Most clinic owners don’t run out of time for social media. They run out of ideas, then post a stretch picture on a Friday and feel guilty about it for a month.
The ideas below work for both chiropractic and physiotherapy clinics. Pick five, plan a month and ignore the rest until you need them. For longer written topics, a clinic blog is the better home.
What social media is for in a clinic
Be clear about the job. For most clinics, social media does two things well:
- It makes you feel familiar to people who already know of you or live nearby. A new patient who has seen your face a few times is less nervous.
- It gives current patients something to share and a reason to remember you.
It is a weak way to get a brand-new patient who has never heard of you. That job belongs to your Google profile and your website. So spend an hour a week on social media, not ten.
Ideas that suit a clinic
Meet the clinic
- Introduce one team member a week: what they treat, why they chose this work, one thing they’re not good at.
- A short tour of the clinic for someone nervous about a first visit.
- What actually happens in a first appointment, step by step.
- The front desk team, and how they help with booking and direct billing.
- A day in the life, filmed on your phone.
- Your clinic’s story: why you opened, and what you care about.
Answer real questions 7. “Do I need a referral?” in your area. 8. “How many visits will I need?” and why the honest answer is “it depends after the assessment”. 9. “What should I wear?” 10. “Does it hurt?” 11. “What’s the difference between a physio, a chiropractor and an osteopath?” Keep it fair and factual. 12. “What do I do if my appointment time doesn’t suit?” Show the online booking page. 13. “What should I do before I come in?” 14. Your cancellation policy, explained kindly.
Short video and stories 15. One simple desk stretch, filmed in under thirty seconds. 16. A 15-second practitioner intro: name, what they treat, one thing patients don’t expect. 17. A question box in your stories: invite questions on Monday, answer three on camera during the week. 18. A screen recording of how to book online, tap by tap. 19. “Try this” clip of a gentle movement you often suggest, with a line on when to book an assessment instead. 20. A quick walk through the treatment room, so a first visit feels familiar.
Local and seasonal 21. A tip for a local sport or event: the marathon, the fun run, the ice-hockey season. 22. A shout-out to a local business or club you work with. 23. A charity drive or community day you took part in. 24. A simple swipe-through post on the five problems you see most often, ending with how to book.
Calls to action 25. “New patient appointments available this week,” with the booking link. 26. “We’re open late on Thursdays.” 27. Your holiday hours, a week before. 28. A reminder that direct billing is available, if it is. 29. A short post asking patients who’ve been helped to leave a Google review, with the link. See how to ask without making it awkward. 30. A pinned post that says what you treat, where you are, and how to book. Our new patient checklist lists what that post should cover.
Three sample captions
Adapt these to your own voice and check them against your regulator’s rules.
“Stiff neck after a long drive? Try this one-minute reset, and if it hasn’t eased in a few days, book an assessment. Link in our bio.”
“Meet [name]. They treat [areas] and love working with [type of patient]. Ask them anything in the comments.”
“Not sure what happens at a first visit? We’ll talk through your history, check how you move and agree a plan with you before we start. Book online whenever suits you.”
A simple weekly rhythm
You don’t need to post daily. Two or three posts a week, kept going for a year, will do more than a daily burst for a month.
- Monday: a useful tip or question answered.
- Wednesday: a person or place: a team member, the clinic, a local link.
- Friday: a prompt to book, or a simple seasonal reminder.
Batch the work. Spend an hour once a fortnight writing captions and taking photos for the next two weeks. Use a scheduling tool if one is included in the platform you use.
Write posts people can use
- Start with the answer or the useful point, not “We’re excited to announce”.
- Use plain words. If a caption has several long clinical words in a row, rewrite it.
- Show real people and a real place. A clear photo of your clinic beats a stock image.
- End with one small next step, such as “Book online” or “Send this to a friend who sits all day.”
What to check before you post
Clinic posts are advertising. Your regulator’s rules apply to social media as well as your website.
- No patient information without written consent. That includes names, photos, videos, treatment details and “success stories”. Even a first name and a story can identify someone in a small town. The College of Physiotherapists of Ontario, for example, says you need a patient’s informed consent to use their name, photo or personal health information (CPO). Your own regulator or privacy law may be stricter.
- Testimonials. Some regulators restrict them. In Australia, Ahpra’s guidance says the same testimonial rules apply to advertising on social media (Ahpra). Don’t reshare a patient’s glowing post until you’ve checked what your regulator allows.
- Claims. Avoid promising cures, guaranteed results or “the best in town”.
- Before and after photos raise their own issues. See our advertising rules guide.
- If you boost a post as an ad, Meta’s advertising standards say ads must not assert or imply that the viewer has a health condition. “Depression counselling” is fine. “Depression getting you down?” is not (Meta). A normal unpaid post is not an ad, but the habit is a good one: write about the service, not at the person’s condition.
Rules differ by country, state and province, and this is not legal advice.
Check it today
Open your clinic’s page on your phone, as a stranger would. Does it show where you are, what you treat and how to book within the first few posts? If not, pin one post that does. Then pick five ideas from the list above and write them this week.
If you’d like us to check your social profiles, Google profile and website together, we’ll do it and send you what we find.