I gave myself permission. It helped me narrow my options and relax more than I would have otherwise.
Trying to accomplish too much all at once leads to frustration and unproductive outcomes. This holds true in your dental marketing copy and content too.
Back to my “permission” moment…
Extended holiday weekends beg for a laundry-list of tasks to be accomplished. That’s the proverbial “road-most-traveled.”
I chose “the-road-less-traveled” this time around. And as author, Scott Peck, once discovered, “it made all the difference…”
I featured this idea of narrowing your focus in a recent post. Specifically, it was about knowing your audience well enough to market to “one” person instead of the collective masses.
The power-of-one
A copywriting mentor, Mark Ford (aka, Michael Masterson) says,
“Stir…one core emotion
Emphasize…one good idea
Tell…one captivating story
Direct your prospect to…one inevitable response.”
It’s easy these days to have too many dental marketing channels sending out too many signals (offers and promotions). It’s a symptom, perhaps, of scarcity-thinking.
That’s being afraid that if you don’t throw enough deals, promotions, offers, sales, discounts, coupons, percentage-savings, etc at your patient or client list, you’ll “starve” from lack of bookings.
What’s enough? Sure, I get that throwing more “seed” increases the odds that you’ll “reap-a-harvest.”
But these days, there’s a risk of people becoming numbed to your offers. They’re “shopping” the lowest bidder in terms of percentage discounts and special offers.
Minimalism and marketing
Market by a factor of “one.” Approach your marketing message and the content you distribute like I did my weekend.
Give yourself permission to simplify and narrow your focus. Adopt and adapt a power-of-one mindset with every marketing effort.
1-”Stir ONE CORE EMOTION”
Think about each of your dental practice or dental business services. Deeply explore the benefits of each service.
Now…attach an emotion to each benefit.
For example, what core emotion follows the benefit(s) associated with teeth whitening?
Teeth whitening, for instance, creates an emotion of “confidence.” – Write to that! Do the same for each of your services before you create another related marketing promotion.
Create content around ONE CORE EMOTION. Avoid tangents that distract from that ONE message within that specific piece of content.
2-Focus on ONE BIG IDEA
Too many themes or “ideas” damage the impact of your marketing message. Decide what you want your dental marketing message to promote.
And remember you’re not promoting a service or a product. You’re promoting a benefit (that “stirs one core emotion)!
Focus on the one-thing the particular service being promoted does for your patient or client. Again, think through your services strategically like you did when attaching emotions to each.
Create content that highlights, exploits, showcases, and builds on that ONE BIG IDEA. If you have more than one idea, relax.
The beauty of content marketing is that you’re not limited to a single marketing effort. There’s always the next blog post, article, podcast, or social media post.
Let your ideas ferment. Then share them one at a time with your audience.
3-Share ONE CAPTIVATING STORY
Consider the “story” as a picture of your patient/client using or interacting with your service or product. Restrain yourself from telling about everything the service does all at once.
Give your audience time to see themselves in the “story.” You wouldn’t wear two pairs of shoes at the same time. So don’t expect your marketing to ask readers to walk in more than one pair of shoes on their journey through your current promotion.
Pick a theme. Stick with it until the next “chapter” (e.g. blog post, article, newsletter, etc.).
4-Compel ONE RESPONSE
It helps to use a one word call to action. “Schedule,” “contact,” “call,” “click,” “join,” “invite,” “bring,” etc are single words that compel a specific action.
Avoid using copy/content “bloat” like – “We would like to ask you to…,” “We’re proud to invite you to…,” etc. Ask for the response early in your promotion and ask for it again in the middle and again at the end.
Cut the passive language. Ask your reader to do something (one thing) NOW!
Re-start your dental marketing with a simple, singular approach. Give yourself permission to do ONE thing and perhaps your audience will give you their permission.
