Marketing 101

Marketing may not be high on your list of priorities, but the dirty truth is, everyone needs to be doing it if they want to have a successful practice. And that means every D.C. Marketing assistants are a great asset, but real success starts with the doc.

"Every chiropractor needs to wear the marketing hat, and needs to take responsibility for marketing in the office," said Dr. Noel Lloyd, Five Star Management coach.

You are the best person to spread the chiropractic message, and the best person to convince people that they need to come into your office. You're also the best person to get your staff excited about the importance of marketing. As a leader, you need to be able to guide your staff and teach them the best way to bring in new patients.

"If you're not getting enough new patients, it's just because people don't know you're there, don't know what you do, and they don't know how great chiropractic is," Dr. Lloyd said.

Not everyone is going to be comfortable with throwing themselves right into marketing, but Dr. Lloyd encourages docs to at least do one thing; master one form of marketing, become an expert at it, and move on to the next. Some tips he offers to get comfortable are:

1. Have fun. In whatever you're doing, make sure that you're enjoying it. If not, tweak it until it's just right for you.


2. Market to give back. Make sure what you're focused on is helping the patient – not just counting how many come in the door. Provide them with the information they need and the opportunities to truly get healthy, and the experience will be far more rewarding.


3. Bring a buddy. Screening can be intimidating if you're standing there alone – for both you and the prospective patient. Bring your assistant along to help, especially if the two of you have a good rapport. When people see two comfortable, friendly, approachable people offering free screenings and chair massages, they'll be much more interested in coming over.


4. Don't screen all day. The screening may be booked for eight hours, but you don't need to be there the whole time. Choose a couple of hours in the middle of the day when traffic is high, so as not to burn yourself out.

Screenings are one of the best forms of marketing, and a good one to try out if you're still not a pro. Some other forms of marketing that Dr. Lloyd recommeds are health talks, and getting in contact with all the businesses in a five mile radius of your clinic. The most important thing to do is just to get out of your comfort zone and talk to people.

And if you're still having trouble getting the marketing quite right, talk to your coach – we're always here to help.