Med Marketing Solutions

UV Photos and Marketing

One of the tools my clients have successfully used to market their aesthetic med spa services has been complimentary UV Skin analysis photos with a consultation. These photos help the client see sun damage before it is visible to the naked eye. This is helpful for many reasons it:
- identifies problem areas and helps the clinician specify treatment
- makes the "invisible" damage real to the client, so they will take care of it sooner
- sets a baseline for treatment so you can do a new scan after aggressive treatment to show progress
- provides a free service that gets the client in your door to experience your med spa

Of course, you need to let people know about this service. Here's a print ad my partners Kim Allie and Steve Allie, and I did for our client Dermatology Associates of West Michigan. It sells the advantage and shows the benefit to get the readers attention. We also backed this up with a radio campaign. When followed through with correctly at the consultation, you will most likely have about a 90% - 98% sell though rate of product and/or services. This is particularly good for helping clients see why they need Fraxel or Palomar 1540 Fractional resurfacing treatments and also for showing them the bottom line measurable  results (they will be very evident if a full treatment course is completed). 

Accelerating Change from General to Cosmetic Services

Building a medical practice offering cosmetic procedures requires a different set of rules than traditionally followed. This is primarily due to the fact that your patients are not going to be reimbursed by their insurance company and you're fulfilling a "want" rather than a "need". This kind of environment makes marketing extremely important. Here's some points to keep in mind when you are planning for the future:
- The competition will be steep, so it's important to stand out and be perceived as the best. Competing with price is usually a strategy we don't recommend for physicians.
- Everyone wants in on the action so if you want to do this, be committed and include marketing in your budget.
- If you have an established practice, don't plan on your existing patient base to support the new cosmetic services, you will probably need to expand your base.
- Effective marketing can totally change your game. A general dentist we work with was able to make very significant progress towards converting to cosmetic dentistry within three months of his ad campaign launching. The new cases he booked more than paid for the ad campaign and he is handling more cosmetic cases than ever.
- I can't overstate how important it is to have an exceptional website. This is your gateway to more effective advertising. And, it's the first place patients are going to look to see how good you are.
- The perception you create in your advertising, print materials, signage, etc. will be your target market's reality. So, it's important that the perception created is a great one.

If you are making a big investment in equipment, training and/or facilities, it's equally important to plan on marketing this investment sooner, rather than later. I can't even begin to tell you how often I hear from physicians that say they will call me back for marketing help "when business picks up and I can afford it," only to get a call months later when the practice is in trouble and needs help fast. The sad reality that when you can afford it least, is when you need marketing the most. Fortunately, when done right the benefits from the results usually far outweigh the initial cost of marketing.

Marketing A New Practice

I've had many physicians tell me they felt tremendously under prepared in the area of marketing their practice when graduating from medical school. Although this is not a topic that can be completely covered in one posting, what I can do is give you some guidance. First off, read all the posts on this website, you will start to understand the complexities of marketing from a mainstream perspective, rather than the "traditional" practice marketing routes.

Pharmaceutical companies have recognized this can be a very effective way to go and have experienced phenomenal success when they bypassed the "gatekeeper", that would be you, and went direct to the consumer. What I am suggesting is that you borrow some of their techniques in the marketing of your own practice. I'll go into detail in an upcoming post. In the meantime, some of the essentials that you need to budget for include:
1) Logo and brand identity (colors you will use, typeface for materials)
2) Letterhead, envelopes, window envelopes, business cards, folder, appointment cards
3) Letter and press release announcing your new practice
4) Website that brands your practice and provides a reason to call you
5) Identifying your target markets and having a marketing strategy to reach them
6) Creative campaign to reach your target market as identified in #5
7) A promotional brochure

Advertising and marketing does work, but when you have not figured into the overall budget for starting a new practice it can be shocking. The good news is that in the long run, a solid marketing and ad campaign can get your practice off to a better start, bring in needed revenue faster, and more than pays for itself in the long run.

