Unlock the Mystery of Effective Practice Marketing: Choosing the Right Identity, Message and Plan

Choosing the Right Identity, Message and Plan

You have opened the doors to your new practice. You have the perfect location with a nicely designed office space. Your technology is up-to-date, and you have hired a knowledgeable and friendly staff. You have a small core of reliable patients but start to notice that you are not experiencing steady growth. You know that it is time for some marketing and advertising. Maybe you are contemplating featuring a service on Groupon or another couponing site, having your staff post on social media every week, buying some Google adwords to help SEO presence, or even sending your hygienist to hand out brochures at local health fairs.

Warning: During any given month, you and your staff will be solicited at least a dozen times by various print, TV, couponing sites, online ads and other advertising

opportunities from sales vendors in the community. You can’t possibly participate in all of the advertising options presented to you.

Which ones will get you the best return and which ones will be a waste of your hard-earned money? You may decide to take a chance on a few advertising possibilities while crossing your fingers and hoping that one will work.

I call this approach “blindfold marketing” – randomly selecting a variety of media with a variety of messages, hoping that one will hit something valuable. The problem with blindfold marketing is that it is generally not cost-effective, it confuses your audience, and it does not always build

Identity

measurable trust, value, or recognition to your brand or campaign. While there is some calculated risk in advertising – the blindfold approach is dangerous long term, since a significant portion of your growth is reliant on these marketing and advertising efforts.

you can tell others and so that they will recognize your unique “signature” (your brand). Most simply, your “brand” is what people know and think about your practice. If they don’t know who you are or that you exist – you don’t really have a brand identity.

In assessments with numerous dental practices across the country, I have found four major problem areas that commonly hinder effective practice marketing: lack of identity and message strategy, lack of or improper marketing tools, and no organized plan/campaign. Addressing these four areas before you open your practice can save years of frustration, money, and guesswork.

A corporate identity builds trust and recognition. This is the visual part of your brand that should reflect your company in an honest way and should relate to your industry, your name and defining characteristics about your practice or the competitive advantage that you offer. Be unique and present yourself clearly and dynamically. It is very important that your identity is consistent, with marketing materials that have a similar look and feel. Each piece should contribute to your overall brand equity. These branded materials will also

Who are you? Know who you are so that

give your marketing efforts more “bang for your buck” and make your practice more recognizable.

One way of achieving this consistency is by using brand standards. Brand standard are design rules focusing on your logo, graphics, colors, fonts and illustrative style. These rules work by creating awareness about your brand and differentiating your practice from your competition. When you’ve identified rules for the above areas, document them as a “standards guide” for use by employees, vendors and graphic designers.

Message

others.

Consumers are exposed to thousands of brand messages each day (subtle and blatant), giving your practice only a few seconds to share your values, define what makes you different, and explain why the target patient should schedule their first appointment with you. A message strategy empowers you to intentionally tailor your communication with your target patients so that they quickly identify with the values and unique positioning of your practice and readily understand how engaging with your brand will enrich both their lives and their loved ones’ lives.

that will resonate with them, you must first identify and understand your target. Narrow your target into specific segments to further identify what motivates them. Consider what their core needs are and how your service addresses those core needs. Next, you should research the profiles, patterns, preferences, and environment of your target. Like most practices, you will discover that you have a few targets on which you are focusing. Maybe you are seeking more cosmetic patients or restorative patients. These may be entirely different targets and each need a tailored message that is consistent and relevant to give it “sticking” power.

Communication can only occur when you successfully break through the clutter with a relevant message that resonates with your target and motivates them to respond. In order to create a message

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Having a message strategy also empowers your staff to properly represent your brand and empowers patients to refer you to others. Patients will appreciate your service but may be unsure why they should share you with others. An effective message strategy frames up what makes you unique and reinforces the value of your service so patients and staff can readily share the unique values of your practice with others.

An effective message

strategy frames up

what makes you unique and reinforces

the value of your service so patients and

staff can readily share

Exercise:

the unique values of

Answering the following questions will help you create the framework of your own unique identity and message strategy:

your practice with

For what do you want to be known? • Who are your ideal target patients? • Identify the core services that you will offer: How do they address the core needs of your target? • In relationship to your offerings, what services do your target patients need most? What motivates them? What are they most concerned about? And what will you deliver to address those needs? • How do you want to be perceived by your target patients and community? • What moods or emotions would you like associated with your practice? • What emotional connection can be made that will help your target better identify with your services? • What is the single most important

thing you want your target patients and community to associate with your practice? • Why will your target patients choose you over your competitor? What makes you unique? • What will be your promise? What are your Values? What is your Mission? After completing this exercise, frame your answers into a few well-crafted paragraphs. Practice sharing your newly-crafted message with staff, patients and your community and make adjustments until you can share comfortably.

