You've Built it...Will they Come?

You've Built it...Will they Come?

It can be like throwing a party: You've cleaned the house, hung the decorations, hired the caterer...everything looks great. But where are all the guests? Could it be you forgot to send the invitations? Most hosts would never go through all the party preparations without a thought of inviting guests. But, when it comes to drawing current and prospective patients to their Web site, many dentists make a common oversight: They forget to invite anyone to visit.

Dental marketing consultant Mark Curtis recommends borrowing an advertising ploy from local news stations, which run advertisements teasing viewers to watch the "Top Story at 11." Curtis advocates using "sound-bite" advertising to entice existing and prospective patients to tune in to the site. His company, Curtis Marketing Group, launches clients Web sites by creating a Web card-a large postcard that steers readers the their Web site. On the front of the card is a picture of the home page of the Web site. On the opposite side is a message intended to entice readers to the site: "If you agree that the latest dental technology is important to your dental care, don't miss the 'Dental Technology' section of Dr. X's Web sit" or "If you've ever thought about having a great looking smile, you owe it to yourself to look through the 'Patients' Transformed Smiles' section of Dr. X's Web site."

The card can be sent to a targeted group in nearby Zip codes, sent or handed out to patients in the practice, or left in salons, photography studios or plastic surgeons' reception areas. "Naturally, you should only do this with the permission of the proprietor). "Two months later, change the message and get it out there again," says Curtis. "People with different priorities and needs will respond each time."

Curtis also recommends using the same strategy with business-card-size Web cards included in all of your correspondence-even invoices. He adds, "Buy a smaller Yellow Pages ad or newspaper ad than you are now. Try sound-bite marketing in those perennial community-events programs or church bulletins. Ask your local radio station about 10-second spots rather that 30s or 60s." He adds that a Web site address is a much more effective message to put on the refrigerator magnet that a picture of a toothbrush or happy tooth. And, one of Curtis' clients put his Web site address on his signage so it would be the first thing drive-by traffic would read.

Dr. Walter Below, a Westlake, Ohio-based general practitioner who developed a Web site to highlight his esthetic services, attributes the 60 visits his site received the first day it was launched to the postcard announcement he sent beforehand. He says the postcard is a great way to draw people to the Web site because, even if they don't respond the day they receive the card, many will hang it on their refrigerator for future reference. And, he believes his Web site has been a great way to showcase his services. "The Web gives prospective patients an opportunity to check us out in a non-threatening way," he says. "At least half the new patients have been calling asking about our esthetic services."

Indeed, says Curtis, many dentists aren't sure about why they should even have a Web site for their practice. "I ask them to think about it in familiar terms," explains curtis. "If 10 to 100 people a day walked into your practice to ask your receptionist for information about you because they were thinking about changing dentists, you would make sure there was a receptionist there to help them."