Chiropractic Branding: 5 Deadly Branding Sins
So, you recently graduated from chiropractic school, or have finally had it up to here playing second fiddle to the owner-chiropractor of the practice you are currently working at. You’ve finally decided to cut the cord, and establish your own identity and open up a practice.
Unfortunately, most chiropractors don’t understand the importance of a custom-designed, well-researched logo, and assume a logo is a logo is a logo. They opt for a cookie-cutter image, attract the wrong type of patients, and have to spend the next ten years digging themselves out of a hole that has defined them and their careers.
Here are five mistakes you should avoid when it comes to creating your brand. Remember, your brand will dictate the type of patients you get, how much you get to charge for your services, and how successful you will be.
1. Thinking That $99 is a Fair Budget for Branding
The old adage, “you get what you pay for” rings incredibly true in branding. Design shops that sell $99 logos, recycle and resell the same image to thousands of other businesses – which goes against the principle of branding in the first place. If people can’t distinguish your practice from dozens of others in your town, what type of message is it sending them about your unique approach to their health?
2. Thinking That Brands are For Fortune500 Companies
Most chiropractors think that Brands and Brand Strategies belong in the marketing department of Fortune500 companies. As a matter of fact, brands are MORE important for small businesses, than they are for a large entity. Your brand is the face of your practice; paint the most valuable, trustworthy, and professional picture for the potential patient who will judge you in the first 1.5 seconds of looking at your business card.
3. Thinking That You Can Brand / Re-Brand at a Later Time
In an attempt to kick the can down the road, so many chiropractors decide against establishing their brand correctly from the get-go. Instead, they convince themselves that they will “revisit the idea” once things start to pick up. Not only does a cheap and unfitting logo devalue your services, but it sets a negative tone in the minds of thousands of potential patients who passed you up for someone more trustworthy. Rebranding will not only cost more at a later time, but it will disturb any brand recognition (albeit a bad one) you may have going for yourself.
4. Thinking That Your Logo is Your Brand
It’s not. Your brand is a combination of your visual identity, your practice’s culture, your personality, and your core values. Therefore your brand starts with your logo, but expands into your office décor, your website’s look and feel, the posters and writings on the wall, your marketing material, and even your attire. Just as you can walk into any Starbucks around the world and experience the same service, smell, taste, and experience, you want your brand to remind your patients of who you really are and what you stand for.
5. Thinking That Your Logo Should Tell a Story
How many times do we see chiropractor’s logo depicting a spine; or a family jumping with their hands in the air? How many times do we see an attorney’s office showing off their over-used scale of justice, or a dentist using a smiling tooth? Give your intended audience more credit than that, by creating an identity that they will never forget. Imagine if Starbucks had a coffee cup as their logo; chances are their company culture and path to success would have been completely different.
If you need help establishing your brand and identity, contact us for a complimentary consultation. Our purpose is to elevate the chiropractic image and make you a success.