Stumped on how to grow your brand?
This checklist will help you get started
So, you just finished Chiropractic college. Or you’ve been working as an associate for a while. Lately, you’ve been playing with the idea of starting your own practice. And finally the time has come to take the leap. You talked to your coach, your business plan is written, and you’re ready to shine.
Here’s one thing a lot of coaches don’t know much about: branding. But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
The Checklist begins with a few essentials that every chiropractor will need. Going down the list, there’s a wide range of features and ideas. Some of them will make more sense for certain offices than others. A lot depends on your budget, the type of practice you have, and the ways you prefer to keep in touch with your patients. Some ideas might seem impractical if you’re just starting out, but may prove very useful at some point down the road.
BTW, you can find a PDF version of this checklist inside my Brand Fusion for Chiros Community.
Now, without further ado, here’s my Branding Checklist for Chiropractors:
1. Practice Name & Custom Domain Name
Every business needs a website. When choosing your practice name, keep in mind that you will need a domain name as well. We use namecheap.com for purchasing custom domain names.
2. Logo
It’s pretty clear that you need a logo. It’s the heart of your brand. If you’re looking for a high-quality logo that tells YOUR story and conveys YOUR vision, I highly recommend hiring a professional designer to create a logo for you. There are more and more chiropractors competing for patients, so you need to stand out and let people know what makes you and your practice different. Check out the logos we have created for our clients.
3. Brand Master Guide
A style guide helps you sharpen your image. It helps you stay on brand in every interaction you have with your patients, be it in the office or online. It includes your brand colors, fonts and other information about your brand. Whenever you, a team member or a hired professional is creating new marketing material, you can reference the brand guide and make sure to use the same fonts and colors throughout ALL of your marketing materials. Consistency is key.
A step up from that is a Brand Master Guide. It’s what we create for our strategy clients and it contains EVERYTHING about your brand – its history, brand essence (purpose, vision, mission, core values, target audience description, competitive research, brand persona description, core messaging and storytelling frameworks, AND your brand style guide. Pretty much the whole enchilada.
You use this missing manual to train new team members, to create endless, strategic, and engaging content, to share with photographers and videographers, graphic designers, website developers and anybody else who needs to know about your brand. But most importantly, it’s an invaluable business asset for growing and scaling, and selling your brand,
We created a Chiropractic Manifesto, a brand strategy document for the entire profession, which can serve as a starting point for your own brand strategy. You can find a PDF of it in the Brand Fusion for Chiros Community (under Workbooks and more in the Classroom) or view the current version HERE.
You should also get the Brand Strategy Workbook there. It’s great for taking notes while you look through the Chiropractic Manifesto!
4. Social Media Accounts
Depending on your target market and your own personal preference, pick a couple social media platforms and create a business account to engage with your patients online. You don’t have to be everywhere. But make sure you’re consistent and responsive on the ones you are using.
5. Website
You might think you don’t really need a website starting out. Especially if you have a facebook page and other social media accounts. But fact is, having a professional website gives you credibility. And, let’s face it, there is no better way to control your content. Potential patients will want to learn more about you and your practice and the services you offer without having to call or visit in person.
A word of caution about pre-built chiropractic template websites like chiromatrix and others: They seem like a great idea. You get a somewhat professional looking website, content is provided for you, and you don’t need to pay a huge sum up front. What’s not to like?
Truth is, at least every other chiropractor that wants me to build a new website for their practice comes to me from one of those companies. They’re dissatisfied with the customization options. The website looks too canned and is hard to use. Having content is great, but it’s usually too much and overwhelming, especially to patients new to chiropractic. YOUR story and YOUR services and your WHY get lost. It’s worth investing the time and writing your own content. Depending on your budget and experience, find a designer or a local design studio to create a custom website for you.
We use bluehost.com for all our websites and highly recommend them. Each hosting comes with a free SSL certificate, which is essential in providing trust and a safe browsing experience for your website visitors.
6. Custom Email Address
Add credibility and professionalism by having a custom email address. Have you ever seen someone’s email address on a business card and looked up the website because you were curious? That doesn’t happen with free email addresses. But, if you use your domain in your email, you’re getting your brand in front of more eyeballs.
Setup a personal email address for each team member that needs one. Should they leave your company, you stay in control of the email account.
If you’re planning on getting hosting for your website, at least one free email account is usually included. If you buy your hosting through bluehost.com, you can setup unlimited email addresses for your team.
Get the Ultimate Branding Checklist
A quick breakdown of 20 key elements of a solid brand. How does yours measure up?
7. Business Cards
Having a booth at a local fair, going to a business luncheon or a conference? Make sure you have business cards handy that match the rest of your brand and contain all the information needed to find your office offline and online.
8. Office Setup
There’s nothing worse than walking into a sterile medical office. Make your patients feel welcome and like part of the family. Depending on your target market, your brand and your personal preferences, your office might have a different look and feel, but make sure it matches the rest of your brand. Be sure the waiting area is comfortable. You might choose to educate your patients there or give them ways to entertain themselves while waiting.
