In March, the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics hosts National Nutrition Month, a nationwide campaign highlighting the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. Each year, the Academy selects a theme for the month; this year, it is “Personalize Your Plate,” with the message: “There is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition and health. We are all unique with different bodies, goals, backgrounds, and tastes!”

As wellness professionals, this is a strategic time to promote your services and grow your client base. Especially this year, as we’ve seen nutrition care transition to primarily online, healthcare providers have a wide range of ways to engage with clients and offer personalized nutrition care. 

Here are 6 ways to market your nutrition services during National Nutrition Month:

1. Motivate and mobilize with an online wellness challenge

Hosting a virtual wellness challenge or program enables healthcare practitioners to deliver nutrition education and support in a way that is engaging for participants. Studies show that goal-setting interventions that included support from a wellness provider were much more effective than those in which patients set goals and worked on them individually.  Client engagement tools allow practitioners to set goals for clients, track client progress, and connect during the program for an added layer of accountability. 

Healthie’s Programs feature enables providers to create courses online, automate distribution, seamlessly enroll and track client activity, and connect to packages to charge for courses.  Content can be pre-built, including emails, forms, surveys, quizzes, documents, and videos, to create a comprehensive online program and participant experience. 

2.  Build brand awareness by supporting National Nutrition Month initiatives in your community

This month is a great opportunity to explore community events. Though in-person events are one of the most powerful marketing tools you can utilize, this year, most events will likely take place online for the health and safety of the participants. Presenting during a community event gives you the chance to excite, connect, engage with potential clients. During your event, you’ll be able to prove your services have value and convert those potential leads into paying clients.

For the most success, choose events and speaking opportunities that are relevant to your ideal client. This year, your options for speaking engagements are endless, due to the likelihood that most events will be held online and you can participate no matter your location. Think about topics your ideal client may be interested in, and start from there. For a comprehensive list of ideas, visit the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics page for 40 ways to get involved with NNM this year.

3.  Send out a special E-newsletter

Email marketing is an extremely effective way to market your wellness business, and despite what some may say, email is far from dead. Studies have shown that email marketing is 40 times as effective as social media, and buying from email campaigns occurs three times as fast. Email campaigns are designed to pique the interest of your prospective clients, tell them more about the services you are offering and push them to move toward signing up.  

For National Nutrition Month, you can advertise any limited-time offers or services in your newsletter or current mailing list so that you reach both current and prospective clients. Or, reinforce client relationships by providing reliable advice and actionable tips in a free e-newsletter.  Your clients come to you for your expertise and National Nutrition Month is a great opportunity to show that you care by sharing what you know!  

4.  Offer a FREE introductory call

Potential clients are more likely to commit to your services once they know what to expect. Running a special offer for free 15-20 minute introductory calls throughout the month can be a great way to gain new leads.

For a seamless booking experience for your clients, embed your Healthie schedule directly into your website. Healthie can be integrated into nearly every website host, including WordPress, Wix, Weebly, Squarespace, and others. Download these step-by-step instructions on how to embed your calendar, packages and client login portal onto your website.

5. Bundle up your services for greater customer value

Offering client packages is a great way to encourage a long-term relationship with your clients, from day one. Most of the time, when clients purchase a multiple-session package, they’re committing to improving their health over time. A special “Nutrition Month Package” can help attract new clients, while also offering existing customers a novel reason to stay. Get your clients motivated with a special month-long package offer.

6. Get Social about National Nutrition Month

Leveraging your social platforms is a great way to bring awareness to your services this month. Promote your special offers, free introductory calls, and new packages on your Facebook and Instagram pages. Build out 30 days of content in advance, to schedule to your social accounts for easy and consistent content sharing. To help nutrition professionals spread the word about National Nutrition Month, here’s a media kit with images you can utilize (and customize) on your platforms.

Taking the time to celebrate National Nutrition Month can be a rewarding investment for you and for your client base.  

Whether your focus is on engagement through community outreach activities or improved customer relationships, you are clearly highlighting your practice’s commitment to healthful living.  At the same time, you are ensuring that your brand remains in the front of people’s minds.