Word-of-mouth advertising is powerful. That’s because it is unfiltered, often unsolicited, and completely genuine. As a bonus, this form of marketing requires very little financial investment.
Happy patients do the marketing for you. Too often, healthcare professionals overlook this marketing technique. Don’t make that mistake.
Check out these 5 easy ways to increase your chiropractic patient referrals and grow your business organically.
#1 Ask Existing Patients for Referrals
The absolutely most effective way to increase your chiropractic patient referrals is the one that is used the least. Simply ask for the referral!
Each time a patient expresses pleasure with the progress they are making or the results you have helped them achieve, don’t hesitate for a second to ask them for a referral.
Happy customers are pleased to tell others about your practice. Often it is just a matter of asking. Your practice should always be prepared to make the ask.
#2 Go Above and Beyond
Provide knock their socks off service. Move beyond osseous adjustments and treat the entire patient. Use the support of lab services to monitor key nutritional levels, add Applied Kinesiology, offer dietary counseling, massage therapy, and nutritional supplements. When your patients feel good, they’ll naturally share the good feeling with their friends and family. This is the finest word-of-mouth advertising you’ll ever enjoy. When you help a patient restore their vitality and mobility, you create an ambassador for your clinic.
#3 Highlight Patients in Short Videos
Everybody wants to be a TikTok star these days. So, fulfill your patient’s dreams of stardom and ask them to participate in a short 30-second video. These don’t need to be high-production value videos. Remember, some of the hottest videos to go viral are nothing more than a person sitting in their car, looking at the camera, and sharing what they feel. So, if you have a cell phone in your office, you have everything you need to make a video. Get patients to share why they love coming to your practice for care. Have them talk about the change your practice has made in their life.
Share these videos on your social media and ask the patient to share them in your feed as well. Of course, you’ll want to ask each of your patient video stars to sign a release before you begin filming.
#4 Leverage the Power of Digital
Most successful chiropractic practices have an active presence on social media and an engaging email marketing campaign. Whether you use TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter ask your happy patients to follow you on social media and share your content.
A share sends a strong social signal to the patient’s sphere of influence. It is a referral that doesn’t feel like a marketing message. When your patients share the success stories of other patients, it adds a layer of authority to the original post.
Make sure your digital newsletters and other email marketing assets are completely shareable. Add a click-to-share, click-to-forward, or some other call-to-action button to make it easy for patients to share your information.
#5 Acknowledge Each Referral With a Thanks
When a patient refers someone to your practice, be sure to give them a heartfelt thanks. People appreciate the personal touch and taking a moment to say thank you sends your social and professional value soaring.
You can preprint thank you cards or handwrite a note. You might even make the effort to make a personal phone call. The call itself only takes a moment, but your patient will talk about it for weeks. After all, when is the last time your healthcare provider called you?
Increasing Chiropractic Patient Referrals Just Makes Sense
If you want to grow your practice, patient referrals just make sense. It costs as little as patient retention and is an easy way to add volume to your practice.
Many times, the hardest part of getting referrals is simply making the ask. When you provide great services, your patients will gladly share their experiences. Your job is to make that sharing process as simple as possible.