Healthcare Creative Blog - Information About Healthcare Branding, Healthcare Marketing & Healthcare Websites

Tips for Email Marketing

Gwen Canfield — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 20:42:29 +0000

From the daily onslaught of email spams and newsletters filling inboxes, you would think that email marketing is losing its punch. Email marketing is not dead, but a thriving medium for healthcare organizations today.

Organizations today are finding email marketing attractive for several reasons:

The cost of sending a direct mail piece by postal service runs over a dollar, email marketing can cost pennies.
A one percent response rate from direct mail is considered terrific. An email marketing campaign can have a five to ten percent response rate.
According to DoubleClick’s Email Consumer Study, over 78% of online shoppers have purchased because of permission-based emails and 59% of email recipients have bought in a retail store as a result of a merchant email.
The benefits of email marketing range from increased sales and lead generation to stronger brand awareness and improved client relationships.

Instruments of Email Marketing

Email marketing is immediately associated with personalized bulk mailings, and possibly newsletters. A complete email marketing strategy can consist of more marketing instruments, however:

Individual replies to customer requests
Newsletters (both with original content and supporting a Web site)
Personalized mailings
Public mailing lists (for market research, support, etc.)
Autoresponders
Networking (participating in forums, discussion lists, fairs,…)
Web site

Of course, all email activities should also be in line with the overall marketing strategy.

Create A Clear “Call To Action”

Sometimes, I get newsletters and marketing messages via email that have everything except a clear call to action. They’re beautifully designed, a joy to read, and they get me in the mood to do something — if only I knew what the sender expects me to do. I don’t know where to click, what link to follow, where to order… or sign up…. or who to call for more information.

One of the crucial elements of an email marketing campaign is a clear call to action.

Lay out exactly what you want the recipients of your message to do, and
Design the message to make that path clear for the recipient, and easy to follow.

Don’t distract with too many links or offers, and make not only the call to action clear but also what recipients can expect when they click through. This can be as simple as “Click here for a 20% discount on your next weekend trip.”

Frequency

How often is too often? How often is not often enough? Your subscribers know best how frequently they want to hear from you. They’ll let you know by means of unsubscribing. To prevent that, consider asking them for a perfect frequency, test heavily, and maybe ask those who unsubscribe for their reason.

To get started, consider this rule of thumb, though:

Everything less often than at least every other month is not often enough. People will forget about you, and the surprise of an email from you showing up after a year will probably result in a surprise unsubscription.
Everything more often than once a week is too often unless your subscribers specifically agreed more frequent mailings. People will get tired and annoyed by your emails, and unsubscribe even if they like your content.

Reflect Your “Corporate Design”

Your email marketing strategy as a whole must be an integrate part of the overall marketing strategy. Similarly, the design (and the content) of your newsletter or email marketing campaign should reflect your corporate design. Your business “corporate design” or your business “brand” is the professional “look and feel” of all your marketing materials (print & online).

Ensuring that your emails reflect your corporate design ensures that recipients can make a connection between the emails and the sender’s other marketing collateral (even if it’s only a Web site). The company image and the image created by the email marketing efforts can interact and maybe strengthen each other.

If the email marketing does not reflect the corporate design, this can have a bad effect not only on the success of the email campaign, but also on the image of the company as a whole. In the subconscious minds of your audience, design consistency in your marketing materials = professionalism and trustworthiness.

Need some help with your email campaigns?

Healthcare Creative provides a powerful email marketing tool called KeyMail. KeyMail allows you to send e-mail “blasts,” campaigns, and newsletters to hundreds or thousands of customers with speed and ease. It also provides statistical analysis allowing you to view detailed breakdowns of your email campaigns’ effectiveness.

KeyMail allows you to create and send your own email campaigns using a professionally designed “stationery” that we create for you (includes header and footer banners with your logo). Don’t have the time to create email campaigns or newsletters? — Leave it to us! Healthcare Creative can access your KeyMail account, design a custom email campaign, and then deploy it for you.

Monthly packages or “pay as you go” plans are available. For more information, call Healthcare Creative at 615-945-9296. Or, send an email to Gwen Canfield: gwen@healthcarecreative.net. To learn more about us, visit www.healthcarecreative.net.

Direct Mail’s Deadly Sins

Gwen Canfield — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:09:21 +0000

Article by Apryl Duncan (www.about.com)

How much junk mail do you receive each day? Do you read it? Toss it?
Now put yourself in the shoes of your direct mail recipients. Avoid direct mail deadly mistakes or your materials will end up in the trash too.

