Earlier in my career, I managed marketing initiatives for one of the largest health centers in America. We were machines when it came to developing, implementing, and tracking marketing efforts.  

My experiences with that multi-million dollar practice taught me invaluable lessons in the world of chiropractic marketing. Since then, I’ve adapted those time-tested strategies into virtual medicine and helped online practices blaze a path forward to lasting success. Now I want to share those solutions for use in your own virtual chiropractic practice!

The problem is, many chiropractors and other doctors struggle to market properly because they become so overwhelmed. They try to toss marketing techniques here and there—like paint splatters!—hoping one will stick. Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. 

How to Create a Chiropractic Marketing Plan

Other medical practices develop awe-inspiring marketing plans but fail to build the foundation and follow-through needed to actually accomplish their goals. 

I’m here to make sure those factors don’t stop you from achieving the success you’re capable of creating. Use these guidelines to become the marketing visionary who leads your team to unparalleled success. 

First, Set Your Goals

How can you achieve your goals if you don’t know what they are? Your chiropractic marketing plan must be built upon the sturdy foundation of SMART goals: 

• Specific
• Measurable
• Achievable
• Realistic
• Timely

But that doesn’t mean you need to establish 18 SMART goals in one day – or even one year! I urge all practices to create one or two overarching SMART goals for the entire year. 

These SMART goals are supplemented by “mini-goals” that are recalibrated every 90 days to evolve with your company’s progress toward your ultimate larger goals.

Target Your Audience

A niche is a specialized corner of your market that focuses on unique products and services. Whether your niche becomes diabetes, weight loss, acne, or anything in between, you begin to focus on patients seeking care in your niche, rather than trying to help every single patient with every single problem. 

Effective marketing simply isn’t possible without a niche that targets a specific audience. I know many practice owners are hesitant to “niche down” because they’re worried about losing new business or disappointing patients, but the truth is that targeting your audience is one of the most powerful ways to drive the success of your chiropractic practice.

Choose Your Marketing Strategies

You don’t have to look far to find marketing strategies. The internet is bursting with clever, ingenious marketing ideas that you can quickly incorporate into your marketing plan!

Just don’t try to do them all at once. Select your marketing strategies with care and give each one the attention and time it needs to deliver results. Don’t make the mistake so many other virtual practice owners make when they spread themselves too thin with 50 clever but unobtainable marketing initiatives. 

Choose the best marketing strategies for your chiropractic business and grow with them. These are a few of my favorite ideas:

• Local marketing to show in top search results for your city
• Social media marketing to strengthen your brand recognition and audience engagement
• Blogging, like I’m doing here, to connect with readers and share your wisdom
• Internal marketing that encourages your existing patients to refer friends

Determine Your Promotion Process

Now that you have established your niche audience, SMART goals, and marketing strategies, you need a refined promotion process. 

In other words, what process will help you consistently and effectively market to your audience and expand your practice? What is the step-by-step process or formula on that channel?

Start with what you can handle. There’s no sense in trying to do everything, all at once, because that usually leads to failure. Practices that attempt to dominate multiple channels at one time usually become overwhelmed and give it all up, or continue to trudge through with lackluster results. 

I recommend identifying the top three channels that will allow you to connect with your target audience. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and other platforms all offer their own unique benefits to consider.

Track Metrics and Optimize

Last but certainly not least: Track your metrics! You can’t optimize results without this. 

This is the key to a successful chiropractic marketing plan that most businesses (in all industries!) overlook. They become so focused on marketing strategies and activities that they forget to evaluate their results. It’s not enough to just attract new viewers. You need this critical three-step process:

• Attract: New visitors and new opt-ins
• Engage: Higher open rates
• Convert: New customers signing up and requesting consultations

Metrics allow you to assess how many people your marketing efforts are actually attracting, engaging, and performing. Low metrics indicate areas of opportunity, while strong metrics demonstrate what works!

By establishing your SMART goals, niche market, marketing strategy, promotion process, and metric tracking, you’ll be well on your way to building lasting momentum in your chiropractic marketing plan.