Resource Centers:(News, information, and tools to support your practice)
August 2008
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Blogging as a new marketing tool
When blogs first entered the mainstream in 2003, they were primarily personal, nonprivate diaries.
Companies now commonly use blogs as a relatively low-cost means of product and service promotion. Chiropractors, accountants, law firms, and other professionals also use blogs to create and carry on conversations with clients and patients.
Blogs are a means of recording and displaying the thoughts and opinions of their authors for the entire world to see — and because of its ability to attract, interact with, and keep the attention of its reading community; they are potentially powerful marketing tools.
Blog conversations between patients and you are important because in marketing, one of the most important goals is to create an exchange through which “relationships” are developed. A prime tenet in marketing is that customers who are in a “relationship” with a company are more loyal, and more easily retained, than customers outside that relationship.
The act of blogging itself is quite easy, and compared with other business marketing tactics, is relatively inexpensive. A full-featured blogging service with a domain name of your choosing can be found for less than $200 per year.
To get a fully featured blog, search the Internet for Web service providers who also provide blog services by typing in “Web hosting,” then pick one that also features a blog service. Follow the Web hosting service provider’s instructions, and start blogging.
HOW TO BLOG EFFECTIVELY
Blogging as a marketing tactic for a chiropractic practice can have serious benefits. While the physical act of blogging is easy, and the cost is low, many people don’t give the actual process much thought — or any thought at all.
Publishing post after post is not likely to be effective — meaning it won’t successfully meet your
Just like any other marketing tactic, you must plan, implement, and control blog marketing. Before starting, you need to understand the competitive landscape of chiropractic blogging, and the competition in blogging in general. Once you have that strategic understanding, you can work on the tactics of a chiropractic blog which can develop that all-important conversation. Some tactics include:
• Content. Develop content directed at your patients. Don’t know what they want to read? Take a survey.
• Focus. Don’t write about everything. Have a theme to your writings.
• Series. Give readers a reason to keep returning by creating an article series.
• Bio. As on a standard Web site, include an “About Me” page in your blog. Include any media coverage or special awards you have received.
• Titles. Create inviting titles for your posts. People like to think about themselves, so create titles containing the word “you,” and include a “how” angle.
• Writing. Write informally and conversationally. No one likes a stiff conversation.
• Knowledge. Learn, improvise, adapt. Read books about blog marketing in general, and seek out learning opportunities on chiropractic blogging specifically, such as special reports, seminars, and online coaching.
• Feelings. Above all, be passionate and honest in your writing. Consider blogs as editorial; not as a commercial. Do that, and your conversation will evolve naturally.
Understanding the strategy of chiropractic blogging and applying the above tactics will require some time, but marketing with this powerful relationship-building tool can be a great benefit to your practice.
Richard Telofski is principal consultant at The Kahuna Content Company, Inc., a social media research company. He can be contacted at 609-799-6490 or Richard@KahunaContent.com
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