February 2016
What Simple Intuition Can Do for Your Dental Content Marketing Strategy
He’s smarter than I give him credit for. And there’s another more valuable trait that he’s developing at a young age.
I’ll let you in on our grandson’s growing personality in a moment. On a related note, there’s a trait within his intellectual development that applies to how your create your dental content.
Our grandson is six (”and a half…” as he’s quick to remind). The time I spend with him is priceless.
Being a freelancer and solopreneur has it’s perks. Especially when I can take a day off and spend time with the “B-man” as I call him.
I had that opportunity on a recent school holiday. Following breakfast, I reflexively viewed my incoming email on my iPhone as he was playing on the floor in our family room.
That’s when he schooled me…
“I thought you were taking the day off, G-pa!?”
Busted!
He made a connection that face-in-phone means work. He’s six and already more intuitive than I realize.
Intuition
Your power of observation or your ability to use your intuition can improve your dental content creation. It’s natural to make assumptions about your target audience.
After all, you’re a dental professional. You provide a certain set of services and the assumption is that people know it.
How people access your particular brand of services is the issue. Most approach who you are and what you do with questions.
Those questions – as we’ve discussed before – are your gold mine for creating compelling, useful content to promote your services.
Assume less – Intuit more
Your patients or clients are consistently in search of solutions to their “pain” or problems. And like most, they type a word or phrase in the form of a question into their chosen online search engine.
They, like you, do this more often on-the-fly via their smartphone or tablet. Pain, a problem, an unforeseen setback invades their space and they go searching for a solution.
Content Intuition and What It Can Do for Your Dental Content Marketing that Assumptions Cannot
Intuition creates real-time opportunity
Thoughts are fluid. You are always experiencing a constant stream of them.
So are your patients and clients.
It’s essential that your intuitive content finds its way to their thought consciousness. Your success rate will increase as you appear on their conscious “radar” consistently.
Monthly content…that’s a stretch. Sure, if it’s dense as in a content rich newsletter, industry case study, or informative ebook.
Start with a bi-weekly published content. But consider the opportunity-value of appearing in their space with useful content on a weekly basis – this is optimum.
Why? Your patients/clients are busy.
And volume of content they consume for information, entertainment, support, etc is off the charts.
Be there consistently. Be there usefully.
And you’ll occupy a small space in their content stream.
Intuition compels an informed response
The information your patients or clients search for depends on their current need, mood, pain, etc. Getting a response relies on your ability to intuit their condition.
How?
Listen!
- Set up listening “stations.” Encourage your business team, consultants, assistants, hygienists to develop an open-ear approach. Train them how to pick up on the signals your patients/clients are sending. Develop ways to log/archive that data.
- Create content around the questions, pains, problems, and solutions being sought by your patients/clients.
Remember that useful information compels…and “sells.”
Intuition conforms to the solutions you provide
Other “listening stations” are your online reviews, ratings, and strategic surveys. This is useful as you use your intuition to access what’s being said on and between the lines.
- Get intentional by using surveys. Brief, targeted surveys can help you tap-into the needs, wants, and desires of your patients/clients. Avoid lengthy, complicated, or irrelevant questions. Ask what you really want to know.
- Use reviews and survey data to create a content editorial list. Craft content around answering the questions and problems with solution-oriented content.
- Provide variety. Informative content can be shared via a blog, podcast, video, short courses, webinars, etc.
Give your “audience” numerous channels to connect with you. They’ll appreciate the convenience and your intuition.
How “Irritating” is Your Dental Content? And is That a Good Thing?
Years ago, I heard author/consultant, Jim Collins (Built to Last, Good to Great), speak. During his talk he said something I will always remember.
Your dental marketing influence on new patients or new clients rises and falls. It will achieve greater consistency when you create and use content according to what I remember Collins saying.
He made this statement about the sharing of ideas and principles – “I want what I share today to be like an irritating grain of sand stuck in the folds of your brain…”
Not to say that you want to “irritate” new or potential patients/clients into action. But the principle applies.
