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Old Dogs CAN Learn New Tricks I had the pleasure of speaking about “Branding Your Market Position” at Dr. Tom Orent’s 1000GEMS Golden Dozen Meeting in Boston recently. While presenting is always a rewarding experience for me, I also had a chance to absorb other’s knowledge - sometimes even more rewarding if you listen well. During that day’s programming, there was an opportunity for me to sit back and listen to some very successful practices from around the country discuss marketing techniques that really work and also brainstorm new ideas. This interactive time, moderated by Tom Orent, opened my eyes to some real opportunities for dentists. • New Trick #1 The doctors set me straight about that thinking. It was truly an epiphany moment for me. They explained that it wasn’t the coupons that gave your practice a lower perception but rather the practice itself. If your practice’s service, quality and reputation are cut-rate, then it doesn’t matter whether you offer coupons or not. On the other hand, if your practice is top-notch and your ads or direct mail do not get people to take action, you will never get the opportunity to prove that fact to them. If someone responds to an offer and from the moment they walk in, your practice treats them like they are the most important patient in the practice, they will not factor in the offer as more than a nicety on your part. It really doesn’t matter what your offer is, except that it has to be presented in a way that lets the reader know that they are getting the opportunity to access a special value, or service when they respond. Don’t just say, “$50 off your initial exam.” Instead, if you want to add value, say something like, “During your initial exam, you will receive a FREE scan by a laser-reflecting, micro-cavity, detection system - capable of finding decay undetectable by a regular dentist.” Many of you recognize the description as “Diagnodent”, for which you probably don’t charge extra. Finally, the offer must have an end date that is doable for the new patient but doesn’t let them put off the decision forever. I spoke to a doctor who has run the same offer ad, which expires at the end of the current month, over and over because it continues to draw new patients. When this month’s deadline arrives, he changes the deadline for the end of next month. “Don’t people get used to seeing his ad with extended deadlines over and over?” Good question. In reality what happens is that people don’t notice ads much unless they are in the market for the product or service. Think about the last ad for diapers you saw and how much the coupon savings were on the normal price of the diapers. If your youngest child is above four years old, you probably don’t remember the last time you saw a diaper ad. If you have a child in diapers, your chances of actual recollection go up by about 500%. If you are the mother of that child, they go up by about a million percent - or somewhere near that. And she could tell me the discount, the normal price, at which store and probably in which aisle they are stocked. • New Trick #2 During the Golden Dozen discussion time that I spoke of earlier, the concept of newspaper inserts rather than advertisements came up for examination. Just to make sure we are all talking about the same thing, I am speaking of freestanding inserts in the newspaper that the reader can remove and read on their own. Tom Orent made a strong point that these work and that a practice should try them in its market and measure the results. By the way, Tom advocates a minimum 2.5 ROI on advertising dollars spent. He measures this return based only upon the dollars that marketing brings in on new patients for the first year - not subsequent years, no friends and family money, no residuals. And the best thing about newspaper inserts with a deadlined offer? You won’t have to wait for it to run 5 - 6 times like an ad to see if it works. Once is enough. You should start seeing new patients from it the very next week. I subsequently did some research on newspaper inserts on the Internet and found some very interesting studies with amazing information. I am going to show you just some of the tidbits that one of these studies shows. * * * * * * * * * * Newspaper Inserts: Usage Patterns • 83% of adults regularly or occasionally use newspaper preprint advertising. • Nearly half (49%) of American adults checked newspaper inserts in the past week, and 70% used them in the past month. • 67% of newspaper subscribers regularly read inserts. • 70% of readers said they usually check inserts that come with a weekday newspaper. • Most readers keep inserts for at least a few days. About 6 in 10 usually keep inserts for 3 days • 70% of newspaper insert readers make a point of looking at inserts when they are in the market for something
• 65% enjoy browsing through the inserts even when not looking for something in particular. • Two thirds (65%) of all consumers who ever use them agree that checking inserts save both time and money. • Half of insert readers prefer Sundays for delivery. The next most-cited day was Wednesday (16%) • 65% say that checking inserts is part of their routine because they know inserts are in the paper every week. Successful Preprint Design Elements: Most consumers prefer: • Small magazine dimensions (47%) over tabloids (28%) or broadsheets (17%); • Glossy paper (65%) over newsprint (16%); • Photographs (92%) over drawings (6%); • Folded (55%) over stapled pages (26%); Commissioned
by Newspaper Association of America©
* * * * * * * * * * I thought that we had the only household where the Sunday paper was separated after it arrives. All of the inserts are taken out of the paper so that the paper can be passed among the family members for reading. Are the inserts thrown away? Of course not! Each is reviewed through the next few days to check for anything interesting. This fits the study’s profile so closely that it’s almost eerie. Plus, do you think we actually take the time to review each ad that has been placed IN the paper. Of course not! We read the paper and glance at ads that are on those selected pages, then turn the page. What does all this mean? Well, as the title says, even old dogs can learn new tricks. There is hope for me, which means that there’s hope for you too. Take these bits of knowledge and think about your own practice’s marketing. Is it time to think outside of the box? Are you still doing what you did five, even ten years ago to bring in new patients? If you are looking for new ideas that actually work, give me a call. Maybe I could learn a thing or two from you too.  Newspaper Inserts Promotion Ready to try newspaper inserts in your area? Curtis Marketing Group is ready to help - and we have an incredible deal for you!
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