File: Marketing Binder \ Special Promotions
Senior’s Day Special Promotion
(Note: Medicare polices have been changing over the years, and while this is an ethical program, you might want to check with your association attorney to ensure you are not violating any new guidelines, statutes, or new interpretations.)
The following is an outline of the action steps for an effective Senior's Promotion.
1. General Description: Senior's Day is a special promotion to a specialized and segmented target audience - seniors. These are people 55 years or older, whom we target with promotions and give them a special offer. For existing patients who are seniors, we offer a no charge adjustment on one specific day and on that day only. For those patients who are not active, we offer a complimentary examination, x-ray, and report of findings, as well as a lecture and educational and health oriented materials for either one day or for an entire week. It can be called Senior’s Health Care Day (Week), or Senior’s Appreciation Day (Week). We usually have this once a year, although we have also had it in some offices bi-annually.
2. Choosing a date: We have had our best results having our Senior's Day on the last Thursday of January. Tuesday may also work well. We have also had Senior's Day for one day in the Spring and also in the Fall, but these have not had the same results as our January Senior's Day.
a) Work out your date for the promotion.
3. Offer: For existing patients, we offer a free adjustment on one specific day, and a health care class called "How to Add Years to Your Life, and Life to Your Years." To non-patients, we offer a consultation, examination, x-rays (if needed), report of findings, and the same lecture, as well as health oriented and educational materials for seniors, such as The Vitality of Aging. We make this offer for sometimes one day or sometimes a whole week. If it is limited to just one day, we often we extend the offer over to other days if that one day gets filled up or a prospective patient just can't make it in.
a) Work out your exact offer.
4. Promotional Channels: We have promoted Senior's Day in the following ways:
a) Doctor Promotion: In the rooms with the patients, during “table talk”, whenever possible.
b) Staff: At the front desk, in therapy, and over the phone.
c) Newsletter: Mail and/or handout to your existing and former patients announcing the promotion.
d) Promotional Posters and Flyers in your reception room, and adjusting rooms.
e) Poster with tear off coupons for Senior's Day put in retirement homes, local stores malls, retirement villages, etc.
f) Health Care Lectures given externally to your office at retirement homes, or senior centers.
g) Special monthly senior's newspapers, such as The Mature Times. Since these usually come out monthly and the deadlines are in the month prior, try to get your ad into these as soon as you can. The shortcoming of these types of newspapers is that they have very limited circulation, and seniors tend to read the general newspapers more frequently. Put in the newspaper the following:
i) An ad promoting Senior's Day
ii) Press Release. Mentioning a statement from your doctor about Senior's Day
iii) General information about health care and chiropractic as material for the newspaper to print.
h) Regular Newspapers: A nice ad usually works well approximately 2 columns by 8 inches. Work out the details with your consultant depending upon your situation and demographics. The regular newspaper should also have a press release from the doctor and, if your newspaper has a special health care section they might also accept some general information about chiropractic and aging.
i) Radio: You can put a special radio announcement blitz for a week before Senior's Day. You may also want to include public service announcement through your radios.
5. Internal Lectures: Possible lecture topics could be:
a) "Biological Age versus Chronological Age",
b) "Add life to your years and years to your life",
c) "Practical health tips to make the ages 55 and up the best years of your life."
6. Office Environment: Each office should create their own environment for their patients. Be creative. Examples:
a) Play only "Big Band" music for the week, honoring seniors.
b) Have coffee and donuts available for the seniors that come into the office.
c) Have a grandchild board. Have seniors bring in a picture of their grandchild with their name, address and phone number on the back. Put them in a jar and at the end of the month pick a winning "picture" and have a small prize for the winner. Promote this.
d) Have "snow shoveling" vouchers for the winning senior's name and after the next snowstorm, they get free shoveling done courtesy of your clinic.
7. Internal Promotion and Scheduling: The way to ensure that you have more seniors as referrals coming into your office is by having each patient talked to about the promotion, and then getting them to schedule someone to come in. You can do all the promotion that you want, but unless you actually SCHEDULE new patients, you will be missing big opportunities. Remember, a scheduled time to see the chiropractor is a commitment for better health. Example:
Front Desk CA: So, Mrs. Jones, have you heard about our Senior’s Health Care Week?
Patient: Yes, I have, and it sounds exciting.
Front Desk CA: Yes, I am looking forward to it. By the way, do you know anyone who might benefit from this special program?
Patient: No, not really.
Front Desk CA: (Silent. Looks friendly, but questioning.) No one? How about your uncle Bob you’ve been telling me about?
Patient: Oh him, yea, he does complain about his back.
Front Desk CA: Why don’t you bring him in for a good time and the doctor will check out his back? And, he’d like the fact that there is no charge.
Patient: Good idea!
Front Desk CA: Great. Let me make a schedule for you and him now, and we can confirm it the next time you are in. I have time on Tuesday at 10:30, how’s that?
Patient: Good, so far as I know.
Front Desk CA: Great! Here’s a card for you to go over with him, and if that time doesn’t work out, just let me know.
Patient: Thanks, what a wonderful idea.
Front Desk CA: You are welcome. See you next Friday at 3:30.
Sample poster/handout/insert
Seniors!
Get ready to celebrate !
seniors
health care week
May 17th through May 21st, 2010
If You Want Help With:
* Low Back Pain * Arm or Leg Pain * Neck Pain
* Headaches * Muscle /Joint Stiffness or Other Problem
All of the following Services will
be provided to seniors at NO CHARGE:
* Initial Doctor Conference * Report of Findings
* Initial Muscle & Joint Exam * Initial X-rays, if needed
* Lecture “How to Add Years * Specialized Exercises
to Your Life & Life to your Years”
Call & make your appointment at any one of these conveniently located offices:
123-5555
A Special Workshop for Senior’s 55 and Older
Attend our informative workshop covering:
· Tips on better diet and nutrition
· Home exercises to stay healthier
· Maintaining an active, independent lifestyle
· Alternative relief for leg, hip & joint pain
· Ways to increase your energy level
· Problems with overmedication
· Question & Answer session
Presented as a part Sample Chiropractic Clinic’s
Community Education Program, there is no charge for this workshop. Space is limited, so call today for your reservation.
Date: /Wednesday, May 19th
Time: / 6:15 p.m.Refreshments will be available
For reservations, call 123-4567
Sample Chiropractic Clinic
123 Main Street ¨ Yourtown, WI
Sample PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
DATE: ______
TO: ______
FAX: ______
FROM: Sample Health Care Center
1234 Main Street
Yourtown, WI 98765
CONTACT: Dr. John Doe at (123) 456-7890
Comments: Please insert into next Monday’s Health or Thursday’s Neighbors section.
RE: Senior’s Natural Health Care Week
Sample Health Care Center will be hosting their annual “Senior’s Natural Health Care Week” during the week of January 12th through January 17th.
During this week, anyone over the age of 55 who is not currently a patient at our clinic is welcome to make an appointment for an initial conference with the doctor, initial muscle, joint and spinal examination with the doctor, and x-rays, if indicated, all at no charge. There will also be a lecture on “How to Add Years to Your Life and Life to Your Years.”
These are complimentary services and Dr. Sample, Clinic Director, says that, “This is the perfect time for the senior’s of our communities to take advantage of this offer. It is our way of helping our senior citizens to become more acquainted with a natural approach to their health care.”
The Sample Health Care Center is located in Yourtown at 1234 Main Street. To set up an appointment, call 456-7890.
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Sample PRINT AD
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