Tags: , Aesthetic Advertising, Aesthetic Marketing, Aesthetic Patient Marketing, cosmetic patient marketing, medical marketing and advertising
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Advertising to Attract Aesthetic Patients
December 12th, 2008Different between Marketing and Advertising Your Aesthetic Practice
December 7th, 2008Most aesthetic physicians I’ve worked with have distaste for marketing. They feel they are above it. They feel they shouldn’t have to prove themselves to anyone. They also prefer to delegate the task of marketing to someone else. However, once you understand the difference between marketing and advertising, it becomes obvious that the persons truly qualified to “market” your practice are you and your staff.
There is a huge difference with marketing and advertising. Advertising is someone standing on a corner motioning to the passerby to come take a look at what they’re selling. It’s the effort you put into getting your telephone to ring.
Marketing is everything that follows after the telephone rings. Such as how the receptionist handles the call, you introducing yourself, your sincere interest in the patient, your office’s appearance, its sounds and smells, the mannerisms of staff and especially those at the front desk and, of course, the quality of care.
Promoting your aesthetic practice is an essential, integral necessity that’s very much a part of aesthetic medicine today, especially with greater competition growing every day, whether it’s through TV, cable, radio, print, direct mail or internet marketing.
Advertising is most effective when combining education and then an introduction to you, your staff and your facilities. One strategy is to use video about you, your staff and your office to professionally promote you. Add it to your website, add it to other vendor portals and show it in your office. Such a strategy becomes a more efficient promotion model with elements of both advertising and marketing.
Just know advertising is the first part of your success. Marketing is everything after that that will truly build your successful aesthetic practice.
Where Did the Aesthetic Patients Go?
December 2nd, 2008I’m getting more and more stress calls from aesthetic physicians saying they need help. Their phones have stopped ringing, the reception area is a ghost town and their staff is way too busy doing nothing. Help!
Ok, let’s regroup. First, we need to check your mindset – otherwise known as attitude.
Have you ever heard that saying “If you believe it’s true or you believe it’s not – you’re right?” What are you saying to yourself? Are you coming from a place of abundance or from scarcity? The aesthetic physicians who will fare better are those who believe and are open to opportunities. Open your mind and eyes to “see” the opportunities and what you can do now to combat the negativity going on around you.
By the way, aesthetic patients have not vanished. In my book /“Your Aesthetic Practice/What Your Patients Are Saying” I remind you there are many social trends driving their needs. Let’s not forget there are 76 million baby boomers who still want to look and feel good. They may need more prodding from you but their initial want is still there.
Here’s a secret in marketing. Always cater to the wants of an aesthetic patient on an emotional level. Remind them how your services will make them feel better, more alive and younger. And, stay in touch. You must build a relationship with these patients who may be rethinking and re-prioritizing their needs. Simply communicating with them regularly and letting them know their options could be enough to get them to come back.
Help your aesthetic patients see the opportunities as well. Perhaps they have backed away from more expensive surgical procedures so this is the perfect opportunity to educate them on what you can do for a lot less money and downtime (fillers and Botox). The more you connect with them now on the smaller procedures, the more likely they will be to stay with you for the bigger procedures.
Keep a good attitude – keep in touch with your aesthetic patients – keep your revenues flowing.
Follow the Money in Aesthetic Marketing
November 24th, 2008Have you pulled back on your promotional efforts? Or, do you see this as an opportunity to invest in your practice?
A great example of someone who understands opportunity is Warren Buffet who is buying up bargains like crazy right now because others have stepped away from the table out of fear.
The secret is to go where the money is. That means if you are even breaking even with any of your promotional efforts – keep doing them! Keep current patients coming in and attract new patients now so when times are better, they will stick with you and spend more with you.
Those who conquer tough times are the ones who get into motion and do something. This is critical because money is attracted to movement and speed. It’s not attracted to those who are scared and standing still.
Get in the game…winners embrace these challenges and do what it takes to not only weather the storm but flourish in it.
Aesthetic Marketing for Physicians Who Want More Cosmetic Patients
November 21st, 2008Aesthetic Marketing for Physicians Who Want More Cosmetic Patients
Word of Mouth Referrals:
What Are Your Patients Saying About You?
