The purpose of this blog is to provide chiropractors with some clarity over what marketing really is, how it works, and how you can maximize the advantages that marketing offers.
Before we can define marketing, let’s briefly discuss what marketing is not. Marketing is not the ‘latest and greatest sure thing’. It is not ‘shoot from the hip’ decision-making. It is not doing something just because it worked for someone else.
I define marketing as ‘everything you do, with a specific purpose, based on your target audience’s needs.’
By ‘everything you do’, I mean everything: from your clinic name, your location, your pricing, how the phone is answered—EVERYTHING.
With ‘a specific purpose’ I mean that there has to be a reason for doing what you are doing. And the more congruent all of your different pieces work together, the more successful your marketing will be.
‘Based on your target audience’s needs’ means that to successfully use marketing we need to see things from the perspectives of our audiences—rather than our own.
EVERYTHING YOU DO
Not only does good marketing encompass everything you do, good marketing demands that everything you do is synergistic. The more synergy, or congruency, in ‘everything you do’—the more successful your marketing will be.
Consumers recognize ‘inconsistency’ or, even worse, ‘hypocrisy’ faster than you can blink an eye.
• If your actions don’t match your words, they’ll see through them.
• If your name and your logo don’t fit hand in hand, they’ll notice.
• If you want them to ‘trust’ you and find you ‘credible’, you’ll have to look, act, and speak in a manner that they find as such.
Our research has noticed that successful chiropractors weave a certain message through everything they do. Their vision, dreams, and words they use all have a similar thread running through them.
This approach doesn’t have to take an inordinate amount of time or effort. It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. In fact, if anything, I believe it will cost you less.
In future blogs, we’ll explore ‘with a specific purpose’ and ‘based on your target audience’s need’—as well as going more in-depth in each of these areas.
In the meantime, feel free to e-mail me at j.nodarse@mchsi.com with any thoughts or questions.
