Owning a growing business in the health and wellness industry is exciting, but it can also feel massively intimidating. Although the market is competitive, it’s not oversaturated because there are always new patients and clients looking for health and wellness services. Success requires finding these new patients, and the only way to do so is through marketing.
According to Gill Valerio, the founder of Elevate Marketing Solutions — a marketing firm that specializes in digital marketing for chiropractors and other businesses in the health and wellness space — success in marketing in this sector is a matter of choosing the right platform and avenue of marketing your business.
Embracing the new paradigm of marketing in health and wellness
Historically, many businesses in the healthcare and wellness industry marketed themselves in one of two ways: through direct mail advertising via snail mail or through community outreach like screening events. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly clear that these methods are no longer efficient, as they require large investments of time and money on the part of the business owner, and rarely lead to significant results.
Word-of-mouth remains one of the most powerful tools for lead generation in the health and wellness industry — but there are some limitations that prevent it from being the most effective method. “In addition to being limited in scope to people known by current patients, the growth experienced through word-of-mouth campaigns tends to be quite slow,” explains Valerio. “As such, word-of-mouth tends to be best as a supplement to a more in-depth marketing approach.”
Indeed, the future of marketing in health and wellness is digital. “Digital marketing on massive platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Google is a way to reach massive audiences rapidly,” Valerio asserts. “Once you have a patient in the door, let your excellent service take the reins and ensure they keep coming back. Take advantage of these platforms and their rapidly growing audiences to give your business the exposure it needs to thrive.
Being deliberate with your marketing strategy
However, even when using digital marketing, it is important to have a deliberate strategy in place. Without a strategy, business owners are likely to spend more money than they need. For example, it is important to consider the geographic location of a practice, as this is a pivotal factor in a marketing budget. Practices in a large city only have a two- to three-mile radius from which they can realistically source new leads, while offices in a more suburban or rural area can target a wider geographic range. Targeting a broad geographic range in a big city will likely cost more than the value of the leads generated from the campaign.
As such, it is pivotal for practices to work with a marketing partner that fundamentally understands their business. “Not every chiropractic office is the same,” Valerio explains. “As a marketing partner, we must first understand our clients’ business, then collaborate and work closely with them to implement the marketing strategy. The better we understand your business, the better we can reflect it in our marketing.”
Another important distinction that businesses must make when deciding a marketing strategy depends on whether their practice is independent or a franchise location. “Marketing a franchise location is a unique challenge because one must also consider the brand’s overall message in addition to the individual office’s unique needs,” says Valerio. “However, franchises do often come with the benefit of a wide library of data received from offices in other markets that can be used to inform your marketing strategy.”
Maintaining quality of service
The biggest mistake that a business owner in the health and wellness industry can make is distracting themselves from their primary purpose: helping their patients and clients. “Although marketing a business obviously takes time and effort, it is not sustainable for it to be so much of a burden that it affects quality of service,” Valerio explains. “If the quality of service goes down enough, your marketing efforts will be in vain, as you will lose customers quicker than you can bring new ones in. Just as positive word-of-mouth spreads, so too does negative word-of-mouth.”
If implemented properly, a digital marketing strategy can be a fantastic way for chiropractors and other business leaders to grow their business and generate new leads. However, effective digital marketing requires that business leaders — and their marketing partners — be careful and deliberate with their marketing strategies, tailoring them to the unique needs of the business. Failing to do so leaves a massive opportunity for growth on the table.
“You absolutely need to invest in digital marketing for your practice,” Valerio asserts. “If you don’t, your competitors will, and patients will be walking into their doors.”