Know Your Audience

Before you even begin to put your direct mail campaign together, you’ve got to know who your target audience is. Are they women? Parents? Young? Old? Understand what motivates them. What are their likes and dislikes? Write as if you’re talking to them. And even use terms these types of people would use.

Build A Good Mail List

All the fancy graphics and the most beautifully created sentences in the world won’t do you a bit of good if you don’t carefully select the people on your mailing list. If you’re selling adult diapers, you want to target senior citizens…not 23-year-olds.

Tighten your mailing list as much as possible to be sure it’s tailored to your needs. It’s tough to make people believe they need your services and even harder to convince them they need it now. But if you’ve researched your list, you have a higher chance of hitting potential clients instead of the trash can.

Define Your Objectives

You’ve made your list and checked it twice, so-to-speak. It’s the perfect list. Now it’s time to write. Define your objectives before you start writing. Stay focused and hit the points of your objective. If you get off track, your reader is going to stop reading.

The Headline

Spend a lot of time on your headline. Just remember how you feel when reading mail that comes to you. After you read that headline, do you keep reading? The headline can make or break your direct mail campaign.

Convince Them

Develop compelling content. Hook your reader with all of the benefits of using your services. By the time they get to the end, they should be saying, “I’m going to call and make an appointment!”

Success! Your potential client read all the way through your mailing. Now what?

A Call To Action

Did you tell the reader what you want them to do? Your readers need a call to action. Tell them to send in the card, call you, etc. Then tell them again.

Once your direct mail is ready to go, test several smaller mailings before sending out a huge chunk. Test each of these mailings by changing a few items when you send them out. Have two or more sales letters you test against each other. By testing, you will find out which of those mailings are bringing in more responses and – hopefully – more orders. Stick with the clear winners. Remember the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Hire A Designer

Finally, do NOT design the mail piece yourself. Leave it to a professional. A graphic designer can help ensure that your direct mail piece is eye-catching, concise, and “speaks” to your target audience — all essential attributes to an effective piece that stands out from the clutter.

Direct mail is a waste of money for a lot of people. But it doesn’t have to be for you. Understanding direct mail deadly mistakes — and avoiding them — will lead you to sales success!

Call us now for help with your direct mail piece.

Call Healthcare Creative now at 615-945-9296 to discuss design of your next direct mail piece or email newsletter. Or, send an email to Gwen Canfield: gwen@healthcarecreative.net. To see samples of our work, visit www.healthcarecreative.net. Postcard at top of article designed by Healthcare Creative – seminar invitation for Periodontal Care Center in Hendersonville, TN.

The Business of Medicine Conflict

Gwen Canfield — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 21:03:32 +0000

There is an intellectual conflict that is fairly common among medical practices and healthcare providers; The Business of Medicine Conflict.

THE CONFLICT - Marketing Viewed As Distasteful
Healthcare providers rightly feel that their primary purpose is the provision of medical services. Conflict however seems to arise from the idea that providing care is their only purpose and that attending to the details necessary to successfully provide this care, namely promotion and advertising of the practice, is not only unnecessary – but actually contrary to the ideals of practicing medicine.

Healthcare providers operate on a classic fee-for-service business model, however it can distasteful to some physicians to view their “care” as a “business”.

This fundamental business/medicine conflict underlies poor business and marketing decisions that negatively impact the success many healthcare practices:

No Advertising – “We provide excellent care – people find us by word of mouth.”
Insufficient Marketing Budget – “Advertising cuts into our bottom line.”
Weak Practice Branding – “I’m a physician, not a product.”

THE REALITY – Patient’s Choice Depends on Their Perception
From an emotional viewpoint these statements are understandable – they stem from a common desire by the physician to view their work as something unique that should be recognized on it’s own merits. The pragmatic reality however is that medical care is almost entirely a commoditized service; outside of instances of medical malpractice, there is very little to differentiate one physician’s care versus any other’s.

In the end a patient’s choice of one physician over another often comes down to a name in the phonebook, the results of an online search, or personal recommendations from friends and family. It is the patient’s perception of the healthcare provider that governs their decision.

