Dominate The Competition With The Most Comprehensive Digital Chiropractic Marketing Strategy
TLDR (even though you can’t skim your way through growing a business)
Digital Marketing For Chiropractors
The most comprehensive chiropractic marketing strategy puts you in front of your ideal patient everywhere they spend their time and everywhere they seek solutions.
- StoryBrand Websites – create a patient-centered website that tells your story and converts new patients
- Chiropractic Content Marketing – become the healthcare expert your community is desperate for and build trust and credibility with patients before Day 1
- Advanced Local SEO for Chiropractors – rank #1 in search results for “best chiropractor near me”
- Google Business Profile Optimization – increase your visibility by leveraging Google’s digital real estate to stand above your competition
- Google Review Collection – it IS a popularity contest
- Custom Lead Generation Campaigns – produce ads that ‘stop the scroll’ and address how you are uniquely positioned with solutions to your audience’s problems
- Offline Marketing Strategies – it’s still important to touch grass
The days of growing your practice by relying on spinal screenings or $47 Facebook coupons are long over. These chiropractic marketing strategies don’t cut it anymore with increasingly competitive local markets and tech volatility. Instead, you need a holistic chiropractic marketing system that generates new patients and establishes you as the go-to healthcare expert in your community. Why fish with one pole when you could use ten?!
StoryBrand Framework: Create the Best Chiropractic Website
What is StoryBrand, and Why is it Essential for Chiropractic Marketing?
Your website is your most important digital asset. It is the hub of your marketing wheel, where leads discover who you are, what you believe, and, most importantly, how you can help them. Your marketing strategy will funnel all digital traffic into your website, so it needs to be ready to convert.
The StoryBrand framework emerged from Donald Miller’s book Building A StoryBrand. Miller recognized that many businesses lack focus and communicate in ways that speak more about their needs and pain points than those of their targeted customers.
StoryBrand works so well because patients and other consumers are primed subconsciously to think of their lives as stories. In these personal narratives, they see themselves as the main characters. By using StoryBrand, chiropractors can present themselves as knowledgeable and helpful guides who offer solutions to the challenges faced by their patients.
How StoryBrand Applies to Chiropractic Websites
The StoryBrand version of storytelling as a chiropractic marketing strategy can usually answer three questions in only five seconds…
– What do you do at your chiropractic office?
– How do your services help patients?
– What type of action should they take next?
StoryBrand requires you to think in terms of a story structure across several steps to create and organize your website messaging:
- A Character: The patient you’re trying to reach
- Has a Problem: The health issue standing in the way of a fulfilling life
- And Meets a Helpful Guide: You! But make sure to prove you’re worthy…
- The Guide Gives Them a Plan: How your chiropractic solutions are better than the alternative and will deliver results where other strategies have failed
- The Guide Calls Upon Them to Act to Avoid Failure: A clear call to action to help our hero avoid future suffering – immobility, fatigue, dysfunction, pain, etc.
- The Story Ends With Success and Transformation: A sense of urgency and motivation that a better life is possible with you and your team
There are a lot of websites out there, but if yours isn’t centering your potential patient as the hero and you as the guide with the answers they seek, they won’t convert. Period. StoryBrand is intentional – with who you’re pursuing, how you’re going to convert them, and the information you’re trying to convey. A cookie-cutter website can’t accomplish this goal and will leave all your hard-fought chiropractic marketing efforts fruitless.
Website Essentials: An Online Scheduler
The final step of the chiropractic marketing process is the first in the patient’s healthcare journey. If the patient doesn’t know how to take the first step, everything else is for naught. An online scheduler is essential to motivating them to act.
How can chiropractors streamline the process to make the action painless, effortless, and useful for scheduling and chiropractic marketing purposes?
- Keep It Simple: Avoid as much friction in scheduling as possible while still gathering as much info as you need to qualify a lead. Prevent availability issues and retain interest data, ask for contact information before displaying the schedule. Even if you don’t have an appointment date and time they desire, you can connect with them after this contact to discuss a scheduling solution.
- Make It Easy to Track: A scheduler hosted on your website is the easiest way to track the number of visitors who interact with and use the tool. One that redirects at the end to a confirmation page that outlines the next step in the potential patient’s journey.
SEO for Chiropractors: Rank #1 on Google
Search engines use complex algorithms to rank websites based on relevance, authority, and user experience. By optimizing various elements of your website, both on-page and off-page, you can bolster critical metrics to improve your website’s visibility and ranking in search results. This sneaky trick is Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
SEO is free marketing! You don’t need to keep paying Google to remain at the top; you just need to make sure your website remains the most relevant. SEO is an excellent way for chiropractors to avoid the volatility of social media platforms while maintaining a reputable digital presence.
