My wife and I have done this annually for the past three years. There’s a multi-layered benefit to it and the same is true of the commitment you can choose for creating and publishing content to promote your dental services.
We begin each year in January with a 21 day “fast.” Before you picture us in a meditative pose becoming emaciated by the day as we deny ourselves basic nourishment – that’s not the deal.
Basically, a “fast” can apply to denying yourself anything from food to technology for a designated period of time. Ours fundamentally involves eliminating “junk food” (all that sugar loaded goodness we overindulge in) and eating a cleaner, high-protein and vegetable intense diet.
Our core motivation and benefit is spiritual – denying ourselves cleanses the soul and sharpens our faith. The sub-plot benefits, if you would, include a system-cleanse (body health) and establishing new, healthier habits (diet, self-control, mindset, etc.).
Core benefits
There’s a primary reason for promoting your dental services – to provide solutions or deliver relief from “pain” (physical or emotional). There are more, sure, but this is a core reminder of why you do what you do.
Now, what’s your core marketing strategy?
It’s common to default to direct mail, launching a website, upgrading your website with graphics and other “flash,” purchasing Facebook or Google ads. And there’s nothing essentially wrong with any of those.
But can we talk “denial” for a moment?
Any one of those denies what is becoming a fundamental reality about how your patients or clients are compelled to do “business” with you.
A direct mailer can add to your production schedule (if the timing is right for what you’re promoting). Your new or newly redesigned website can improve your online curb-appeal (if your website is visited). And your Facebook or Google ad dollars invested can increase your online click-throughs and again, increase your bottom-line profits (again, if the timing or appeal of your promotion is spot-on as they scroll).
The core issue that an ever increasing crowd are beginning to understand (Are you one of them?)
Content is king…IF!
If I appear biased via this blog – you’re right…I am!
Perhaps it’s because I’m an information junkie. Or maybe it’s because I have an insatiable curiosity for new knowledge and problem solving information.
Yes to those reasons and many others. But it’s more about the fact that I know and understand that one thing ultimately compels people to respond to what you promote, provide, sell, or distribute.
It’s trust!
So…what does trust have to do with “content (being) king?”
Before I continue building my case for the “content is king…IF” idea, I must say that it’s about framework or context.
Content reigns supreme in today’s marketing when it’s intentional, strategic, and useful. You will need a framework to achieve long-term, beneficial results from it.
Blog posts, email series’, social media posts, newsletter articles, podcasts, etc are all part of a bigger picture, according to Sonia Simone.
Consider this a foundational piece of a framework I’m preparing to lay down over the next few weeks on this blog. My goal is to help you establish a new way of thinking about your dental marketing strategy and to encourage you to “fast” from all those go-to, default, knee-jerk, we-gotta-increase-our-production-so-call-the-printer-for-a-new-direct-mail-flyer type of reactions that are all too typical of some dental marketing campaigns.
Build trust outside-the-box…
…And use content to do it.
Rarely does anyone, if ever, feel a bond of trust with a service business because of flyer received in the mail. Sure, the eye-catching graphics or cleverly worded copy might open the door to a relationship but the appeal can be lost quicker than it’s gained in most instances.
Instead, consider what would happen if, over time, a relevant, useful piece of content was published and easily viewed via a smartphone or tablet. If the content solves a problem or answers a question relevant to your target reader, what begins to happen?
Trust rises.
You have a better opportunity for instilling trust through a problem-solving, question-answering blog post or podcast than you do through a random, numbing piece of paper that’s included in the daily mail. Front of mind can begin with a flashy mailer but trust is sustained over time via usefulness.
And usefulness translates BEST via easy to read and easy to consume content.
I’ll crown content “king” for now with that thought. Stay tuned…
