Holding a successful spinal screening event

Hosting a spinal screening event is a great way to bring musculoskeletal issues to the attention of people who aren’t actively engaged in chiropractic treatment.

However, it serves another important purpose as well: It helps effectively promote your chiropractic business.

By putting yourself out in the community at these types of events, you come into contact with those you wouldn’t ordinarily meet. This gives them a chance to see you in action as you focus on their individual spinal needs, increasing the likelihood that they’ll want to see what you can do longer-term to help them resolve their specific aches and pains.

How to promote your spinal screening event

Ideally, you want to promote your spinal screening in a way that draws the greatest amount of people in. One way to do this is on social media as Statista reports that 78 percent of the U.S. population has a social media profile.

So, if you have a Facebook page, create a Facebook event. And if Twitter is your social media tool of choice, you can plan an event there too.

Don’t forget to promote offline as well. Place an ad in your local newspaper and hang flyers around town. Send postcards to community members personally inviting them for a free screening.

The goal is to get the word out in a way that makes the most sense for your area. This will put your business in front of your target market in a way that increases your attendees.

Get the community excited about your event

You also want to get prospective attendees excited enough about the spinal screening that they take time out of their busy days to attend. This isn’t always easy, especially in this day and age where people’s schedules tend to be full from morning to night, but it is possible if you take a couple of different approaches.

For instance, if a number of potential attendees have children, you might want to bring in a clown or face painter, someone who can help entertain the kids while their parents are being screened. This encourages this segment of the population to attend without enduring the costly expense of a babysitter. Providing a coloring station or kid-friendly snacks for the little ones can help as well.

For the older generation, why not partner with other local service providers, such as retirement advisers or tax specialists, and offer them the option of meeting with several professionals at once? This can be particularly enticing to potential attendees, especially if they have a difficult time getting around or have to arrange for a ride to attend as they can take care of several issues at the same time.

You could also partner with other health providers, such as a nutritionist, acupuncturist, LMT, or physical therapist, and hold a wellness event. It may be more appealing to those with a busy schedule if they can explore a wider variety of health options at once.

Follow up with the attendees

People who attend your screening event are presumably those who care about the health of their spine. That makes them  a “hot lead.” In other words, they are already interested in your services, so now all you have to do is convince them to take the next step and come in to your office for treatment. That’s why it’s critical to get their information at the spinal event.

Create a sign-up sheet where they provide their name and physical address so you can mail them further information. Or ask for their email address so you’re able to provide the next step digitally.

Some people may be reluctant to give up this kind of information for fear that you’ll bombard them with media about your business, so it may be necessary to entice their compliance with your request. Ideas4Small Biz shares that offering something for free is a great tool in this regard as it creates a positive association with your business, it effectively hooks them in, and it “creates a buzz” about your services.

This can often be accomplished by offering a free gift, such as an ice pack to help their aching back (put your name on it so they see it every time they need to use it) or a 10-minute neck massage to provide some instant relief. Another option is to have a free giveaway for all of the attendees who provide their personal information. Maybe you could give away a free office session or a free set of X-rays, drawing from the names on your sign-in form.

Promote your event, get the attendees excited, and then follow up with them to get their first appointment scheduled. That’s how you hold a successful spinal screening event, from beginning to end.