If I could have any wish, I’d wish that every chiropractor in the world would read this article.
Why?
Because I’m sick to my stomach over how often I hear from docs about how they have been mistreated, taken advantage of, and fed a line of promises that leave them financially strapped and emotionally scarred by the wrong agency.
So, I’m going to make this claim: if you read this post and take the recommendations it provides seriously, you will have a 98% success rate in always finding the right chiropractic marketing company to work on your campaigns.
So here it goes…
Due diligence.
It can save you from a severe headache, prevent your bank balance from swan diving into the red, and spare you a thousand tears.
The kids can rejoice. Their college funds are safe.
Unfortunately, due diligence isn’t always a priority for busy chiropractors in the best of circumstances.
When the pressure is on to bring in new business fast, it’s easy to get blinded by the promise of patients and a quick injection of revenue. Picking the chiropractic marketing company with the loudest online presence, biggest bells and whistles, and cheapest rates often seems like the best and easiest option.
Those marketers must know what they’re doing, right?
But chiropractors who choose this route often find themselves being sucked into a revolving door of chiropractic marketing companies, the next no better than the last.
Whether you’re currently in this cycle or you’re thinking about outsourcing your marketing needs to a chiropractic marketing company for the first time, it’s important to know what to look for so that you don’t find yourself ponying up thousands of advertising dollars only to be bamboozled.
Let this post serve as your guide for finding the right marketing team that not only understands the nuances of the chiropractic industry, but also specializes in building tailored campaigns that meet the unique needs and market of each practice they represent.
Digital marketing in the chiropractic industry demands a nuanced approach that combines technical expertise with a deep understanding of patient needs. The right team should excel in crafting compelling content that resonates with potential clients while navigating the intricacies of SEO and local search optimization.
Strictly adhering to ethical practices, such as transparent reporting and measurable outcomes, ensures that every advertising dollar translates into tangible results. Moreover, a proficient marketing partner will leverage data-driven insights to refine strategies continually, adapting to changes in algorithms and consumer behavior.
With that said, you should begin your journey by asking a key question…
Before you start looking for chiropractic marketing agencies, you need to identify what you hope to achieve for your practice. What are your marketing requirements?
While some agencies are full-service marketing firms, others have niched based on industry, service type, ad platform, location, and yes, even campaign goals. That’s not to say any is superior to another, but you’ll find each has a set of pros and cons you must consider.
Large firms, for example, give you access to broader skillsets and allow you to scale on demand. Boutique agencies, on the other hand, offer highly specialized skills and don’t tend to work on a one-size-fits-all approach.
To analyze your options, think about the outcome you want. Are you hoping to enhance your brand, build your authority, differentiate your practice and offerings, generate leads, boost sales, or achieve something entirely different?
Over the last few months, we’ve blogged quite a bit about ads and the four categories they tend to fall into as defined by Josh Weltman, author of Seducing Strangers. These categories are as follows:
While the first two categories produce transactional ads, the second two build brands. It’s worth working your way through those posts so that you identify your goal and get a better feel for what your campaign could potentially look like.
With your primary goal in mind, you’ll then want to consider chiropractic marketing companies with the following criteria:
The fundamentals:It sounds crazy to say that a marketing company might not understand the basics of marketing, but it’s easier than ever to launch an online business that offers a variety of services these days. People who are looking to give up the 9-5 grind and work from home with flexible hours do it all the time.
While it’s not always necessary to obtain an academic qualification, you also don’t want to hire an amateur who’s offering a service like social media marketing just because they can navigate their way around Facebook and Instagram. A company should be able to demonstrate, whether through its website copy, content, or interactions, that the people who work there have a grasp on core marketing concepts like market research, targeting, positioning, branding, the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion), and more.
Besides understanding patient needs and wants, it’s crucial that the chiropractic marketing company you choose can identify exactly who to target and how to reach them. Advertising platforms and tools like Facebook Ads Manager are allowing marketers to do this with precision, but your marketer can only use these targeting features effectively by first having a deep understanding of the local target audience and who they are. If they get this wrong, you can essentially wave goodbye to a whole lot of wasted ad spend.
Satisfying patients boils down to making the right product or service available to the right people at the right time. Underestimating the value of the right offer is a massive mistake that’s guaranteed to result in little to zero ROI. For many chiropractors, transactional offers like free health screenings, ‘Dinner with the Doc,’ and discounted adjustments work extremely well for attracting patients into a sales funnel. These offers drive immediate action and the impact on the practice is felt almost instantly.
