Creative marketing has many benefits for music teachers. Rather than advertising and onboarding the same way everyone else does, think outside the box. It’ll make you stand out against your competition and act as a glimpse into how you run your studio.
Creative marketing has many benefits for music teachers. Rather than advertising and onboarding the same way everyone else does, think outside the box.
It’ll make you stand out against your competition and act as a glimpse into how you run your studio. If prospective students think your marketing is innovative and fresh, just wait until they have their first lesson!
A recent visit to a chiropractor made me see marketing practices from a completely new perspective. I want to share with you what I discovered and how you can use these discoveries to freshen up your marketing.
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I’d been having some issues with neck and back pain. I’d previously been a big fan of chiropractic treatment but hadn’t seen one in 10-15 years.
So I was starting from a clean base – just as many of our piano parents do.
This experience was so far removed from any other health provider I’ve experienced. It was a real blend of the online marketing world I’m used to and the more traditional side of health care.
It was very clever and, I expect, quite lucrative.
Now, whether you believe in chiropractic care or not, please leave those thoughts behind because this could have easily been done by any allied health care provider – physio, osteo, dentist, etc.
My first step was a Google search.
The top of the list was BacksRUs (okay, it wasn’t, but I didn’t want to use the proper name), so the next thing I did was check the reviews on Google. All very favourable – 4.9 from 140+ reviews.
I then checked out their website. It was modern, personable, and professional. I could see lots of smiling faces, and I could see the person who was going to treat me.
Right at the top was a yellow special offer banner: $37 for a first consult (normally $90+). This was very intriguing.
My next step was to ask in my local community group. Unsurprisingly, BacksRUs was glowingly recommended by people numerous times.
So what did I do? I claimed the offer.
Clicking on the offer opened the offer page where they collected my email before sharing their booking link for an initial consult.
After I booked, I received a clear and friendly automated email confirming my details and making sure I knew how to change/cancel my appointment.
From my arrival, through my appointment, and through the leaving process, I saw so many (positive) differences between this clinic and others I’ve been to.
The whole place was light, clean, and fresh.
The admin staff member was super welcoming and knew exactly what to do.
While waiting and filling out a form, I watched quite a few fun and bubbly young people come and go for their short checkups. They had a great relationship with the admin team – the receptionist knew extra details about them that a receptionist wouldn’t normally know!
When it was my time, I was warmly taken by the admin team into a private consultation room. I settled myself, and Mark (the owner) arrived a minute later. He introduced himself and made me feel welcome and comfortable.
I assumed I knew what a chiropractic treatment was like: a bit of chit-chat, then lying on a table for the first manipulation.
But no. This was different. In a good way.
After our initial conversation, he took two photos of me standing up so that he could use a computer program to assess my overall posture.
He then ran a thermo roller down my spine, instantly showing increased heat areas. This is a sign of abnormality or potential problems. Indeed some of the areas where I was experiencing pain were indicated in the result.
He used a model of a spine and images of good and bad spines to explain how it works and how all the organs are connected to the spine. He helped me understand that it’s critical that your spine is working properly.
I then had a physical assessment and movement tests. He didn’t do any adjustments but told me what he thought the problem was. He recommended that I get a spinal x-ray to confirm his thoughts before any manipulation. I was given details of a local medical imaging facility that wouldn’t cost me anything and would take me without an appointment. I had time; it wasn’t far away, so I said I’d go immediately.
Before I left, they made an appointment for me the next day, confirming that the X-rays would be back in time. Happily, I paid my $37 (bargain) and headed off to the x-ray. True to his word, I only waited about 1 minute at the imaging facility, and it was all done in about 10 minutes. I headed home and looked forward to finding out what the X-ray had in store!
I returned the next day and was welcomed back by a different member of the admin team but with very much the same warmth and approach.
After a short wait, the administrator took me to the consulting room where my X-rays from the day before were already displayed on a screen. She suggested I look at them while waiting for the owner.
The owner arrived a minute later and explained that the X-rays confirmed his initial diagnosis. He then outlined the next steps.
He took me to the open treatment area and I experienced my first adjustment (which is what I thought would happen in the first appointment).
After the adjustment, I was taken to the front desk to book my next appointment for the following week. This would be a longer session to allow us to go into more detail of the treatment plan ahead.
With that booked, I left for a short walk to shake things out before my drive home.
Related: “Get More Students” Course
Now, this is where things got surprising again!
Once I was seated in the waiting room, I was handed an iPad and headphones by the admin team and asked to watch a video.
In this 12-minute video, the lead chiropractor, Mark, gave a presentation, all about the mission and vision of the practice and the holistic nature of chiropody.
It explained their beliefs and, importantly, made a strong case for regular chiropractic checkups, just like preventative maintenance on your car or brushing your teeth.
In the video, Mark told a story of how his father’s ongoing back injuries were mishandled by various clinicians, which led to Mark choosing this line of work. It was personal and meaningful and helped me understand how and why this clinic is different than others.
After the video, I was taken to the consulting room, where my X-rays were again showing on the screen, and shortly after, Mark came in to talk through his treatment plan for me.
His team had created a smart black folder with my name on it, and inside were printouts of the postural analysis, heat mapping, and summary of the x-rays.
Over a short time, he explained what he felt I needed to get maximum benefit over the next few months and explained how payments work.
It was during this meeting that I asked him about his systems and how impressed I was by everything, and he told me that he just loves systems!
And it shows!
The payment structure is where things got really clever.
He recommended that I see him twice a week for a month and then weekly for the next two months – all outlined in the folder. He asked if this was possible, and I said yes, but what about the costs? That’s when he shared something unique about his business: a discount if I buy a bulk lot of sessions in advance.
His regular adjustment price was $90 each.
(As an aside, when you realise this is for around 10 minutes of work, say 15 allowing for change-over time, this is an hourly rate of $320. Not bad going at all. If he could squeeze people into 10-minute adjustments, his hourly rate would be $540!)
But if I purchased 8 sessions, he’d only charge me $70 per session. So I’d need to pay $560 upfront, and then, for each session, they’d deduct $70 from my balance until I needed to refill. It’s a pretty decent discount and enough of a discount to make it worth it.
By doing this, the clinician –
I can’t think of a more clever win-win situation for healthcare billing. Can you?
Long story short, his admin team booked in next week’s two appointments, took my (bulk) payment and I was perfectly onboarded.
I can’t actually think of anything they could’ve done better, for me or their business.
Related: Creative Marketing Strategies for Music Teachers
When you think about creativity, you think about improvising, composing, arranging.
You don’t think about creative marketing. But why shouldn’t you?
Getting creative and doing things that are out of the box will make you stand out from other teachers (and isn’t that what we want?)
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Aleta says:
Thanks for this informative article, your experience, and comparisons. Keep up the creative articles, opportunities for growth through teaching sessions, and the many things you do to encourage us teachers!