Untapped Referral Sources

Think different if you would like to tap into new referral sources. For example, orthodontists, dentists, oral surgeons and periodontists all used to refer patients back and forth amongst themselves. They still do, but new technologies and the reality of dental insurances covering less and less procedures has blurred treatment lines among dental professionals. As this trend continues, referrals from traditional sources are diminishing.

An alternative is to market to physicians, due to the fact that dental health can be tied to a lot of medical conditions. In Southwest Michigan there is a publication called the Southwest Medical Journal, it reaches physicians all over the region, carries a lot of credibility and isn't cluttered with ads from the completion. With the right kind of ad, this publication would be a serious contender for a media buy to generate dental field referrals. This is just one example, I'll be talking about more new ways of thinking in future posts. Are there any similar publications in your area that you should be considering? Think it over.

Healthcare Blog Survey

Envision Solutions, LLC and the Medical Blog Network is conducting the first global study of healthcare bloggers. Why should you care? Because blogging is the hottest growing communications trend and it's going to be big in healthcare in the coming years.

If you're a healthcare blogger, please consider taking part in the survey, the deadline is September 29. Results will be released at the Healthcare Blogging Summit 2006, taking place in Washington D.C. on December 11.

Competing With Your Referral Sources?

Doctors of all kinds, but particularly specialists, are finding that they can't rely on business coming from the same old places. This is because they are increasingly finding that they are in a position of competing with the very practices that used to send them patients.

For example:
- Dentists are performing more and more procedures traditionally done by oral surgeons and periodontists.
- OB/GYN's, family practice docs and internists offer self pay services such as BOTOX, laser hair removal and skin treatments traditionally done at the dermatologist.
- Physician groups are banding together to create mega practices that keep referrals within their system.

Rather than doing the same old thing and hoping for the best, be creative and go for your patients in new ways.

Ask yourself these questions:
- Where are my "perfect" patients?
- What is the most efficient way I can reach them?
- Who has these patients in common with me that I can cross market with?
- What are my other potential referral sources?
- How can I get them in my office to see what I have to offer?
- What can I provide that will be unique and distinguish me from my competitors (even my old referral sources that are offering the same services).

If you are totally honest when answering these questions, you will probably find that you are faced with a dilemma, potentially ticking off your traditional referral sources. You will need to ask yourself if it is worth it. Consider this though, as more and more doctors are competing for the same pool of patients, specialists are going to be left "holding the bag" with the most complicated cases and fixing botched work... both of which increase liability for the specialist while potentially reducing practice revenue.

Yellow Page Advertising

The deadline for Yellow Pages advertising is rapidly approaching for the region I live in and WoWie ZoWie am I glad it only comes up once a year! It never ceases to amaze me the high pressure tactics used by some sales people. One of our reps kept insisting that our client would be making a HUGE mistake if they did not continue to invest what amounted to 80% of their entire marketing budget exclusively on Yellow Pages products.

Things have changed for yellow pages advertisers and you'll be better off if you to weigh your options and not fold under high pressure tactics. Here's some pointers to get the most from your yellow pages advertising:

1. Try to buy advertising from only one yellow pages book, and find out which one is the most popular for your area by calling around and asking other area businesses which book has worked best for them. In most parts of the country the Ameritech book is most popular.

2. Start with purchasing small 1HS ads in every category you need to be in and list your website. Also, buy a bold listing with an added line for your website in the white pages. Then, possibly consider purchasing an additional ad, no larger than a 1/3 page (like the ad shown to the left for our client Dermatology Associates of West Michigan), 4-color for the most important Yellow Pages heading. If you decide to do this, keep the copy very minimal and prominently feature your web address.

3. Next, get the most cost effective solution offered for YellowPages.com that will link to your website from the Yellow Pages website and improve your rankings in the search engines. Ameritech offers this as part of their overall package.

4. Lastly, consider being in the small Yellow Pages book if they have this in your market, but only if you can get in there for a really, really good deal.

There are several standard selling/pressure techniques that may be used on you, to help you be prepared, I'm going to tell you what they are:

1. "You're going to lose your position in the book and your competitor's ad will be ahead of yours."