Healthcare Marketing – A Tasteful Approach
Based on experiences with the coercive tactics of pharmaceutical companies, it’s perhaps not surprising that many physicians view advertising as distasteful. Advertising however takes many forms and there is an important distinction to be made between manipulating public perception and simply publicizing an honest and useful service. (Article written by Marshall Clark)

Are you a healthcare organization wishing to promote your services in a tasteful and professional way? Call Healthcare Creative at 615-945-9296 for a free consultation. We’re a Nashville-area graphic design firm specializing in healthcare branding. Call us today, or email Gwen Canfield: gwen@healthcarecreative.net. To see samples of our work, visit www.healthcarecreative.net. We look forward to collaborating with you on your next project!

Healthcare Publicity: 3 Steps to Getting Free Press Coverage

Gwen Canfield — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:44:06 +0000

Ever wonder what the difference is between advertising and publicity?

Simply put, publicity is free. Advertising costs money.

In other words, if a newspaper writes a news article about you (but doesn’t charge you), that’s publicity. If the newspaper charges you for the space (even if it is in article format), then the message just became advertising.

Wouldn’t we all like a little publicity – or “free press” – now and then…just to “get our name out there” a bit…help build reputation and recognition…and attract prospective patients?

Sounds easy enough…nice payoff…so where to start?

Before someone starts wordsmithing a quick news release from the top of their head, this quest does not begin with you or your practice – at least not yet. The first and most important insight is that getting the publicity that you want – good, effective publicity – depends entirely on being able to help the news media get what they want.

In other words, your story has to be newsworthy and relevant to your target media outlets’ readers, viewers and/or listeners.

Keep in mind that “free publicity” is a bit of a misnomer. It’s seldom easy, never automatic, and the required investment will be careful and thoughtful research, plus a healthy pinch of creativity. What’s more, if you really want to maximize your chances of getting proper exposure, you may need to hire a professional publicist to get your message out, and publicists are definitely not free.

Begin with two important inventory steps. Make two lists…and the match between the first list and the second list is where you’ll find (or make) opportunity for publicity.

#1 MEDIA INVENTORY

Chart all possible media that touch the people you want to reach. Start by brainstorming to find relevant media. In addition to the obvious local daily newspaper, magazine and/or broadcast outlets, include community weeklies, ethnic or special interest publications, regional, monthly or quarterly magazines, hospital or association newsletters, etc.

In this process, also identify appropriate sub-categories. For example, a newspaper or magazine may have a designated section, editor, reporter or periodic edition for “medical” or “healthcare” – or perhaps for “science,” “consumer,” or “healthy living.” Look at several editions to recognize what each media outlet favors and whose name is on the “by-line” or section. Identify as many people as possible by category, section, topic or interest.

It’s no secret that the purpose of any commercial media is to attract an audience – and it’s these readers or viewers that the advertisers want to target. So, if the media appeals to an “up-scale” audience, or a “Smallville/Main Street” audience, your best chance of successful publicity will be to tap into their goal.

#2 PERSONAL INVENTORY & POSSIBLE “HOOK” IDEAS

Now look for ideas that help the media. Take an inventory of your own strengths, special knowledge or other ideas that might be of interest to the media’s audience.

You may or may not personally be part of this audience, so focus on their point of view. Look beyond the obvious, be inventive (within reason) and create a list of possible “hooks” or “angles.” What might be attention-getting or unusual? Consider:

What is legitimately the first, newest, latest or unique?
Do you have a new way to solve a problem?
An insight to an emerging trend or something of benefit to a large number of people.
A story that is truly heart-warming, tear-jerking or emotionally compelling.
Is there a celebrity angle? …a “hero” angle? …an unusual hobby angle?
Can you provide expert commentary about a timely topic?
Do you know a local angle to a national item?
Are you an expert, author, inventor or credentialed authority?
Can you create a newsworthy event?

#3 CROSS REFERENCE “WHAT THEY WANT” WITH “WHAT YOU’VE GOT”

Brainstorm many possible topics…narrow to several…and refine the best two or three possibilities. The refinement step will also take into consideration the needs and interests of the specific reporter, editor or producer. And that’s the person to whom you will make your pitch.

It’s likely that you’ll find a match, but you may have to drill down and be a bit inventive to carefully make the match between what they want and what you’ve got. And when you do, that’s where your opportunity for free publicity begins.

That’s how the game starts. But there’s much more to winning publicity as well as planning, public relations, advertising, promotion, strategic thinking and effective execution for practice development.

