For local service businesses like chiropractors or real estate agents, you only need to outperform your direct competitors within a five or six-mile radius.
This profound insight kicks off our discussion on the “Marketing Your Practice” podcast, where Angus Pyke, Jake Campoli, and I guide chiropractors through common marketing pitfalls.
This conversation, our second deep dive, was recorded to provide clear, actionable strategies, especially for those overwhelmed by the time and technology demands of digital marketing.
Last time we covered content – specifically one-minute videos – and how to get patients to know, like, and trust you.
This time, we showed how to connect that content to the back end so it actually drives business.
Why Most Chiropractors Struggle with Marketing
If you’re a chiropractor serving a five- to six-mile radius, you’re not competing with the whole internet – you just need to outrun the other chiropractors in your area.
Most aren’t doing anything. That’s your advantage.
Simple tactics like boosting a one-minute video for $1/day already put you ahead. Ten videos = $70. You can afford that.
Especially when you realize that just one video, properly targeted, can be enough to bring in new patients.
But the moment you want to go beyond brand awareness and actually convert views into bookings, you need more than good content. You need digital plumbing.
- Setting up remarketing infrastructure
- Installing tracking pixels (Facebook, Google)
- Optimizing your Google Business Profile
- Monitoring page visits and video views
- Creating custom audiences from real engagement
Without plumbing, you’re flying blind.
Dennis Yu explains why chiropractors struggle with digital marketing
The Core of Digital Plumbing: Tracking the Customer Journey
Digital plumbing focuses on remarketing, building conversations, and collecting email addresses.
It also involves optimizing your Google Local search results to appear in the local three-pack, ensuring a strong Yelp presence, making your website load quickly for organic Google search, and maximizing word-of-mouth and direct mail efforts.
Angus rightly pointed out that most people don’t convert on their first visit. I’ve seen this countless times; it doesn’t mean they dislike you or your services.
They are simply in the early stages of research.
When looking for a professional service or even a simple product, people rarely look at just one option.
The traditional wisdom of “seven touches before a sale” has evolved; today, it’s closer to 12 to 14 touches.
This applies even to a $2 lip balm, as I once spent an hour researching different flavors and sellers on Amazon before making a purchase.
People delay decisions for various reasons: they lack funds, are still researching, need to consult others, or are simply busy.
This is why building a customer journey is crucial. Digital plumbing provides the tracking mechanisms to enable this journey.
It allows you to follow up with another message, ideally in a non-creepy way, if someone has interacted with your content, visited your website, given you an email address, or engaged with you on platforms like Instagram.
Setting Up Your Foundational Plumbing
For anyone watching or listening, we offer a free digital plumbing course.
You can use it to set things up yourself, or you can hire Jake or his team if it seems too complex or time-consuming.
Jake explains that the most basic components of digital plumbing include Google Analytics, Google Ads, and Facebook Ads.
These platforms are where you’ll spend most of your advertising money and reach the most people for remarketing.
To effectively track those 12 to 14 touches, you must correctly set up pixels on your site.
Pixels are tiny pieces of code that track visitor activity.
We then integrate these pixels into Google Tag Manager, which acts as a central hub, ensuring everything works smoothly and doesn’t break.
From there, we create custom audiences based on user behavior: pages visited, time spent on site, or specific videos watched.
For example, if someone visits a page on neck injuries, we can create an audience for them and then target them with specific content like a one-minute video discussing neck injury solutions.
My digital plumbing guide
Turn Viewers into Patients with Custom Retargeting Audiences
Once your tracking is in place, it’s time to build custom audiences based on what people do:
- Visitors who landed on your “neck pain” page this week
- Viewers who watched most of your TMJ video
- People who clicked your booking link but didn’t schedule
These actions show intent — and each one calls for a follow-up that speaks directly to it.
Even if only 10 or 20 people are in the audience, that’s enough. If just one books, it pays for itself. And warm audiences cost way less to reach.
Start with video viewers. Facebook counts someone as engaged after just 15 seconds — that’s a “throughplay.” From there, you can retarget them with:
- More helpful videos
- Patient testimonials
- Special booking offers
That’s how you build a funnel that quietly brings in new patients — even while you’re out of the office.
Posting Content Isn’t Enough — Chiropractors Need Smart Follow-Up
Most chiropractors put out videos or tips and wait, hoping patients will call — but that approach falls flat now.
Without proper plumbing, your content forgets every viewer.
That’s why we teach the Social Amplification Engine:
- Start with a simple, helpful video (one minute is enough)
- Track who watches and clicks
- Retarget based on their interest
- Build trust by showing up consistently
This is how you go from “never heard of you” to “I’ve seen you everywhere.”
And yes — even $1/day is enough to run follow-up ads to people already interested. Focus on the people already paying attention — and stay in front of them
Use your data to figure out:
- Which videos get watched the most?
- What pages lead to new patient bookings?
- Which topics actually drive engagement?
Then do more of what works.
Dennis Yu with Dr. Matt Delgado (Chiropractor and Founder of Lifespring Chiropractic) at Austin
Set Up Your Marketing Plumbing Once — Let It Bring Patients In Forever
The best part about digital plumbing for chiropractors? You only need to set it up once.
From there, it runs in the background while you focus on patient care:
- Tracks every website visitor
- Grows your local audience
- Follows up automatically with retargeting
We give away the whole playbook, including:
- Google Tag Manager setup
- Facebook and Google pixel installation
- Custom audience creation
- One-pager overview of your setup
Most agencies charge thousands and keep their systems hidden. We show you everything.
Our mission is to make digital marketing simple, transparent, and affordable for chiropractors.
Whether you do it yourself or have us help, here’s what works:
- Set up your plumbing before running any ads
- Use that data to follow up smart
- Stay in front of potential patients long enough to earn their trust
Dennis Yu at Sherman College of Chiropractic
If you’re serious about growing your chiropractic practice, this is where you start.
The Dollar-a-Day strategy, custom audiences, video remarketing – it all hinges on one thing: having your plumbing set up right.
That’s exactly what we teach in the Digital Plumbing course.
This is the same training we’ve used to help thousands of local businesses build profitable systems that track, retarget, and convert – without hiring expensive agencies or wasting ad spend.
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is a former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on Google and Facebook ads for Nike, Quiznos, Ashley Furniture, Red Bull, State Farm, and other organizations that have many locations.
He has achieved 25% of his goal of creating a million digital marketing jobs because of his partnership with universities, professional organizations, and agencies. Companies like GoDaddy, Fiverr, onlinejobs.ph, 7 Figure Agency, and Vendasta partner with him to create training and certifications.
Dennis created the Dollar a Day Strategy for local service businesses to enhance their existing local reputation and make the phone ring. He's coaching young adult agency owners who serve plumbers, AC technicians, landscapers, roofers, electricians in conjunction with leaders in these industries.
Mr. Yu believes that there should be a standard in measuring local marketing efforts, much like doctors and plumbers need to be certified and licensed. His Content Factory training and dashboards are used by thousands of practitioners.