Weekly Bs: Relationship-centered Chiropractic Marketing

Most chiropractic patients don’t stick around forever. If you ever hear a chiropractic coach or a practice management group tell you otherwise, I would strongly recommend proceeding with caution. They are probably lying to you. But just because most patients don’t stick around forever, that doesn’t mean your office should just let them go without any follow-up. In fact, you should have a detailed follow-up plan for the long term and the short term. It will help your patient retention tremendously. Let’s talk about it.

I don’t know that I have ever met a chiropractor who wouldn’t like to get more patients from the internet. You would have to be crazy to turn that down. But how do you do that? Is it as simple as a website or regularly posting to your social media accounts? In this podcast episode, I talk about 3 things chiropractors need to consider if they want to get more patients from the internet. I also discuss why so many chiropractors get taken advantage of by website creators, marketers, and practice management.

I’ve worked with hundreds of chiropractors over the years. Pretty much all of them were in a growth phase of their practice/life. They want to improve their practice size. They want to help more people. They want to make more money. Nothing wrong with any of that. But I’ve noticed a pattern. I’ve noticed 2 very common (and simple) mistakes amongst chiropractors who continue to struggle. They make these mistakes repeatedly and then wonder why nothing ever changes. I’m going to talk about these mistakes on the podcast this week. Let’s get into it.

Chiropractors often make assumptions when it comes to marketing, running their business, and even dealing with patients. I’m sure there are times when assumptions are ok, but there are two assumptions that I hear often that are bad for chiropractors. In this episode, I talk about two really common assumptions that will hurt the growth of your chiropractic practice. Let’s get into it.

More and more chiropractors are starting to understand the importance of Google My Business (GMB). Most chiropractors will get more visits to their GMB profile in a given month than they will to their own website. But what to do with GMB isn’t as straightforward for every chiropractor. In this episode, I talk about what to do with Google My Business if you are a chiropractic associate, an independent contractor, or a chiropractor with multiple clinics. Let’s get into it.

It’s so stressful to be a chiropractor…especially when you first get out of school. You don’t have much experience adjusting patients. You don’t have much experience managing people. You most likely have never owned or operated a small business. What a mess. In this episode, I talk about why chiropractors are so stressed out and how avoiding the problem only makes things worse for anyone who wants to be a successful chiropractor. Let’s get into it.

Patient retention is important for every chiropractor. But most chiropractors assume that patient retention starts after a patient starts care. That’s a huge mistake. There are actually 4 phases of patient care and one of them starts before your patient ever steps foot in your office. In this episode, I talk about the 4 phases of patient retention for chiropractors. I discuss how things that happen before your patients start care and how you handle things after your patients end care will impact your patient retention. Let’s get into it.

Most chiropractors that I speak with will mention referrals as a major part of their ideal practice. Referrals are awesome. I’ll add to that, online reviews are awesome, too. They can be the lifeblood of a stable, successful, patient-centered chiropract

There is an assumption amongst chiropractors that adding fresh content will automatically improve their SEO. That’s why chiropractors often go to great lengths to have people regularly add content to their websites. But is fresh content really the secret to better local search rankings? In this episode, I talk about the assumptions around fresh content and chiropractic SEO. I discuss the 2 most important things to keep in mind when adding content to your chiropractic website. Let’s talk about it.

Patient retention is an important topic for chiropractors. Not only is it tough to run a successful small business if everyone who comes in the front door is leaving out the back, but it’s also difficult to help people as a chiropractor if patients won’t follow through with care. In this episode, I give an overview of patient retention. I discuss some of the misconceptions that chiropractors believe about retention, and I talk about the difference between lifetime patients and wellness patients.

One of the things I always recommend to chiropractors who are creating content is that they keep a running list of ideas. Questions that your patients ask. Conversations you have with networking partners. Something you read in a book. All of those things could turn into great content for your chiropractic practice. In this episode, I talk about 3 nuggets of wisdom that I have written down over the years but I haven’t talked about on the podcast yet. They didn’t really fit for a full podcast, but they are definitely worth sharing. Let’s talk about it.

