U2 understands the value of audience engagement. Their use of augmented reality (AR) during the opening segment of their eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE tour provides perspective for how you can use dental content marketing to connect with patients.
I downloaded U2’s recommended app prior to attending the tour’s opening night concert with my wife. The overall concert experience was epic as you would expect from Bono and crew.
I pointed my iPhone’s camera at the enormous screen running the length of the arena floor. The app produced a gigantic (AR based) image of Bono performing the opening song for a few moments.
The use of AR got me to thinking about how vital it is to give your patients a fresh way to engage with your content. It’s essential that you’re a trusted guide on your patient’s encounters with your content – whatever the platform.
Let’s Get Personal
Personalization will set your dental marketing apart from the crowd. Influence is achieved according to how personally you relate to your patients via each content source.
You become a recognized influencer when your content intersects your patient’s life – including how you provide solutions to their problems. Content that sounds formal, out dated, and salesy will keep them at arms length.
If you want to pull them into your story (practice/brand) you must step into theirs (story). This helps when your content could be perceived as lacking freshness or relevance to them.
That’s not uncommon. Your patients are bombarded with buy-this, read-this, click-here content daily. Make yours standout from the crowd.
A Somewhat Different Sound
U2 combined something visually stimulating with their already captivating music. Necessary? Perhaps not – given their achieved level of influence.
For you, it’s perhaps more necessary. Why? Because patients are already dulled by all-about-us content. The kind that promotes “the latest…state-of-the-art this or that…!”
You get the picture. Sadly, your patients don’t!
Adjust your tone. Create a new sound. And you’re more likely to appeal to a crowd of tone-deaf dental patients others aren’t reaching.
Warm-up Your “Crowd” by Renewing Your Content Voice
It’s about narrowing the distance between your “audience” and your content (as U2 did with AR). Creating a new brand of intimacy with your content cannot happen on a traditional stage.
You must augment the “reality” between their need for dentistry and the services you provide. Again, it’s not about you (your services) as much as its about them and their “story” (dental problems and related questions).
1-Lose the salesperson sound
A scripted, late-night-infomercial, like-you-walked-onto-a-used-car-lot tone doesn’t build trust between their story and your services. Effective copy and content can be full of “punch” while being delivered conversationally.
Be true to yourself by creating content that sounds like a conversation…not a sales presentation! Dial-down the salesy voice and dial-up the personal, conversational voice.
In essence, write like you talk.
2-Be enthusiastic just not overly so
Content energy isn’t about hype. It’s about your genuine excitement to solve relevant problems and answer real questions.
Listen to what you’re patients are asking and what problems they’re experiencing. Tap into those and let your energy flow into how your expertise/services can deliver life and health transforming solutions.
You’ll be 90% engaged with them if you start and end there!
3-Bridge the gap between their emotional desires and your solutions
Again, listening is key here. Know your patients intimately by investing time asking probing questions. The kind of questions you’re genuinely interested in hearing their answers about.
Understand your patient’s point-of-view about how your services will impact their life. Give them control over those outcomes as the influential guide along the way.
This is the goal of your content.
4-Think long-term about your relationship with them
Dentistry is rarely one-and-done care. The quality and lifetime value of what you provide confirms this.
It’s your task to educate and inform them along the journey to good health. Ultimately the choice is theirs but you’re in a better position to influence them if you take a long-term view through your content.
This eliminates the pressure to push too hard. If your dental marketing is held hostage to costly direct mail or broadcast media campaigns you’re more likely to feel the pressure.
Content is evergreen and thus cost-effective. Plus it relies on the one thing that gives your patients a sense of control – their permission.
And that gives you access to virtually unlimited potential for influence.
