Marketing Among the Madness

Summer is over and everyone’s lives are hectic again. When you’re marketing among the madness, make sure your message doesn’t get lost. 

Vacation is Over

Summers tend to be slow for a lot of practioners. We hope you used your slow summer season productively. But summer is over now and we need to make up for the downtime and ramp up business through smart marketing. However, during this time of year, when people head back to reality, your marketing has to compete with all the other things vying for the attention of potential patients.

Make Partnerships

The two main things taking the attention of your potential patients right now are school and work. So instead of competing with those two things; partner with them! If you’re a chiropractor, hit the schools! A big concern for parents is the heft of backpacks their kids carry. Some schools are doing away with lockers for safety reasons and that means kids have to haul around all their books. 

Offer to do a talk on backpack safety on the first parent’s night of the year (usually within a few weeks of classes starting). The parents are already at the school, so you have an automatic audience!

Human resources departments are always looking for ways to improve employee health because it saves them money both in insurance premiums and productivity lost to sick days. What are some large employers in your area who could benefit from wellness talks? If you have an employer near you that has shift workers, offer to talk about how to get good sleep. The WHO has classified working nights as a probable carcinogen. There’s your opening pitch. Not only is poor sleep dangerous to a worker’s overall health, but it’s also dangerous on the job. Lack of sleep is responsible for 274,000 workplace accidents a year.

Hit the Field

School sports are another area getting into high gear as we go into fall. One of the most controversial aspects of kids playing sports is head injuries.  In the not too distant future, we may see sports like football eliminated in many schools. Until then, there are still plenty of kids who play and you can teach parents and coaches how to keep them safe.

Of course, head injuries aren’t the only injuries student athletes suffer. There’s plenty of room to talk about other safety measures and even things like proper nutrition and hydration for young athletes.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…

Christmas is how the lyric finishes and while it seems to start earlier and earlier each year, there are still some holidays between now and then you can incorporate into your marketing. Halloween is a fun holiday to do a bit of marketing.

If you have a lot of children or families in your practice, have a contest during the week of Halloween for the best costume. Even if you just stay late and hand out candy at the office, this is a good will gesture for your community. 

For Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can hold a food or coat drive. Coat drives are especially effective because nearly everyone has a few in their closets they’d be happy to get rid of and see go to a good home. Make sure you have gift certificates for sale and that you let patients know they’re available. What’s better than the gift of health?

You can also hold an open house. Do this soon after Thanksgiving as people tend to get booked up with parties and events the closer we get to Christmas. A great way to get people to attend is to hold a raffle. Sell tickets for a small fee with the money going to a charity. The winner must be present at the time the names are drawn in order to claim the prize.

Use it or Lose it

HSA dollars that is. Many plans require that the money set aside in an HSA account be spent on qualifying medical expenses by the end of the calendar year or it’s lost. This is your patient’s hard earned money! Encourage them to make appointments before the end of the year, not only so you can help them devise health-related New Year’s Resolutions, but so they don’t lose that money too.

Health is a Priority

Health is a priority for most people, but life can get in the way. Devise your marketing strategies during this time of year to push those health priorities to the forefront. It will mean better health for your patients and a healthier practice for you!

For more information on building community connections, I encourage you to read my new book Community Connections! Relationship Marketing for Healthcare Professionals. If you want more valuable information about how to Connect with YOUR Community, you can find FREE healthcare practice marketing content, PowerPoint Presentation Jumpstart Kits, workbooks, blog articles, and my FREE “Practice Marketing Planner” Now!