Content irritation?
The goal of your dental marketing content isn’t to irritate in the purest sense of that word. It’s more a matter of sustained front-of-mind presence.
Your potential patients/clients seek their information differently these days. It’s short of reflexive to reach for a smart phone or tablet device and “Google” the answer to their “burning” question.
What shows up in the search queue is vital to your ongoing ability to reach and compel them. More often than not a link to an article will pop-up in their search results.
Are you there?
I’m talking “there” in the sense of having a consistent presence via content that’s useful and relevant to their search. They’re looking for you, a dentist, or you as a dental industry professional and their “pain-point” is the motivation for seeking your services.
Or your new patient is sitting in your operatory following the exam, x-ray, and teeth cleaning as result of your latest promotion. Treatment is necessary.
A treatment plan is being presented. They have a decision to make.
Are they prepped and equipped with the information to make the decision?
Information flows
Your target audience makes decisions based on the compelling quality of the information presented to them. It would make sense that the more, compelling, informative, useful, and available information…the better, right?
Content creates a river effect. It flows towards expectant and otherwise seeking-to-be-informed people, not unlike yourself.
You’re reading this blog for much the same reason. A need or desire for the information prompted you to click a link and read it.
Or it was shared with you via a respected colleague, friend, or social media connection (always appreciated, by the way).
Welcome to the new era of content community.
How to Use Consistent Content to Inform and Compel New Patients or New Clients to Take Action on Your Services
Use the echo-effect.
Become a voice that “echoes” in the consciousness of your patients/clients. This happens when you show up consistently on their “radar” via compelling content.
You have limited hours of operation, marketing dollars to invest, and time to maximize your connections. Content works for you around-the-clock, so to speak.
Create “echo-points!”
- Create and send emails to your patient/client list. Link to relevant blog posts, articles, and/or social media channels. Limit how much you email promotions compared with the amount of “content-echo” you distribute to your list. A will timed email with a link to a relevant content channel could tip a new or current patient/client to take the next step.
- Use voice-mail (if you must rely on phone contact) more strategically. Craft the message (content) you leave with unavailable patients/clients to include a call to action. Avoid saying “call us back,” etc. Give them a reason to feel they’re missing out on something if they don’t return your call.
- Make audio/visual content available for after-hours “echoes.” Use short podcasts, YouTube videos, Periscope, Instagram, GIFs, SnapChat, etc.
Construct a go-to archive of valuable information.
Your online presence (via a website) should resemble a library more than a digital brochure. Archived content (blog posts, articles, videos, podcasts, etc.) set you up as an authority.
- Catalog your posts and articles by category. This improves eye-scan impact and ease of access.
- Use your content platform as reference point for patient/client questions – “What’s your email address? I’ll forward you a link to a blog post/article/podcast that will answer your question…” This gives you an opportunity to “echo.”
Release your collective influence.
This follows the previous tip. Your content becomes a second voice of influence beyond yours and that of your team.
Again, having content to share increases your authority and influence. Plus, not all of your team members (you included) are rock-stars at closing the “deal.” (treatment plans, etc.).
And content relieves all that “salesy-speak” that’s so easy to use when trying to close treatment or a sale.
Content gives you permission to keep promoting – even when you aren’t present…or as a reference point when you are.
Front-of-mind consistency is the strength of your dental content. It’s the type of “irritation” you shouldn’t mind having.
Is This Obsession “Killing” Your Dental Marketing Content?
An obsession. You probably have one (or more).
I do.
Relax. This isn’t confession time.
But I will confess to one thing. I’m obsessed these days with helping dental website owners and developers end their obsession with feature-heavy content.
Features have their place. Actually, they have one strategic purpose…and overuse isn’t one of them.
My so-called, “rant” is valid these days. It’s a “sore-spot” with me primarily because I’m still recoiling from related (“You didn’t tell people how great we are…”) push-back on a client’s web page copy I recently shipped (it’s not the first time and probably won’t be the last).