On-Page and Off-Page SEO
It’s also critical that you perform SEO steps both on and off your website. On-page SEO involves optimizing service pages, blog content, and metadata based on current methods preferred most by top search engine companies. Off-page SEO for higher rankings requires that you become “found” via other websites through backlinks and citations with your name and office location in various areas, such as social media profiles, review sites, guest posts on local blogs, and industry and business directories.
The first step to SEO dominance is keyword research. Find the terms your ideal patients search for when seeking chiropractic help. Then create consistent content to educate your audience and provide solutions.
The secret to ranking #1 on Google is creating the most relevant content for ideal keywords; it’s as simple as that.
Content Marketing for Chiropractors
A content-first approach helps you build your brand across social media and bolsters your SEO, filling it with written and visual content to establish authority, trustworthiness, and relevance. The best part is that because you’re creating content in your voice, it converts website visitors to new patients much better than a cookie-cutter website that might be full of relevance but void of personality.
Content marketing is not about going viral. It’s about consistently adding value so your audience knows to turn to you when a health issue arises. It’s about leveraging your greatest asset, YOU! Content makes converting new patients much easier. They come into the office already bought into you and your style of care. They’ve already made their decision; now you just have to deliver the results.
Best Channels For Chiropractic Marketing Content
- YouTube
- TikTok
- X
Content marketing puts you in front of your ideal patient everywhere they’re spending their time. Even when they’re doom-scrolling and not necessarily looking for solutions to their health concerns. Decide where your ideal patient is spending their time and create content geared toward that platform’s vibe. Don’t be afraid to repurpose content across platforms; in fact, it’s encouraged. Optimizing the technical aspects of your content – descriptions, tags, thumbnails, and titles – will make it more likely that you show up at the top of local searches.
Best Chiropractic Content Marketing Ideas
- Live Q&A
- Podcast
- Treatment Demonstrations
- Patient Testimonials
- Memes
- Infographics
- Office Tours
- Behind The Scenes
- Educational Content
There aren’t many wrong answers when deciding what to create content around.
Chiropractic content marketing builds your brand through forging relationships in the community and establishes your healthcare expertise, which is a competitive advantage no one can copy. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, and leave your ego at the door, this strategy will help you outlast even Facebook itself.
Google Business Profile Optimization
Optimizing your GBP is an SEO hack that takes minutes to execute and pays dividends for the lifetime of your business. It’s a no-brainer.
Google Business Profile (GBP) is the new Yellow Pages. But instead of weighing fifteen pounds and collecting dust, it’s in your ideal patient’s hand and displayed every time they do a Google search. Optimizing industry and business directories as part of your chiropractic marketing plan guarantees that patients searching online will see your office details quickly when performing local searches. A Google Business Profile (GBP) is the most important listing. Other listing platforms include LinkedIn, The Real Yellow Pages, and Yelp.
It’s critical to follow all of Google’s guidelines when creating your profile to set it up correctly; otherwise, Google or another directory company could pull your profile entirely! I don’t make the rules; they do. You should also integrate links to a booking option, weekly posts, a Q&A section, and patient reviews. Let’s talk about reviews for sec…
Google Reviews
Google Reviews are your credibility score.
For you left brainers: Reviews = Relevance = Ranking = Revenue
When people type “chiropractor near me,” and you’re sitting there with 11 reviews while your competitor has 417, the game is over before you even show up.
Google’s algorithm isn’t benevolent, it’s greedy, and it wants signals — fresh, frequent, and high-quality signals. Reviews do three things you desperately need:
- Volume — The more reviews you have, the more popular Google thinks you are (and popularity equals quality in the algorithm’s mind)
- Velocity — New reviews tell Google you’re not dead
- Veracity — Good reviews = trust = clicks = appointments
Google Reviews aren’t “nice-to-have,” they’re oxygen. If you don’t aggressively and systemically collect reviews, the only winner is your competitor. Ask for reviews like your practice depends on it – because it does. Follow up. Text patients after their visit. Incentivize your staff. Make it a KPI!
Lead Generation Campaigns
If SEO is a marathon, Lead Gen is a sprint. You need to be a hybrid athlete.
SEO seeds the ground for the long-term growth of your patient base.
Lead Gen gets patients in the door NOW.
It’s not 1998; you can’t wait for referrals. You buy attention, you buy intent, and you turn clicks into cash. Whether we like it or not, the two best places to do that are:
- Meta – where your patients are spending their time
- Google – where your patients are seeking solutions
Attention is the new oil, and these platforms own the oil fields. Their algorithms don’t reward passivity, so you need fresh ads, fast hooks, and aggressive retargeting.
Meta is where people lounge around, digitally speaking. You’re renting space inside their daydreams, so ads should be emotional, lifestyle-driven, “get back to what you love to do.” You want to build trust before they realize they need you. Your content marketing strategy works hand in hand to build trust and stay top of mind.
Google is where people go to find answers. These searchers are high-intent and their clicks have a lot of value. If you’re not bidding on your services, your competitors sure as hell are. Target the right keywords, and your business will print money.