Winning at the publicity game is challenging. Give us a call today at (615) 945-9296 and we’ll be happy to help you grow your organization. Healthcare Creative partners with some of the best PR strategists in the business, and can assist you with public relations planning, advertising, promotion, strategic thinking and effective execution. To learn more about Healthcare Creative, and view our portfolio, visit www.healthcarecreative.net.

5 Ways To Bring Traffic To Your Website Without Spending A Dime

Gwen Canfield — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:45:54 +0000

Your website can, and should be, one of the top ways you bring patients into your practice. That can be a pretty bold statement for someone who doesn’t use the internet very much or doesn’t get ANY new business from the internet.

Many practitioners tell us that most of their clients come from referrals. That is exactly how it should be – word of mouth referrals should be your number one way to attract new patients. Your website should be number two. No matter what industry you are in, the fact is that most consumers are searching for health related information online.

In fact, 86% of online adults are searching for health related information an average of six times a month. Is your practice reaching this online healthcare consumer? If you’re not sure, here’s where you start…

The first step is to have a professional website that meets some of the basics for attracting patients.

Your contact information is readily accessible from all pages.
Your website has a professional look and feel, with a logo/brand that patients will remember.
You clearly educate visitors on who you are and what you do… the basics.

After fulfilling “the basic” needs, your goal is to create ongoing methods for attracting visitors to your site. One easy way to do that is to have your site changing all the time. Search engines like Google are attracted to sites that change frequently rather than sites that are put up and then stay static for several years. So if someone with poor vision goes to Google and types in “eye care Tennessee” your website will pop up. Here are five easy and inexpensive ways to make this happen:

1) Write short articles about “pains” your patients experience and how your services help them. For example, if you are an acupuncturist you may write a short article (400-800 words) that talks about how acupuncture can cure migraines. Or how acupuncture can help with infertility issues is that is your specialty. Post each of these article on your website with a short “about the author” section at the bottom. This section should have a short description about your practice, a link to your website, and contact information. Also, consider putting your logo on the article somewhere. Post these articles on your website, creating a new web page each time.

2) Leverage the articles you’ve written by distributing them across the internet. Distribute them to strategic newsletters and websites that your target audience reads. You can also use subscriptions services that distribute to hundreds of online newsletters and portals such as www.submityourarticle.com.

3) Write press releases and post them through some of the free services online. You may be able to take some of the information from articles you’ve written and turn them into a press release. Some of the free or inexpensive places to post press releases include www.prweb.com, www.press-base.com, and www.express-press-release.com. Also post the press releases you write to a “press” page on your website.

4) Start a blog and have it be a part of your website. By doing this every time you post to your blog, you will show a change or an update to your site – which the search engines like to see. When you start a blog you may get the option to have a stand-alone blog or one that is a part of your website. Choose the one that is part of your website. We use www.wordpress.com, but there are several other options out there.

5) Leaving comments on other people’s blog is also a great way to bring visitors to your site. Similar to finding newsletters your target market reads, finding blogs your target audience participates in can be just as lucrative – if not more so. Leave professional comments on these blogs and be sure to link back to your website. It’s amazing how many people are nosey and will check to see who you are. We recommend setting aside a certain amount so time for blogging each week, it’s easy to get carried away and blog too much. We recommend no more than one hour.

These are just a few of the ways to bring traffic to your website. In reality your website should be an always changing, consistent source of information and education for visitors. Your site should allows them to get to know you and what you stand for without taking a big “risk” and giving out their personal information. Are you getting the most out of your website?

Let Healthcare Creative help you ensure you’re getting the most out of your website. Call us at 615-945-9296, or send an email to Gwen Canfield. To see healthcare websites we’ve designed for practices in the Nashville and middle Tennessee area – visit our website at www.healthcarecreative.net. (Website pictured at top of article: AestheticsMD in Gallatin, TN (www.myaestheticsmd.com) designed Healthcare Creative.)

Brand Packaging: Are You Reflecting the Right Healthcare Image?

Gwen Canfield — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:20:23 +0000

Article by Laura Lake, About.com Guide

Branding is your identity in the marketplace. Is yours saying what it should? Your practice image is all about the appearance of your “packaging.” What is your practice image saying to the marketplace?

It’s important to realize that packaging always either has a negative or positive influence on the purchaser. A negative impression can detour a potential patient, just as a positive reaction can influence a patient to visit you. A time to pay special attention to your packaging is when you are in the launch of a “new” brand. If you’ve already built a strong brand that others recognize often people may not pay as close attention to the packaging.

