“I NEVER THOUGHT MUCH OF MARKETING. Practices do it in my area: billboards, magazines and things like that, but I’ve never had to. I’m not sure what good it would do me or where I should start – if I decide to – and how much is “fluff”? When is good, good enough? Do I really need great design? What do I need, and what is best for my practice? I’ve had a fairly busy practice until 2008. Things are a little slow now, but we’re making it. It would be nice to have a few more bookings, but I’m hesitant to start marketing.”
These are questions and concerns I hear weekly. For an industry that historically has believed marketing is wrong, these are legitimate concerns. “Everybody’s doing it” just doesn’t fly with me. And as you’d imagine, just average design doesn’t either.
My industry, the advertising and marketing industry, still really doesn’t know the plastic surgery industry deeply enough to always do you the best good. It is even more difficult because each practice is so unique. For some, you’ve found that a cable TV buy generates calls. For others, your website is your top dollar producer, and for yet others, your patients are your best advocates.
The most important thing I can tell you is that your marketing needs to resonate with your target audience. PATIENTS ARE ATTRACTED TO PHYSICIANS AND STAFF WHO COMMUNICATE VALUES AND PERSONALITY TRAITS SIMILAR TO THEIR OWN. Any marketing effort you engage in needs to be a trust builder, a genuine relationship builder. It’s got to be emotionally beautiful, respectful, just right for the personality of the practice, and the very best quality you can afford.
SO, WHEN IT COMES TO YOUR MARKETING, WHAT IS FLUFF? FLUFF IS A WASTE OF MONEY. Fluff happens when you don’t know what your goals are for each particular marketing effort. Fluff is not having an emotionally engaging and beautiful brand. Fluff happens when you have to do a project over, you don’t use vendors you can trust – or you don’t take time to understand your contract and what you’ve purchased. Fluff is spending too much money on external marketing when you already have a good-sized database of loyal patients who love your practice. Fluff is not looking at your consultation process through the eyes of a patient. Fluff, to me, is marketing efforts that don’t produce. Fluff is a waste of money.
Let me encourage you not to be afraid of marketing but to be purposeful about your brand, and especially, to be aesthetically smart. Give me a call, I’d love to hear what you think is fluff.
Candace – 877 884 7676
