Social media offers a wonderful platform for chiropractors to generate social referrals for their business and provide value-added services to their customers. Keep in mind that you should focus on targeting your local market, unless you are selling online chiropractic equipment and accessories such as tractions, exercise balls, pillows, slippers, etc. Also note that there is a fundamental difference between referrals and advertising. Referrals are a form of endorsement that occurs when satisfied customers recommend your services. This is not the case with advertising.
Peer-to-peer referrals on social media carry a lot of weight, and you should aim to generate as many of these as possible.
Here are six ideas you can put in place to boost your chiropractic business through social referrals.
- Create a YouTube channel and post “how-to videos”. For example, guide patients undergoing treatment at your clinic about the dos’ and don’ts for restoring musculoskeletal integrity. Authentic videos, accompanied by witty and informative voice-overs, will draw viewers to your YouTube channel and get you subscribers. You can also upload client testimonials and transcribe videos to create blog posts
- Facebook and Twitter are excellent platforms for daily engaging with your audience. Social media action items should include:
- Seeking out profiles from your area and interacting with them
- Locating past customers and asking for referrals
- Providing information on your Facebook page and in your Tweets, and periodic announcements such as discounts, slashed prices, free clinics, etc.
- Keeping tabs on how your competition is faring
- Tracking interesting conversations and engaging with your audience
- Running polls and surveys
- Create a business page on Google +. Use Google + to inform your customers about your business hours, special offers, click-to-call, and provide a map for reference and directions to your place of business. You can add content on your Google + page and build a circle of followers, and your customers can post reviews on your page. The content on your Google + page also has immense SEO value
- Use mobile device apps to stay in touch with your customers. You can make mobile apps accessible to your customers via the Android marketplace and the Apple app store. Inform subscribers about new content on your social media channels. Be sure to periodically text helpful health tips. Send out coupons and QR codes via push messages
- Maintain a blog. Your blog can serve as a place to store information about postures, exercises, lifestyle, health, and FAQs. Re-purpose this information to suit the social media channels you plan to target. You can even re-package your content to create a free downloadable e-book in exchange for potential customers signing up for your newsletters.
- Integrate social media with other marketing channels, both online and offline. Guide your offline audience to your Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media accounts through distributing your business cards, flyers, and print ads.
Implement these measures and track the analytics for your different social media channels. This will provide insights on your activities and types of content that generate the most responses from your desired target market.
