Smart Marketing Starts with a Plan. . .
By Donna Maas

The game has changed. Either you’re going to change. . .or your practice is going to fade into an obscure mediocrity. Have you wondered why all those marketing schemes you have tried fall flat? It’s like playing with a football that is deflated. No matter how hard you try, that ball is just not going to fly. In fact, you can hear the rest of the air leaking out of it as it leaves your hand in mid launch. All the promises of glory, prosperity, people lined up at your door and around the corner come to marginal fruition at best. Well the reason it isn’t working is that the marketing/advertising game is changing. In fact, it already has changed. People are more sophisticated about sales techniques, messages, and media. The only thing that works consistently is a branding strategy, and branding is all about establishing trust.

Trust develops over time. This is true in relationships and it is true of marketing, more specifically advertising. All major advertisers employ a branding strategy. Branding is what made McDonald’s, Subway, Levi’s. . .and the Dental Industry

. . . and the plastic surgery industry. The most important part is that they are consistent. When you go into McDonald’s everything has their name on it. There is the sign, the shape of the building, the bags, boxes and spoons. Even the food now holds a logo. Take a look at McGriddles sometime. Not only products, but services and professions, like the dental profession, have been successful in changing whole industries and the public’s perception of the industry.

Now how did they do this and what is branding? In marketing, an important saying is that “Perception is reality.“ So it is important to create that professional “reality” in all that you communicate. Branding is creating a familiarity, the comfortable feeling of a friend or safety and trust. When you brand yourself as a chiropractor, every time a person sees your name or the name of your clinic they should have a crafted impression of you. . . the image that you want to project.

A strategy has to start with a plan, and a branding plan should be the first step to effectively marketing your practice. You wouldn’t open a business without a business plan and you shouldn’t even buy one ad or create a logo without first having a branding plan. It is the bench mark that all of your marketing communications should be consistent with. It is your core corporate identity, your message.

Write down the things that you want to communicate.

1. Start with your philosophy and mission.

2. Move to the objectives that individual marketing pieces, TV ads, print ads, web site, etc should meet.

3. The core message. It should be consistent with your philosophy and mission, but use touchy-feely words. You are really promoting . . .”Come to me and I will help you get well.” How are you going to say this? Think of trigger words: help, hope, caring, healing, health, remove interference and the body heals itself, etc. Please leave out the resume and text book information. . .it is too much information for most people to process. And when it comes down to it, they don’t care. Talk to them, their problem and their solution to their problem. The resume and text book stuff should be saved for patient education in your office.

The next part of a branding strategy is the execution of the branding plan. Now I am an advocate of employing a professional marketing person to pick up the ball at this point. They will save you money, and maximize your efforts and results. Just as you are trained in the subtleties of adjusting to affect big changes, a specialized marketing person is experienced in reaching your target market with deadly accuracy, pushing all the right buttons, and keeping you consistent. They will also free you up to execute your passion. . .helping people get well.

It is important to know the two types of marketing philosophies that can be employed. They are the parents to virtually all other types of advertising or modes of advertising. Over the past, Lead generation has dominated the marketing arena for chiropractors. Lead generation is anything that goes after individuals. . .painfully contacting one by one. Coupons, telemarketing, and other similar forms fall into this category. It is like a farmer who goes out in the field and picks berries, let’s just say cherries off the tree

. . .one by one. . .lovingly! He will only ever have enough to feed his family. When lead generation is employed two things happen. It tends to put you in the same league as pest control providers, dry cleaners, or vinyl siding installers, and as soon as you’re out of their presence (with your one impression) you are as good as gone, and in their minds,. . .gone for good.

The second type is professional marketing employing a strong branding strategy. You get in front of them and you stay in front of them consistently. There are great low cost options to reach your target market and stay in the game. Explore all your options before you make any big decisions. For example, television is an often overlooked solution. It offers a great option to achieve both reach and frequency.

A topic on branding and projecting an image wouldn’t be complete without a mention of ethics and professionalism. Your materials should exude the quality of an educated professional. Bad advertising affects the whole profession adversely. There are a lot of companies selling products that promise you the world. If they don’t check out, run for your life. . .with your money in hand.

Professional advertising is like a shaker, going into the richness of a sun drenched orchard. It grabs the tree, shakes it for all it’s worth and all the ripe cherries fall into the net. . .thousands of them at a time. It employs both an art and a science, not just a feeling of “Well let’s try this. . .my friend did this and it worked for him.” With the health care industry in crisis, the orchard is ripe. It’s time for all chiropractors to be out there shaking the trees!

Article Copyright 2007 Educate for Health, LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.

For questions concerning Branding call 616.340.7625

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