Chiropractic Marketing: 4 points to consider when promoting your clinic

Keeping up with digitalization 

Chiropractic services will be in high demand in the coming years, on a global scale. A 2018 US national survey showed that 28.0% of men and 31.6% of women aged 18 years and older had experienced low back pain within the past three months [1]. Other Data from the World Health Organization suggests that 20-33% of people around the world suffer from musculoskeletal conditions [2].

US consumers typically search online for products and services. A survey from 2019 showed that nearly one-third of online users access the Internet when looking for local services or businesses [3]. This means that many people could now be exploring the net for professional chiropractic advice and treatment options.  

 Considering the number of potential patients and the trend toward digitalization, chiropractic businesses should make it a priority to create a prominent online presence. 

Chiropractic care provides a conservative and non-invasive alternative to medications and surgery for people suffering from muscle and joint issues. It focuses on spinal manipulation and joint adjustment to release pressure from the affected areas and relieve pain. The chiropractic industry is gaining steady momentum, with an expected average growth of 4% between 2019 and 2029 [4].

There are several reasons for the growing demand for chiropractic services in the 2020s:

• Back pain is an increasingly common complaint in the US [5]
• In 2017, 58% of adults sought medical treatment for back pain [5]
• 14% of people who sought medical care for back pain visited a chiropractor [5]
• 81% think that chiropractors can help with neck and back pain [5]
• 29.9% of females and 26.7% of males suffered from low-back pain in 2016 [6]
• 21% of adults thought their back pain was due to spinal disk herniation [7]
• 20% of adults thought their back pain arose from having a sedentary lifestyle [7]
• 54% of survey respondents reported having chronic back pain for over 5 years [8]
• Back pain is a common cause of work absenteeism [9]
• Chiropractic treatment has a positive impact on neck pain, trigger points in the neck and shoulder, and sports injuries [10]
• Much of the aging population will require chiropractic care [4]
• People have become more interested in alternative pain treatment methods [4]
• 22% thought pain relief was a  benefit of chiropractic treatment [11]
• 45% of adults aged 18-29 said they may try chiropractic services in the future [12]

The chiropractic market is expected to grow in the near future, with bright prospects:

• The chiropractic market share in the US reached $12.26 billion in 2017 [13]
• The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.32% through 2025 [13]
• The American Chiropractic Association projects a total of 80,000 chiropractors in the USA in 2020, with 2,500 new professionals graduating each year [13]  
• Chiropractors care for 35 million patients each year, and this number is likely to increase [13] 
• 95% of chiropractic patients stated that their treatment was effective [13]
• The chiropractic market could reach 17.93 billion by 2025 [14]

Since the chiropractic profession has such a bright outlook for the coming decade and beyond, many clinics are upgrading their marketing techniques to stay competitive in the evolving market. Such upgrades often require adopting new technologies and redesigning outdated websites to establish a prominent online presence. As per recent research by Statista [15]:

• 77% of small and medium business owners believe that an online presence helps them acquire more customers
• 63% think that a digital presence can improve the overall reputation of their business
• 60% will invest in a new website or improve an existing one 

Today there are multiple marketing strategies for helping a chiropractic practice thrive, by meeting the demands of consumers and attracting new patients. The following four marketing tips can help a chiropractic business attract more clients and increase revenues.

1. Make a winning impression with a first-class website

A professionally designed custom website is the face of any modern chiropractic clinic. It is often the first impression that patients encounter when searching for chiropractic services. Every medical website must comply with Google’s standards to achieve and maintain high search rankings and remain visible to consumers. A high-functioning and visually appealing website can increase traffic to your business and bring about a surge in conversions. Nearly 65 % of US shoppers [16] report that having a good search function is highly important when browsing a website for something specific. People do not want to waste time trying to navigate a poorly designed website. They expect to visit a webpage and find the desired information within seconds.

2.Invest in SEO to maintain a straight “A” rating

It is impossible to have a quality website without a top-notch SEO campaign. Today, every small and medium sized business needs SEO intervention to compete and meet modern website standards. Every company should work continuously to refine its website’s structure and refresh its content. SEO is a complex and full-time process that requires ongoing attention.

The most essential attributes of a website are structure, content, and loading speed.