But what if you want to implement brand building ads rather than a transactional campaign?
Your marketer should be able to help you figure out and create the best content, offers, and messaging for your practice no matter what goal you’re pursuing.
The marketing team for The Joint Chiropractic does a great job of creating offers, ad copy, and content for a variety of ad types that meet buyers where they’re at in the buying cycle. While these campaigns are not connected, here’s a sampling of how the practice uses ads to reach their goals:
In the following two ads, the practice uses educational content to teach their target audience about potential problems they might have. At this stage, the audience isn’t even aware that they have a problem. Once they realize they probably need help, the practice has begun to introduce the solution and can now move on to presenting their services as an option.
The practice then uses the urgency of limited-time offers and specials to increase sales. You see, consumers are always waiting for the best opportunity or price to pull the trigger. No-brainer offers like these do the trick.
They even use testimonial ads like the one below to provide social proof and move a prospect one step closer to closing the deal.
Finally, they generate goodwill for their brand and make people feel good about themselves through campaigns like this one:
Since the ad’s CTA generates engagement through comments, Facebook’s ad algorithm is going to place it in front of more people, effectively extending the practice’s reach and building brand awareness.
It should go without saying, but we’ll say it anyway: the best chiropractic marketing companies know how to write campaign copy and content that delivers conversions. They understand the psychology behind advertising, they know how to tap into a market’s emotions, and they’re masters at using language that persuades. We’ll talk more about proof later, but it’s important to look at portfolio samples and case studies to determine whether the agency’s copywriters are able to produce copy that’s the right fit for your chiropractic brand.
Chiropractic marketers who are just beginning their businesses will often borrow from the success of others to make claims about what they can do for your practice. Although everyone has to start somewhere, you don’t want to get burned by someone who over promises and under delivers as a result of inexperience.
To eliminate doubt, be sure to look for points of proof like reviews, case studies, testimonials, influencer endorsements, ratings, credentials, social media followers and shares, and mentions by authority sources.
You don’t just want to look for proof, though; you want to dig into the kind of results they produce. Do they generate qualified new patients? If so, how many did they gain and over what period of time? Are there increases in the practice’s bottom line? Did the marketer free up time for the chiropractor to focus on other responsibilities? Were there improvements in brand equity, authority, or reputation?
What kind of results will give you that “I’ll have what she’s having moment?”
You won’t often find a chiropractic marketing company putting their money where their mouth is by offering a guarantee or any kind of risk reversal (Definition: A risk reversal is the kind of guarantee buyers cannot say “no” to because they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.) that makes working with them a little less dicey.
(FYI, we do. We know that’s a little self-promotional, but give us a break. We’re marketers.🙂)
If you do manage to find a guarantee unicorn, make sure you understand exactly what the agreement entails. If it’s too cryptic or undefined, ask them to give it to you in clear terms and follow-up with any concerns. If they continue to be vague, the chances are you’ll never see your investment again if things don’t work out.
However, it’s also important to be realistic about what you can expect to recover if things go wrong. While you won’t get ad spend back, a solid guarantee will allow you to claim full management fees based on a predetermined level of performance.
Whether or not a chiropractic marketing agency needs to be HIPAA compliant depends on what you’re hiring them to do. If they fall under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ definition of a ‘Business Associate’ with access to your protected health information (PHI), then the agency will need to be HIPAA compliant. If they do not have access to your PHI, you’re good to go.
Campaigns differ in terms of the type of patient information they collect. If you believe you’ll be collecting protected data, such as a person’s medical history, as part of a lead capture form, then you should absolutely look for agencies that are HIPAA compliant. When in doubt, double check.
Whether you intend to engage in content marketing, reactivation programs, paid advertising, or any one of the other numerous promotional strategies, marketing is complex and requires a number of moving parts to function seamlessly. Streamlined systems and processes result in fewer errors and critical delays that could affect the launch and management of your practice’s campaigns.
In addition, scaling your efforts will mean having the right systems, processes, and workflows in place so that certain tasks can be completed without hindrance. Keep in mind that while the agency does a significant amount of the legwork to get new patients through your doors, your staff will still need to play their part in following up with leads, booking appointments, and taking care of tasks that only your team can do. For that, you need these moving parts to communicate properly with each other so that opportunities for client acquisition and retention aren’t missed.
