Dental marketing strategies
What “Binge Watching” Can Teach You About Creating Compelling Dental Marketing Copy
Come on, “fess-up.” You know you’ve binged watched your favorite show (more than once) on Netflix or your preferred entertainment content source.
Your “guilty pleasure addiction” actually holds a principle that can transform how you strategize about and create your dental marketing copy. There’s a reason you’re compelled to stay tuned-in on the edge of your seat as the next episode or scene buffers.
My wife and I have a few “guilty pleasures” on Netflix. One is Bloodline. We’re eagerly awaiting the next, and what we’re told is the final, season (bummer).
Until then, this binge culture you and I live in prompted some thoughts about dental marketing copy and content. Fact is, you stay tuned for a reason.
And that reason has much to do with how the content is made available and is delivered.
All at once in real-time
Remember the days when you had three, yes three, choices for TV entertainment. If’ you’re of a certain age or generation, you might also recall that you were a slave to a specific viewing time and a pre-recorded amount of programming, including commercials – that you HAD to watch.
If you’re under the age of, say, 40, you perhaps have no clue what I’m talking about. Millennials and GenXr’s only know the world of instant access, everything all at once, entertainment content.
It’s mind boggling to scroll the timeline from the late 1970’s to now and realize how significantly content access and delivery has changed. Choice-access is a premium both for WHAT you consume and WHEN you consume it.
Your patients and clients are accustomed to the same. It’s how they live.
Craft a compelling storyline, share it in a compelling format, and allow them to access it in real-time. Think email, SMS (text messaging), blog, Facebook LIVE, Twitter, Periscope, YouTube, SnapChat, Instagram, etc.
More pressing – are you using these “channels” and if so, how?
Second realization and principle has to do with “intrigue” or “curiosity.”
You know how your heart races and your pulse quickens as the credits roll on the second or third or sixth episode in your Netflix series queue? The countdown to the next episode begins 10 seconds…9 seconds…5…4…3…2…1…!
No pause. You’re on to the next episode…why?
Love for the show? Perhaps more has to do with curiosity…intrigue!
Those who create entertainment content and design it’s delivery sequencing understand what all great copywriters and content creators understand:
Curiosity is powerful. There’s no limit to how effective your copy and content will be if you use curiosity to capture your reader’s attention.
From the headline of your online or direct mail promotion, to the subject line of your email, to the lead of any promotion you create – if it doesn’t appeal to your reader’s curiosity and stir their sense of intrigue – rewrite it until it does!
A third and final principle from the world of favorite show binging…
Tap into your audience’s feeling (fear) that the “end” isn’t really the “end” (for now, at least).
In other words, create repeat buy-in.
It’s a sad day indeed in our household when I receive the Netflix notification that our favorite “guilty pleasure” is wrapping up (as in, no more “seasons”).
But Netflix applies a compelling strategy.
They’re quick to add – “If you liked ?…you might also like ?”
There’s never an “end” to a familiar storyline or content that looks, sounds, and feels like the “binge” I just completed.
Those who receive your dental marketing copy or content will return and even anticipate what’s next if you give them one thing – emotional value.
In essence, know your audience and be prepared to provide more stimulating reasons to find you a source of practical value. But not just any value – the brand of value that connects at an emotional level.
Remember, “People buy for emotional not rational reasons.”
I urge to re-read this post and keep it on hand. There’s much buried between the “plot line” that can help you create more compelling copy and content (or the motivation to seek someone who can).
Speaking of plot lines…it’s about time to see what Netflix has to offer for our next “guilty pleasure.”
How to Meet Your Audience Eye-to-Eye in Your Dental Marketing Content
Sometimes the strain is too much. In my case it was the strain I consistently felt in my neck.
A practical Christmas gift solved that problem. And it prompted me to think about a principle that can keep your dental content and dental marketing from being well…a pain-the-neck.
I’m at my desk for the majority of each work day. My stand-up desk, though efficient and good for my overall health, even so created ongoing tension in my neck and shoulders.
Looking down at my MacBook Pro all day left me sore at day’s end.
I browsed for a more ergonomic solution. And viola!
The Rain mStand.
This gorgeous piece of aluminum looks sweet on my desk top. More important, it provides the lift I need to bring my MacBook Pro to eye-level.
Mom hooked me up with one for Christmas. I’m stoked about it.