An Integrated Marketing Plan

This is not a typical business/marketing plan that includes the marketing mix, SWOTT analysis, and other details needed to get approved for a business loan. This is a new wave: a focused plan for you to use in executing an integrated marketing plan. This plan is focused on garnering new patients, keeping existing patients, and building goodwill with your community.

My own hybrid definition of marketing is this: effective marketing is not one single action; it is a collaboration of several dedicated, strategic efforts that are executed holistically. Success results from sharing a cohesive and relevant brand message across multiple platforms, using appropri-

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be executed against suggested timelines, frequencies and measures for success. It should also be designed specifically for you to reach your target clients in their unique environments. The end goal is to have a comprehensive plan with a cohesive message theme guiding patients towards a targeted action or place (such as your website) and positioned in venues and mediums where they are most likely to respond.

Success results from

sharing a cohesive and relevant brand

message across multiple platforms,

using appropriate marketing tools and

Steps in building your integrated marketing campaign:

executing several

Objectives

strategies with frequency against pre-

Clearly define your short and longterm objectives (Examples: To increase # of implant cases by x, increase # of quality cosmetic cases by x, etc.).

stated objectives.

ate marketing tools and executing several strategies with frequency against pre-stated objectives. Disjointed efforts can work, but they are more difficult to build upon and they do not add as much value to brand recognition (equity), message and the overall value of the campaign.

Budget

Create a Budget - % of revenue allocated to marketing. • Build specific strategies into targeted campaigns to reach each patient segment. Your overall campaign should have multiple strategies for each target that you identified during your messaging development.

Creating a marketing plan is a balance of creativity and strategy. A good marketing plan contains specific tactics for reaching each of your target patients with sensitivity to your specific budget. The plan should

External Marketing

Select two or so traditional core external drivers for driving awareness to your target patients. These may be radio, television, print, direct mail, or other advertising platforms, but the key is to share a consistent and concise message that stays the same across multiple advertising platforms. You should have a clear and measurable call to action and select the advertising platform based on where your target patients are most clustered – as identified in your message strategy • Set up a solid web and social media presence for search engine optimization (SEO) and conversion rate optimization (CRO. The goal is to increase the number of patients who schedule an appointment after visiting your website or social media outlets. • Set up other external platforms, such as a PR campaign that creates awareness about your practice each quarter. Adopt or start a community cause,

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form a joint marketing partnership with other businesses who share a similar target for cross marketing and communicating to a larger base, attend key community events, and brainstorm other external marketing drivers for creating brand awareness and directing new patients to your practice.

Calendars/Frequencies/Timelines

Internal Marketing

Measures for Success

An internal marketing campaign is as important, if not more important, than your external marketing. In fact, an effective external marketing campaign can be crippled by the lack of consistent internal marketing for your practice. The benefits are increased patient and staff satisfaction, loyalty and increased referrals. • Some effective internal marketing programs can include educating your patients about all the options available to them through a trained and motivated treatment coordinator, a referral program that rewards patients for referring friends and family, seasonal/ holiday and inviting décor in your office, recognizing patient birthdays and important achievements, identifying and participating in key community events, an effective patient recall system, capturing video and written testimonials from your patients for use on marketing materials, and more.

Tools

• Marketing Tools are everything that is necessary for ongoing communication with your target for your internal/ external marketing campaigns. These can include: A website, business cards, brochures, commercials, appointment cards, etc. • Marketing communication tools are effective when they communicate your message with your target; when they properly represent and build the equity of your message and brand; accomplish desired perception; and adequately meet short-term and longterm marketing campaign objectives. While this all may seem simple, it is often overlooked.
• Build out a marketing calendar that your staff can follow so that it becomes part of the fiber of your practice. The calendar will contain daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly action items to follow so that your campaign is properly managed.
• Determine measures for success and track your results. Know where each new patient heard about your practice so that you can identify how well each advertising platform is performing. Utilize your practice management software to identify, track and generate reports that have tracked your marketing effectiveness. Continue to monitor and make adjustments each quarter. If the thought of developing your own identity, message, tools, and plan seems like a daunting task, you may consider incorporating the services of a dental marketing professional or firm. Many dentists prefer to focus on treating their patients and have a specialist assist in developing, executing and managing their branding and marketing.

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A few tips to consider when hiring a marketing specialist

1. They should specialize in dental branding and marketing. 2. They should have multiple dental client success case studies. 3. They should have multiple satisfied dental client testimonials. 4. Compare more than one dental marketing specialist and select the one with whom you are most comfortable and who best understands your vision. 5. Ensure they are able to provide the necessary attention for developing your practice marketing, and providing you with a competitive rate. ■

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Brendan Morrissey is CEO of Netsertive (www.netsertive.com). He has over 15 years’ experience in digital media and early-stage companies emphasizing online and mobile marketing technology. Morrissey holds a B.A. in economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

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