If you’re a chiropractor, you may have spent some time considering whether, for chiropractors, social media is necessary, or whether you need to devote time and money to building online profiles for your practice.
The answer is a resounding “yes.” Social media is a powerful tool for businesses in any industry. As a chiropractor, utilising social platforms can attract new customers and help you retain existing ones.
Social media doesn’t just alert people to your business. It also builds a sense of community, provides value to the end user, and drives real paying customers through your doors – but only when you use it effectively and regularly.
The benefits of social media for chiropractors
There are many benefits to using social media for chiropractors, including:
Patient engagement
If you use social media to engage and interact with your patients, you will benefit from both improved patient retention rates and new patient referrals.
Better SEO ranking
Engagement on social media pages tells Google that your website is valuable and authoritative so it ranks higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages). The more people who share, like, and click on your content, the better your SEO rank will be.
Say someone has recently moved to your local area and is suffering from neck pain. That person will do what most people do when they’re looking for a product or service: Google it.
When the search results appear, most people will click on one of the first three websites that come up – no further. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your website features as high in the SERPs as possible.
Responding to patient feedback
For chiropractors, social media will also help you collect and manage patient feedback that can be used to improve your offering. According to research, nearly 80% of practices identified as “better performing” after using customer satisfaction surveys.
Teaching at-home care
As a chiropractor, you have a lot to teach your patients. Instead of telling them with words, social media allows you to use videos and stories to show your patients what they need to do. By putting the videos on YouTube and Facebook, your social media accounts will soon become the go-to place for the best chiropractic tips.
Q&A sessions
You can easily open up your Twitter and Facebook accounts for question and answer sessions. People can log in and ask you different questions, knowing they will get a prompt response. This will boost your level of engagement and drive new patients to your practice.
Do I really need social media and a website?
Yes. Social media works in collaboration with your website to generate and retain more customers for your business. Having a beautifully-designed, optimised website is great, but it’s of no use if no one can find it. Social media channels like Facebook and Twitter put your business in plain sight and lead people to your website.
Imagine, for a second, a person struggling at work because of a sore back. It’s been troubling them for months, and the pain is getting progressively worse. Then, imagine they’re scrolling through social media on their lunch break and they come across an ad for your practice.
When they click on to your page, they find a beautifully branded Facebook page from which they can message you directly and book an appointment. Do you think they’re likely to use up more time and energy on Google checking out the competition?
Unlikely. You’ve already built trust by showing you’ve got a well-thought through sales funnel. They’ve seen your logo before, so they’re familiar with your brand. Perhaps they’ve even walked past your local practice. They’ve had a quick scan of your customer reviews and noticed that you usually respond to enquiries within the hour. They’re desperate to be seen and to be out of pain, so they click on your banner advertising emergency appointments and book to see you the following morning. Just like that, you’ve gained a new customer.
What is a new customer worth?
Think about this customer mentioned above. They work just around the corner from your practice, and they sit at a desk all day which often takes its toll on their back and neck. Now, imagine the lifetime value of this customer and what that will mean for your business. Because of the long-term care and rehabilitation most patients need to manage long-term pain and preexisting conditions. Theoretically, this means chiropractors should never be out of business as long as they stay competitive.
Staying ahead of the competition
Choosing a chiropractor isn’t just about the cost of treatment or the location of your practice. Visiting a chiropractor is an intimate experience, and it can be uncomfortable for the patient. Therefore, most people want to see a practitioner they can trust.
Through social media, you can turn customers into repeat patients by showing how much you value them. You can do this by sending loyal customers vouchers or promotional deals, wishing them a happy birthday, and reminding them of their upcoming appointments. You can keep a network of your customers together and inform them of deals, opening times, closures and at-home tips, all with a single post.
How to use social media for chiropractors
Using social media, for chiropractors, isn’t just about posting the odd update on Facebook or creating ad-hoc links to your website. An effective social media campaign encompasses all areas of Internet marketing, including:
Strategies for all major social media channels
Channels might include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest or all of the above. You’ll need to post consistently on your profiles, sharing content and making sure each “message” is consistent with your branding. Consistency builds trust, and trust builds repeat custom.
A high-converting website
Your website is the last stage of the conversion process. There is no use implementing a social media for chiropractors campaign if your site is slow, complicated, or doesn’t display the right information. Your end goal is to get prospects to book an appointment, so make it easy for them to input their details and display your contact number on every page.
Traffic analysis
How many people click through to your website? How many visitors come from your Facebook or Twitter page? Without traffic analysis, you may know how many visitors your website gets, but you don’t know how they got there.
Email marketing
Once you have your customers’ details on file, you can send them regular prompts to book follow-up appointments and remind them of your business. The most effective way to do this is through email marketing. Once you have their email address, you can send prompts, reminders, newsletters and other marketing materials.
How do you get their email address? Through social media of course. Try posting a voucher or “20% off for new customers” promotion in exchange for a place on your mailing list and see how many new contacts you get. Just make sure your practice is GDPR compliant.
Patient reviews
Leads to your website or social pages may well come from online reviews, so you need to monitor these regularly. Responding to your reviews (both positive and negative) will show your customers that you value their feedback and help build trust in your brand. Prospects want to know that if they come to your practice, they’ll be treated with courtesy and respect. How do you show this? By acting with courtesy and respect online.
ROI (return on investment) and reporting
Does your social media campaign produce results? How many leads does it generate? How many of those leads convert to actual paying customers? Without analysis, you have no way of knowing whether your social media efforts are worthwhile, so reporting is a vital part of the process.
The challenges of social media for chiropractors
The hardest part of implementing social media for chiropractors isn’t posting every day. It’s coming up with consistent, shareable content that your patients are interested in and generating leads to your site.
As a business, you most likely hire someone to do your accounts and balance the books. You probably also hire someone to clean your practice and the end of the day, and maybe a receptionist who takes your bookings. So why not hire a social media consultant?
Advantages of outsourcing social media management
The benefits of social media for chiropractors are indisputable. However, the main reasons for businesses not having a social media marketing strategy are:
a) Cost
b) Lack of marketing knowledge/skills
c) Time
Social media management is a full-time job. That’s why many businesses outsource their social media to experts. They want results, but they don’t have the time or expertise to implement the strategy.
If you want to produce the kinds of results that boost your retention rates and improve sales for your business, you need to take social media as seriously as you do other areas of your business. For a fixed monthly cost, Greener Media will manage your social media strategy and generate new business for your practice.
Our flexible social media packages start at just £99.00/a month and we provide proactive support every step of the way. Why not start building your social media package? To learn more, you can request a proposal or book a call today.