Everything’s at eye-level now. Neck-strain gone!
Got me to thinking about marketing-strain.
What’s that you ask?
Consider it any promotion, copy, or piece of content that fails to meet your reader, client, patient, or customer at eye-level.
Eye-to-eye or “die!”
Might seem extreme. But in a world of “hey-look-at-us-and-how-great-we-are” marketing it removes the pain.
Marketing that’s so feature heavy and bloated with industry-speak that it weighs your core message down isn’t compelling.
There’s a better way.
How to Create Dental Marketing Copy and Dental Marketing Content That Meets People at Eye-Level
1-Get personal
Your dental marketing strategy has one purpose, ultimately. It’s to consistently meet your patient/client at their personal “pain-points.”
To clarify, not all patients/clients are at a pain threshold all the time. Much of the time they’re simply looking for a solution to a problem.
This demands that you personalize your strategies.
Speak to each as an individual rather than a collective group. For example, use the word “you.”
This trains you to think in terms of a single person. You’ll naturally write, promote, market as if you’re speaking to them alone.
More important, they’ll feel it too.
2-Stop “selling”
Might seem strange to hear that said in a discussion of marketing. True, “selling” is the outcome of your dental marketing.
Though you perhaps don’t like to think of what you do as “selling” it’s the reality of marketing.
But…
It’s important to understand that the concept of “selling” is much different than the approach that feels and sounds “salesy.” Before you dismiss this point as a matter of semantics, think about it.
“People (you included) don’t like the idea of being sold.”
It’s more a matter of connecting their personal desires, emotions, problems to a solution. That connection is where the real value of “selling” takes place.
You create a “fan” over time by how you engage them with your solutions. If you sound, write, promote like a 15 second tv commercial you’ll do nothing more than numb your market.
Tap into your patient’s/client’s emotional buying motives. It’s reflected in a classic marketing formula according to Theodore “Ted” Levitt:
“People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.”
And that, my friends, leads to a third and final idea…
3-Solve problems
The “drill” (according to Levitt) isn’t the ultimate, desired solution. The “hole” is!
In our feature-intensive marketing language it’s easy to forget the problem-solution-benefit equation. That is, how your services/products are described or packaged isn’t as valuable to your patient/client as the solution-benefit it provides.
Know your “audience” and you’ll speak to their pain. Listen to chair side conversations, consultant feedback, online reviews, search data, social media data and conversations, etc.
Mine conversations for problems that your unique services/products can solve. Create content that highlights how the problem/pain is solved.
Your dental marketing value will increase within your niche when you give your patients/clients consistent reason to trust your expertise.
Get eye-level. Your pain and theirs will disappear.
How to Assure that Your Dental Content is Clear and Useful
I love it when clients “get” what I’m about to share with you! It’s simple really and it can add value to your dental content – online or offline.
I recently wrote the copy for a dental client’s website. The pediatric dental content was brief and to the point – as they preferred.
They asked for a minor revision. It involved copy on a somewhat obscure dental issue. Though pleased with the copy, the client recognized that the existing content could be a bit confusing to their “audience.”
It’s vital that your content connect on a compelling AND clear level with your reader.
I made a minor adjustment to the copy. All it involved was a simple tweak in the language followed by a clarifying explanation of the issue.
I’ll share the “language” I used in a moment.
Clarity first
I’ve written about what is called the “power of one.” It’s the principle that your copy/content is more compelling and useful when it focuses on one, clear idea.
It’s common for marketing or promotional copy/content to take on too much. Words carry weight but too many ideas all at once can weigh-down and confuse your reader.
Narrow your focus to one clear, compelling, big idea. And make sure that idea is clearly communicated (what my client gets).
How to Assure that Your Dental Content is Clearly Useful
1-Know your audience
This is Communication-101. Who are you talking, writing, marketing, promoting to? Dentistry is a technical, knowledge-based industry. As a dentist, your education holds esteemed value to your patients (and it certainly should).
Your audience “pays” for your knowledge and expertise. But that knowledge-base requires a clear explanation when it’s shared with those other than industry colleagues (i.e., your patients).
- View your services through the “eyes” of your patient. Explain, promote, educate them with words they understand. This is a fundamental task of my dental content writing – clarifying and attaching benefits to what is otherwise obscure or irrelevant.
