Chiropodists, Naturopathic Doctors, Nutritionists and Chiropractors face unique challenges when they reach out to their neighbourhoods with a medical marketing plan.

Not everyone knows what they do.

Not even those who really need their services necessarily know what they do.

Education clearly plays an important role in marketing alternative healthcare practices.

However, when one takes into account the possibility that the public may not only be uninformed but rather misinformed, the importance of education in marketing the alternative healthcare practice is heightened.

Here is an interesting example of just such a phenomenon, from Acupuncture Clinic Marketing:

What “acupuncture doesn’t work” studies almost all have in common is they use a pre-determined point selection, The same points are used no matter what. Essentially it’s like “medical acupuncture” – acupuncture without a proper TCM or OM diagnosis. The only thing they use is a Western medicine based diagnosis – a diagnosis usually based on symptoms and not a root cause…

To me, this is like prescribing aspirin for headaches by default. Suppose migraine, cluster, tension, premenstrual causes, spinal headaches were all treated the same as brain tumors, sinus infections and aneurysms? Aspirin might work for some things, but not others.

Another common claim is that acupuncture results aren’t lasting. These studies usually have six to 10 treatments, then stop. When the researchers check back 6 months later, the results often didn’t persist.

There is a name for this phenomenon.

Introduction.

Every innovative product and service that we know has, at one point, experienced it. Just remember, there was was a time when those who were on board with VCRs were few and far between. Now, you would be hard pressed to find a home without both VCR and DVD player.

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