Some statistics show that a whopping 84% of people that have access to the internet use social media. For businesses, tapping into social media is considered a no-brainer as it is regarded as one of the most effective ways to engage with customers old and new. Social media marketing also allows you to reach more people.
Also, if you want to draw in a consistent stream of new patients to your door, you can never go wrong with social media marketing. Consider this: chiropractic care is deemed one of the most prominent healthcare practices in the United States. However, with new social content published almost every second, standing out from the pack can be challenging.
The Importance of Social Media Marketing for Chiropractors
Nowadays, there are an estimated 4.2 billion social media users. At least 54% of the active social media users turn to social channels when researching products or services. Undeniably, businesses need to be on social media, and your chiropractic practice is no exception.
Below are some of the practical reasons why you should incorporate social media in your digital marketing efforts:
- It can help with patient retention. Social media can be used to effectively interact, engage, and attract patients. This, in turn, increases the percentage of patient retention.
- It can help attract new patients. With billions of people now active on social media, it’s safe to assume you can find your prospective patients there too!
- It can help maintain your relationships with your patients. Social media can help drive comments through direct messages and comments. This can help you establish your practice and build and maintain your relationships with patients old and new.
- It can help with your branding. Social media can help you establish your brand by increasing brand reach, exposure, and awareness.
- It can help you showcase your expertise. Through social media, you can effectively show patients why you are the best option for them.
- It can help ensure patients can find you easily. Having a social media presence alone is not enough. You need to make it very easy for people to find you online. Otherwise, they won’t be able to do business with you.
If you are not active on popular social media channels, you are already falling far behind. If you have a presence on social media channels, you need to ask yourself if people can find you easily.
Using Social Media to Enhance Your Chiropractic Practice: Top Tips
There’s no shortage of ways you can use social media to take your digital marketing efforts to the next level. The following best practices can help take get your digital marketing campaign off to a superb start:
Top Tip #01: Build a Social Media Team and Create a Foolproof Strategy
First things first. Before starting your online campaign, you need to create a powerful social media team first. If you want to go all-out, it would be a good idea to work with a social media specialist so you will be given expert guidance.
Keep in mind that having someone with the right background and experience is crucial if you want your campaign to move in the right direction.
Once you have your social media team all sorted out, you need to identify your goals, brainstorm, and create a solid plan. You also need to determine the social media platforms you will have a presence on.
Generally, Facebook is considered the ideal social media platform for most businesses, including chiropractors.
You also need to figure out the content you will write and the posts you will share. To ensure everything is seamless, create a calendar and schedule posts based on the goals you have identified.
Top Tip #02: Pick the Right Social Media Channels
Before you create your social media page, you must first explore the options available at your disposal. Which social media channels should you have a presence on? Below is a list of what you can do on some of the most popular social media channels:
When you are on Facebook, it would be good to post fun and informational videos for old and new patients alike. It would also be a good idea to share live events and share them with your followers as they happen (i.e., what a chiropractor’s day is like).
To encourage engagement and make you appear more approachable, you can also post high-quality photos of you, your staff, your patients (with their permission), and other exciting activities or events related to your practice.
You can also post images that show you interacting with your patients or videos that explain specific chiropractic procedures. It would also be wise to develop an online contest for patients and give away exciting prizes like free service or special discounts.
Compared to other social media channels, Instagram is more photo-focused. However, you can still use its Q&A and IG Live features to connect with your followers and patients. You can also conduct a weekly Q&A about your chiropractic practice.
Posting short video clips on your IG Stories is also a great idea. Giving people a quick glimpse of what happens during a chiropractic session is also recommended. However, you need to ask for the patient’s permission before taking videos and posting them on your social media channels.
YouTube
If you love making videos, YouTube is your best bet. If you have already created a YouTube channel, you can schedule lots of content, including at-home workouts, behind-the-scenes, training therapy, and other chiropractic exercises.
When on social media, be sure you have someone assigned to post regularly, take note of suggestions and feedback, and respond to inquiries and comments.
LinkedIn is another social media channel that’s ideal for improving and establishing business connections. You can also use LinkedIn to showcase your expertise by sharing thoughts and ideas and connecting with other chiropractors.
Since LinkedIn also allows sharing of articles, you can also share articles you have written with your connections. Apart from posting videos, articles, and images, you can also post motivational quotes, infographics, and even memes.
Top Tip #03: Consider Investing in Social Media Ads
Nowadays, there is no excuse for you not to invest in social media ads. If you want, you can run ads on Instagram, Facebook, and Google based on your keywords, services, and specialty. If you are not running paid social media ads yet, you are missing out on the following exceptional benefits:
- You can reach a vast number of potential clients
- You can get highly targeted audiences
- You can effectively increase visibility and brand awareness
- You can dramatically boost your conversion rate
- You can achieve a more effective reach using micro-segmentation
Top Tip #04: Use Your Social Media to Learn, Listen, and Gather Feedback
If you want to get ahead of the pack, you need to know what users online are saying about you, your services, and your chiropractic practice. When gathering feedback about things you are doing right and the areas you need to improve on, social media can be a beneficial tool.
There are several ways you can “listen” and get more information about the insights and experiences of your clients. For example, if you are looking for quick feedback, you have the option to conduct a survey or poll on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
If you need some help with blog post ideas, you can also create a survey and ask your followers what they would like you to write about.
Polls and surveys can also be very beneficial as they can help you understand what your followers and clients want to learn. If you want to know the posts that are performing better, you can also use social media analytics to help you determine the type of content your clients will engage with more.
Ideally, you also need to interact and engage with your followers consistently. Interacting with your followers is also one of the easiest ways to establish a relationship with current clients and prospects. Engaging with your clients and followers will also make them feel they are essential to you.
Another surefire way to make your followers feel special would be to send out newsletters that contain free health guides, discount vouchers, newsletters about clinic events, the latest updates in the chiropractic world, and other exciting materials.
Top Tip #05: Create Different Types of Content to Increase Engagement
To increase engagement, consider writing and publishing different types of content. For instance:
- Celebratory or seasonal posts – these posts are relevant and timely and can help keep your social media pages fresh and updated. Some examples of celebratory or seasonal posts include World Spine Day, National Chiropractic Health Month, and International Correct Posture Month.
- Preventative care – these types of posts are designed to raise awareness while encouraging patients to schedule follow-ups or appointments for neck and knee pain, sports injuries, adjustments, etc.
- Client education – these posts are used to educate your patients and followers on different chiropractic topics ranging from general topics to more in-depth therapies.
Final Thoughts
With most of your patients likely active on social media, now is the best time to take action and implement some of the social media strategies outlined above. Done right, social media can be a simple yet potent tool that can take your chiropractic practice to the next level.
