Stewart Gandolf is out on the road again, but he wanted to share this quick insight about healthcare publicity. And since he’s a founding partner of Healthcare Success (i.e. “the boss”), here goes. So Stewart says: “Most doctors tell me getting publicity in the local press is impossible.” I reply: “Oh.” (I’m hanging on every […]
Sorry, but we’ve lost a proper attribution for this great little concept: The little fish always like to read about the big fish. The big fish seldom care to read about the little fish. And how is this useful to healthcare marketing and advertising? It’s a clever way to remember to target your marketing to […]
The “rock star” approach to dental marketing? Could be. They definitely sound good to us. (Really good!) Open Wide is a rock and roll band of six practicing dentists -- and one school teacher who flosses her teeth daily. This isn’t a conventional dental marketing and advertising strategy, but we know a lot of musically […]
As we were talking with a prospective client about their marketing situation, it became evident that they did not recognize the difference between "marketing" and "advertising." Unfortunately, using these terms interchangeably is a common mistake, especially where the healthcare provider or a key staff member is just beginning to tackle the apparent complexities of medical […]
Once upon a time ... as some stories begin...the care and feeding of a profitable ambulatory surgery center seemed blessed with a seamless, predictable and uninterrupted patient flow. At least that was the idea. Unfortunately, reality intrudes and things change. Today, there’s nothing easy or automatic. ASCs—both large and small—are challenged to constantly align capacity […]
Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain, is turning-up the heat in family practice marketing. It’s been ages since the corner “drug store” confined it’s offering to only pharmaceuticals. But about 350 Walgreens locations are now part of the changing competitive healthcare landscape and likely to be an increasingly important factor to consider in FP, GP, […]
How to take advantage of new opportunities to include TV ads in your marketing plan It is possible to control television production and media costs and still deliver a professional-quality message with strong results. TV may not be right for every healthcare marketing plan, but it's no longer out of reach. New media options, friendly […]
How to make your on-premise practice sign recruit new patients One of the best long-term marketing tools for any consumer-direct practice is, unfortunately, often neglected or under-utilized. It's easy to overlook the powerful effectiveness of an on-premise sign. And far and away, it can be the best Return-On-Investment (ROI) for your location. The main reason? […]
Healthcare practitioners ask us about budgeting more than any other single topic In fact, just this morning a dermatologist asked me how much money he should allocate to market his new dermatology / medi spa practice in Florida. It turns out there are three primary methodologies to establish a marketing budget.
In many respects, marketing a healthcare practice is not substantially different from marketing a small business in other industries. Basic business marketing principles that apply in other industries - including market and competitive research, strategic planning, budgeting, positioning, branding, marketing strategies, tactics, media options, public relations opportunities, implementation processes, tracking processes - also apply in […]
The number of "born losers" in healthcare practice marketing, advertising and promotion is roughly the same as the head-count of ants at a summer picnic-and just as welcome. These include putting your name, logo or ad on or in:
It's easier than you think to find a co-op friend in the neighborhood. Whether you are a physician, surgeon, dentist, physical therapist, optometrist, veterinarian or other healthcare professional, developing win-win relationships with nearby businesses is always a great marketing idea... and something we have been teaching for years. The trouble is, in the real world […]
Here's a familiar scenario. Someone in a rumpled suit drops by your office without an appointment. He tells your receptionist that he is selling a new and amazing marketing service for only $700. It is guaranteed to "get your name out there." But here's the catch: you've got to make a decision today, because if […]
How to link arms with a kindred healthcare practice for a win-win-win marketing success. Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of the parts—and so it goes with cost-effective cross promotion. With minimum time and expense, two or more healthcare entities can team-up for a healthy Return-on-Investment.
How to Avoid Looking Like "Plain Vanilla" Let's say a new family moves in a couple of blocks from your office, and the mother holds a gathering for her new neighbors. At the gathering she asks, "I'd like to find a first-rate doctor for my family. Is there anyone special here in town?" How many […]
In dental marketing, we’re passionate about knowing the source of new patients. It’s the clarity needed to drive a successful program and keep a bundle of marketing dollars from being wasted. These tracking principles also apply to many other healthcare professions. What troubled us recently in the results we reported from the State of Dental […]
Here's How We Develop Hospital Marketing Plans, Medical Marketing Plans and Dental Marketing Plans For Our Clients
How to protect your turf and keep from losing ground to the competition. We'll get right to the point.. If you're not geared up with a new or refreshed marketing plan in the starting blocks NOW for the first week in January, you've just given your competition a giant head start. And that's a fast-blast […]
No budget? Unrealistic budget? How to begin when the page is blank. Two different practitioners called us recently. Let's just describe them as smart and experienced doctors in different professions, in different parts of the country and on different ends of the promotional spectrum. They both were experiencing an "ah-hah moment" of personal insight and […]
"If you can get our phones to ring more often, we'll be happy campers!" It would be very hard to estimate how many times we've heard that request in our combined 30 years of healthcare marketing experience. Hundreds of times would be a conservative guess. "Get people to call us and we can take it […]
Editor's note: This article is the first of a two-part series and covers how to CHOOSE a new practice location from a marketing point of view. At the conclusion of this article, we'll provide you a link to the second article, which covers how to PROMOTE your new location. "Location, location, location..." This wise old […]
Shouldn't you trust your practice marketing to two of America's top physician marketing and dental marketing experts Done properly, ethical marketing can grow your profits, attract patients who appreciate and can afford quality care, deliver the high-paying fulfilling cases you want and even enable you to have a life again. However, the stakes are far higher than […]