The question you should be asking here is: does the agency have the processes and tools in place to not only launch, manage, and report on your campaigns, but also help you set up the systems you need in order to produce quality results efficiently, consistently, and predictably? If they don’t have the answer baked into their website copy, get in touch and ask them specific questions about the particular service you’re considering.
Responsive. Timely. Hands-on. Proactive. Chiropractor-friendly.
And you shouldn’t settle for anything less.
Trust us, we’ve heard the tales of chiros sweating bullets as they’ve watched their PPC budget drain away while their ad agency was MIA. The reason you hire an outside firm is so that marketing isn’t stressful. It isn’t frustrating, or time-consuming, or a burden to manage.
A great marketing team will ensure you and your team have the support you need. They’ll be reachable during reasonable business hours. They’ll respond quickly and resolve issues in a timely manner. They’ll answer your questions and put your mind at ease. They’ll build a relationship with you.
It isn’t always easy finding a team with excellent customer support, but filtering through feedback like reviews and social media responses can help you gain a sense of how they treat people. How long does it take them to respond to your inquiry email? Do they respond to you like a human being or another paycheck? Look out for red flags that might indicate they’re not up to scratch when it comes to customer service.
Pricing structures differ from agency to agency, but here’s a rule of thumb:
Don’t go for the cheapest option.
There’s a reason the saying “you get what you pay for” exists and it’s especially true when it comes to online service providers.
While some will charge an hourly rate, others will charge per project or request a retainer. Most often, you’re better off with a project fee or retainer, particularly if you’ll be retaining services over several months.
Before you begin requesting quotes, gain a clear idea of your budget. Here are just some of the price ranges you’ll find for four of the top service offerings:
Facebook Ad campaigns: $1,000-$3000/month
Social media marketing: $4,000-$7,000/month
Content marketing: $2,000-$10,000/month
SEO: $500-$20,000/month
As you can see, those are some pretty flexible ranges.
To ensure you’re getting a fair deal, narrow your list down to your top chiropractic marketing company picks and then ask for a quote. If the price points are relatively the same, then you can trust that these companies are priced competitively. If one provider’s costs are slightly higher or slightly lower than the others, evaluate why that might be. There could be a legitimate reason and you’ll find you have no issue paying slightly more or dropping a few services you don’t need.
This involves the latest search engine optimization strategies to ensure your website and content show up organically in search listings for the most relevant keyword for your chiropractic business. It usually includes a technical audit of your current website and content management system, keyword research, link building and citation building, SEO copywriting, a dedicated consultant, training, and additional services like Google My Business optimization.
This type of campaign involves generating instant targeted traffic for your website and landing pages. These services usually include the setup of ad accounts on Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other relevant ad platforms. The packages also offer keyword research, ad creation, landing page optimization recommendations, campaign setup and management, geo-targeting, conversion tracking, Google Analytics integration, remarketing capabilities, and more.
These are campaigns that usually focus around a single business goal like generating patient leads. Typical services include audience analysis, offer discovery, new patient prospect sales systems, weekly reporting, and ongoing training to help front offices properly manage the launch and continued management of ongoing campaigns.
With this type of marketing, you’ll be increasing brand awareness, targeting new patients, increasing leads and sales, and growing local market share. These packages generally include account setup and optimization across relevant networks, research and strategy planning, monthly content, ad creation and campaign management, engagement, monthly reporting, and more.
This kind of marketing lets you communicate easily and affordably with your list, build strong relationships with subscribers, convert prospects into paying patients, and generate repeat business. Packages tend to include discovery and strategy, email marketing account setup, template design and layout, content creation, stock photography, management and tracking, list maintenance, testing, and reporting and recommendations.
Branding, Website Development, and Design: These services help you create a visual brand identity that resonates with your market. It can include anything from logo design, website design, and business cards to brochures and printed marketing materials for events, health fairs, and more.
Although the ease with which people can earn a full-time living online is an incredible advancement, it has also opened the door to illegitimate marketers and agencies that pursue their profits over your results. The best chiropractic marketing companies won’t burn you. They’ll take the time to learn where you are in your practice, understand your goals, and help you identify the best way to get your desired outcomes. There must be compatibility and value. This post is just the start to helping you pick an agency that’s a great fit for your practice.
What made you start looking for a chiropractic marketing company? Have any questions about choosing the best one? Share your stories or questions with us in the comment section below. And if you want to find out more about how we can help you, book a free, risk-free consultation.
