Les Jones, The Business of Dentistry Magazine’s Editor and Marketing Director of Practice Plan, will be touring the UK in September, delivering a series of one-day marketing masterclasses entitled ‘How to Market Your Dental Practice’. So, with this in mind, we’ve asked him to give us a little taster of what delegates can expect from the day.
Here’s Les’ five top marketing tips for budding marketers:
#1. It’s not about you…it’s all about me (the patient)
I don’t buy features, I buy benefits. I don’t speak ‘dentish’, I speak ‘plain and simple’. Too many practices put the focus on themselves when marketing to potential and existing patients…concentrating on the features of the practice, not the benefits they deliver. Put yourself in the mind of the patient and ask yourself what messages would resonate with you and tailor your marketing to suit.
#2. Make me an offer… incentivise me!
Everybody loves a deal – and when you’re competing with other dentists in your area, offering an incentive might be the difference between winning and losing a patient. Try and work out how much, on average, a new patient is worth to the practice. You can then think creatively about how you spend that money…by offering a free initial consultation perhaps, or a discount on a treatment. Whatever way you go, make sure that your offer is time-based and encourages the patient to act quickly.
#3. Online is oxygen…breathe it!
If you haven’t got a great website that’s at the top of a Google search first page…so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye! It’s really important for you to develop your online presence and make sure your website is there when potential patients are searching for a new practice online.
#4. Make it easy for me to say ‘yes’
Stop putting up barriers and start knocking them down instead. Can I book an appointment online? Can I spread the cost of my treatment through a plan or patient finance? Can I sign up to your practice in a few minutes? If the answer to these questions is YES, then so is mine.
#5. Differentiate yourself
Create unique experiences…give me stories to tell my friends and relatives about. Being the same as everyone else just means getting lost in all the noise. Be a work of art in an endless expanse of wallpaper.
So, that’s just a couple of minutes worth of advice… imagine what you could take away from a full-day workshop with marketing guru Les!
His workshop will take you through everything a dental practice team needs to know about marketing. From understanding your target market and setting marketing KPIs, to creating your marketing proposition, exploring routes to market, and understanding the dos and don’ts when creating marketing collateral. Les will show you how to track the success of your marketing – he’ll not only tell you how to gather your data, but also what decisions you should be making based on the results!
The dates and locations for the workshops are:
10th September – Birmingham
12th September – Manchester
25th September – Cardiff
30th September – Southampton
If you’d like to be inspired to take a more creative approach to your marketing and communications, book your places today by clicking here or call 01691 684135.