How to Create an Effective, Authentic Acupuncture Social Media Marketing Strategy
You know marketing is important. But beyond just throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks, what’s your actual strategy? It pays to have one. It’s another way of directing the qi of your acupuncture practice. But it can also be an incredible treatment for your practice. How? Because a good marketing strategy will boost the vitality of your practice by helping to bring the just right kind of patients for YOU. Resonance. Flow. Healing. That’s what we are all about, right?
Authentic marketing is how you start good, high quality relationships with future patients
Relationships are the cornerstone of a healing experience. And you can't build healthy relationships with your patients if they don't know how you can help them. Or that you exist, to be honest. This is the the most important aspect of developing a good social media marketing strategy for your acupuncture practice. Let people know HOW you can help them! It's one thing if you KNOW patients will really get results, get what you do, get your whole THING. But first, they have to be compelled to reach out. Right?
In any form of marketing, there's an important concept of building a bridge of "know, like, and trust" in order for someone to purchase something from you . Yes, your patients are purchasing a healing process, rooted in your education and expertise!
My Annual Marketing Bundle is specifically crafted to nurture the "know, like, trust" bridge to your future patients. Here's a bit more about this proven marketing strategy specific to acupuncture clinic owners:
KNOW
If patients don't KNOW what you can help them with, why would they EVER reach out to you? Even when they have excruciating back pain, painful periods, night sweats, depression, IBS. So, the first step in marketing, is to let them KNOW what you can help them with. KNOWING what you can help patients with is the medicine your future patients are seeking. They want to KNOW that you understand what they are suffering from, they want to KNOW that you have a solution, and they want to KNOW what to expect in terms of the process and results. This does NOT involve explaining TCM terms or theory. Why? Because your patients don’t know that. Talking about Liver Qi Stagnation is just going to alienate your patients. The majority of your posts (65-70% of the posts!) are letting people KNOW what you can help them with.
Here's an example of a post that lets people know you can help them with their FATIGUE (not their Kidney Yang Deficiency, not their Dampness, not their Shaoyang Disharmony. Their FATIGUE.).
WHAT DOES YOUR FATIGUE MEAN?
Fatigue can have so many causes!!!! Here are some common sources of fatigue that I see in my clinic every week:
Insomnia – literally, you aren’t sleeping enough
Breathing problems – your lungs aren’t working efficiently
Hormone imbalances
Digestive issues
Constipation
Emotional weight blocking your energy – things like grief, frustration, bitterness, anger, fear, worry.
Pain – chronic and acute
Gallbladder issues
Post viral syndrome
Poor fluid metabolism, aka “water retention”
Lack of exercise or movement
Too much exercise
Stress
Medication side effects
Now, your fatigue is unique to YOU. And what Chinese Medicine excels at is addressing YOUR system, in a highly personalized, made just for you, treatment approach. When we work with our patients, we get to the root of the issue so that the end result is that your symptom of fatigue…just dissipates. Suddenly, you’ve got energy. You’ve got resources. You’ve got LIFT. You're not even thinking about your fatigue any more because it's not screaming at you every day.
Link in our bio to schedule your free 15 minute consultation, or your Initial Consultation to get started on your journey to feeling better. Or, give us a call / text at XXX-XXX-XXXX to have our office help you find the perfect time to connect with us to learn more about how we can help.
Let’s get you feeling more energized, clear headed and ready to face the world again.
LIKE
Liking you is the next step, and in order to do that, you share some HUMAN parts of yourself. My Annual Marketing Bundle has pre-written content that you finesse with specific details (not starting from absolute scratch--how stressful is THAT?!). You share some things about you, so that patients can begin to understand you as a human being!
There, you don't have to just go perform yourself online. You get to fill in the blanks, and have a bridge of LIKE built with very little stress around taking about how great you are! ;) With one post per week designed to let patients get a glimpse of WHO you are ARE, and what YOU are about, you call in the just right patients for you.
This is also how you call in patients with whom you have great resonance. If your patients don’t have any idea of who you are as a person, how can they trust you? This is human medicine. Be human. Share things that you might share with patients in a treatment room. Like the fact that you nerd out on birds. Or that you are a fiend for cooking. Or that you love sci fi. These things matter. Because it’s how you connect with the human element of this medicine.
TRUST
Finally, potential patients have to trust that you can help them with their condition. This is where posts like
"here's a helpful hint to help with XYZ"
A quote from a patient that you've helped
Expertise mentioning the Western Medical conditions associated with symptoms (for example, mentioning things like "low ovarian reserve, high FSH, decreased sperm motility, PCOS" when talking about infertility shows your patients you know their landscape.
By building in Know, Like, and Trust into your Social Media Strategy, you are building relationships with potential patients before they even contact your office. That bodes well for a good long term, healthy therapeutic relationship. Which means good results for your patients, and the happy side effect of a full schedule for you.
How your organic social media strategy supports your paid advertising strategy
Are you someone who relies on paid advertising to get new patients? A strong organic social media strategy goes a long way in enhancing the effectiveness of your ads! Why? Because there's more of an opportunity to build "know-like-trust" and people who see your ads have an opportunity to make that crucial decision to get help with YOU when you've got that infrastructure built in--not just "hey, come see me!" You know that when someone clicks your ad, they want to know if you are “legit”. A good organic social media strategy provides brand legitimacy to your potential patients. Together, they create a solid bridge for patients to feel confident in their decision to work with you.
So--marketing as medicine for your practice. Relationship medicine. Patient building medicine.
How does a good social media strategy contribute to having a nourishing, sustainable, profitable acupuncture practice?
By calling in the right patients for YOU, you have less “draining” patients. You look at your full (because of your good marketing) schedule and smile because you genuinely look forward to seeing each patient that day. They’re cool. They get how this medicine works, because you started talking about THAT in your marketing. They have reasonable expectations in terms of treatment length because you also talk about THAT in your marketing. When a new thing comes up, they reach out, because they understand how comprehensive your toolbox is with Chinese Medicine. They refer people to you, because they trust you. THIS is how a solid social media marketing strategy is a key factor in growing a heart-centered, authentic, and ethically full acupuncture practice. No sleazy sales tactics. Just you being honest, clear, and real about how you can help people and who you are.
If you are ready for marketing support, I provide Seasonal and Annual Marketing Bundles of done for you acupuncture marketing content. I also help acupuncturists grow thriving practices that are congruent with their personalities, their ecology, and their goals. No cookie cutter approaches here! You can learn more about my coaching services here.
I help acupuncturists with small solo practices to leaders with teams of clinicians and administrative support, and every practice size in between. And, we do it all in an ecology where you'll be growing and thriving with peers that have the same issues. I also offer 1:1 coaching for folks with unique considerations who prefer working 1:1. When you are READY to commit to having your practice nourish you--financially, qi-wise, and with a great schedule--let's connect so we can both learn more.