How to build a digital marketing strategy for your chiropractic practice

Building a solid digital marketing strategy is essential for the continued growth and success of your chiropractic practice.

For some DCs, it can be hard to adjust their perspective toward spending time, money and energy on a digital marketing strategy when the real work – helping patients – is their main focus.

Still, even if marketing isn’t in your area of interest, it’s a crucial part of connecting with potential patients, encouraging them to walk through your practice doors and investing in their own health and wellness through chiropractic care.

The acceptance of this modern process is the first step; knowing how to channel efforts toward digital marketing is the next.

These tips are designed to share entry-level insight for chiropractors or new chiropractic marketing team members into developing a digital marketing strategy. We’ll discuss simple but strategic tools, tips and best practices to help you build an effective and efficient digital marketing strategy.

Quick tips for easy and effective digital marketing strategies

The digital marketing world is evolving, much like the algorithms that dictate search engine optimization, website traffic, social media platforms and beyond. But these tried-and-true methods have held fast for years as go-to strategies for elevating your marketing, reaching more potential patients and connecting with your audiences to persuade them to invest in you.

Organize, execute and analyze your digital marketing strategy

The old adage of “failing to plan is planning to fail” rings especially true in the world of digital marketing strategy. Creating a weekly, monthly and yearly plan for your digital marketing strategy across all necessary channels is crucial. Our advice? Start with the bigger picture, then work your way backward. Ask yourself broad questions, such as:

• What’s my overall marketing goal for this year?
• Where do I want to direct my audience?
• How do my services value potential patients?
• What sets my practice apart from other chiropractic practices?
• Why should patients work with me, invest in me and trust me?

Starting with big questions like these can lead to the answers you seek, and those answers can point you in the right direction for your marketing strategy.

For example, when you start answering the question of your overall marketing goal, you can decide how you want to dedicate your efforts. Are you hoping to grow your email list so you can hook potential patients that way? If so, it sounds like the main focus for you should be your email marketing strategy.

Digital marketing is fluid

Take that a step further. How can you accomplish that goal by the end of the year? What are your goals for each month as you move closer to the end of the year? As you decide on an overarching strategy, you can fill in the gaps of the months, weeks and days leading up to that goal.

Small, approachable and consistent steps are key to building a digital marketing strategy. Decide what you want, choose a way to move forward and then stick to the plan.

It’s important to note that a digital marketing strategy doesn’t begin and end with outlining a plan and then never changing. It’s vital to remember that digital marketing is a fluid art; you’ll need to be flexible and adaptable to changing trends as well based on the analysis you conduct.

If you run a specific plan for a month, check your insights and realize it’s not resonating with your audience, you’ll need to be ready to go back to the drawing board.

Email marketing should lead your charge

Though digital marketing is ever-changing, email marketing remains a constant over the years. This reliable form of marketing continues to get substantial results, no matter the industry.

One study reports that as of 2021, there were more than 4 billion email users per day, and that number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025. But the sheer number of people using email every day isn’t the only impressive thing about this strategy; the return on investment (ROI) is typically incredibly high. According to some sources, email ROI is $36 for every $1 spent.

So, if you’re choosing a focus point for your marketing strategy, email marketing should lead the charge. Find ways to build up your email marketing list, create email marketing campaigns people actually want to open and provide value through the campaign that can lead to more patient visits.

Give your website a full refresh

If your website is bare bones or hasn’t been updated since you started it, you could be doing your digital marketing strategy a huge disservice. There are several tools out there that allow you to take your website into your own hands, or you can outsource your website refresh to a reputable professional team.

Focus on elements like search engine optimization, consistent branding, ease of use and speedy download times. You want your website to be intuitive, on-brand and updated.

Consider adding features that allow patients to schedule appointments, log in to private portals that share their patient information with them and connect them with a DC, assistant or chatbot for quick answers to common questions.

Further, make sure your website offers the information your patients need. Include simple contact information, updated testimonials or reviews for social proof, helpful resources that answer their questions and simple calls to action that persuade your patients to click, schedule, inquire or contact.

Don’t overlook social media platforms

Social media might not feel like the appropriate platform for chiropractors, but it’s a valuable resource. More importantly, it’s where a bulk of your patients spend their online time. Invest in a social media strategy that connects with your ideal audience, and don’t forget to actively engage on these profiles to boost the number of eyes on your posts.

Boost your online reputation: Acquire and use more reviews

Reviews are the social proof you need to get new patients on board with investing in your services. Boosting your presence online is one thing; highlighting your reputation is another. Create accounts on relevant sites that allow patients to leave you glowing reviews. Encourage (as part of your email marketing campaign, perhaps) patients to share their reviews and experiences on any of these sites.

The more reviews you have, the better you’re able to optimize them. Having them exist online is helpful, but you can also repurpose these reviews in other areas to boost your credibility in other ways. Reviews can live in your Google Reviews, on your site, in your social media marketing, in your email marketing and on your email signature. Anytime you can provide helpful, honest social proof of your services, you’re doing yourself and your practice a huge favor.

Consider working with patients you trust to help with your digital marketing campaign. For example, post video testimonials on your website, social media channels and even email marketing campaigns.

The bottom line

Ultimately, every digital marketing strategy will be different – they’re all uniquely based on one chiropractor or practice’s goals, target audience and how they prefer to connect with their patients. Still, most of these tips can be applied to any chiropractor’s marketing and messaging to make stronger connections, reach their audience and accomplish their digital marketing ambitions.

For more insight on making your way into the digital marketing world, elevating your practice and perfecting your patients’ experiences, subscribe to Chiropractic Economics, the #1 magazine for doctors of chiropractic.