Kid's Day: Health and Halloween Party

File: Marketing Toolkit/ Special Promotions

Halloween

Kid’s Day

KID'S DAY: "HEALTH AND HALLOWEEN" PARTY

A. OBJECTIVES FOR "HEALTH AND HALLOWEEN" PARTY

1. Educate Parents. The first objective for Kid's Day is to better educate parents on the importance of regular chiropractic checkups and the tremendous benefits of chiropractic care for children.

2. Extra Value and Goodwill. To create goodwill with your patients, as well as members of your community who are not your patients, by providing complimentary services and "extra value" in your current services on Kid's Day.

3. New Patients. To generate new patients from the parents referring in their Kid’s of all ages. This can be a grandparent referring in middle-aged children, as well as middle-aged children bringing in their teenagers and/or younger children. This also means parents bringing in other parents who are their friends and family to learn more about children's health care.

B. DATE: Before Halloween.

C. ACTION STEPS:

1. Special Services Offered. The following includes some of the things that you can offer your patients and their friends and family. Make a list of other special services which you would also like to provide especially for your practice.

· To existing parents: Free Lecture on: "Taking Care of Your Kid’s Health Care, Naturally. Safe and preventative health care tips for raising children."

· To their friends and relatives: Same lecture.

· For Kid’s who are patients, free adjustments, crayons and coloring books, prizes and contests, etc.

· To Kid’s who are not patients: complimentary scoliosis checks, complimentary exams, and initial x-rays if indicated.

2. Pamphlets and Handouts: "Kid’s and Chiropractic" is a pamphlet which should be handed out prior to Kid's Day with the Kid's Day/Halloween Party handout. This handout explains what we are offering to the Kid’s and all about the party, times, dates, etc. (You will have the handout soon.)

3. Posters: 11 x 14 posters. These posters are to grab the attention of our patients. They are in color, festive, with graphics and details about our upcoming Kid's Day/Halloween Party. The handouts are the same thing, only smaller and are given to every patient 2 weeks prior to Kid's Day. They are handed out with a pamphlet, which explains the importance of children getting chiropractic care. These will be sent out to you soon.

4. Gifts: You can make little baskets of treats as gifts for those attending Kid's Day.

5 Contest. "Best Halloween Costume" Contest: Each child that comes dressed up in a Halloween costume should get its picture taken. You might want to get a written permission from the parent, though a verbal OK may serve. This picture will then be entered, with their name, address, and phone number on the back into the "Best Halloween Costume" contest folder. The award can be anything you select under $25. After Kid's Day is over the doctor and C.A. should select a winner from their office and inform the parents of that they can come in for the prize. This can be worked similar to the "Care To Share" program. Select something you think your Kid’s would like, for example, we have used a Teddy Bear from Pier One.

---OR---

You can hold a drawing or coloring contest/essay contest for children. You can divide this into 2-3 age groups, have them draw/write about something depicting "How chiropractic has helped you" or "How chiropractic helps people", etc., then judge which one is the best, and give the winner in each age group a prize.

6. Candy. Have healthy treats available.

7. Videos. Each office can play their own kid's videos.

8. Costumes/Decorations. Doctor and staff should be creative and may want dress up in a costume of their own. You can also bring in spooky music to play, or hang Halloween decorations that you or the Kid’s make. Your imagination is the only limit on what you want to do with your office.

9. Press releases should be sent out to all area papers promoting this event.

10. Special Tape message on Answering Machine. In the past, we have tape recorded a special message by a child and put it on the answering machine. This is optional, but it is a lot of fun, and can sound very cute (!). The child can be 10 or so years old, and can record your usual message, and end it with: "Remember, chiropractic is for kid's, too!"

For example: The script would be simple, of course: "Hi! You have reached Chiro-Health Care Center. Our hours are ______. If this is an emergency, please call ______. Remember, chiropractic is for Kid’s, too!"

11. Spinal Care Class for parents. The week before the Kid's Day, you may want to hold a "special" Spinal Care Class emphasizing Spinal Health Care for Children. The purpose would be to educate parents on the symptoms of subluxations: tiredness, colds, sore throats, ear infections, headaches/backaches, poor posture, etc., the need for excellent spinal hygiene for Kid’s, and to promote your Kid’s Day.

