1. YOUR ADVERTISING STRATEGY IS STRAIGHT OUT OF THE 1990’s
Case in point, back in the day, you’d be watching “Friends” and the show would abruptly cut to the Budweiser Commercial trying to sell you some beer.
During that era, that kind of marketing worked. Today? Not to so much. All the “old” forms of media are dying off. You know, television, radio, newspaper, magazines, etc….
You’ve probably noticed a lot of chiropractors have switched to Social Media in order to promote their practice, but there’s only one problem with that…consumers are not on Social Media to “buy” their “stuff”. They’re on Social Media to be entertained.
The truth is, if you want to promote your practice or “sell your stuff” to people while they consume their entertainment, your marketing has to become their entertainment.
For example, if users are on Instagram to see beautiful pictures, don’t interrupt their experience by posting a picture of a coupon. Instead, post a beautiful picture of your product in a picturesque setting.
…did you get what I just said?
Well, just in case you didn’t, here’s a Real World example of what I’m talking about.
Recently my wife and daughter started collecting these little toys called Shopkins. They have really grown a passion for them over the last couple of months. So much so, they started their own Instagram account that is “ALL SHOPKINS ALL THE TIME” You can follow them @shopkinslove if you’re interested in seeing how they are marketing themselves.
Now here’s the deal, when they started this Instagram Account 4 weeks ago they had ZERO Followers. …but they now have 215 Followers at the time I’m writing this blog post. All ORGANIC and FREE!
How did they do it? They’re “marketing” is entertaining.
As you can see, they place the “Shopkins” in all sorts of different locations and then take a picture of them. Then they hashtag their pictures with hashtags other people interested in shopkins would most likely follow.
Hashtags like, #shopkins – #shopkinsworld – #toys – #moosetoys, etc…
This style of marketing is a lot more entertaining that just posting a picture of a “package” on a shelf.
Do you get the point now?
They also run “contests” where they do a weekly Shopkins Give-A-Way every Friday! You see, my daughter has so many “doubles” that she told my wife she wanted to give them away to other kids that also love shopkins to make them happy. Ya, that’s the kind of daughter we’re raising. 
She’s amazing!! So we helped her start an Instagram Account and her and my wife spearhead it. …and through this process, I’m teaching her about marketing.
See how much fun that is? How much more “entertaining” than just posting pictures of plain, ordinary “coupons” and “gift certificates?
So here’s my question for you…
“Are you interrupting the flow of entertainment with your marketing or are you being the entertainment?”
Does that make sense?
2. YOUR TWEETS ARE WEARING AN INVISIBILITY CLOAK
Did you know that if you start your tweets beginning with an “@”– it makes the tweet invisible on your follower’s stream unless they are following that other tagged handle as well?
So, here’s a quick tip, if you insist on starting a tweet with tagging another account, put a period in front of the “@” so the tweet is visible to all of your followers.
3. YOU THINK SANPCHAT IS A FAD
You know, maybe it is, but here’s an inside tip, this social platform has users that send over 400 million messages per day!! The core audience is between the ages of 13 and 25. You’re probably saying, “Come on Chris! 13-25 ?? It’s for kids. That’s not my target market. Why would I use Snapchat?
Because Snapchat has taken a foothold in the way the next generation shares and communicates.
- Imagine educating these kids about the importance of a healthy spine and nervous system on a regular basis!
- Imagine your messages getting out to 10’s of thousands of kids across the globe.
- Imagine those kids educating their friends on all the cool stuff they’ve learned about health and wellness from you.
Do you see how something like Snapchat could change the way the world views health? …how the world views chiropractic?
Sometimes marketing is bigger than just trying to get local people in your community to come and see you.
Sure, it is harder for a brand like your chiropractic office to venture into uncharted territory, but it’s those who head out to sea first that catch the biggest fish.
Are you playing it safe and waiting for others to test the waters on these emerging platforms or are you rolling your pant-legs up and running into the water yourself?
4. THEY ALREADY KNOW YOU’RE A BUSINESS, DON’T REMIND THEM EVERY SECOND OF THE DAY
The biggest mistake chiropractors make with social media is constantly posting about their office promotions, their half of massages or free initial exams. Look, the reason why people ‘liked’ or ‘followed’ your brand in the first place is because they want to get personal with you, not because they want to read about your upcoming “Half Off Your Initial Exam” promotion.
The offices that flourish through social media are those that post about a variety of topics, as well as their company.
5. THINKING YOU WILL HAVE THOUSANDS OF ‘FANS’ and ‘FOLLOWERS’ IN A WEEK
The truth is, you’re going to need to invest into your social media presence for at least 6 months before you begin to see the benefits. You will need to inform your current patients that you are now using social media and as they interact with your office on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, etc… their online friends will see this and become more aware of your brand. Ultimately these “fresh faces” will begin to interact with you as well and eventually schedule an appointment to come in and see you.
Interact heavily on social media for six months and you’ll start to see a drastic increase in your fan base and followers. …but remember, it’s not going to happen in a day, week or a month.
CONCLUSION:
If you’re not using social media correctly, whether is be Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, Email, etc…I feel bad for you. Because the guy down the street is. If you’re not willing to up your game and learn some new skills, then don’t complain when you walk into the office one day and the phone stops ringing.
I hope you found some value in this blog post. I’m open to any questions you might have, so feel free to leave them in the comments below. …at the very least, PLEASE click the “Like” button below so I know whether or not you’re enjoying the content I’m putting out.
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