Two weekends ago, I had the privilege to speak to a large group of chiropractors in St. Louis about blogs and social media. The purpose was to educate and inform chiropractors on how to use blogs and social media networks to grow their practices.
The presentation was geared toward beginning bloggers and fairly basic in concept. Nevertheless, I was still surprised at how few chiropractors understood what I was talking about.
Simple terms that have been around the Internet for at least ten years were causing multiple and sporadic cerebral subluxations!
To build a case for the use of blogs and social media, I always start my presentations with ample statistics.
For example, take a look at these stats regarding Facebook:
Facebook Statistics
General Growth
- More than 300 million active users
- 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
- The fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older
User Engagement
- Average user has 130 friends on the site
- More than 8 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)
- More than 45 million status updates each day
- More than 10 million users become fans of Pages each day
Applications
- More than 2 billion photos uploaded to the site each month
- More than 14 million videos uploaded each month
- More than 2 billion pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) shared each week
- More than 3 million events created each month
- More than 45 million active user groups exist on the site
International Growth
- More than 70 translations available on the site
- About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States
Platform
- More than one million developers and entrepreneurs from more than 180 countries
- Every month, more than 70% of Facebook users engage with Platform applications
- More than 350,000 active applications currently on Facebook Platform
- More than 250 applications have more than one million monthly active users
- More than 15,000 websites, devices and applications have implemented Facebook Connect since its general availability in December 2008
Mobile
- There are more than 65 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
- People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are almost 50% more active on Facebook than non-mobile users.
- There are more than 180 mobile operators in 60 countries working to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products
After reading those stats, do you think Facebook is marketable?
If your answer is no, then look again at the number of daily Facebook users compared to the population of your community.
By leveraging the power of the Internet’s top social media networks like Facebook, chiropractors can easily connect with prospects who are looking specifically for their services.
Connections initiate conversations, conversations stimulate discussions, discussions rely on information and information requires aggregation.
No other Internet platform aggregates information better than a blog. That’s why it MUST be considered the hub of all your online activity.
Remember as chiropractors, we don’t have the luxury of BIG PHARMA promoting our message. Matter of fact up until recently, we’ve had to rely on old school methods and grassroot efforts just to spread the chiropractic message.
So, let me throw an idea out there that could literally transform the face of healthcare across the United States.
What if chiropractors did take blogging serious?
What if chiropractors starting using blogs to distribute valuable content?
Can you imagine the impact it’d have on our society?
Can you imagine the impact it’d have on your business?
With a force as powerful as the Internet, we could literally cause a healthcare paradigm shift within the consciousness of every American — from sickness care to wellness care.
Furthermore, it would confirm Paul Zane Pilzer’s prediction that chiropractors will lead the way toward a Wellness Revolution.
[By the way, if you haven’t read Mr. Pilzer’s book, you MUST add it to your reading list.]
But chiropractors are missing the boat!
By ignoring tools as powerful as blogs and social media, chiropractors leave the majority of people listening to just one message — the allopathic one.
If chiropractors would take the Internet serious, we could turn the tide for a fraction of the cost BIG PHARMA pays to run their drug advertisements bloated with endless side effects.
Do you think I’m wrong?
Then tell me what other medium is more cost-effective and can generate enough exposure without the aid of television, Oprah or the New York Times bestsellers’ list?
I could belabor this point to ad nauseam but will simply conclude by quoting Richard Telofski:
“Unfortunately, blogging as a marketing tool is not regarded seriously by America’s chiropractors,” says Telofski. “In fact, their absence from blogging is just downright astounding.”
It’s astounding because, per Kahuna Content, there is a high correlation between the average blog reader and the average chiropractic patient. According to industry statistics, males between the ages of 31 and 50 comprise a high percentage of chiropractic patients and an even higher percentage of blog readers.
“If this isn’t a perfect demographic alignment between a marketing medium and its target audience, then I don’t know what is. It could be the perfect tool, or the perfect ‘chiropractic assistant,’ yet the opportunity is squandered by America’s chiropractors.”
If this blog post didn’t nail it on the head, I don’t know what will. What chiropractors fail to realize is that by having an internet presence, it gives them a way to educate their own patients without having to be there to teach them. Your blog is residual patient education. You can be out relaxing with your family on a Saturday afternoon, while several of your patients read your blog and learn about chiropractic from you. The better an understanding of chiropractic your patient has, the longer that patient will stay with you.
.., it is indeed true that a lot of people now a day don’t even know that Chiropractic practice exists…. Media should be use..
Dr. Bagley (aka St. Louis Chiropractor) :: You are correct and what better media than a blog connected to social media networks.
..we need to do all we can to help educate patients and prospective patients. Blogging is a great way to boost your site and have credibility as an expert in your area.
We can all hope that more chiropractors read your message and join the boat spreading the message over the internet.
Dr. Kalla :: Thanks again for stopping by the site. I appreciate your feedback and the new connection. It just goes to show that no matter where you practice, whether in the United States or abroad, chiropractors can harness the power of the Internet to disseminate the chiropractic message to the masses.
First, thank you for providing this site. It is a great resource for chiropractor’s to learn, so in turn we can more successfully educate our communities. I believe in the power of the internet and blogging is a very powerful vehicle for making it all work. I look forward to learning more!
Just found your site today. It’s my hope that with all the positive media we can create about chiropractic that the tide will begin to turn in our favor. I’m interested to learn how you suggest we do that.
Dr. McArthur :: The more you read my site, the more you’ll realize that this form of medium, aka blogging/social media, IS what I suggest. It provides more power than any other platform available to us today and only costs pennies on the dollar to maintain.
Thanks for visiting and I trust you’ll continue to find more value in the over 200+ articles I’ve written since April 1, 2009. Enjoy!