profession's trust and respect.