Web structure 

The design and appearance of a website should be attractive and user-friendly, making it easy for patients to find the information they need without having to sort through disorganized data. Recent research shows that:

• 65% of consumers assign high value to onsite search and navigation tools [17] 
• 25% prefer a live chat feature [17] 
• A user-friendly website is considered more valuable than user reviews [18]
• A quality single website increases organic traffic by 64% [19] 
• 94% of survey participants consider easy navigation to be a key feature [20] 
• 83% want a website to be updated, with an appealing look [20]

Optimizing a website for mobile devices is crucial, as more customers use them on a daily basis to conduct a web search: 

• In 2018, 52% of global online traffic was conducted from mobile phones [21]
• 91% of global consumers use mobile devices to access the internet at certain times of day [22] 
• The US has one of the world’s largest markets for tablets, with total revenues of $14.83 bn in 2020 [23]
• 24% of technology purchases were made from mobile devices in 2019, compared to 7% in 2015 [24]
• 3 out of 4 adults access Youtube from a mobile device ( 2016) [25] 

 Web content

Informative and engaging content is an effective way to communicate and build relationships with loyal customers. People enjoy engaging and beneficial information that positively affects their lives. 

• Half of all users look for enlightening content that improves their lives [26]
• More than 50% of consumers favor personalized content [27] 
• Education and entertainment are the two primary purposes of content  [28]
• 50% of survey participants think blogs are useful [20] 
• 50% of users will abandon a website with irrelevant content [20]
• Businesses allocate 46% of their budgets to content [29] 
• 51% of businesses consider the updating of old content to be an effective tactic [29]
• 44% of users become annoyed or leave a website if there is no contact information [30] 
• 46% will leave if a website’s message is unclear [30]
  

When building an ideal website, it is vital to pay attention to certain red flags that may steer customers away from the site. According to Huff/KoMarketing [30], offensive features include: 

1. Intrusive pop-ups and animated ads, according to 63% of consumers
2. Intrusive live chats, according to 53% of consumers 
3. Video or audio that starts playing on its own, according to 50% of consumers

Page Loading Speed

Page loading speed is associated with quality user experience. Users expect pages to load quickly, and pages that take longer than one second to load increase a website’s bounce rate, according to Google research [31]:

• Pages that load in 3 seconds increase bounce rate by 32% 
• Pages that load in 5 seconds increase bounce rate by 90%
• Pages that load in 6 seconds increase bounce rate by 106% 

Other helpful features that consumers like to see on a website, according to Huff/KoMarketing research [30], include: 

• Contact information is of high importance (54%)
• Tech support information should be available (47%) 
• Product information should include price (78%)
• Product reviews are necessary (52%)

3. Increase brand visibility through smart PPC and Search Advertising

Pay-per-Click (PPC) is a marketing approach that places impressions and textual ads on various web platforms and social networks. Businesses pay an agreed-upon price every time a prospective customer clicks on an ad. In addition to helping boost conversions and revenues, a good PPC strategy fosters brand awareness by continuously displaying ads to prospective leads, making potential buyers subconsciously aware of the brand.

Search advertising places ads next to the results of organic search queries.

Research shows that PPC and Search advertising are growing fields that yield fruitful results. 

A 2015 study by Statista outlines the leading channels of PPC advertising [32], according to a survey of brand professionals:

• 90 % of survey respondents think that text ads are a vital channel 
• 80% of participants value remarketing ads 
• 71% believe that mobile ads are among primary channels

The rest of the data plays out as follows:

• 54 % – display network ads
• 48% – shopping 
• 40% – social networks ads 
• 33% – programmatic ads 
• 25% – native ads
  

Thought-provoking research conducted by Google in 2014  [33] shows that a smart PPC campaign can increase brand awareness by up to 80%. 

Research by Wordstream [34] shows that 64.6% of potential buyers click on Google ads during the buyer journey.

Another study by Statista [35] depicts a tremendous increase in the funds spent on search advertising worldwide, from $26.7 billion in 2009 to $124.1 billion in 2018. In the US, expenditures for search advertising exceeded $55 billion in 2019, and may exceed  $86 billion by 2023.

4. Meet the audience on their favorite Social Media platform 

Today people spend plenty of time on social networks, reading content and using messaging services to communicate. A smart marketing strategy targets the audience on their favorite social media channels. The perfect platforms for advertising in 2020 are [36],[37]: 

1.Facebook – 2,701 billion active users
2. YouTube – 2 billion users
3. Instagram – 1,158 bn
4.Pinterest – 416 million active users
5. Twitter – 353 mln
6. Linkedin – 58.5 mln

Summing Up 

Brand awareness and advertising are preeminent points for chiropractic practices to boost revenues, attract new patients, and increase overall sales. Modern marketing strategies incorporate numerous methods to accomplish business goals. The four basic tools for achieving fast and high-quality results are:

• A top-notch website 
• Professional SEO services
• Smart PPC and Search advertising campaigns 
• Social network advertising

Modern chiropractic practices should work towards establishing professional relationships with top marketing experts who can help them advertise their clinics to local, national and global target audiences, using the latest technologies and time-proven strategies.