External Marketing part 2: Newspaper and Yellow page ads
OK back to work. There aren't many differences between a yellow pages ad and a newspaper ad. I'll cover what goes into a great yellow pages ad and what not to put into one and then I will talk about newspaper ads. So up first:
How to make a great yellow pages ad
Here are the things that are essential to a successful yellow pages ad:
1. Your phone number in BIG NUMBERS. Your phone number should be in the direct center of the ad which is the area that people look at first when viewing an ad. I should be very obvious and dominate in the ad and it should be a contrasting color to the rest of the ad.
2. Your address and a map to your location. The best place to put these are right underneath the phone number.
3. Your website, place it centered underneath your address along the bottom boarder of the ad.
4. Most insurances accepted, plus the icons of the credit cards that you accept, if you take debit cards state that and any other credit sources like CareCredit or Dentacharge that you provide.
5. Always put "Now accepting New Patients" or "New Patients always Welcome" something to that effect. For some reason people always assume that a dentist is not accepting new patients unless you put that in your ads
6. If you have a good logo put it in the top center of your ad. If you want to use a picture that is good as well but:
a. Use a picture of youthful models smiling and laughing showing off their perfect teeth. This is the image that you want to sell, that your superior skills can make a person's teeth look gorgeous thus making them look younger, restoring some vitality to them and making them feel better about themselves. This is a powerful concept once you understand how to use it.
b. adding to what I said above do not use photos of older people with great teeth. What that says to your patient is "even though my teeth will look great I will still be old" that is a negative connotation, one which you should avoid.
c. Also don't use "before and after" photos. One it's an old, corny played out marketing ploy and secondly you don't want to remind anyone that they have a crappy mouth. People can be incredibly ashamed of their oral condition and you don't want to trigger that shame ever. That shame can be so powerful that it can keep them out of a dental chair for decades. If you are going to use close up smile photos always use the "after" ones that look awesome. What you are saying is "I don't care what shape your mouth is in, if you want to I can make it look like this!" This is a very subtle but very powerful marketing technique.
d. If you want a photo of yourself possibly with your staff here is what to do and not to do.
I. You should be in a nicely pressed well fitting white clinical coat with ( if you are a man) a dress shirt and a tie. Your staff should be similarly dressed with white clinical coats and a nice blouse underneath. DO NOT WEAR SCRUBS. You may work all day in scrubs and that is fine but in the face that you want to first present to a potential patient you want to look sharp and very professional. Ever other dental ad with a photo of the doctor and the staff has them wearing scrubs and it makes them all look dumpy. You want to be different and you want to look better than them so don't be photographed in scrubs.
II. Go to a professional portrait studio and have it done by a professional photographer. You will be paying a lot for your ad, don't ruin it by going cheap on the photo. Have photo proofs taken of you and your staff in several different poses and pick the proof that looks the best and use it. Do not line your staff up in a row like a grade school photo in from of your office or in the reception area and have a photo made by a friend or one of your staff's spouses or kids.
III. Why so picky about the photo? Because dentistry is an esthetic art. Especially now that more and more people are wanting cosmetic dentistry and are willing to spend their discretionary income on having good looking teeth. Your photo if done properly will say to them "I like to look good and I know how to make myself look good so I certainly can make you look good." A bad photos says "Either I don't know how to make myself look good or I don't care so why would I go to the trouble of making you look good?"
e. Don't use a photo of your family. Ever. There are two reasons for this:
I. This is about the patient and not about you. You want the patient to believe that you are all about them. You may have a wonderful wife and some beautiful kids but at best the patient won't care and at worst they will be negative about it because they don't want to be reminded that someone has a happier life than they do.
II. You are possibly putting your family at risk. You will have your fair share of crazy patients. If one of those crazies decides he wants to hold a grudge against you, you don't want them to know what your family looks like.
And lastly never ever put a picture of a child in your ad with the caption "Let my Daddy/Mommy be your dentist." Horrible and I still see it being done. Replace the word "dentist" with "heart surgeon" or "urologist" and see how charming it is then
On the left put any services that you provide that sets your office apart from other offices on the right put things like insurance, credit cards and what makes your office a friendly place. What not to put:
a. Root canals- first the general public think that all dentists do root canals so you are taking up valuable space with a negative connotation. Don't do it unless you are an endodontist and then use the term "endodontic therapy"
b. Extractions- the same reasons apply for extractions as they do for root canals
c. Painless shots - the mother of all stupid things to put in an ad
d. Cleanings- this is redundant while not as negative as root canal it is assumed that if you are a dentist you do cleanings
e. Non-specific restorative procedures like "crowns, bridges, dentures, fillings etc" Once again this is redundant. If you do list restorative procedures use terms like "life like dentures, invisible tooth colored restorations, life like crowns and bridges" this is the kind of language that will set you apart in the consumers mind as they read your ad.
Things to put in your ad:
a. As listed above any procedure that you list, make sure that you list it in a specific positive light that the consumer will understand. Lifelike bridge is great, Lava bridge or all ceramic bridge are not so good because the consumer may or may not know what a Lava bridge or all ceramic bridge is. They will however completely understand "lifelike"
b. Any service that you provide that is branded is a great thing to advertise. For example invisaline, bright smile, Zoom, Rembrant veneers, Lumineers etc. These companies spend a lot of money in advertising to the general public and if you use these products you should definitely use it in your ad.
c. Laughing gas is always a plus, so is cable tv or DVD/Blu-rays players for the kids.
Here is a tip, if you are seeing either mom or her child make sure to have them bring the child's favorite DVD or have a stash of them on hand. If you are treating the mom and she wants to bring Junior back so she can keep an eye on him then pop the DVD in before you place the topical. Same thing if you are treating the child. Let the DVD numb them first and your life will be much easier.
I believe that for now bigger is better when it comes to yellow pages ads and color is a must. Even in smaller demographics if a full page color ad is available someone is going to use it, it should be you. It is more expensive but it makes you look more professional than the smaller, black and white ads. If you are going to go to the trouble and expense of an ad then you want to give it ever chance to work that you can. A full page color ad is one that will definitely get the attention of anyone flipping through the yellow pages looking for a dentist.
For now the yellow pages ads are still a good investment but that is changing. Pretty soon the yellow pages will be mostly replaced with websites and online marketing. But for now there is still a sizable percentage of the population that will seek out a service in the yellow pages especially in the smaller cities and communities.
OK next I will post some ads from a yellow pages and talk about what works and what doesn't work. Till then you stay classy San Diego