As a chiropractor, you understand the importance of engaging and informing your patients. However, with the increased competition in the healthcare industry, it’s challenging to attract and keep patients.
Text message marketing helps you stay connected with your patients outside of office visits and increase your appointment bookings.
In this blog post, we explore exactly how to use text message marketing to improve patient retention and boost your chiropractic practice appointment bookings.
The Benefits of SMS Marketing for Chiropractors
Before we get into specific strategies for using text message marketing, let’s first explore some of the benefits of this approach.
Convenience
Text message marketing is very convenient for both chiropractors and patients. With texts, patients quickly receive appointment reminders, follow-up care advice, promotional offers, and more.
And for chiropractors, sending these messages is relatively easy, especially when you automate messages. You’re able to stay connected with patients without taking up too much of your time.
This convenience helps improve patient retention and makes it easier for your office to manage your chiropractic practice schedule and stay organized.
Personalization
Personalize text messages to each patient’s unique needs. Address your patients by their first names, and segment or group your text subscriber list based on demographics, interests, health concerns, or previous interactions. This way, you send targeted messages that resonate with specific groups, increasing the likelihood of appointment bookings.
Personalize messages to address specific health concerns to show patients that you actually care about their interests, health, and well-being.
Consider the following personalization tips when writing text messages as a D.C.:
- Use merge fields to insert patients’ first names in the message automatically
- Reference specific pain points or concerns that patients mentioned to you in person
- Send messages at the time of day when patients will most likely engage
Personalizing messages goes a long way in building strong relationships with patients and creating loyalty to your chiropractic practice.
Improved Patient Retention
Regularly sending text messages keeps you connected with your patients, helping you create long-term relationships.
Appointment reminders, follow-up messages after an appointment, or updates on special offers make patients feel valued and cared for. This continuous communication creates trust and strengthens the patient-chiropractor relationship, encouraging patients to return for future appointments.
Strategies for Using SMS Marketing to Increase Appointment Bookings
Now that we’ve explored the benefits of text message marketing, let’s get into some specific strategies for SMS marketing to increase appointment bookings.
Send Appointment Reminders
One of the most effective uses of text message marketing in chiropractic care is sending appointment reminders. Send a simple SMS message to patients a day or two before their appointment to help reduce the number of no-shows and late cancellations.
Encourage patients to confirm their appointment, respond if they need to reschedule, or ask questions. Include their name, appointment date and time, and any other relevant information in the message, to make it convenient for them to refer back to.
This helps ensure that your office schedule stays on track and shows patients that your practice cares about their time and wants to help them stay on top of their appointments.
Here’s an example of an appointment reminder text:
Hi [First Name], You have an appointment with [Chiropractic Office Name] tomorrow at (time). We look forward to seeing you! Call (office phone number) for questions or to reschedule.
Send Follow-Up Care Texts
Send follow-up messages after appointments to increase repeat appointment bookings.
These messages may include tips for at-home care, reminders to make future appointments, and personalized wellness advice. Be cautious of what information you include in these messages to stay compliant with HIPAA.
By staying in touch with patients this way, you help them feel more connected to your practice, keeping you top of mind and ahead of competitors.
Promote Special Offers
Send texts to promote special offers and promotions to your patients. Whether offering a discount on a specific service or running a seasonal promotion, sending an SMS message is a quick and effective way to get the word out.
This helps drive business to your practice and lets patients know that your chiropractic practice values their loyalty and wants to reward them for being a customer.
Gather Patient Feedback
Send a survey or poll via text message to get valuable insights into how patients feel about your practice and what needs improvement.
Then make it a priority to put their feedback into improving your practice. Your patients will love to see that you take their specific concerns seriously.
Doing this helps provide better care to patients and shows them that your practice cares about their opinions and wants to make sure that they have a good experience.
Best Practices for Text Message Marketing
To ensure that your text message marketing campaigns are effective, here are some best practices to follow:
- Keep messages short and to the point.
- Use a friendly but professional tone.
- Personalize messages whenever possible.
- Send messages at appropriate times (not too early or late).
- Avoid sending too many messages.
- Include only one call-to-action in each message.
Keep your Patients Coming Back
Ultimately, each of these SMS marketing strategies helps you stay connected to your patients, leading to increased loyalty and booked appointments
Start messaging your patients with Skipio — an automated two-way text messaging platform specifically built to help you connect with and engage patients to keep them coming back.