2. "You built your business on Yellow Pages advertising and not having a prominent presence there is taking a big risk."

3. Selling you "up the ladder", by continuing to add to your buy every time you agree to their terms.

4. Playing you against your competitors and trying to get you to buy a bigger ad than theirs.

5. Wearing you down with long, confusing contracts, terms and meetings.

6. Telling you that if you are not prominent in YellowPages.com no one will be able to find you.

Are you worried? You shouldn't be. The truth is that the Yellow Pages are a valuable resource that in most cases should represent a fraction of an effective advertising program. In my opinion, the phone book and Yellow Pages.com should be used so customers can easily find your phone number and web address when responding to your other advertising.

CDC Marketing Resources

Well, it's official if you had any doubt about the importance of health care marketing consider the fact that the U.S. government's CDC now has a health marketing website. The site covers a wide variety of topics and even includes a BLOG from the director, Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH. Check it out, it has some helpful tools.

Consider Getting Help with Your Media Buys

Sometimes my health care clients will make statements about marketing that make me wonder where they formed their opinion. Recently, a very intelligent, creative and open-minded client of ours noted to me that "Radio advertising doesn't work." I could tell this wasn't up for discussion so I didn't review with him all the reasons why I thought he was wrong. I imagine he based this opinion on a past experience we were not involved in, or his own preferences. He then proceeded to make a large media buy on TV that I would not have recommended, but I hope works out for him. I know we could have taken the same budget and reached 5x as many people and delivered a much tighter target market.

Flash forward to yesterday, when I received an email from a different health care client who has honored us with the responsibility to plan and place their media buys as well as develop their creative for the last five years. In the email this client mentioned several men had called their office that day to schedule consults because they had heard the commercials we were running for our client on the radio.

To fully appreciate what I'm saying here, you need to know that:
1. This was not an aggressive radio campaign.
2. There was no "Special" or "Discount" in the commercials.
3. The consults men were calling to schedule were for aesthetic procedures.

Many times doctors will place their own media buys thinking they will save money, but the opposite can be true. Ad agencies receive a 15% commission that is not usually not available for the client. Many agencies will count this commission as full compensation for their planning services. A knowledgeable media planner from an agency can save you a tremendous amount of money by weighing all the options and drawing from their experiences with other clients. An ethical media planner will also be less biased, they are not selling just one product like a radio, newspaper, TV or billboard rep is. An agency media planner will make the same amount regardless of the options they recommend. And, for the record, I'm not knocking the sales reps from radio, TV, etc. The majority of the reps I work with are fantastic, it's just a fact that they have less options to offer you.

So, does radio work? Yes, but only under the right circumstances. It takes the right station, at the right time, with the right message and the right frequency. Not everyone needs to get help, but if you are not highly experienced with planning and researching media please consider it like you would any other substantial investment in your future and seek professional assistance.

Constructive Criticism

When developing marketing materials it can be comforting to run preliminary designs past friends, family, staff, even patients for their feedback. The risk in doing so can result in what I call the "lowest common denominator syndrome". Everyone has different tastes and also, will want to help out by sharing how they think you can improve on what is being shown to them.

I recently had a client who ran her completed website past her entire staff, friends, and friends of friends. In our follow up meeting to go over "tweeks" and corrections to the website I was greeted  with a list 3 pages long that included a total redesign. Of these changes, approximately 80% of them would have created inconsistencies and resulted in a poor design. This is not the end result the client was looking for.

Here's some tips for obtaining useful feedback for your next project:
1. Prior to having a project produced, select adesign or ad agency you trust, determine your target market, the objectives for the project and the message you want delivered.
2. Solicit feedback from that target market.
3. Ask them what the message is they are getting from the project in question.
4. Tell the target market what you were trying to accomplish with the project and ask if they feel it achieved those goals.
5. Limit the number of people you question to 5 or less.
6. Involve people who will be delivering feedback in the planning stages of the project.
7. Be prepared to pay for changes if you don't follow the first six tips.