Follow our Pinterest board for more office inspiration. If you have a bigger budget, check out our friends over at crossfieldsdesign.com for some stunning office design!
9. Custom photos & headshots
Free stock photos are great but they can only get you so far. People visiting your website want to know about you and your practice. It might not be the first thing on your to-do list, but consider hiring a photographer to shadow you in your practice for a few hours. Besides head shots, you’ll get some great action shots of you in your element, interacting with your patients. High-quality photos will really take your brand to the next level.
Make sure you have patients sign a consent form before using photos of them on your website or social media accounts.
iStockphoto and other stock images sites have a ton of high-quality images. And Photoshop or online graphic design sites like Canva allow you to apply filters to give photos consistent look and feel to match your brand.
10. Blog and Social Media Graphics
No need to reinvent the wheel for every post, be it for your blog or social media. Save time and ensure consistency in brand recognition by setting up templates for featured images, Pinterest graphics, Instagram posts, Facebook ads and posts, etc. You then just switch out images, colors and text and you’re done.
You can also purchase ready-made templates, but you they might not match your brand or need adjustments in colors and fonts so they do.
11. Email list & Newsletter
Depending on your business strategy, you might opt to create regular newsletters to keep your patients up to date on happenings around the office. Talks, special events, promotions, new studies in your field, inspirational quotes and reminders are easily sent via email. Custom templates help you stay on brand by using your colors, logo, fonts and images. They also help remind your subscribers about who you are and what you do (and that it might be time for a check-up).
Mailchimp has a great free option for smaller lists. To step up your email marketing game, check out ActiveCampaign.
12. Content strategy for blog and social media
Make it easier for yourself by planning out blog and social media posts for a week or even a month ahead. Monitor what gets the most comments and likes and adjust your post calendar accordingly. The general rule is 80% educational, fun, and inspirational content and 20% promotional. Keep it professional and on point, but also include occasional personal pictures and funny stories from the office – just keep it in your brand voice.
13. Brochures
It’s like a mini version of your website. It tells your story in a bit more detail than just a business card. And if you have a table at community events, a brochure is essential. As with most things, you can DIY it on Canva or Picmonkey, or hire a professional. Either way, make sure it’s consistent with the rest of your brand. (Are you tired of hearing that yet?)
Printing prices have been decreasing steadily over the past decade. Online print shops like Onlineprinters.com and GotPrint offer great prices for any project. And they look much more professional than if you print them on your home or office printer. No need to waste your ink!
15. Printed Marketing Material
Definitely the most requested print material I make for my chiropractor clients are gift certificates for special referrals to friends and family. Also, if you don’t have a digital appointment reminder system setup for your clients, appointment cards might be a budget friendly option.
Other branded print marketing materials worth considering are birthday and note cards (thank you cards for example) and stickers to give to kids after their adjustment.
15. Banners, table covers, EZ-up
If your business plan includes a regular booth at local events or conferences, a proper booth setup is a must. If your budget allows, branded banners and table covers can really elevate your branding.
16. Office papers & forms
For a really slick appearance get branded intake forms, reports and folders to give to your patients. Sometimes it’s enough to find a folder in one of your brand colors and put a sticker with your logo on it. You can also upload fillable forms on your website for new patients to fill out on their computers, then email or print them at home and bring them to their first appointment.
17. Patient education material
Patient education is important and adds credibility and trust. And trust is the most important asset you can create. If your budget doesn’t allow for branded posters etc, consider the poster frames, brochure stands, etc. to match your brand and office design.
Check out Park Ave Prints for some amazing hand-lettered patient education and inspirational posters.
18. Wall Decals
A lot of chiropractors choose to get a vinyl decal of their mission statement, or an inspirational quote or other statement about the benefits of chiropractic care for one of their office walls. It’s a great way to add a focal point to some otherwise rather boring office walls, without breaking the bank.
Make sure to use your brand FONTS. (Whatever you do, don’t use Papyrus!)
For some chiropractic wall decals, check out www.walldecalstudios.com.
19. Office calendar and patient gallery
An office calendar keeps patients up to date on happenings around the office: closed days or special hours, events and talks, open house, birthdays maybe. A lot of chiropractors also have a Hall of Fame with photos of patients or success stories of special cases. If you can’t brand the images themselves try using matching frames or a style that matches your brand identity.
20. Presentations
Your patients are waiting for their turn, you could entertain them with books and magazines, or some patient education material. Another option is to have a TV or big screen in your waiting area and either have patient education videos on loop, or presentation slides, or even recordings of your social media live videos or podcast. If you’re creating your own, the potential for branding is naturally greater. But whatever you’re showing, make sure it’s on point and fits within the overall image you’re trying to convey.
As you can see, there are many ways to strengthen your brand. And just as many to dilute it, if you’re not paying attention. If you’re not sure, feel free to reach out for a FREE 20-minute brand consultation.
If you’d like to print this checklist for your reference, I turned it into a handy PDF file [2.3 MB].
Now go on and rock your branding!
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