As a chiropractor, you almost always have a lot longer to-do list than you have time. One of the common mistakes that chiropractors will make is spending time on things that aren’t important. Don’t do that. But even if you get laser-focused on the things that really matter, it’s easy to run short on time. In this episode, I talk about the myth of multi-tasking, and I discuss 4 simple things that can help every chiropractor to become more efficient with their time. Let’s talk about it.

Last week I talked about how chiropractors often waste money on social media management. Out of that podcast came some comments about how social media affects local SEO. Wait a second…does it really? In this episode, I talk about how social media does or does not affect your local chiropractic SEO. I also give you the most important local SEO ranking factors and invite you to take my free practice assessment. Let’s talk about it.

I’ve talked to a lot of chiropractors who pay an outside person or company to manage their social media. Usually, they will pay 50-$100/month for someone to slap their logo on generic images or videos that are regularly posted to the chiropractor’s Facebook and Instagram page. Is that a good chiropractic marketing strategy, or is it just a big waste of money? In this episode, I talk about the main reasons that chiropractors benefit from social media. I also discuss why social media management usually doesn’t help chiropractors, and I give examples of the best type of content for chiropractors to post on social media. Let’s talk about it.

I have such a heart for new chiropractors. The choices chiropractors make at the start of their careers can make the difference between a long, successful career and a total dumpster fire. Being a chiropractor can be incredibly rewarding. It can also be your worst nightmare. Chiropractors often make their practice life harder than it has to be by trying to go too BIG too early. New chiropractors often get bad advice from the people around them because those people think there is only one way to be a successful chiropractor or they think that starting a micro practice is unprofessional. In this episode, I talk about the benefits of starting very small and why many new chiropractors should consider doing just that. Let’s talk about it.

There are a ton of ways to advertise a chiropractic practice. Old-school marketing tactics that have worked forever are still working for some chiropractors. Other chiropractors lean heavily on more modern ways of marketing like social media and online advertising. The most successful practices are most likely using a combination of both old-school and modern chiropractic marketing. It would be impossible for me to talk about all the different marketing options available to chiropractors in one article. So I’m going to focus on three of the most popular marketing channels that chiropractors are using today: Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and Reputation Management. My goal is to give chiropractors a few things to think about as they decide which marketing channel is best for their practice.

One of my things is creating chiropractic memes. I’ve been creating chiropractic memes for years now, and it’s a lot of fun. I’ve learned a lot about things that work and things that don’t. Since I’ve never talked about the thought process behind a good chiropractic meme, I figured it was time. In this episode, I talk about what makes a good chiropractic meme. I discuss why memes are helpful for me and why they can be helpful for other chiropractors. I also give chiropractors some meme categories to consider if they want to start making memes for their patients. Let’s talk about it.

“People don’t care about chiropractic, but they do seem to care about loud cracks and half-dressed women.” I made that comment after browsing the most popular chiropractors online. Most of them are either selling crack or they are selling sex. In this episode, I ask the question “Does sex sell chiropractic?” I talk about the type of businesses that benefit most from sexualized advertising. I also discuss why “sex sells” applies more to some chiropractors than others.

It’s not uncommon for people to find out that someone is a chiropractor and want to ask them a “quick question.” When chiropractors find themselves in that situation, they are often thinking that they are talking to a potential new patient. But often, the conversation ends up being unfruitful. Why? In this episode, I talk about the mistake of going into “doctor mode” outside of your office, and why lengthy conversations with potential patients often end up turning into nothing. Let’s get into it.

Networking can be such a powerful tool for chiropractors. The more advocates you have in your community who are referring to you, the easier your practice growth becomes. But a lot of chiropractors make a BIG mistake when they try to do networking. In this episode, I talk about the BIGGEST mistake that chiropractors make when they join a BNI or try to do other forms of networking in their community. I talk about 2 very important things your networking partners need to know about you in order to be a good referral source. Let’s get into it.