Chiropractors know that finding new patients isn’t easy. So, if you are a chiropractor or work for one and are looking to attract new patients to your chiropractor clinic, then you’ll need to understand the target market for chiropractors and know who your ideal customer is and who isn’t.
As you already know chiropractors can have many different types of patients, from those with chronic pain to athletes who need help keeping their bodies in alignment. Some chiropractors also specialize in treating certain parts of the body or specific ailments.
So, understanding your market to align the services you offer to what your potential patients might be looking for will be essential for success.
In this article, we will review the target market for chiropractors and see how they choose one chiropractor clinic to help treat their ailment.
Who is the Target Market for Chiropractors?
One of the best ways to understand the target market for chiropractors is to understand why someone would need to visit a chiropractor. What are the benefits of going to a chiropractor instead of, say, a massage therapist or even an orthopedic doctor?
Once we understand the potential market’s needs and motivations for visiting a chiropractor we can classify the market into segments and study each segment independently of the other.
Such an analysis gives us the following customers segments for chiropractors:
- People who are in physical pain and are looking for relief
- People who want to improve their athletic performance
- People who want to prevent pain or injuries
- People who have tried other methods and haven’t found relief
- People who have been recommended by a doctor
Each of these segments has different needs and visits a chiropractor with different experiences. So, let’s look at each of these segments more closely.
#1. People who are in physical pain and are looking for relief
One of the first reasons people will seek the services of a Chiropractor is if they are having joint pain or are looking for relief. They may have tried medications that have not been effective.
Aside from joint pain, patients also come to a chiropractor when they have back or neck pain that refuses to respond to other treatments like physiotherapy or massage therapy.
Patients may also be interested in coming to see a chiropractor if they are experiencing headaches, sciatica, numbness, tingling, or weakness in their extremities.
Whichever the reason could be, relief from physical pain is typically the first reason people look for a Chiropractor.
#2. People who want to improve their athletic performance
Another major market for chiropractors is athletes trying to improve their performance. Several studies suggest that chiropractic care helps relieve soreness, allowing more efficient movement and better muscle control, which in turn leads to improved athletic performance.
Since some research has shown that chiropractic therapy might help reduce lower back pain caused by sports injuries in the sports industry, athletes are increasingly becoming a major target market.
Athletes looking to stay healthy and perform at their best will be exploring whether or not getting a checkup from a local chiropractor is worth it. And with an effective marketing strategy, you can get to them.
#3. People who want to prevent pain or injuries
Not everyone would rather wait until they are injured or in severe pain before they seek the services of a chiropractor. Some people want to prevent injuries and aches and pains altogether and know that a visit to the chiropractor can go a long way in reducing those risks.
These people may be more likely to come into your clinic, once you have positioned yourself as an expert on wellness and prevention. You could also market towards people who have been told by their primary care doctor that there is nothing wrong with them but still feel unwell.
Any professional in a field that involves strenuous physical activities will want to avoid any form of chronic pain, so they’ll find relief in visiting a chiropractor regularly, although this will vary from person to person.
#4. People who have tried other methods and haven’t found relief
In the same way, there are people whose first move to resolve a joint problem was to visit a chiropractor, that’s how there are people who have sought help somewhere else and couldn’t find relief.
But at least they’re giving it one more shot! This set of people is a major target market for chiropractors if you know how to locate them. Some other treatments they may have tried include massage therapy, physical therapy, osteopathic manipulation, or acupuncture.
And with this list in mind, you can be sure that chiropractors will always be in demand as long as these conditions exist.
#5. People who have been recommended by a doctor
Now, not a lot of people know that there’s a specialized medical practitioner for joint pains. When in pain, the first thing that comes to an average person’s mind is to see a doctor.
However, many doctors have their own specialty and thus may not be an expert in chiropractic medicine and treatment.
Depending on their condition, the doctor might recommend them a chiropractor and you’ll want to be positioned to receive them.
This set of potential clients might not constitute a majority of the target market for chiropractors but there’s a strong chance that they are out there in your locality.
Conclusion
The target market for chiropractors includes a wide range of people but most of all it includes people who are in physical pain and are looking for relief.
It also includes people who want to improve their athletic performance and/or those looking to prevent pain or injuries.
Sometimes people try everything else before turning to chiropractors for a solution to their problems. Therefore, chiropractors can get patients who have tried other methods but haven’t found relief.
And finally, a doctor might recommend a chiropractor to their patient as a course of treatment.
Chiropractors need to be positioned as experts on health, wellness and prevention to attract people who want to avoid pain or injuries altogether. And they need an effective marketing strategy to get the word out there about their business.
