Author: Dan Pisek, Practice Marketing Coach
You probably know the numbers that make your practice tick. You are also aware of the value of a new patient in year one, year two and beyond. And knowledgeable of the revenue and profitability of each individual treatment or service being offered. However, perhaps you are not aware of the extent that practice marketing can be utilized to help realize these business goals.
In many conversations with dentists and practice office managers, the discussion seems to revolve around the desire for immediate results, and not “ bigger picture” thinking. This marketing planning approach, or “visioning”, is something that a planned, professional marketing approach can provide.
While your need for a new patient response is immediate,
there might not be a need for a new dental office relationship in any local
home on any given day. This is where a proactive and planned approach to
marketing comes into play.
We had a client meeting recently where the dentist was very specific:
he wanted a marketing campaign that would specifically deliver new dental
implant cases to his office. He paid little mind to the fact that his competitive
landscape was loaded with high-end practices all wanting these same cases. The
discussion seemed to revolve around what the message for this specific campaign
needed to be, and how it would be executed. However, the more difficult
discussion was getting him to see the benefit of taking a big picture approach
to realizing a bigger picture success.
This is called “brand building”. Starbucks, Mercedes, Nike: these
are all brands you are aware of, yet they continue to do “marketing” and get
their message out there. While the need to purchase might not be there today,
when the successful dentist is ready to shop and choose their next car, the
right marketing message can place Mercedes “top of mind” and immediately on the
short list.
The key is to have the right message in your
campaign – the right message is the right mix of design and copy. The design and
copy needs to be all about the consumer. The overall message needs to be about
them and not about you. The right message will connect with the target consumer
and spark the desire to learn more about you.
The other important element to getting the right message out
to your target audience is ensuring that you use the right media to deliver
your message. Is it direct mail, magazine, outdoor advertising, transit, on the
wall in the restroom of your favorite restaurant? You have many options, and
you need to select the right one - the one which will connect with your target
with the most frequency and reach, and stick with it for a while.
A great example of a successful marketing tool is our community
newsletter program, where the goal is to attract families to our clients’
family dental practices. In our follow-up with these newsletter clients, many
of them say it took two or three editions, but now clients in the local
community almost expect it on a quarterly basis.
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