How can you package your brand so that it is an integral part of your business and represents a strong identity? Keep in mind that I am not speaking of packaging as only a box that contains a product, but as a vehicle that reflects your practice’s brand and professional image. Packaging can be judged and represented by the following common business tools:

LOGO
BUSINESS CARDS & STATIONERY
BROCHURES
WEBSITE
ANSWERING SYSTEM
EMAIL ADDRESS

What image are you putting across with these business tools that you use everyday? What are they saying about your company? Take a few moments and lets look at each one of these.

What are your business cards and stationery saying? Are they saying we are strong, we are confident, and we can succeed in helping you? Or does it reflect an image that says we are flimsy, our dynamics are minimal, and we will try but we cannot guarantee continuity?

What does your website say about your practice? Does it reflect professionalism, clarity, and show them that you respect and care about them? Or does your website confuse viewers, project an untrustworthy image of your practice and ultimately drive potential patients away?

What does your answering system and call return policy say about your practice? Does it say we are here to help and will do what it takes? Or is it putting across the message that you are too busy to cater to new patients, don’t care about their needs, and wish they would just quit calling?

What does your email address say about your practice? Is it easy to remember, and does it say something about you and your business? Or does it project a meaningless or generic emptiness? If you are using the email address doc@hotmail.com for your business dealings…………….it’s time to change!!!!!

As you can see all these things speak volumes about your image and they either strengthen or weaken your brand. Your image is all in the packaging. Would potential patients take a second look or is your message getting lost? If you thought these things were not worth the investment or didn’t matter, you were wrong. Patients will make assessments of your practice based on these things and while not always conscious, that patient appraisal says much about your practice, your attitude and your priorities.

Need some help with your healthcare brand? Call Healthcare Creative at 615-945-9296 for a free estimate on branding, logo, brochure or website design. Or, send an email to Gwen Canfield: gwen@healthcarecreative.net. To see samples of our work, visit www.healthcarecreative.net. (Website pictured at top-right of article: Distinctive Dentistry in Hendersonville, TN (www.taniahunterdds.com) designed Healthcare Creative.)

Effective Business Card Design

Gwen Canfield — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:30:42 +0000

One of the most critical decisions you’ll make regarding your business card is whether or not to add non-text elements such as a photo, your logo or additional graphics. How do you decide whether words or pictures are more effective use of the limited space on a business card?

The first step is to decide how your business cards will be used.
Where will your cards be distributed? When will you be handing them out? Who will be receiving them?

For example, some healthcare providers find it effective to prospect for new patients by plastering their business card on every bulletin board they can find. The business card is actually functioning as a miniature billboard. There’s no personal contact involved and the reader may have little (if any) knowledge of the featured business. Such a card needs to be colorful, easy to read, and very clear about the primary service and benefits. It also needs to serve as an introduction to your business’s “brand.” A professional eye-catching logo prominently displayed on your business card will draw attention and help you stand out from the clutter.

On the other hand, if your business cards will primarily be given to existing patients or to colleagues, you don’t need to waste precious space telling them what you do. They already know. Instead, they’re probably more interested in expanded contact information, maybe practice hours, additional locations or complementary services.

No matter what the purpose of your business card, a professional practice logo is a must. However, photos and other graphics need to be chosen according to the response you want from the typical person who’ll receive your card. Does the photo or graphic you have in mind help or hinder the purpose of your card? Will it be worth the space that it consumes on the card?

Here are some factors to consider about photos and colorful backgrounds in general.

The Advantages of Photos:

1) Build trust
Photos (”headshots”) are typically included on business cards in “relationship” businesses such as real estate, counseling and public speaking. They give prospects a non-threatening way to begin getting acquainted with you, which is especially helpful if you’re in a business that requires a great deal of trust or confidentiality.

2) Name/Face recognition
Additionally, a business card with your photo on it will help a new contact find you in a meeting. If you often make initial contact with someone on the phone or via email, sending them a card with your photo on it before you meet in person is a thoughtful gesture. A business card with a photo is also helpful if you have a unisex name (such as “Pat” or “Chris”) or a name that would be completely unfamiliar to the recipient.

3) Add color and interest to an otherwise boring card.
And don’t forget that a photo can be more than a headshot; you can show how your product/service works, or give a “before-and-after” illustration.

The Disadvantages of Photos:

1) It’s human nature to pre-judge
Unfortunately, people make judgments based on the way we look. Your race, gender, age, attire and even the expression on your face may influence someone’s choice to contact you. Perhaps negatively. It’s human nature to judge other people, be it consciously or subconsciously.