- Get to the benefit level as quickly and clearly as possible. Remember that the benefits of your services must connect with your patient’s emotions. Features, on the other hand, appeal to their logic. Use both (features and benefits) but clarify what you provide around the benefit they will receive.
2-Paint a “picture.”
It’s useful to illustrate the “idea” you’re communicating. This is what I did recently with my client.
I used a few simple words to clarify the complex issue. Instead of using albeit accurate technical language I illustrated it by saying, “Think of it this way…,” then crafted a short connection to a relatable idea.
Those simple words shifted their thinking to something they could understand. When your reader makes the “shift” they inch closer to accepting what you’re communicating.
Art takes work.
Invest time creating clear ways to communicate your services. What can you compare it to? Is there a connection to something your patient(s) know and understand?
3-Tell a story.
This is about your core message. Those who read your content aren’t looking for a screenplay but they are looking for value in what your provide.
The more you draw them into your services the better your outcomes.
- Help your patient see themselves using and benefitting from your service. It’s not about “whiter teeth” it’s really about confidence at their daughter’s wedding or feeling attractive at their upcoming high school reunion.
- List as many plot-lines as you can think of for each of your dental services. By “plot-line” I’m referring to the path you guide them on from problem to solution. What ultimately does this “problem” cause if avoided and what would it look like if they accept the “solution?”
- Mine your reviews, surveys, and patient testimonials for story themes. Patients tell you their story through their post-treatment comments. Listen chair side for clues to your patient’s story. What are they really wanting from the service you’ve treatment planned for them?
That’s story!
Simplify your copy. And remember that clarity adds value to the content you publish to promote your services.
Two Strategies That Will Keep People Reading Your Dental Content
There’s a reason this adult coloring book trend is catching on. The deeper vibe you can gain from it also applies to how you position yourself in the minds of those who consume your dental marketing content.
A friend and colleague has joined the tribe of adult coloring book publishers. Hers goes beyond the simple act of coloring the stress relieving pages.
Her “Thoughtful Colouring” approach includes the refreshing aspect of coloring designs. It adds a corresponding page with an inspirational quote and blank space to process it however you choose (while you’re coloring).
Cool! I agree.
It’s that small addition to the trend that I believe offers a principle you must consider in the content you curate and create.
You increase your authority with your patients/clients when you implant value in your content.
Words, especially the common, fluff your reader is accustomed to can become numbing and an eventual turn-off.
Your content audience has too much info-noise coming at them minute by minute. It’s your task as content creator and publisher to capture their focus.
This is the precise reason I encourage dental providers to step away from a standard, brochure-like website design. Refresh your design (and with it your authority) by adding an information platform to your site (e.g a blog/article page, a newsletter portal, etc).
Your content gains traction when you list dental implants among your services. It increases in value when that page links to an archived blog post/article that answers a common question about “dental implants.”
In fact, in today’s search rankings, you might discover that the article page ranks higher than your keyword intense services/procedures page. The reason: search engines like Google place a higher priority on your value-providing intention via a blog post than on standard webpage content.
How to Add Some “Color” to Your Dental Content Marketing Strategy
Inspire your reader
How inspiring can dental content be? Appeal to your reader’s curiosity and hunger for solutions to their dental problem and your inspiration-factor increases.
You inspire by compelling your reader through the solutions you offer.
General site content promotes your services. Consistent, fresh content inspires your reader with answers to their questions and solutions to their problems.
You become a source of inspiration to your patients/clients when they get that you’re listening to them. The best proof of listening is to mirror their “pain,” “problem,” or “concern” through relevant content.
- Listen to every patient/client conversation with content in mind.
- Ask information-gathering questions: “How can I help you with…,” “What’s your biggest fear about…,” etc.
Simple, right? Inspiration shouldn’t be complicated.
Next…
Import secondary value
Think deeper benefits related to what you provide.
You deliver a primary value as a dental professional or a dental marketing professional. Respectively, you help, heal, or you promote in a way that leads to a buying decision.
Your secondary value to your patients or clients is vital too. This happens when you move from an “I’ll-call-when-I-need-you” relationship to a “Go-to-source-of-useful-shareable-information” relationship.
Secondary value rises as you become a consistent “well” of practical (not technical) information.
- Invest the time and marketing dollars in a consistent well-spring of content. Again, focus on the needs, wants, desires, questions, and problems of your patients/clients.
