New Chiropractic Patients with Instagram Marketing
Managing Instagram for a Chiropractic practice is no longer an option — it has become a strategic visual content marketing machine that attracts new chiropractic patients like bees to blooming flowers. Instagram user base is constantly growing and that includes local base around any chiropractic office. Currently over 400 million users worldwide. Not only is the total number impressive, but it means Instagram is growing. And that is a great sign for chiropractors – I mean those who do not “snooze.”
Instagram presents an unparalleled opportunity to build and share your chiropractic brand to local users — to show a different side by leveraging this highly visual social media platform. Plus, the rate of customer engagement is off the charts compared to other social channels. I hope it stays this way and Facebook will not make any changes like they did with Facebook Pages. What most chiropractors don’t realize, though that this marketing platform can be managed anytime chiropractor has a free minute. It is a mobile based application and using your smart phone at your chiropractic office should be done on regular bases.
Instagram Local: Context & Relevance
Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Instagram is a location-based platform by design. Location is core to both the app and the vision of its founders. One of the long-term goals of Instagram as a company is that you’ll be able to visit any place in the world through Instagram photos and videos… in real time. You’ll be able to click on a map and see what’s happening there in that moment. This requires that a large percentage of the content be anchored to a specific place and time.
Instagram structures content locally through two methods. First, users can activate location through the Photo Map feature. This attaches a lat/long coordinate (geocode) to each piece of content, giving users the ability to view their photos and videos on a map and providing vital context to these precious moments and experiences. Secondly, users can “location tag” content, which attaches the explicit place where the photo or video was taken. For example, you as a chiropractor might attach an image that is associated with chiropractic and a video clip of you adjusting your patient. This provides unique context for the user and your potential followers who can turn into potential new chiropractic patient. It also provides the strongest possible signal of potential new chiropractic patient engagement for your chiropractic brand – i.e. when someone in pain is watching your instagram images and videos. Currently videos are at 15 seconds but instagram is planning to increase it to 60 seconds.
A location-tagged photo or video means that a consumer is present at a specific location and that they are associating (tagging) their Instagram content with that place — the same place where they are having your chiropractic brand experience and possibly making an appointment. This opens a channel of communication through which your chiropractic brand can reciprocate engagement and establish authentic connections with their most passionate and loyal followers. And this is just the start.
Instagram Strategy: Three Principles
Instagram may be a relatively new channel that is achieving massive scale just like Facebook, but many of the same marketing principles still apply. Consistent with the new media revolution, Instagram represents the ability to connect directly, authentically, and efficiently with a large number of local based consumers. The medium has evolved, however, from text and ads through PCs to photos and videos through mobile devices.
Below are the three basic principles to successfully managing the Instagram channel:
1. Create and Curate – Brands can populate their Instagram feed with content through two methods: creating original brand content and curating customer content. I am a big fan of creating my own original video content. Vide content is the key.
2. Listen – To fully embrace this new channel, chiropractic brand must see all related photos and videos customers are posting on Instagram. This includes monitoring all brand, sub-brand, and campaign hashtags — positive, negative, misspellings, etc. — as well as photos being tagged to specific locations, known as “location tags.” With brick-and-mortar brands, up to 40% of all brand-tagged Instagram photos are only being location tagged, and these tend to have a stronger brand signal than hashtags.
3. Respond – There are two simple ways to respond to customers via Instagram: liking and commenting on their content. You can also re-post a content from your local users but it is not recommended. Also direct communication is possible but can be easily blocked by a user if they do not wish to hear from you again.
The Instagram “like” is an easy and efficient way to thank customers for sharing and engaging with a brand. More often than not the customer will receive a mobile push notification indicating that that the brand has liked their photo, thus engaging on a one-to-one basis. This also has the effect of growing a brand’s Instagram following because tapping on the brand’s “like” takes the customer to its profile page. The customer may not have been aware the brand was on Instagram before this.
Commenting can also be a way to thank customers. However, this mechanism is best utilized as a customer service channel to address dissatisfied customers and resolve the issues, either within Instagram or through an offline channel.
Digital marketing is now a visual medium. It is driven by photos and videos. Whether being consumed through PCs, tablets, or smartphones, visual content is driving the bulk of consumer engagement, and consumers are playing a vital role in producing and distributing it. At the center of this trend is Instagram, a mobile-first platform built for the creation and consumption of visual content, especially video content.
Instagram has now achieved significant scale. Growth is accelerating. And the underlying infrastructure that powers Instagram — smartphones — is becoming more robust and dynamic with every new product cycle. The possibilities for innovation are limitless. Early investments will earn huge returns in the form of competitive advantage as the platform matures and integrates new ways to reach and influence your chiropractic brand to your target audience. Below are few videos of my new chiropractic patients who discovered my services via Instagram.
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