In any given week, we objectively review medical advertising and dozens of healthcare websites. And more than a few of them—for doctors, dentists and providers of all sorts—manage to sabotage their medical advertising effectiveness in a single stroke. The poison? Those yucky photos of clinical procedures are a double-barrel emotional turn-off for prospective patients. You’ll never […]
Viral Wonder Pokémon GO Meets Healthcare Marketing
The global obsession with Pokémon GO is an instant healthcare marketing opportunity for many providers and facilities. This timely tool is especially adaptable for healthcare businesses with a retail component including dental, optometry, family practice, pediatricians, orthodontists…even urgent care or LASIK practices. You can also include anyone doing event marketing, such as health fairs, trade…
Flowers and Blue Ice: From Satisfied Patient to Raving Fan Forever
A close friend of mine shared a personal story that’s worth re-telling. It illustrates a real-world patient experience that moved the measure of satisfaction from “simply satisfied” to “raving fan” status. Although this story comes from the dental profession, the core concept will easily transfer to other healthcare specialties. Consider how you can apply this […]
Moving From “Presentation Phobia” to Greater Case Acceptance
More than a few doctors, dentists and other providers suffer from “case presentation phobia.” This seems especially common with elective care discussions. Skilled and experienced providers may have buried the ill-at-ease feeling, and they probably have “avoidance systems” in place that point to someone else in the office. But, in fact, they hate making a case […]
Two Well-Executed Ideas You Can Steal from Dental Marketing
Who says marketing can’t be fun. Here’s a brief post about two lighter-side ideas from dental marketing that you can steal. Look at these little case studies as idea starters for many other healthcare marketing situations. In each, take your inspiration mainly from the exceptional execution. Dr. Rich’s Patient Picnic: Western Pennsylvania orthodontist Richard Ribarevski […]
The Survey Says: US Dentists Resilient in a Down Economy
It seems that at least some dental practices in the United States are doing OK, business-wise, in spite of the down economy. We’d like to hear if you agree with this market assessment. In the numbers-filled environment of research publisher IBIS World, the Dentists Industry—in the collective perspective—“performed well during the economic recession and is […]
Dental Therapists Brouhaha: Controversy or Dental Marketing Opportunity?
We’ve been watching a bit of a brouhaha in the media recently about dental therapists. We’d like to hear from our readers—practicing dentists in particular—about dental therapists and if there’s a place in dentistry for a mid-level provider. There is a wide range of dental procedures that a dental therapist can perform as determined by […]
Marketing Myopia: A Classic Insight for Winning New Patients Today
The following quote is at least 50 years old, but dentists, doctors and healthcare providers can put this classic insight to the task of winning new patients immediately. Marketing guru and Harvard Business School Professor Theodore Levitt often told his students: “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!” The […]
Texas Board Examines Dental Advertising on Groupon and other “Deal-A-Day” Sites
The Texas State Board of Dental Examiners is considering how the concept of online healthcare deals and discounts may or may not fit into its advertising and marketing rules for professional practice advertising. There was a small but important news item that touched on this. It’s worth reading…and watching where it may lead. In the […]
Legally Dumb: Should a Doctor or Dentist Sue a Patient for Bad-Mouth Comments?
If a professional reputation is to be protected at all costs, should a healthcare provider file a lawsuit against a patient for a negative online review? From time to time we see news items about doctors or dentists who threaten legal action against patients. But suing a patient for a negative comment (or comments) is […]