2) Your photo “dates” you
Your hairdo, your clothing, those doggoned wrinkles (or lack thereof) … If you don’t make new cards often, with updated photos, you can actually hurt your business.

Old photo = Cards not given out very often = Not much demand for your business = Maybe they ought to go elsewhere.

3) Photography is expensive
If you plan to include your picture, don’t skimp on this one. The quality of the photograph can make or break your design no matter how trustworthy or attractive you look. Check your local yellow pages for professional photography services and determine which offers the best value.

Logos and Other Graphics
A professionally designed logo adds distinction, eye appeal, and can effectively “make” or “break” an otherwise ho-hum business card. A good logo helps a patient both relate to your practice and to build TRUST… an invaluable asset for healthcare. Generic clipart may actually hurt your business. Prospects might wonder why you can’t afford quality artwork and may question if you’re in business for the long haul.

Meaningless graphics (such as monogrammed initials) may add distinction to your card, but they don’t convey information or give prospects a reason to call you. Which would be more important to you — fluff or valuable information?

Color and Professional Custom Design
Adding color is probably the single most effective way to add appeal to your card, but you don’t want the text and the background to compete with each other. Hiring a professional graphic designer to create your logo and business card will ensure that the design is eye-catching, appealing and most importantly… effective.

Balance is the key. Work with your designer to create a design with a smaller or less complex image when you have a lot of words to include on your card. When you can safely use a larger or more colorful image without reducing legibility, do that instead.

By following these guidelines, and working closely with your designer, you will be well on your way to creating a business card that not only looks good, but fullfills it’s purpose of effectively promoting your practice.

Let Healthcare Creative guide you through the effective business card design process. You will love the results!
Call Gwen Canfield at 615-945-9296. To see business cards we’ve designed for practices in the Nashville area and middle Tennessee – visit our website at www.healthcarecreative.net.

What Is A Brand?

Gwen Canfield — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:43:20 +0000

A lot of the physicians and dentists we’ve worked with over the years were initially skeptical about the concept of branding, and that’s understandable. After all, when you get right down to it, a lot of marketing people are fuzzy about the concept.

It turns out that many marketers are guilty of focusing solely on the communication aspect of branding, and forget entirely about the underlying product, which is more important. Even the slickest advertising won’t save bad products. (Remember all those funny ads a few Super Bowls ago when well-funded, and now defunct, Internet companies advertised products which no one needed?)

To add to the confusion, various authorities, such as marketing academia, consultants, and texts, all have slightly different definitions for branding. These include:

“A singular idea or concept that you own inside the mind of a prospect.”
“The primary focus of your brand message must be on how special you are. “
“You’re just anybody without your identity.”
“Customers must recognize that you stand for something.”

The two best ones we’ve seen are:

“A brand is the total experience that a customer has with your product, service or company.”
“A brand is delivering on a promise … consistently.”

The good news… and the really good news for doctors

Branding has long been pervasive in business, and it now extends to people (e.g., Oprah Winfrey, Jerry Seinfeld, Tiger Woods, Martha Stewart). These savvy individuals know they have to be different to stand out from the crowd. However, branding is not very common in private healthcare practices. Surprisingly, a large percentage of healthcare practices simply don’t use branding to establish and reinforce a specific reputation in their market.

So the good news is that most of your professional colleagues are not trying to brand their practices. The even better news is that the practice that successfully brands itself will take a head-and-shoulders, standout lead above the competition. Positive differentiation is the whole idea.

In service industries, including healthcare, effective branding is about the entire experience and relationship that patients have with you and your team. When you communicate what makes you special, you are setting expectations – a direct or implied promise – that patients will get the benefit of your unique value each time they visit or call.

Critical brand-building points to consider:

Doctors (the seller) are likely to think in terms of equipment (technical sophistication, hardware) or clinical quality (skill level, training, peer reputation). But the public (the buyer) values service (access, amenities, ease of scheduling) and value-added items (product or service differentiation).

Effective branding communicates to the tastes, attitudes, and sensibilities of the buyer, not the seller. And the wants and needs of the buyer (patient) are mainly rooted in results: improved appearance, a healthy body, self-esteem, and perhaps confidence in good health. Think benefits.

