There are two ways you can send out an ad to promote your practice – whether it’s to your existing patients (internal marketing) or to prospective patients (external marketing) – and in fact, I’d go so far as to say there’s a right way and a wrong way:
- )You can send a regular ol’ ad and get regular ol’ results, or in fact, do nothing (WRONG); or,
- )You can send an ad that contains something very important in marketing to make your ad even more effective than ever before: an ad with powerful REASONS WHY. (RIGHT!)
What is Reason Why advertising?
Master (retired) copywriter, Gary Bencivenga, a fella responsible for BILLION$ in sales over his career, claims Reason Why advertising is the most persuasive tool in advertising! My nearly two-decades of experience working with thousands of Dentists, and, my outside of the industry experience in other business ventures prove this to be 100% accurate. Not to mention, it’s a routine practice for us at my own Wellness Springs Dental® office.
“Reason why” advertising simply means you share with your reader the “why” behind the ad – WHY someone should become your patient, WHY what you are presenting to them is better than anyone else’s, WHY you are doing it, and, WHY the prospect should act now.
Ads with “reason why” copy are far more powerful and satisfy both logical and emotional reasoning – they enhance the “buy-in” from your prospects, which your ad is desperately trying to achieve.
One of the very best “Reason Whys” I use answers the question, “Doctor, why are you sending me this ad?” is the use of special occasions [SOs] and holidays in my ads.
It’s like an unfair advantage for those that get it.
What’s more, arriving in sync with known (or even unknown) SOs and holidays helps you avoid being an unwelcome guest and having the appearance of someone who’s inundating your patients and prospective patients with discount offer after discount offer with no real reason why, or, no creative thought imparted. (This is deadly behavior and will quickly ruin the relationship you have or you wish to develop.)
There are 11 federally recognized holidays every year (nearly one a month) and an almost incomprehensible number of special occasions celebrated regularly by almost everyone you know, all of which provide a never-ending stream of ideas and tie-ins to your own internal or external marketing.
Shoot, even you have two reasons to celebrate every year: your birthday and your anniversary date when you graduated from dental school – both milestones that can be exploited through the use of special offers. My birthday happens to fall on Elvis’ birthday. One year, I sent out fake Elvis driver’s licenses as a grabber (attention getter) to my clients tied into a promotion celebrating The King’s and my birthdays. It was a very profitable promotion.
There’s of course Children’s Dental Health Month, and dozens of other specially recognized days like Secretaries Day, Bosses Day. There’s National Nurses Week and National Nurses Day (May 6th), too. Volunteer Fireman’s Day, and more. If you can think of a profession, there’s probably a “day” or “week” devoted to its celebration.
This is GREAT news for you. Every month you’re handed a “reason why” to reach out to segments of both your patient base and your local population.
Imagine this: let’s say March 17th is a day where we celebrate little green men, shamrocks, and rainbows with pots of gold at the end. If you wanted to use that holiday, let’s call it St. Patrick’s Day, you could create and mail (or email, or better, BOTH) a St Patrick's Day postcard to your existing patients.
Or, what if you wanted to attract more firefighters to your office because they have great insurance and your dad was also a firefighter, so you wanted to honor the profession and those who serve(d). Create a new patient campaign for local full-time/part-time, retired and volunteer firefighters offering their first visit at no charge. Mail it a week before National Fireman’s Day to a mailing list of current and former firefighters. Highlight WHY you appreciate firefighters and their sacrifices. Include a pic of your dad in uniform and a brief story about him to help tie yourself in to this community.
Do you think you’d get a response? Of course! There may be DOZENS of firefighters in your city who don’t have a dentist. So, why can’t that be someone they have an affinity towards (something in common)?
Do you see the power with this approach? You could segment your entire phone book like this and create some really fun and rewarding new patient ads. And of course, I’d recommend you do what we do at my office, Wellness Springs Dental®: We send our existing patients an offer every month using a holiday or other SO as a “Reason Why,” It flat-out works.
Members of my ClearPath Society® get a new mailing every month with a great Reason Why and an offer to mail to their existing patients every month as part of their Membership benefits.
About The Author… Jerry A. Jones is the CEO of Jerry Jones Direct (JJD), an almost two-decade old marketing and advertising firm whose clients include Dentists and Financial Services Advisors in the US, Canada, Australia and England. He’s a widely-published author of several books and thought leader writing opinion papers and articles for a variety of publications. Jerry also publishes five different newsletters and two magazines every month, leads dental mastermind sessions, and creates marketing and advertising campaigns for his private client Dentists and ClearPath Society® Members. He is also the Founder & CEO of Wellness Springs Dental® in Salem, Oregon, which includes an incredible group of four Doctors and an amazing team. More information at www.JerryJonesDirect.com or www.ClearPathSociety.com.