Every chiropractor needs a predictable and scalable way to increase their new patient load.
Every chiropractor needs a predictable and scalable way to increase their new patient load.Predictability means it will work every month and scalability means not trading precious time for “new patient leads” by doing screenings or attending business mixers.
Many chiropractors have a promotional calendar of internal events such as Patient Appreciation Day, an in-office food drive, and even sweepstakes for those who refer. But you should take time to plan out a funnel strategy for your practice as well.
The funnel concept
A funnel is a focused website that takes people through a linear journey that eventually results in them walking into your practice. Every funnel needs a single call to action and it shouldn’t replace your existing website, but rather be used in conjuction with it.
There are different online software solutions that provide point-and-click funnel creation, and the funnel can be hosted on a subdomain of your existing site. Once you decide on your funnel strategy, the most common way you will get people into your funnel is through online ads on platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Google.
To help more people in their community, make more money, and in turn better support their families and employees, chiropractors need to start implementing these concepts into their practices immediately.
Discounted new-patient funnel
This is similar to the new-patient offer many chiropractors already have on their websites, but it typically includes more services at a better price. The point is not to make a lot off the initial offer, but rather to benefit from the care plan and later from the referrals they send you. For this to work well, it’s recommended to itemize the offer as much as possible to make it sound more appealing. Many times this will be a cash offer. It’s not advisable to make it a free offer because that will attract the wrong type of patient.
Also, check your state and federal laws regarding what can be offered along with any needed disclaimers on the funnel or ad, to avoid making improper inducements.
One chiropractor reported making an additional $50,000 within a few months by implementing this funnel. He went on to share that he doubled his practice with a six-figure increase in a little less than a year, and he did this in a small town of around 20,000 people.
Testimonial funnel
Don’t be content with patients leaving you only written reviews online, but instead look to incorporate video testimonials into your marketing, too. Try to get multiple testimonials for the different conditions you treat, and get comments from both men and women.
For example, get three testimonial videos of men with back pain and three from women with the same condition. Do the same for neck pain, headaches, neuropathy and anything else your practice specializes in treating. Have them sign a photo release form giving you the rights to the testimonials and allowing you to share them on social media and your website.
From there, you can create a funnel that’s condition- and gender-specific. It’s not suggested to have the same price in this funnel as you used in the discounted new-patient funnel because the potential patients in this funnel are better qualified. They’re not visiting your funnel because they saw a great deal, but because they could relate with the testimonial.
Next, run Facebook ads with ad copy that addresses the specific issue your patient in the video had. Be sure that Facebook’s gender targeting and the gender in the testimonial are the same.
You can then create what’s called a “custom audience” on Facebook to show a different testimonial video to someone whose watched a portion of the first testimonial. You should also show additional videos to those who visited your testimonial funnel but never left their contact information.
Niche and pain-specific funnel
This is similar to the testimonial campaign but is crafted around the niche and pain point instead of testimonial. The video will be of you talking directly to the niche audience.
For example, your funnel could be for runners and is educational about knee pain with a corresponding knee offer. It could be a mother-specific campaign talking about how constant headaches can make it difficult to take care of children. Another example is tech neck, and how constantly looking down at a smartphone could be causing neck problems.
Lunch-and-learn funnel
It’s never easy going out into the community and convincing business owners to let you come in and talk to their employees. What if businesses instead contacted you directly requesting that you share with their staff?
Create a funnel that has a video introduction of you talking about how you would like to cater a local restaurant and come into their office to give a free health talk. Include some bullet points of what will be covered during the talk in the video.
If there’s a big company you want to get into, consider dropping a pin in Facebook’s geographic targeting with a 1-mile radius directly on the address of the company. From there, you could create an ad that mentions that company by name with your ad copy.
For a more generalized approach, you could advertise a sweepstakes where people will enter their information and place of work for an opportunity to win a free catered lunch-and-wellness seminar. You can then follow up with each lead accordingly or call the business directly and let the decision-maker know that their employee had entered the sweepstakes and they had won.
Community talk funnel
Instead of running a funnel to get local businesses to allow you to come in and speak, you can instead promote a special event to everyone in your community. For example, this funnel could have the date, time and location of a dinner talk, as well as a registration form and countdown timer to when the event starts.
A practical implementation of this is to hold two events back to back. Attendees can then choose to register for a catered lunch seminar at your office or a dinner seminar at a local restaurant the next day. This will give people options and increase registrations.
Follow-up essentials
Regardless of the type of funnel you implement, it’s vital to have a follow-up strategy. Each of these funnels should have a single call to action that results in the person leaving their name, number and email. Try to follow up with them as soon as possible within office hours. They were obviously interested and are probably in pain, so if you don’t follow up quickly they will likely find another chiropractor with a similar offer.
Try to reach out to prospects within five to 15 minutes if possible. If you’re with patients and don’t have the staff capacity, consider having the leads automatically sent to your spouse for immediate follow up. Texting has been proven to work well in getting a response, and it’s not uncommon for patients to schedule an appointment immediately by text.
There are even tools that provide two-way texting that is automated from the funnel that allow you to provide a merge tag where you address the patient by name. Be sure to send a reminder text the day prior to their appointment to decrease no-shows. Implement these funnel strategies into your practice and watch your new patients skyrocket.
Bryan Citrin is the CEO of Chiropractic Advertising. He’s growing countless practices around the nation using the latest online strategies. His parents and uncle are Logan graduates with over 120 years of combined chiropractic experience. He’s been featured on Forbes and is an active contributor to the Forbes Agency Council. To receive special pricing on implementing these concepts, schedule a demo by contacting Citrin through chiropracticadvertising.com.
