Did you know that the acupuncture industry in the United States is valued around $664 million? Approximately 3 million adults receive acupuncture treatment each year and that number continues to grow as more people turn to holistic healthcare and alternative medicines.
How can your acupuncture practice attract and retain clients in this growing market? Your marketing strategy is essential to your enduring success and sustainable growth as a holistic practice – acquiring new patients is as valuable as retaining current clients, and everyone benefits from an effective marketing strategy. However, this can be a challenging endeavor and you might be looking for some holistic practice marketing tips.
In this article, we’ll cover the budgeting basics of a marketing strategy and review best practices for some important marketing elements, such as your social media and website. Keep reading to learn more marketing tips!
How Much Should You Budget for Marketing Your Acupuncture Practice?
Before you do anything with your acupuncture practice, you probably ask yourself a variety of questions regarding cost: how much something will cost, how can you be sure it’s worth it, how much effort will it take you to execute, etc. are all valid questions to have. Marketing efforts are no exception, of course, and this is the foundation for any discussion about marketing tips.
If you’re looking to maintain the current size of your acupuncture practice, it’s recommended that you spend about 5% of your gross revenue on marketing. On the other hand, if you’re looking to expand and scale your practice, then you’d want to spend between 7% and 15% of your gross revenue.
For example, if your gross revenue is $5,000 per month then you should put aside $250 for marketing initiatives. Of course, marketing budgets can change over time and other factors come into play, so these numbers are all relative to your particular acupuncture practice and short- or long-term goals.
Holistic Marketing Tips #1: Calculate Your Customer’s Lifetime Value for Deeper Marketing Budgeting Insight
If you want to dive a little deeper into how much you should expect to budget for marketing your acupuncture practice, let’s talk about a customer’s lifetime value.
This metric, abbreviated to CLV, estimates the financial gains your practice earns from each patient and is the ace up your sleeve when it comes to marketing your practice. The formula is simple and can apply to almost any healthcare or service field:
Average Annual Value x Relationship Years + Patient Referral Value
= Customer Lifetime Value
For example, if you have a client who visits your acupuncture practice once a month and each visit costs $100, then the total revenue generated from that one client is $1,200 over the course of that year. Factor in a 20% profit margin and your Average Annual Value of that client is then $240.
Let’s say this same client continues to visit your practice for 5 years before moving to another state, then the CLV would calculate out to this:
AAV ($240) x Relationship (5 years) = $1,200
When you start consistently tracking this metric at your acupuncture practice, you can better leverage marketing tips and strategies that are appropriately budgeted in order to reduce costs and boost your profits. For example, if you know that an average CLV at your acupuncture practice is about $500, then you wouldn’t want to exceed that figure for your marketing budget.
After all, knowledge is power–when you know what to financially anticipate from a typical patient over the course of their relationship with your practice, you can make better informed decisions about how you engage with them via marketing.
If creating a social media account for your acupuncture practice seems frivolous or intimidating, we understand. However, if you have a business – in any industry – then it behooves you to tap into social media for marketing purposes and there are plenty of statistics to back it up:
- According to 90% of marketers, their social media marketing efforts have increased the exposure of their business, and 75% say they’ve increased traffic
- 71% of consumers who have had a good social media experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others
- 74% of consumers share video content from brands on social media
- 80% of social marketers say their key strategy is to increase engagement across social channels
- There are more than 50 million small businesses using Facebook Pages to connect with customers
Don’t worry about trying to go viral or trying to fit into a niche that doesn’t feel authentic to you and your practice – instead, focus on putting out content that you care about and that reflects your acupuncture practice. For example, you could do a series where you briefly explain pressure points one at a time and how each one affects the body.
Or if you have a cat at your practice, you can make a video about a day in the life of an acupuncture practice cat. The content you produce for social media doesn’t have to be serious, it can be fun! There is magic in the mundane of your industry that people who aren’t in it might not know about, so don’t be afraid to try new ideas.
Social media is a great way to build rapport with your audience and further illustrate who you are and what your practice stands for so be sure to include it in your marketing strategy.
Holistic Marketing Tips #3: Update and Expand Your Practice’s Website
With so many free, easy-to-use, and customizable website resources on the internet, there’s no reason why your acupuncture practice doesn’t have a professional website. Potential clients can find your site when searching for acupuncturists in your area and existing clients can stay up to date on your practice so it’s a win-win. Plus, a nice website can help distinguish you from the competition!
In addition to ensuring that your site is optimized for mobile users, which is a feature in most DIY website building platforms, consider including the following on your acupuncture practice’s website:
- A section that outlines your background and the values that guide your practice
- Your mission statement
- Contact information, hours of operation, location details, and more
- A place for announcements or specials
- Social media links
- A blog where you demonstrate your expertise and interests through engaging articles
- Link to leave a review on Google and other rating sites
- And more!
Personalizing your site will help clients, both new and existing, learn more about you; building that relationship is critical to long-term success!
Holistic Marketing Tips #4: Partner with a Medical Billing Firm
Does the thought of coming up with creative social media content overwhelm you because who has the time? Are you already swamped with mountains of paperwork that hardly seem to go away even after you spend hours each week tackling it? Would you say that treating patients is the best part of your job, yet it seems that you spend the least amount of time with them?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you should partner with a medical billing firm!
How does this relate to marketing your acupuncture practice? When your time is consumed by the tedious and complicated medical coding and billing process, it leaves little time for much else. By letting a trusted firm, like Holistic Billing Services, handle the medical billing burden, your time, energy, and creativity is freed up to focus more on what matters most: your patients.
The friendly experts at HBS have decades of experience and are eager to help you succeed! Contact us today to get started building a custom solution that suits your acupuncture practice needs and goals.
