A Quick Marketing Tip
Many of you have seen the awful marketing advertisements placed by dentists, or other doctors. The ad simply states “XYZ Dentistry – Dr. James Smith, Address” Now accepting patients, call 555-1212. To be perfectly honest, I have seen some of our own network doctors with these types of ads. I doubt if they even received one new patient.
Successful marketing requires at a minimum these points to be effective:
- A big bold headline at the top of the page
- A daring offer such as “FREE EXAM AND X-RAYS” or “$200 OFF RESTORATIVE TREATMENT” Preferably, the offer is in the headline.
- A quality picture of you with your family, or you with your staff. Joe Q. Public likes to see who they will be seeing.
- A list of services or benefits using “emotion” type words. An example is a caring, friendly staff, etc.,
- Address and phone number of the practice.
If you really want the ad to get results, throw in an audacious guarantee – “We’ll guarantee your comfort or your treatment is FREE!” or “We guarantee you a better smile or we will buy you dinner.”
We have tested many different marketing offers and the two listed above have worked the best. Just having the above four items will markedly improve your results. You can use these tips for ads placed in Val-Pak, newspapers, coupon books, and even radio or television. We have negotiated discounts with a number of marketing media. Remember, there is not one single way to get 100 new patients, but there are 100 ways to get 1 new patient.