ARTICLE
Figure 6 . Natural Medicine Week , and perceptions of natural medicine by the Australian government and wider public .
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree nor disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree n = 43 , 3.9 %
n = 10 , 0.9 %
63 , 5.7 % n = 73 , 6.7 %
n = 44 , 4 %
n = 16 , 1.5 %
Natural Medicine Week
Respondents were asked to indicate their levels of agreement with two statements regarding an ATMS initiative , Natural Medicine Week using five-point Likert scales ( strongly disagree = 1 , disagree = 2 , neither agree nor disagree = 3 , agree = 4 , strongly agree = 5 ). While over a third of the respondents agreed with the statements ( Figure 6 ), over half of the respondents neither agreed nor disagreed with the two statements . n = 318 , 29.1 % n = 390 , 35.7 % n = 651 , 59.6 % n = 578,52.8 %
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
The Natural Medicine Week website has been successful in generating positive promotion of natural medicine to the Australian government and wider community .
ATMS members ’ participation in Natural Medicine Week has positively enhanced the view of natural medicine in the wider public .
Figure 7 . ATMS Members ' use of social media
Twitter WeChat LinkedIn
Other ( please specify ) Instagram
I don ' t use social media Facebook
Respondents ' use of social media *
n = 25 , 1.9 % n = 30 , 2.2 %
n = 96 , 7.1 % n = 111 , 8.2 %
Social media platforms used to connect with ATMS
Respondents were asked to indicate which social media platforms they used to connect with ATMS . Facebook was the most popular platform , used by n = 522 ( 38.7 %) respondents , followed by Instagram ( n = 183 respondents , 13.5 %). Of note is that over a quarter ( 28.4 %, n = 383 ) respondents stated they did not use social media ( Figure 7 ).
n = 183 , 13.5 % n = 383 , 28.4 % n = 522 , 38.7 %
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Number of respondents * respondents could choose all platforms that applied
Of the respondents indicating ‘ other ’, 54 said they used email , 18 said they went to the ATMS website and 8 said they phoned to connect to ATMS .
How ATMS members attract new clients to their practices
Respondents were asked to choose the most effective way they attracted new clients . ( They could choose only one option ). By far the most effective method reported was word of mouth ( n = 706 respondents , 65.3 %) ( Figure 8 ).
N = 38 respondents chose ‘ other ’ which equated to 3.5 % of responses . Of those , 6 said they used Natural Therapy pages , 8 were not currently practising and 5 said they were fully booked . One attracted new clients through their yoga class and one through their tutoring .
Digital and online marketing and respondents ’ practices
Respondents were asked to indicate their agreement or disagreement with three statements about their use of internet ( digital ) marketing and promotions to build their businesses , and ATMS communications , website and social media , using five-point Likert scales ( strongly disagree = 1 , disagree = 2 , neither agree nor disagree = 3 , agree = 4 , strongly agree = 5 ).
• For the statement , I regularly attract new patients through online digital marketing and promotions , responses mainly clustered around neither agree nor disagree ( n = 407 respondents , 37.7 %) or and 41 % ( n = 441 ) of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed .
• For the statement , ATMS communications , like Natural Medicine Week , the ATMS Website and social media pages , and the Friends of Natural Medicine increase referrals to my practice , almost half ( n = 524 , 38.3 %) of responses were in the ‘ neither agree nor disagree ’ category , 32 % ( n = 346 ) disagreed or strongly disagreed , and 20 % ( n = 216 ) agreed or strongly agreed .
72 | vol27 | no2 | JATMS