Issue 1 - January 2003

Marketing is not a 'dirty word’
Make marketing an ongoing process that starts with targeting your patient
By Linda Segall

Marketing. When you went to college, marketing probably wasn’t included in your course of study. Marketing was something that businesses did – not chiropractors. So, you didn’t have to worry about it. But times – and health care – have changed. Your practice is a business, and if you want it to grow, it’s important for you to understand about marketing – what it is (and isn’t) and how to do it to achieve your dreams and goals. First: What marketing is not. Marketing is not a dirty word. It isn’t selling. It isn’t advertising. It isn’t promotion. It isn’t any single activity. It isn’t making people do something they don’t want to do.

What, then, is marketing? It is actually a lot of things – many that you already do.

Marketing is an ongoing process, according to Carter McNamara of Authenticity Consulting of Minneapolis, a firm that specializes in small-business marketing. Promotion and advertising may be part of your marketing strategy, but marketing actually includes a wide range of activities aimed at making sure that you meet the needs of your patients.

Marketing begins with understanding the needs of your customers – your patients – and designing your practice around meeting those needs.

According to McNamara, small-business owners need to take six steps to perform good marketing:

1. Conduct market research to determine the needs of the customer;
2. Develop their competitive advantages;
3. Target a specific market;
4. Decide how to satisfy those needs;
5. Analyze how well the customers have been served;
6. Repeat the cycle.

Does marketing work in chiropractic?

The basic marketing model was designed for traditional business, so the question begs: Does it work in chiropractic? Yes –if you modify and reframe the steps to a chiropractic mindset. Here’s how to adapt the model to build your business:

1. Define your ideal patient. This is actually step three – targeting a specific market – in a traditional marketing approach. But good marketing begins with the patient, says Bill Esteb, president of Patient Media, Inc. So it stands to reason that defining your ideal patient should be your first step.

“Who are you shooting to attract to your practice?” Esteb asks. “Develop a vision for the type of patient you want. Perhaps it’s golfers. Or sports enthusiasts. Or children. Or older people. One vision isn’t better than any other.” Esteb contends that many chiropractors are concerned that by specializing their practice they will scare other patients away. That’s true, he admits. But at the same time, “once you identify the type of patient you want, you become a magnet . . . the practice attracts others who are in the type.” And when that happens, the practice grows. Defining the patient is the key pin to effective marketing, says Esteb. Every other step of the model hinges on the definition of your ideal patient.

2. Develop your unique advantages. Your unique advantages don’t have to be “competitive” as defined in a traditional business model. Rather, think about the unique services you offer or the special environment in which you deliver services, says Esteb. These are your “competitive” advantages. Developing your uniqueness should not be difficult, provided you have defined the type of patient you want to target, says Esteb. For example, if you want to attract golfers, you could decorate your office in a golf motif. The golf paraphernalia advertises your uniqueness and specialty. Or if you have a pediatric practice, create a play land for kids. Make it comfortable and fun for them.

3. Conduct research. “If you know what people are thinking, you can promote to them,” says Lynda Hubbard-Reis, president of Trendsetters™. She urges the chiropractors she works with to conduct formal research. “Survey your current patients and people who are not your patients to find out what they need and what they want,” she says. With that information you can begin to develop a real marketing plan because you can target their specific wants and needs – not just guess at them. How do you take a survey? The simplest way is to talk to your patients – ask them what they like and dislike about your office, for example. Another way is to hire a firm to interview current patients, inactive patients and nonpatients. The goal of your surveys (however they are taken) is to discover patient needs and misconceptions.

4. Decide how to satisfy your patient’s needs. Esteb contends that once you understand the type of patient you want to attract, you can step into their shoes quite easily. “What are golfers needs? What kinds of problems do they have?” he asks. He also recommends “hanging out” where the targeted patients are – not just to hand out business cards, but to find opportunities to let these potential patients know what you do. “Look for opportunities to give talks at the country club,” he suggests, “or create strategic alliance with organizations.” Formal research can uncover misconceptions, says Hubbard-Reis. “If you know that people perceive chiropractors as ‘bone crunchers’ – as we did in one survey we took – then you can decide how to dispel that misconception.” Research can also tell you what types of words or phrases are most effective to use, or how people like to receive information, such as through a personal letter from the chiropractor instead of an e-mail newsletter, she says.

5. Analyze if your marketing is working. Simply put – measure results. Keep track of the number of new patients that come into your office following a marketing endeavor, says Hubbard-Reis.

6. Repeat the process. Esteb and Hubbard-Reis both agree: Marketing is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process.

_ Linda Segall is the editor of Chiropractic Economics. Sources for this article include Carter McNamara, Authenticity Marketing, www.authenticitymarketing.com; Bill Esteb, Patient Media, Inc., www.patientmedia.com, 800-486-2337; Lynda Hubbard-Reis, Trendsetters, lyndareis@attei.com or 818-897-5901.