It’s important to dentify a value-added edge over the competition. What is highly unique about your practice that delivers value to the patient over and above whatever else is available in the marketplace? Whatever issue we choose to compete upon, it needs to be the one thing that best characterizes the experience, and has to be the centerpiece for everything you do and say about the practice.

Be willing to offend someone. By definition, your positioning must be unique; therefore, you cannot be everything to everyone. The challenge will be to appeal to many, while recognizing that your positioning cannot be universal. Being everything to everyone is not unique, and that’s the same as vanilla.

Guard your brand zealously within your office. Once you’ve created your brand, you should beware of the trap of carrying the message banner for others. For example, one of the authors of this article recently looked up from the dental chair and noticed a poster on the ceiling advertising a national whitening treatment. Since the manufacturer’s less expensive over-the-counter version is available at every grocery store in town, we hope the manufacturer at least sends the dentist a thank you note.

Deliver a consistent patient experience. People prefer consistent quality to nasty surprises, and a brand isn’t really a brand if the practice doesn’t deliver a consistent, high quality experience. That’s why it’s easy to understand why budget-minded American students traveling through Europe often pass on local fare to eat at McDonald’s. Remember, just a few negative experiences can blow your brand credibility and betray the trust you’ve worked so hard to build.

Deliver consistent branded communications. In addition to delivering consistent in-office experiences, you must effectively communicate your brand message at every marketing opportunity. This means your Yellow Pages ad, website, brochures, etc… all with a consistent, professional look and feel.

Call us now and we’ll build your brand

When you create a powerful practice brand, you’ll attract the patients, cases, and referrals that you want. Deliver your branding message consistently, and your reward will be consistent profit growth.

Call Healthcare Creative now at 615-945-9296 for a free quote on branding, brochures, logos, website design and more. To see samples of our work, visit www.healthcarecreative.net.

Tune Up Your Website

Gwen Canfield — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:18:06 +0000

Think of the impression you’d make if the magazines in your exam room were three years old. “This practice isn’t paying attention,” patients might mutter. “Are they this lax when they take care of patients?”

Well, an out-of-date practice website makes a bad impression, too. Dr. Jones left last year, but his bio page is still posted. The list of health plans the group participates in is just as inaccurate. There’s no mention of a new satellite office, the fax number listed is defunct, and hyperlinks to patient education materials on other sites don’t work anymore. To top it all off, the physician’s brother in-law used a Yahoo web template to create the site five years ago. The design doesn’t exactly project a professional image to prospective patients.

In addition to fresh content your site may need periodic technical tweaks to work properly. The site’s HTML code, for example, needs to be compatible with the newest versions of all major web browsers. If your five year old site doesn’t jive with the latest browser versions, the photos with your bio may not appear, navigation tools may malfunction, or text may be garbled.

How you maintain a website largely depends on how it was created. If you created a site from scratch with online software or Dreamweaver, you can use the same software for updates and submit them to the company that hosts your site on its computer. However, a busy patient schedule may force basic housekeeping off your to-do list. And you may lack the expertise to handle coding changes for browser compatibility and search-engine success. The answer here is hiring an expert.

And that brings us to the best way that websites get created — farming out the job to a design firm. Such shops can perform maintenance chores as needed at an hourly rate ranging from $50 to $120. You also can negotiate a block of maintenance hours per year at a 5 to 15 percent discount. If you anticipate making changes only once a quarter, you might want to contract for eight hours per year.

If you want to update the website yourself on a weekly or even daily basis, a design firm can provide a dumbed-down editing tool that enables you to make the changes yourself. This is called a Content Management System (CMS). Setup of a CMS website typically runs between $1500 and $3000 (depending on the size and complexity of the site). A non-CMS website is usually less expensive.

When outsourcing your website design, be sure to hire a reputable firm that you can count on a year from now. Physicians who hired their college-aged son or moonlighting brother-in-law to create their site know about this problem. If these folks aren’t available, who’s going to add your practice’s new phone number to the site? Hiring a bona fide design business is the best strategy for truly professional web design and hassle-free maintenance.

Whatever approach you take, commit yourself to keeping your practice website as fresh and functional as your waiting room. Budget the necessary time and money, and get the professional help you need. Otherwise, it will be like a dubious New Year’s resolution — enthusiastically made, quickly forgotten.

Website pictured at top of article: Distinctive Dentistry in Hendersonville, TN (www.taniahunterdds.com) was designed by Healthcare Creative – www.healthcarecreative.net.