Offline Chiropractic Marketing Strategies
Don’t sleep on these. There are still a few people who don’t spend their whole day online. Offline strategies are even more polls to add to the pond, rounding out your comprehensive marketing strategy.
Build Relationships with Local Businesses
Besides making certain your business and name receive recognition with your local chamber of commerce, you need to reach out to other business owners and leaders who work in your industry or are closely affiliated with it and establish strong, lasting relationships.
Partner with:
- Personal Trainers
- Massage Therapists
- Healthcare Providers
- Gym Owners
- Health Food Stores
- Wellness Centers
Offer to promote them in your office and see if they’ll do the same, or offer lunch-and-learns in their office.
Community Events and Sponsorships
You need to be an active member of the community who also gives back whenever possible.
- Sponsor events, like 5K runs or health fairs
- Offer free spinal screenings
- Run workshops at local schools and workplaces
These events will position you as the “go-to” local chiropractic expert.
Increase Your Patient Referrals: Turning Current Patients Into Advocates
Patient referral chiropractic marketing methods offer chiropractors a steady flow of new patients over time. Positive word-of-mouth and online advertising from patients work well because you can depend on patients to promote your services and products as long as you provide them with more positive outcomes.
Referral Programs and Patient Retention
You can and should simply ask for a referral or review in writing on patient paperwork, a final bill, and on your website. Gamify it, offering incentives to patients willing to spread the word.
You can also turn patients into advocates by setting up various loyalty programs. For example, you might offer a reward program to repeat patients that gives them exclusive perks, such as special gifts, gift cards, or discounts. You might offer prepay customers discounted care packages for ongoing treatment plans.
Joey Coleman’s book, Never Lose A Customer Again, is a must-read, full of insight and inspiration about how you can offer a remarkable patient experience.
Final Thoughts
You didn’t go to chiropractic school to become a marketer. Chiropractic marketing is labor-intensive and constantly changing. It requires consistency and creativity. Navigating the endless platforms, systems, and digital tools can be burdensome for a small business and pull you away from your true passion, saving lives.
Every chiropractor needs a marketing department, but it doesn’t have to be you…
FAQs
How long does it take to see results from digital marketing?
Chiropractic marketing results vary based on a lot of factors, including the size of your business, its location, your competition, and how you define success. With a comprehensive approach that focuses on short-term and long-term strategies, you should start to see positive effects within weeks. SEO takes a few months to build up momentum.
Is SEO or paid advertising more effective?
Both chiropractic marketing strategies have advantages and disadvantages. The state of your local market will impact results. The key to success is to use both as stages of your chiropractic marketing plan.
How often should I update my website’s content for SEO?
The more often you update, the better. Google loves updates. Monthly, if not weekly, content updates like blog posts, treatment pages, and videos will help juice your SEO.
What are the best keywords to target for chiropractic SEO?
The most useful keywords for chiropractic marketing vary over time, but the most consistent common ones include “chiropractor near me,” “find a chiropractor,” “local chiropractor,” “chiropractic services in,” “back pain relief,” “lower back pain,” and “neck pain treatment.” General chiropractor ones include “chiropractic adjustment,” “chiropractic care,” “chiropractic treatment,” “family chiropractor,” “prenatal chiropractor,” “sports chiropractor,” and “walk-in.” Condition-specific terms also target chiropractors, such as “arthritis,” “back spasms,” “dislocated joint,” “headache,” “knee pain,” “migraine,” “sciatica,” “strain,” “upper cervical,” and “whiplash.”
How do I know if my website is performing well in SEO? What are the best platforms to use?
The top indicator of improved performance from chiropractic marketing is an increase in site and office traffic. You should also invest in a software solution or platform that provides audits, backlink tracking, comprehensive visibility insights, competitive analysis, and keyword research, like Semrush. An all-in-one platform like BrightLocal can provide greater ranking analysis and help you collect, monitor, and respond to reviews as well.
What is the best-paid advertising platform to capture qualified leads?
At the moment, there are only two animals in this game—Facebook and Google. There are other search engines and social media platforms out there, but these two behemoths dominate. As a result, both are getting more expensive for local businesses, which is why relying on them alone is not a long-term solution.
How often should I post on social media?
When you’re active with your target audience, they’re more likely to keep you in mind. You become the first person they think of when they need services. Being strict about your posting rhythm is not worth the headache. Do it when you have something to post, remembering that you want to stay top of mind.
Should I invest in Google Ads for my chiropractic practice?
Yes. Or partner with a marketing company that uses it. Google Ads is an excellent investment and chiropractic marketing tool. It’s directly attached to Google, which means you can enjoy higher activity in search results and other positive online exposures because Google also developed the most used search engine in the world.
How often should I review my marketing performance?
Weekly check-ins will help you determine where to focus your marketing energy and what messages are resonating with your ideal patients.