When done in moderation and with the right people feedback can help you gain valuable information that helps address an oversight. But, when it's taken to the extreme, it is usually costly and diminishes a project's success.

Following is an ad we did for one of our favorite clients, Dermatology Associates of West Michigan. They are extremely good at balancing constructive feedback without diminishing the effectiveness of their advertising.

06 Elections Could Bump Your Advertising

Other than getting tired of watching politicians attack each other in commercials, there's another reason why if you advertise you may tire of this year's political campaign. Here in Michigan, a wealthy  businessman has already begun an aggressive ad campaign to run for Governor. I discovered one of my client's had prime tv ads that were on the chopping block to be run at a later date. This was due to a lack of commercial inventory because political advertising had taken the commercial time I had carefully planned and booked 4 months ago.

This is how it works, regardless of when you placed your advertising, a politician can legally buy it out from under you, provided they will pay more, even if it's only a dollar. For those of you who plan on doing radio and/or television advertising before this year's elections, here's some advice:

1. Book your advertising now for the remainder of the year.

2. Contact your media reps and discuss not wanting to be bumped by political ads, this should at least help your chances of not being bumped.

3. Tell your reps that if you are bumped, you want to know in advance and expect "Make goods" and bonus spots to make up for the hassle of being bumped.

4. Know other mediia options in your marketplace that would be good back up plans and be ready to use them, this could include print, direct mail or alternate radio and tv stations.

I've found that taking these proactive steps can keep your advertising on track. As for my client, they were able to keep all but one of the commercial times we had booked for them. The one that was moved resulted in them getting a 2 for the price of one deal. Sweet.

Keeping the Staff Informed

The greatest ad campaign in the world can fall short if your staff is not adequately informed about  ongoing advertising. The last thing you want is customers calling into the office knowing more about your ads  than the  internal staff.

Here's a check list of information for the staff answering phone.
- Copy of ad creative.
- Copy of schedule for ad creative.
- Web address.
- Copy of current advertised special offers.

The staff should:
- Be reminded of which ads are running and where, at the beginning of each week.
- Be familiar with the website and refamiliarize with it when updated.
- Be prompted on techniques to convert calls to appointments (more on that in a future post).

If you do a fair amount of advertising, I recommend creating a binder to hold all of this information in an organized, easy to find place. These measures will help make your advertising dollars work better for you.

Online TV Advertising

Changes in technology that affect media delivery are dramatically changing the ways consumers receive their advertising. For example, beginning April 30, ABC will offer free ondemand viewing of their most popular shows with advertising that cannot be avoided. This is covered in more detail in a blog titled "And the required eyelid retractor does wonders for ad penetration" on the Good Morning Silicon Valley Blog.

Before spending your hard earned money on an advertising program, please make sure to consider new ways to reach patients in tandem with traditional advertising. I will be continuing to share information and ideas with you so you can stay informed about cutting edge advances in advertising.

MD News Marketing Article

M.D. News, a business and lifestyle magazine for physicians, ran a recent feature article on marketing medical practices . This attachment is from the Wisconsin issue of the article which was syndicated throughout the United States.     Check it out, included in the article is an interview between Kent Bottles, M.D. and myself. To read the 2 page article, just click on the images to read the documents.

Naming Your Website

Naming and buying a website domain can be challenging if you have never done it before. A website domain is the address line that is typed into a web browser to get to your website (for example: www.yourmedicalpractice.com).  Allie Design usually makes multiple name recommendations and purchases a number of domains for our medical clients. Here's a helpful checklist of .com domains you should try to acquire for your practice:
- The name of your practice.
- Your full name with and without "MD", "DO" or other credentials, and with and without your first name.
- An easy to remember name such as www.MySkinDoctors.com.

We use various places to register these domains, but if you would like to do it yourself, GoDaddy has reasonable rates ($8.95/yr.) and technical support. One caveat is that when you go to check out they will bombard you with special offers, we usually bypass all of the offers and proceed to the checkout. Always make sure to record your domains, where they are registered and all of your passwords and account names, it will make your life a lot easier when you proceed with a website.