Schedule your existing patients to come to it and send out a mailer and flyer to your patient base promoting this special lecture. This is a very important function for the front desk. The front desk assistant needs to keep a list of who will be attending the lecture and schedule them, as well as friends and family of those patients that she is scheduling. For example:

"Mrs. Jones, may I schedule you for our special workshop on natural health care methods for children next Thursday, at 6:30 p.m.?"

"Yes, Sally, I would love to go."

"Great, Mrs. Jones, I have you scheduled for our workshop. It starts at 6:30. Now, Mrs. Jones, do you know any other parents that might benefit from learning more about natural health care methods in raising their children?"

"Hmmmmmmm, why, yes, Sally, I do! My next door neighbor, Mrs. Smith, is always taking her children to medical doctors and I think that she would like to know about other alternatives."

"That's great, Mrs. Jones. May I schedule her with you as well?"

"Yes, for the time being. I don't know yet, but I will talk to her about it."

"That's okay, Mrs. Jones. I will put her down as a tentative attendee, and tomorrow, when you come in, we can confirm it. Here is some information about the workshop and a pamphlet on health care methods for children that you can give to your neighbor."

"This is great, Sally. Thank you so much. I am sure that she will want to come. I will call her tonight and I will confirm it with you tomorrow when I come in for my next adjustment."

The workshop should cover topics that are of concern to parents, which might include: colic, earaches, scoliosis, diet and exercise, Attention Deficit Disorder, bedwetting, and any other problems that your patients may have expressed concern about.

KID'S DAY - HALLOWEEN PARTY

______1. Order "Kid’s and Chiropractic" pamphlets from Golden Touch six weeks prior to event. 1,000 @ 85/K. These should be handed out to each patient along with a handout explaining about Kid's Day. Order By:______In Clinic By:______

______2. Posters and handouts printed on colored paper put in the clinic, all rooms and around town (Day Care Centers, Y's, etc). Printed By:______Up By:______

______3. Gifts for every child ordered 3-4 weeks prior to event. Sherman Specialty Company out of Merrick, NY has some good stuff. Order masks, spider rings, toys, stickers, whatever. Order By:______

______4. Best Costume Award prize. Order or check out your local stores for something really neat. A large, stuffed animal any child would love, plus if an older child wins, they can use or give to a young sibling or girl or boyfriend. Set this in the clinic, 2-4 weeks prior, with a big bow on it and a sign that says "Grand Prize".

______5. Pick up some Halloween candy to pass out to all the Kid’s that come in on Kid's Day. Health food stores may have something a bit better than your local grocer.

______6. Rent 1-2 videos to play in between the health care videos. Make these fun ones - cartoon or adventure ones for children of all ages.

______7. Doctors and staff dress up in costumes, too! Also be creative - play spooky music, put up decorations, spider webs, etc.

______8. Write a press release and give to area newspapers to run 7-10 days prior to your event.

______9. Have one of your 10-12 year old patients record your usual message on your answering machine. At the end of the message have them say, "Remember, chiropractic is for kid's, too".

Have fun!
Sample Press Release

* * FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE * *

TO: Mr. Smith at The Times

FROM: Sample Health Care Center

4321 W. Main Street

Your Town, WI 53217

CONTACT: Dr. Cares A. Lot at (101) 123-4567

RE: “Kid’s Day/Halloween Party”

The doctors at Sample Health Care Clinic will be hosting a "Kid's Day/Halloween Party" on Friday, October 29th. On this day, they will be providing free scoliosis screenings, spinal exams, and x-rays if needed, to children up to 17 years of age. Each child will also be given Halloween treats and gifts, information on health care, and there will be health and cartoon videos to entertain the children. To top things off, each child who comes in with their Halloween costume on will have his or her picture taken and be entered into our "Best Halloween Costume" contest. There will be a special prize for the winner with the best costume.

Dr. Cares A. Lot, Clinic Director of the Sample Health Care Clinic is very interested in correcting spinal problems in children. "Starting with the delivery process, children are subjected to a constant barrage of bodily assaults. These can range from the delivery process itself, to daily falls, accidents, sports mishaps, and so forth. As a result of these mishaps, spinal misalignments [problems] can occur. These misalignments may create problems immediately or may not appear until later in life." Dr. Cares A. Lot explained that children often respond very quickly to gentle chiropractic care.

Dr. Lot can be reached by calling 123-4567. Call now for an appointment and don't miss out an all the health and the safe, Halloween fun.

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