Let’s define what I mean by “features.” They are any aspect or related wording that describes your product or service.
Think color, clarity, class, or construction. Features are the easiest to spot and “spin” when writing copy.
Typically, feature-intense writing requires less creative energy. Why?
You’re merely describing what’s in front of you or how you want your reader, buyer, customer, client, or patient to see your product/service.
Features are easy to recognize because they’re commonly accented with words like “state-of-the-art,” “cutting-edge,” or any word ending in “-est” (e.g. “latest,” “greatest,” “best,” etc).
The comparative truth about features in your copy/content
Features have their place. Where?
Alongside compelling benefits.
Features appeal to your patient’s or client’s logic. Benefits connect your patient’s or client’s emotional desire with your product or service.
Compel a response with BENEFITS.
Then…
Rationalize their decision with FEATURES.
Copywriter and author, Bob Bly, shares a classic illustration of the Feature-Benefit issue in his book, The Copywriter’s Handbook.
“Features and Benefits of a #2 Pencil
Feature: The pencil is a wooden cylinder surrounded by a graphite core. Benefit: Can be re-sharpened as often as you like to ensure clean, crisp writing.
Feature: One end is capped by a rubber eraser. Benefit: Convenient eraser lets you correct writing errors cleanly and quickly.
Feature: Eraser is attached with a metal band. Benefit: Tight-fitting metal band holds eraser snugly in place – so you’ll always have an eraser when you need it.
Feature: Pencil is 7.5 inches long. Benefit: Long length ensures long writing life.
Feature: Pencil is 1/4 inch in diameter. Benefit: Slender shape makes it easy to hold and comfortable to write with.
Feature: Pencil is a #2. Benefit: Graphite core is blended so that it writes smoothly , yet is crisp and easy-to-read.
Feature: Yellow exterior. Benefit: Bright yellow exterior ensures that it’s easy to spot on a messy desk or in a crowded drawer.
Feature: Sold by the dozen. Benefit: Sold in a convenient 12-pack so if you lose one, you don’t have to run to the store for another. Also, more cost-effective.” (pp. 59-60)
Understand that features have their place in your content. But ultimately, the “selling/compelling point” is the benefit.
How to Turn Your Obsession with Features Into More Compelling, Benefit-Focused Content
For every feature – think benefit
Review Bly’s #2 pencil illustration. You’ve held a pencil, placed a pencil behind your ear, chewed on a pencil for years, right?
And you probably didn’t give thought to the benefits listed in the example. But they are present nonetheless.
The task of your copy/content is to uncover the hidden benefits, expose them to your reader, and compel them to take action as result. This is the hard work of copywriting.
- Train your senses to see, hear, smell, touch benefits. View your products/services through a sensory lens.
- List every benefit you can think of for the product/service you’re promoting. Build your content around them.
Refuse to list a feature in your copy/content unless it’s accompanied by a compelling benefit.
Ruthlessly eliminate feature-fluff in your copy. I’ll go so far as to say that using fluff words (”state-of-the-art,” “cutting-edge,” etc) is the lazy approach.
Again, it takes work to uncover and craft content around benefits. Then apply the extra effort to rationalize them with features.
Ask why your newest equipment, service, product, etc is “state-of-the-art.” How does that “fluff-wording” translate to a compelling benefit? Write to that!
Get emotional.
Compelling copy grabs your reader’s emotions. It’s not only about tears and fears (though those are strong emotional responses).
The better part of emotions involves painting a picture for your reader. It’s guiding them to see themselves using, benefiting from, and being changed by your product or service.
A feature gets their attention. A benefit compels a decision.
- Think like your reader/client/patient. What would you feel, sense, believe about the product/service?
- List the emotional triggers that your product/service touches on. Attach a benefit to that emotion.
Get obsessed about your copy/content. But make sure there’s a benefit.