“So, how did you hear about Dr. Smith?”
That should be one of the most important questions you ask every single patient walking through your door. If you’re doing this correctly, 7 out of 10 of them should answer with one of your patients’ names.
A word of mouth referral is the absolute best advertisement you can incorporate into your practice. It’s also the cheapest form of advertising that you can invest in, and it takes so little time and effort.
Spending time now developing relationships with your current patients will grow your prospective patient list later. If your patients like, trust, and respect you, they will be happy to tell their family and friends about you and may even brag about your great work to everybody they know. Due to our Baby Boomer culture and TV shows like Extreme Makeover, it’s more acceptable to enhance your look and tell people about it. Use that to your advantage and get your patients talking about you and your great work!
By the way, in my book Your Aesthetic Practice/What Your Patients are Saying Aesthetic Patient Marketing for Plastic Surgeons Who Want More Cosmetic Patients, they told me they would refer more often if the doctor and staff had asked them to – So Ask!
Of course, you need commitment from your staff to make patient satisfaction your #1 priority so meet with them regularly to ensure they understand the importance of treating each patient with a warm and friendly attitude each time they call or visit. Also, be sure your telephone is answered by the third ring, call back when you say you will and don’t keep them waiting!
There are hundreds of ways to ensure you are getting the most from word of mouth referrals and here are just a few:
- During your initial patient consultation, before jumping right in, take two minutes and talk to your patient to build rapport. Easy icebreaker topics are their occupation, neighborhood or how they heard about you. That information is right in front of you on their patient information form they filled out. This helps you connect with them, builds their trust in you and helps the two of you communicate more freely since you are showing your interest and concern in them.
- Set expectations and live up to them. And, under promise and over deliver. If they are pleasantly surprised that they got more than they expected, they will shout it from the rooftops.
After procedures, follow up with a telephone call, note card or flowers. If they had surgery, you should be making the first follow up telephone call yourself so they know you care.
Now, thank your patients who have referred you and don’t wait!
o have staff call them initially to thank them
o write a personal note from you to thank them
o call them yourself to thank them
o send a little gift of appreciation for multiple referrals
o invite them in for a complimentary peel or microdermabrasion for multiple referrals.
o hold an annual patient appreciation day for your patients and their family and friends. Make it an event by serving wine and hors d’oeuvres and have drawings for free and discounted services.
The bottom line is always the same. Treat your patients well, respect their time and concerns and show you care. They will tell enough people about you that your practice will flourish in no time.
The Secret to Aesthetic Marketing
October 31st, 2008One of the biggest secrets in aesthetic marketing that increases the response to your offers is….multiple exposures. The more times an aesthetic patient hears and sees your name, the more comfortable they will be with you and trust that you are the perfect solution for them.
Another way to get multiple exposures is through combinations of media. If at the same time your patient is receiving mail from you, they also see your ad in the local newspaper and their girlfriend mentions you… that’s powerful and compelling for them to call you since they feel as if they know you better.
Multiple exposures gives your patients instant recognition of your name and practice and a much better chance of them responding to your promotional efforts because they are mentally saying, “Oh yes. I know you.” and is now much more receptive to you.
Here are other low costs things you can use for multiple exposures to your aesthetic patients:
#1: A uniform business image – colors, your name, a logo carried over to your practice materials, your website, your signage and of course all your advertising.
#2: Repetitive contact with fewer aesthetic patients rather than just one contact with a large number of prospective patients.
#3: Distribution of your brochures and business cards to strategic alliances.
#4: The sponsorship of a community event.
The point is to stay in front of your patients as well as your prospective patients. Because, when they are finally ready for aesthetic enhancement, they are going to look up and look for answers and you better be there for them!
Aesthetic Marketing Strategies for Tough Times
October 23rd, 2008Aesthetic Marketing Secrets
Now more than ever, your patients need compelling reasons to part with their hard-earned money. The media is scaring them and they are not sure they will have jobs so they are pulling back on their disposable purchases. Have you noticed a dip in your own revenues? Are you experiencing more no-shows? If so, that just means you need to be more strategic than every before.
If and When patients don’t come to you as freely as before, strategically put a plan in place to make it happen. They are not saying no necessarily. They could just be saying give me more logical reasons to come to you to fulfill my emotional needs of looking as good as I feel.
