For the sake of full disclosure, this worst of the week ad actually ran about a week ago. However, we ‘ve had it queued up and ready to go – even a week late – because, well because we can bend the rules on our own blog!
Let me start by saying that I give some kudos to Precision Chiropractic West in West Des Moines and Compass Chiropractic in Clive for advertising their services in a media that probably hits a good target audience. Some (not all) people with back problems are older and this older audience is still likely to be reading the newspaper. The ad is also on a page adjacent to the Health page in the Register as well which is a good thing. And, that’s about all the good we can talk about here.
What’s wrong? First, if I’m at either of these two practices, if I’m going to participate in a “canned” advertorial like the Health Forum, I want to make sure that it has enough other expert advertorials to make it a credible piece that people will read. Second, I make sure that the other practices participating aren’t competitors within three miles of my offices. But, probably my biggest hangup is the fact that they type in the ad is way too small. Six point type (or whatever it is – I’m no typeface expert) is too small for the predominantly older Des Moines Register audience to read.
I’m not sure what, if anything, these practices are currently doing in terms of web marketing, but my thought is that, if I had marketing dollars burning a hole in my pocket, I’m looking to spend them where people are searching for answers to their health problems. How about Google.? Or Web MD? Or even buy some pay per click ads that target by demographics and geography? Or, if nothing else, start a simple blog and use that to market your expertise. The web is the first place people are likely to look for problems with their neck or back.
Don’t believe it? A quick search shows that last month, there were more than 3.5 million Google searches for back pain (and that doesn’t even account for other terms – like chiropractor).
I’m guessing the owners of Precision Chiropractic West and Compass Chiropractic didn’t know what this was going to look like in printed form before they saw it. To me, this doesn’t look like the Register is as concerned about helping their clients build their business with effective advertising as it is concerned about a way to keep the cash flow working.
Laurel and David, if you’re interested, maybe we can help!
Got a worst of the week you’d like us to consider? Send us a note!
Author: Tom Flynn III
