You need to just grin and bear it. Your dental practice is not the right fit for every patient. The “Who is my target audience?” question is the one you must ask because a message tailored to all is a message received by none.
Perhaps you’d like to target patients who are suffering from sore gums due to ill-fitting dentures and you want to put a focus on implants. Or maybe you’re located downtown and would like to cater to high power executives who need services at odd hours. Are you located in an affluent neighborhood and like to reach stay-at-home moms in need of cosmetic work? Whatever the case, first decide to whom you’d specifically like to cater and then craft a message that will resonate with that audience.
Two simple questions to ask about your dental practice: 1.) Why would they choose you? And 2.) Why would they choose you over the dentist down the street? Again, you want to think about what makes you unique and what matters to your potential patients.
Answering these questions is never easy, for sure. But once we’ve worked them out, we can get to work on the most important part of branding in the digital age – crafting the right message. This is the foundation of all successful branding and dental marketing.
Of course, there are a few other aspects of your practice we’ll want to look at and highlight. For instance, what are your unique offerings? Perhaps you use state-of-the-art equipment or are open weekends, lunch hours and evenings. Perhaps you have a history of exceptional patient experiences and a dentist they can truly trust. Anything that can distinguish you from the pack will enhance your identity and brand. This is what we work to uncover to enhance your dental marketing solutions.
At this point you will also want to consider your overall image. We work on crafting your message to resonate with your audience and your image should do the same. Would a more modern feel resonate, or maybe a warm and traditional image? The wrong image can be off-putting to your audience so be sure your message and image represent your practice properly. We like to think of this as your “Practice Personality”.
Once you have clearly identified the ideal patient picture, you can determine where they are and how to reach them and that’s a whole other story for another time.