- Create a front-of-mind expectation. The more consistently you appear on their “radar” via a blog post, article, newsletter, social media link, etc the more influence you’ll earn.
Influence has value. Give your patients and/or clients something to value alongside the primary services you provide.
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.
How to Create Headlines That Compel a Positive Response to Your Dental Marketing Content
How important are headlines? Before I reveal how to create them, understand that your dental promotions, dental web page copy, and even your dental blog posts can succeed or fail based on the headline.
Advertising and copywriting legend, John Caples, once said they are the most important part of your advertisement. He proved his point by committing four of his 18 chapters to them in his book, Tested Advertising Methods.
Your headline copy can make or break your dental marketing. This is why they’re so difficult and occasionally time-consuming to write.
Professionally speaking, I invest the first phase of writing to the headline. You should expect to do the same if…you want to compel your reader to engage with your content.
Your headline has ONE job
Your headline MUST grab your reader’s attention.
John Caples adds this jolting perspective – “If the headline is poor, the copy will not be read. And copy that is not read does not sell goods.”
You could say, “I”m a dental provider, I don’t ‘sell’.” I encourage you to not get caught up in the semantics of what is or is not “sales.”
Bottom line, your headline compels or it doesn’t. The middle ground is littered with well intentioned, creative, salesy hype, or lame attempts at trying to be cute.
How to Create Headlines that Compel Your Readers to Keep Reading to the Point of Doing What You’re Asking Them to Do
(By the way, there are two bonus insights in that sub-heading.)
1-Promise something.
Too many promotions are vague. Vagueness should not be confused with compliance with dental industry marketing standards.
There’s a difference in making unsubstantiated claims about a treatment or service and being vague about the benefit they can potentially deliver.
Make a promise that introduces a benefit.
“Who else wants whiter teeth – in less time?”
(Promise: whiter teeth, less time)
“Great new discovery controls bad breath – makes your teeth healthier too.”
(Promise: fresher breath, healthier teeth)
Those promises include practical benefits. The stated benefits compel your reader to read deeper into your promotion to discover more.
Promised results or benefits compel your reader to stay in the conversation with you via your promotion.
- List at least 5 benefits of the service you’re promoting.
- Use specific, direct wording that establishes your service as THE solution (promised result) for taking action.
2-Embed an image in your reader’s mind.
What your reader can see themselves using, doing, etc will compel them to take action. Avoid language that’s overused, technical, industry-oriented, insider-based, etc.
You “know, like, and trust” your industry, right? This makes it natural for you to feel as though everyone else (including your patients/clients) do also.
This is where “How To…” headlines work well.
“How to [COMMON TASK] That [REWARDING BENEFIT].”
The “common task” creates an image of an action, activity, priority, etc. And again, you compel with a “rewarding benefit” – in this instance, something the reader can “see” themselves enjoying, etc.
3-”State a fact.”
Facts establish credibility. When you can highlight a fact in your content headline – do it!
Your reader will be drawn deeper in to your content. And they will begin to trust you as a credible source of information.
Select portions of your positive reviews or testimonials. Remember: You can protect the identity of your source by using their first name initial or their full name initials (e.g. “E” “ES,” etc.) for attribution.
Here’s an example:
“…I went to my high school reunion and the compliments made me feel like I’d been crowned homecoming queen!” – JS. Want the Same Results?
Research data sources of your product or service. Share benefit oriented statistics in you headline.
92% of Our Dental Patients Said This One Thing Eliminated Their [PROBLEM]
If You Do This Two Times Per Year You Could Reduce Your Dental Treatment Costs by [X]%
Facts help compel a response.
4-”Ask a question.”
Questions create curiosity. They also produce engagement with your solution or answer.
In the previous headline example using the quotation (“I went to my high school reunion and the compliments made me feel like I’d been crowned homecoming queen!” – JS Want the Same Results?) the question creates curiosity on two levels.
1) Tell me more about the “results” and 2) Give me more information about what she did to achieve them.
Questions also give your reader a way to process their assumptions. Your question-oriented headline can create a “Hmmm, I haven’t thought about that before…” response.
Your reader will begin to engage with your content by answering the question you posed. It’s important that your question headline prompts curiosity.
A question headline works for a simple reason. It creates a compelling reason to stay with your content and eventually take action as result.
There is more to a promotional headline than creativity or cuteness. Lead with benefits and you’ll win more often.