6 questions for a prospective marketing consulting agency

Because a sales funnel is more than a website landing page, take care when choosing a marketing consulting agency

EVERY CHIROPRACTOR NEEDS AN ONLINE SALES FUNNEL mixed with paid advertising to drive predictable patient growth. Chiropractors are bombarded daily with ads on social media, unsolicited emails, sales calls, and mail to their offices promising just that. However, just because a company is eager to build your new patient funnel or manage your advertising does not mean they are qualified.

Hiring the wrong agency could lose you thousands of dollars, result in board complaints, and even cause HIPAA violations. Unfortunately, if you’ve been burned in the past by hiring the wrong company, it will make you that much more reluctant to invest in the strategies needed to grow your practice.

When it comes to deciding on a marketing consulting agency, these are some important questions you can ask to help navigate this important decision.

Do they understand the industry?

There are a lot of companies who prey on chiropractors because they see them as low-hanging fruit. They may have purchased a class on how to generate leads online for chiropractors but do not care to learn about the profession or know the struggles countless chiropractors face.

Whoever you hire should understand the different business models of a chiropractic practice and be able to match your practice with the right strategy. For example, a cash practice uses a different business model than a personal injury practice. An integrated practice focusing on regenerative medicine should have a different strategy than a pure chiropractic practice.

Creating a successful sales funnel is not just about generating new patient inquiries, but also understanding the sales cycle different practices have to go through to convert new patient inquiries into care.

A good marketing consulting agency should be able to offer consulting alongside building a new patient funnel. If your campaign is generating new patient inquiries but you are unable to convert those into care, then you will lose money no matter how many leads you get. The right company should be able to pinpoint inefficiencies in your processes and work with you to improve them. This may include things such as scripting for your front desk, helping restructure your report of findings, even helping put together a financing strategy for your patients.

Do they have a team?

The digital age makes it easy to create the perception of a large organization even when it’s just a single individual. Does the agency you’re considering have a good team in place? If not, the quality of your campaign and customer service will likely diminish as they grow.

Additionally, the lack of a team puts your practice at unnecessary risk if they decide to take a prolonged vacation, have a family emergency, or can’t adapt to new market trends.

Are they growth-oriented?

The marketing climate is constantly changing. What works best today and what works best six months from now may not be the same thing. Is the marketing consulting agency committed to continual growth and making changes based upon market trends?

In the same way that chiropractors are required to attend re-licensing seminars, your agency should have a commitment to routinely sending their team to marketing seminars, be involved in marketing masterminds, and be willing to change as new opportunities arise.

Is their longevity in their testimonials?

The right agency should not only be able to produce results their first month but maintain momentum 9-12 months from now.

Some practices are trapped in the cycle of continually changing marketing companies because once that company’s cookie-cutter campaign stops producing, the marketer does not know what to do. It’s smart to work with a marketing consulting agency that has a proven promotional calendar to rotate through as needed to keep things fresh and competitive.

Are they diverse in their strategy options?

Are they truly capable of managing multiple advertising platforms? For example, Facebook and Google are two important advertising channels but very different platforms to manage on the back end. Many agencies are unable to be competitive in managing both platforms. Because of this, they may choose to focus your growth strategy on the plat-form they excel at.

To truly dominate your area, it’s important to have a blended strategy with a dedicated technician working on each platform. If the marketing consulting agency does not have a team, they will likely outsource the work to another agency. Not only will this likely increase costs, it could hinder quality because the original agency no longer has control over the technicalities of the campaign.

Do they have a proven system?

A good sales funnel system is more than just a landing page. Do they have a proven system that can generate qualified new patient inquiries at a reasonable cost per lead, resulting in people actually showing up at your office? They should not only be skilled at managing paid advertising channels and funnel building, but incorporate other tools such as online scheduling, automated two-way text reminders, and email sequencing.

Finally, this system should be customizable as needed based upon your feedback and changing market conditions.

Weed out the wrong companies. Every chiropractor has the capacity to be successful in their marketing regard-less of competition or business model. If a company you’re working with has a tough time producing results for your city, many times it’s easier for them to take their standard strategy to a different city than to put in the work necessary to optimize your campaign.

It’s important to remember that an agency’s salesmanship does not equate to them having a well-rounded long-term strategy to produce quality patients for your practice. Chiropractors equipped with these questions should be able to more effectively weed out the wrong companies desperate for their advertising dollars and make the right decision on who they hire.

BRYAN CITRIN is the CEO of Chiropractic Advertising. His parents and uncle are Logan graduates with more than 120 years of combined chiropractic experience. He has a strong team that enables him to offer cutting-edge diversified strategies. He’s been featured in Forbes and is an active contributor to the Forbes Agency Council. For a free discovery call, contact him at ChiropracticAdvertising.com.