Make No Mistake: Using Your First and Best Healthcare Marketing Tool

Perhaps you can relate to the experience of a colleague of ours. His observation is a healthcare marketing and advertising lesson of opportunity lost.

I frequently travel a main commercial street in our community…just one a thousands of local residents in vehicles on our way to or from the nearby post office, the drug store or whereveI was naturally curious about the purpose of a new building being constructed amid the other businesses on that street. After all, it’s close to home and local interest (by myself as well as friends and neighbors) grew as construction continued. But nobody—all prospective customers for whatever the new and convenient enterprise—had a clue if it would become a restaurant, a dry cleaner or a gift shop.

The minor mystery was solved when the last think built was an external sign revealing a new urgent care facility. The good news is that it’s a convenient and highly visible location among many doctor’s offices on that street. But from a marketing perspective, months of local, community and neighborhood awareness, and millions of impressions, were lost by putting up the signage last.

This quick story illustrates some of the reasons that an external sign is your first and best marketing tool for a new healthcare facility or for a medical office relocation.

• A new sign builds awareness even before you’re ready to open. Street traffic is often local residents, and there’s a natural curiosity about the neighborhood. Chances are a new sign was in the plan and the budget from the beginning, so put it to work first.

• External signs have a high Return-on-Investment. A quality sign is not inexpensive, but it has a long and tireless useful lifetime. It will serve you well for years once it’s on the job.

• Use a large temporary outdoor sign if necessary. If circumstances warrant, create an interim, “coming soon” banner until the permanent sign has been fabricated or installed.

For more healthcare marketing guidance on making your on-premises sign recruit new patients, read our article titled Seven Strategies for Maximum-Effective Office Signs. Make no mistake; a quality sign is usually the first, best and most enduring marketing tool to consider.

Stewart Gandolf, MBA