How recession-proof businesses market their way through a downturn

Chiropractors, injury doctors and pain management professionals provide recession-proof businesses and services

The novel Coronavirus has brought about the most serious health crisis of the 21st century. In addition, many health care entities are looking for marketing tactics to make them recession-proof businesses. Stateside unemployment has skyrocketed, the stock market has fluctuated dramatically, and most significantly of all, medical professionals have diagnosed rampant worldwide COVID-19 cases.

Despite these and other less-than-encouraging happenings, the time is now for injury doctors and chronic-pain specialists to double down — or triple down — on their marketing efforts.

Your marketing can’t stop

For their own livelihood as well as that of their employees and the well-being of their patients and anyone suffering from chronic pain, it’s imperative that chiropractors commit to a broader and more proactive marketing strategy at once.

The potential return, in the short term and after the COVID-19 crisis passes, cannot be understated.

The first and most important reason to debut comprehensive marketing initiatives is because injuries and chronic pain don’t disappear during recessions or pandemics. Times are, admittedly, uncertain. But that doesn’t mean patients aren’t suffering and struggling in their battles against debilitating discomfort.

In a literal sense, enhanced marketing undertakings will bolster doctors’ exposure; more patients will discover that they’re not alone and that they have the option to consult an experienced professional with a history of providing unparalleled care, such as that of helping accident victims put chronic pain behind them. And because chronic pain is essentially recession-proof, given that the necessity for treatment never lessens and patient capital isn’t part of the equation, not a few relief-minded persons are likely to act upon heightened marketing.

Light a fire under your patient base

In an abstract, but equally noteworthy sense, though, a marketing boost and the corresponding uptick in inner-of-fice activity will create something of a “fire” — a signal to employees and patients alike that the doctor at hand is carrying on and working to fulfill his or her duty despite the tumult that’s gripping the country and the world.

During times of crisis, the public looks to leaders for inspiration and moral support. By stepping up to the plate and buckling down amid the COVID-19 pandemic, injury doctors can demonstrate their dedication and their willingness to overcome any and all hurdles en route to aiding patients.

Ripple-effect marketing and recession-proof businesses

Going heavy on marketing right now will also produce stellar results moving forward, particularly after the pandemic is in the rear view mirror.

In the first place, patients who are helped presently — and presumably, the figure will be relatively high, as a result of one’s additional marketing and others’ scaled-back marketing — will relay their positive experiences to friends, family members, colleagues and others. Thus, in the coming months and even years, one’s stable of patients can reasonably be expected to continue growing, as word of mouth spreads and more chronic-pain sufferers seek the same degree of relief that their loved ones and acquaintances experienced during the COVID-19 crisis.

Market yourself to other professionals

Your marketing efforts shouldn’t just focus on potential patients, though — other professionals in the field, who can refer to you and vice versa, are also valuable connections to make. Lawyers, physicians and others will be tremendously appreciative of the opportunity to make contacts, build relationships, and enjoy some degree of career security at a time when it’s harder than ever to do business. Distributing simple informational packets and making quick phone calls will go a long way toward enabling chronic-pain doctors to forge meaningful partnerships.

Doing this now will also generate something of a ripple effect down the line. There’s more uncertainty and less competition now, marketing-wise, than at any other point in recent memory.

Now more than ever, chiropractors and all health care professionals have an opportunity to act.

You don’t have to break the bank

Marketing throughout the coronavirus crisis doesn’t require substantial funds; it requires substantial initiative. As is also the case in the midst of stock market dips, market prices are lower and competition has lessened. Nevertheless, only a select few will exhibit the foresight and resourcefulness required to reap the potential profits at a later point.

There are plenty of free or affordable tools available to help you get your message out there that won’t require you allocating a sizable budget to marketing — which is particularly important when business as usual has been so disrupted as right now. Now is also the time to look into telemedicine if you haven’t already done so. It’s another creative way to continue seeing patients without putting anyone’s health at risk, as well as another service offering you can market.

Marketing is an essential ingredient in the recipe for medical practice success, and for injury doctors, opportunities for growth and widespread patient care are abundant. Expansions during the COVID-19 pandemic shouldn’t be reckless — health precautions and sanitation measures are integral.

But the bottom line is that chronic pain doesn’t quit during crises, and neither should injury doctors. When all is said and done, their patients — and their practices — will be the better for it.

Jeffrey Cronk, DC, JD, is a nationally-recognized expert and thought leader on spinal ligament injuries, which are the number-one cause of pain and disability worldwide. He is CEO of Spinal Kinetics, a national medical company that provides CRMA (Computerized Radiographic Mensuration Analysis) to doctors who are testing for the severity and location of their patients’ spinal ligament injuries. He also serves as CEO of Biocybernetics Inc., which provides education for doctors and lawyers in the spinal ligament injury space through Smart Injury Doctor and Smart Injury Lawyers.