Lead Patients To Your Door

Gwen Canfield — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:50:02 +0000

Several years ago, a Chicago-based internist wrote a letter to “Dear Abby.” She was responding to advice the columnist had given to a woman who said she couldn’t make or keep friends because she was a crashingly dull conversationalist.

“Abby recommended that Miss Boring take classes to develop some interests so she’d have something to say,” she recalls. “I suggested to Abby that Ms. B. might be depressed and once she was successfully treated, she’d be more outgoing and fun to be with. I used my own name and city. After the letter ran, I got calls from ‘conversationally challenged’ patients all over the US and wound up seeing a number of them. That experience opened my eyes to the power of promoting my practice and the specific services we provide to patients.”

It also represents thinking outside the box in the tricky milieu of practice building. Self-promotion is something that many physicians find distasteful, but you’re probably already doing some basic marketing — sponsoring a Little League team, say, or speaking at seminars. So why not go a step further and look for other ways to make your practice stand out and help patients to find and remember you?

Where To Start
Consultants advise to begin with a professionally-designed logo for your practice. Your logo is essential to your brand. It helps elevate the visibility of your practice making you memorable to patients. Next, depending on your budget, you might consider a promotional campaign that includes newspaper ads, direct mail and email campaigns. But even little touches can go a long way toward attracting patients. At many practices, the doctors appear at health fairs, or give medical advice on a local TV station.

Even that old standby, Yellow Pages advertising, has options that you can use to your advantage. But be that the design of your ad casts a tasteful light on your practice. Too often, the in-house designer of a publication is too rushed by deadlines and unfamiliar with your services to produce an effective ad. You’ve invested in the advertising space… make sure the design is the best it can be. Hire a designer to create your ad.

The Benefits of Going Where You’re Needed
Sometimes a practice-expanding opportunity sneaks up on you. Recognizing it and capitalizing on it is more of an art than a science. As a case point, the following experience comes from a physician who ran a neuromuscular electrical stimulation program for people with sore backs. Two thirds of the patients seeing him for back therapy were obese. So he launched a medically supervised fasting program as an adjunct therapy. He promoted the program through advertising and direct mail, driving traffic to his website where patients could get more information and enroll
in the program. Because potential patients for such a program were already familiar with the practice, he was able to develop the biggest medically supervised fasting program in his state’s region.

A Maryland internist, on the other hand, builds his practice the old-fashioned way. “I make house calls on bedridden patients for routine non-urgent care,” he says. “They tell their friends; every new house-call patient has led to at least two or more office patients.” In this instance, good leave-behind item would be your practice brochure. A professional brochure not only relays information, but appeals to the emotions of your patients and focuses on the strengths and services of your practice. It’s a versatile communication tool that may be used in a variety of ways: to generate referrals, office display, direct mail, and distribution at health fairs and industry events.

Marketing To Established Patients
Your existing patients can be your biggest cheerleaders. Marketing to them not only keeps them in the fold; it increases the likelihood that they’ll send their friends, relatives, and associates to you. Focus on keeping your patients happy. Offer coffee, tea or juice in the reception area. Provide each new patient with a New Patient Orientation Kit including: a personalized welcome letter, practice brochure, business cards, and any cross promotions that you may wish to include. Another patient-pleaser is making — and referencing — notes in the chart about the patient’s family.

Giving Patients Something To Remember You By
For years, a chiropractor in Atlanta had talked to community groups. “I figure that when Chevy or Ford is coming out with a new car,” she said, “they make commercials for the people who are going to buy the car, not the dealers. So that’s what I do. I go to patients.” And she hands them his business card. She adds, “I had my logo, business card and office stationery professionally designed. It always makes a great impression.”

You might prefer to give potential patients a practice brochure or patient education literature. To reinforce your brand, be sure all of your literature has a consistent style and features your logo, name and phone number on the front.

A dentist in Mississippi took to the streets when he started started his practice. He went door-to-door, visiting local businesses, churches, day care centers, and home-owners, handing out brochures and engaging people in conversation. “Our practice grew — and continues to grow — by three or four patients per day,” he says. “I also noticed that my website now receives more hits. So I always keep updated and looking fresh.”

Give your practice a competitive edge by ensuring that your brand differentiates you from your competition. Need help with your branding, marketing or website design? Call Healthcare Creative… design is our passion, healthcare branding is our specialty. Email gwen@healthcarecreative.net, or call 615-945-9296. Visit us online at www.healthcarecreative.net.