Find key opportunities to implement direct marketing response solutions and campaigns to help you connect with new patients
While chiropractors may be stars with their patients, they may sometimes need some guidance when it comes to marketing their businesses. In this post, we’re covering direct response marketing solutions. Are you missing out if you aren’t employing direct response marketing?
James Moon, Director of Marketing at Airrosti Rehab Centers, took time to answer our questions about Direct Response Marketing.
What follows is our interview, edited for length and clarity.
What is direct response marketing?
Direct response marketing is a marketing tactic that helps produce direct responses from a consumer or patient. The goal of direct response marketing is to actively encourage a consumer’s instant response to take a specific action, like a lead or sale — appointments or visits in this example.
Direct response marketing solutions provide a very targeted marketing tactic with a specific call to action, with the end goal of driving a direct action.
What are the best types of direct response marketing that chiropractors should use to attract new patients?
Understanding your current patients is a great step to take before testing into various marketing channels. Determining who they are, what they care about, and where they go to research information about treatment will help lead you down the path of selecting the best channel for your practice.
A simple way to compile this information is by inquiring about how they heard about your practice as a first step. As you continue to expand direct response marketing solutions and campaigns, adding additional tracking elements will allow you to monitor the success of each campaign, leading to optimization of your channel selection and messaging strategy.
Every patient is different when it comes to the information and research needed to perform before they are ready to take an action. A few channels come to the top of the list based on the behavior funnel, or where consumers tend to go when researching a product or service.
Social media and Google ads tend to be great channels for direct response marketing because it allows you to hyper-target the right consumer. The patient can take a direct action with a click of a button, and you can track results which can lead to testing and optimization.
Are chiropractors missing out if they’re not using direct response marketing solutions?
There are key opportunities to implement direct marketing response solutions and campaigns to help you connect with patients when they are needing your help the most.
By not introducing these campaigns, you are losing out on gaining new patients and leads. It’s a way to build trust and loyalty with these consumers through the value you provide.
How can DCs determine which types of patients they want to target with their direct response marketing?
A first step in determining who to target is to take a look at your current patient database to see if you can uncover any basic trends. Gathering information about patients through surveys and just by asking them, can help you build out various buyer personas that you can use in the targeting of your direct response marketing.
In addition to your patient demographic information, research the surrounding area to see what activities people tend to do, what demographic information makes up your population, and who is an ideal patient for you. Then you can develop generalizations around trends found within the data you’ve compiled.
The great thing about digital platforms is the reasonably low price point in the early stages of testing. Over time, take the data you learn from these tests to hone in your direct response marketing strategy.
There are a few ways to gather contact information for future patients over time. Purchasing lists is never recommended and can cause issues especially when used through email. There are ways to gather lists through event sponsorship where attendees opt-in, but these can be expensive and the user may not be as engaged because they didn’t directly opt-in to receiving information from you directly. Looking for legitimate ways for possible patients to opt-in to your marketing outreach will lead to a positive relationship and drive highly engaged patients through your door.
Lead generation, the act of collecting information of patients who are interested in your service, takes time, but it starts with the value you can add to the consumer. Lead generation can take place in multiple ways, to include newsletters, blogs, or events like mobility workshops.
Ask your prospects for their contact information when it makes sense, allow them to opt-in to your outreach, and continue to add value through your expertise.
