3 dental marketing strategies you should consider
Before you start placing ads, you would be wise to have a dental marketing strategy in place. All too often, practices get talked in to the “advertising idea of the week,” only to be disappointed with dismal results. Then vow to never run advertising again and miss out on the opportunity to run quality advertising that attracts more patients.
All advertising has a risk and very little of it has a guarantee, so you are ahead to minimize your risk with a solid marketing strategy.
Once you have a dental marketing strategy in place, you are free to execute your dental advertising with greater confidence it will reach the target audience with the right message.
So let’s investigate these dental marketing strategies:
1.) Target Ideal Patients: Develop an ideal patient base. Make a list of all the things that you want in an ideal patient. Here are a few common qualities you might find important:
- They care about their dental hygiene or as one dentist put it, they have a high dental IQ
- They are easy to deal with. They don’t complain or fight over their charges, and they agree to the care you prescribe
- They pay their invoices on time
- They keep appointments consistently and they are loyal long term patients
- They refer their family, friends and co-workers
You know the patients I am talking about, the ones you would be excited to have more of. Now, right out a profile and name them (After an ideal patient or family is good, The Simpsons, the Adams family…)
2.) Be Different: Survey a dozen or more of your current ideal patients and find out why they value you. Don’t be surprised to learn that it may be something small. For example: The doctor values my time and I rarely if ever have to wait. She takes the time to make sure I understand the procedure I will be going through. Or everyone is friendly and makes me feel comfortable.
You want to survey enough patients to see a trend. Be on the lookout for your difference. You want to be different for something they value. Being different is one of the best ways to set you apart from other practices and attract more patients like them.
3.) Communicate the Right Message: Once you are armed with an ideal patient profile and a practice differentiator, you need to create messaging that communicates your benefits and differences. The message should resonate with your ideal patient. You need to develop three key messages:
- The Marketing Purpose Statement: An internal document to be the basis for all your marketing or customer service activity. It is the rallying cry of the practice! Some examples: “We perform painless dentistry!” “Our patients have healthy mouths.” “We give all our patients something to smile about.” This statement can be raw, without marketing polish.
- The Talking Logo: Allows you to verbally communicate the single greatest benefit of doing business with your practice. This is your practice’s elevator speech and can be conveyed over the phone, in a BNI meeting, at a chamber of commerce event or even a dinner party. When asked what you do for a living, instead of saying, “I am a dentist; a dental hygienist; an office manager.” You respond: “I help people smile more often; I help you live longer; I increase patients’ dental IQs.” You want your answer to be strong enough to incite the response: “Really! How do you do that?” Then be prepared to answer.
- Your Core Marketing Message: The final message is the essence of what you do, why you are valued, what makes your practice different. It is often used on every piece of marketing. Some examples: 5 minute wait or less OR it’s on us! (Have fun with it, we set a timer 5 minute before appointment time, and take them back before it rings). Your painless visit is our passion. Refer 4 friends and your next cleaning is free.
As you can tell, these three dental marketing strategies can be used in conjunction with one another to form one killer marketing strategy. For more dental marketing strategies sign up for our weekly dental marketing tips at redstarmarketing.com