Target Aesthetic Patients
This is not the time to start a new advertising campaign to attract total strangers to your practice. Focus on those who already know you since they are more apt to respond to your promotional efforts. Use proven patient attraction tools to wake up your sleeping patients and get them visiting and referring this year.
What You Can Do Now to Ensure a Successful Year in Aesthetic Medicine
October 23rd, 2008What You Can Do Now to Ensure a Successful Year
The media is scaring your patients. All of this doom and gloom about the economy is paralyzing to a majority of your patients who are or could be affected by the dips and turns in the economy.
Don’t buy into it! There is much you can to ensure you float through these choppy waters safely and profitably.
I’ve put together a timely audio and visual presentation, with me personally narrating, entitled, “What You Can Do to Ensure a Successful Year”
Click Here to Watch:
http://cosmeticimagemarketing.com/media/What_To_Do_For_Successful_Year.wmv
It’s full of simple strategies to keep your phones ringing, your patients buying and referrals coming to you.
The point is to first check your mindset. Are you buying into this pessimism? If you are, you are not going to be open to opportunities and possibilities so fix that first.
The next step is to do something. I know your first instinct is to lay low for now but that’s the worst strategy. Your aesthetic patients need more compelling reasons to invest in aesthetics so, now more than ever, give them those reasons.
Educate them on little things they can do right now to look fantastic for the Holidays. Motivate them to act now with a special offer and a tight expiration date. Encourage them to refer their friends so; they too, can look fabulous for Holiday parties and family photos.
Those who strategically act now will conquer. Those who sit back and do nothing will perish.
The Holidays Are Coming and So Are Your Aethetic Patients
October 14th, 2008With the holidays right around the corner, you want to strategically reach out to your patients. This time of year is full of emotional hot buttons for your patients so be sure you are communicating with them about the possibilities you offer to have them looking fabulous for the Holidays.
Aesthetic Patient Hot Buttons
The aesthetic patient is now thinking about the upcoming holidays. That means Holiday parties with friends, office parties with coworkers and get-togethers with family. Cameras will be clicking and video cameras will be humming so your patients will want to look their best since these photos and videos will be circulating for months and years to come.
They may also be pondering having more invasive enhancement done since their company may close down during the holidays or they can take some time for themselves and could afford a little downtime.
Your patients may also get an annual bonus they want to spend on something special just for them.
Let them know the possibilities and how you can help them. Give them a choice about all the possibilities but then break it down in case they want to take smaller steps.
Now is the time to communicate with your patients about how fabulous they could look during the Holidays.
Promoting Aesthetics During Shaky Times
October 10th, 2008I offer a free CD and Report on my website www.cosmeticimagemarketing.com called 5 Easy Ways to Promote More Aesthetic Patients to Your Practice This Year. It’s full of helpful tips and strategies to attract more patients, get them to refer and stay loyal to you.
While the information is solid, I want to make a distinction. During these shaky economic times, you need to be much more strategic about your promotional efforts. You need to target those patients who are least affected by the craziness going on in the world or, at least, last affected by it.
Which Aesthetic Patients are Recession-Proof?
While most folks will be affected somehow, some way by the stock market collapse, the credit crunch and the housing debacle, not all will feel it the same. It will hit home hard for those who live paycheck to paycheck from companies who may go under and lay them off. It will hurt those in professions such as mortgage brokers, realtors and anyone directly linked to the falling economy.
However, those least likely affected are those who are typically more mature and more prepared by dips since they have been through it before and know the drill. They have saved for this and less prone to devastation. They have reach affluence and will not be devastated by what’s happening.
So, my advice to you is to cater to your more mature patients for now rather than sink much more time, money and effort into the younger patient who has not yet established themselves.
What Can An Aesthetic Physician Do to Weather The Economic Storm?
There is much you can do to survive and even flourish no matter what. I guarantee the answer is NOT to be nothing and wait it out. Those who proactively act will fare the best. And, since your competitors are sitting out, now is the perfect time for you to increase your promotional efforts. You can attract new patients (some of them your competitors who are ignoring them) and you can reconnect with your own patients to ensure they stay loyal to you.
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