Marketing Calendar 101

It’s OCTOBER….which means it is time to begin your marketing calendar planning for 2012. Having a written marketing plan for each month will keep your office in check to make sure your marketing strategy includes the right mixture of patient education, screenings, patient referral promotions, in-office events, outside-office events, community outreach, social media outreach, search engine optimization, newsletter mailing and so on.

Start by listing out the 12 months. Have a theme for each month and base most of the marketing during this month towards your theme. Goal for 1 small internal office event per month, like a “spine & dine day.” Second, goal for 1 big internal office event per month, such as a holiday themed event. Then set a goal for how many internal and external talks your office wants per month. Same with screenings. Also list out thank you’s you’ll be sending, letters/notes to other healthcare providers, birthday cards, etc. Having a theme for each month will give you ideas for the patient education and referral promotions you can apply. List everything clearly on your marketing calendar so when you plan the month before, most of the work is done….you just need to apply the systems!

I’ve heard some offices say that they take off December from marketing because patients are busy with the holidays, or June/July because it’s the beginning of summer and families are so busy with vacations. Truth be told, you should never take off time from marketing! Take advantage of the holidays and change of weather to promote fun and exciting marketing ideas in your office. Creating a reliable marketing plan will bring your office a steady stream of patients and chiropractic referrals!

For a copy of ChiroAssistant’s 101 Sample Marketing Plan, email Katie@YostFamilyChiropractic.com.

Cheers to 2012 being just around the corner! Happy Marketing!