National Nutrition Month is right around the corner! Are you ready to use this annual occasion to help your clients – and gain new ones?

For the past 47 years, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics celebrates National Nutrition Month in March. The goal of National Nutrition Month is to promote and expand the public’s knowledge regarding making informed food choices and developing healthy eating and exercise habits. 

Capture this opportunity to encourage your clients and community to embody this year’s theme: “Personalize Your Plate” with the message that “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition and health. We are all unique with different bodies, goals, backgrounds, and tastes!” As nutrition experts, you have the skills, authority, and education to provide individualized nutrition care to your patients and clients. 

Here are 3 Ways to Prepare For National Nutrition Month:

1. Plan a Community Event

If you haven’t hosted or attended a community event to market your practice, March is the perfect time to do so. Hosting an event allows you to interact with your community outside of your office. You’ll be able to promote your practice and educate your community about nutrition at the same time!

Here’s How: Use these next few weeks to reach out to local clubs, sports teams, farmers markets, community centers, or fitness centers, offering to host a virtual National Nutrition Month event. You can try different formats for your event, like a Q&A or a presentation about ways to be healthier, or even a nutrition quiz game. If you’d like some inspiration, check out these creative ideas.

When you secure your event, make the most of it:

• Have an email sign up sheet to grow your newsletter list
• Highlight what working with you – a qualified nutrition professional – can do for your audience
• Build a broader partnership with the local space, to drive client referrals or for advertising in their location
• Offer a call-to-action at the end of your presentation - whether it be to sign up for a free discovery call, your newsletter, or purchase a package, make sure that clients are set up to take the next step to work with you

2. Get The Word Out

More than teaching others to “Personalize Their Plate,” show them! If you’re not already active on social media, it’s time to start tweeting, sharing, posting, and engaging with your online community. Use popular hashtags like #NationalNutritionMonth to get involved. If the topic trends, your post can be seen by many potential clients, so consider adding additional tags (like your specialty).

Plus, if you’re a nutrition blogger, you can blog about National Nutrition Month and get listed on the Academy’s blog roll for additional exposure. You can also comment on other dietitians’ or potential clients’ blog posts to get links and attention.

Next Steps: Create at least one business social media account today. In addition to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, don’t forget sites like YouTube, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Quora, or relevant forums. Start sharing some of your most delicious and nutritious meals and healthy tips. You can create meaningful connections on social media and even attract new clients, so get started today!

3. Offer a National Nutrition Month Promotion

With National Nutrition Month getting extra media coverage, it’s the perfect time to grow your clientele. Offer a special National Nutrition Month promotion to show prospective clients how they can Go Further With Food.

You can easily get the word out there to all of your existing clients via email – and ask them to share with friends and family. You could also list your promotion in a blog post, on social media, or on flyers, to give potential clients a little push to start today.

Promo codes can be a great option to offer a sale price to a select group of people while encouraging word-of-mouth referrals. You can include different codes to different audiences, if you want to test what works better and worse. Did you know you can create a unique promo code, like NUTRITIONMONTH, for clients to apply when purchasing your services? Click here to find out how to create a promo code in Healthie.