There are two approaches to advertising. The first involves getting the person into the office as a direct response to your ad. This type of ad usually involves some special offer that will cause an immediate response. In the 60’s and 70’s the most common one was free x-rays. It drew thousands of people into chiropractic offices. With the advent of insurance (which pays for x-rays) and the increased concern about the effects of radiation, that “enticement” has pretty much fallen by the wayside. Another one was free examination. The problem with that one was that many the chiropractors who did it, added on other procedures, like x-ray, and the person who basically was coming in for a free visit walked out with a huge bill. These types of ads attract certain types of people including those looking for a good deal and those with a specific problem. For example, “The eight danger signals” or “Back pain? See your chiropractor, come before a certain date and get a free consultation.” They have limited success.
The second type of advertisement is the awareness one, the ad that is designed to keep your name in front of the public and motivate people over the long haul. Coke, Pepsi, GM and Ford use these ads. No one is likely to get up and go out to buy a Coke due to a TV ad. It may motivate them to get up and go to the refrigerator to get a Coke, but that vision of an ice cold refreshing Coke is not going to be remembered unless it is constantly before the public.
I believe we should be using this type of advertising. We should keep our name before the public. I would suggest that you view your advertising as a public relations effort as much as an advertising effort. We use a 15-second spot on the local public radio station in our area and have been doing so for years. Rarely do we get a new person directly from it but it keeps our office name in front of the public. You can also choose to support a sports team like Little League or youth soccer for the same reason.
We support a yearly 5K run sponsored by our township school systems’ educational fund. It only costs a few dollars and we can include our office’s educational material in the runners’ packet. We usually use a Chiropractic is for Everyone CD and the F.A.C.E. brochure, What Causes Subluxation? (see our ad on the right). The point of this type of advertising is to continually do something to keep your name before the public. Think of it as a community education and public relation effort and not just something for which you need to see an immediate return. If you have any ideas of your own we would be happy to pass them on to our readers. Let us know.