Do you know why people will buy an Apple iPhone or adidas sports shoes and not other similar products, even though they may be cheaper? The reason is simple: people trust the Apple and adidas brands. Over decades of consistent high quality and excellent customer service, these and many other companies have managed to persuade customers to trust their products, simply by reading their brand name. In this article, we will show you how to build a chiropractic practice brand image that will make you stand out from your competitors and grow the list of your patients.
Does a Chiropractic Practice Need a Brand Image?
In today’s world, the brand image is more important than ever. Visibility is the key to attracting potential customers’ attention. Consumers are practically overwhelmed by marketing messages and brand images wherever they look: at the TV, at their smartphone screen, in newspapers and magazines and on the streets.
Over time, once they become familiar with a specific brand image, consumers will want to learn more about it. Through careful lead nurturing (a topic we covered in the SEO section), chiropractors, just like other business owners, can persuade people to trust them and book an initial appointment.
However, the patients’ entire chain of decisions starts with one thing: seeing a brand image that they feel they can trust.
How Can You Create a Successful Chiropractic Practice Brand Image?
So, how exactly can you make sure that your chiropractic practice brand image inspires potential patients with confidence? Here are a few pointers for you:
1. Focus on the Patient Experience
A chiropractic practice brand image must reflect what you can do for your patients. It is about you and your experience, of course, but only with respect of what you can offer to people who trust you.
From this point of view, the chiropractic practice brand image should be reflected in:
• The way your practice looks – from the reception area to the treatment room
• Your tone of voice in marketing materials and blog posts
• The design of your website
• The attitude of your staff.
Patients must feel safe, welcome and relaxed – and your chiropractic practice brand image must communicate these ideas.
2. Find Your Niche
A core marketing principle is the unique selling proposition (USP). It represents what makes a company different from others offering similar products and services. For instance, the USP of Apple is the attention to design details. Every iPhone, Mac computer and iPad is easily recognizable by its sleek design. Other brands may offer similar technical specifications, but an Apple product still stands out.
What does it mean for your chiropractic practice brand image? You need to find a niche for your practice. Some chiropractors specialize in treating pregnant women or the elderly. Others focus on athletes or on various conditions, such as scoliosis or cervical stenosis. You need to consider your niche, because it will determine how you address your potential customers and the overall chiropractic practice brand image.
3. Focus on Educating Your Patients
Chiropractic is still defined as “ineffective” and “not really medicine” by many online sources. While it is not true, a lot of potential patients will search on Google and find these sources of misleading information.
As part of your chiropractic practice brand image, you need to become a trusted source of information for patients. The blog articles that you write for SEO must also serve as helpful content for people who are still in doubt. If you are willing to tell people exactly what you do and how it helps them, they will learn to trust chiropractic and choose your practice.
4. Implement Telemedicine
Telemedicine or remote patient-doctor sessions are increasingly in demand. Many people are unable to see a doctor in their practice, but still need their advice. Using various communication channels, you can stay close to your patients, guide them to do various exercises at home and keep up their morale.
The willingness to go the extra mile for your patients’ benefit is a huge plus for your chiropractic practice brand image. You should communicate all the options your patients have to get in touch with you very visibly in all your marketing and advertising materials.
5. Go beyond Chiropractic – Offer Wellness
Chiropractic is different from other branches of medicine because it aims to treat the whole person, not just a symptom. You believe in this principle and you apply it in your work. So, express it in your chiropractic practice brand image.
A lot of people are skeptic when they hear about adjustments and manipulations. However, they will become enthusiastic if they hear that your treatments will offer them wellness – a safe, minimally invasive way of relieving pain and improving their quality of life.
Your chiropractic practice brand image is the core element of your business. You must be certain that what you are showing to your potential patients is a faithful image of your practice and the way you treat your patients.