Marketing Communications Archives -

How to brand your practice

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Thu, 18 Jul 2019 13:26:27 +0000

Which supermarket is your dental practice like?

We’ve been working in PR for the dental industry for two years now – you may have seen some of our work with brands such as Pearl Dental Software. During that time we’ve had the privilege to study many dental businesses and practices across the country.

It is fascinating how dental practices are perceived by professionals and patients. This perception derives to a very great extent from the efforts that owners to create ‘a brand’. It is true that all the clever marketing in the world won’t create a great ‘brand’ without any substance, but you can at least set the direction. After that, it’s up to you to create substance by living the values you have ascribed to your brand.

This article offers some ideas on how you might shape your practice brand.

The supermarket test

A simple example of how people think of your dental brand might be to consider which supermarket chain it is most like.

For example:

{my}dentist = Aldi. Low cost, high volume, limited range, no-nonsense and highly efficient
BUPA = Sainsbury’s. A little confused. A reputation for being expensive and luxurious while stacking it high and selling it cheap in places to compete with Aldi
Portman = Waitrose. No compromise, personal, classy and with the flexibility to meet the needs of the local market – so long as they are rich enough to go private
JDRM = Booths. Family owned and run, with great staff involvement and customer loyalty, but very definitely regional.

Open all Hours Arkwright (Ronnie Barker) and Granville (David Jason)

Unfortunately, there are also a lot of ‘Arkwrights’ out there. Open all hours, but providing a great experience for neither patients nor for poor little Granville.

So which one are you? And if you are an Arkwright, will you plod on in the same weary way until Granville grows a pair and sets up his own corner shop down the road?

Analysing the players in detail

{my}dentist

Even though the huge practice portfolio is made up of some very diverse properties, and even though practice sizes vary greatly, {my}dentist has done a fantastic job of creating a unified brand.

{my}dentist – excellent presentation and signage

Their practices are visually crisp. They have a well organised corporate back office and a rational practice/area management structure to take the admin load off clinical and nursing staff. They are efficient and friendly and effective. I will state now that I (Chris) attend a {my}dentist practice, and I drive an hour each way to do so.

However, they can be a little stingy on pay for some staff, and when they have a resource gap it all falls apart. And that is the weakness in their brand. It works better for patients than it does for staff, and they struggle to recruit in some regions as a result.

Our verdict: 8/10. Feels very efficient. Clever naming. Still working on improvements.

BUPA Dental – Camberwell

BUPA

Having built THE pre-eminent private healthcare brand in the UK, BUPA decided to go into dentistry by buying and extending the Oasis dental business. But we don’t think they realised how different dentistry is to their normal areas of operation. As a result, they are balancing too many diverse staff contracts, and therefore have a lot of unhappy staff – never good for great patient experience.

There is a real conflict between BUPA’s carefully crafted private health image the mix of dental services they offer. As a result, many NHS patients feel like second-class citizens. And we’re sure many potential new NHS patients assume that the BUPA brand means a private only practice.

On the plus side, they have done a good job on the visual elements of the brand and updated many practices with new imagery, decorations and furniture. And they do have that very well know private healthcare reputation to fall back on.

Our verdict: 6/10. The positioning of BUPA’s dental offering is very confused. The BUPA healthcare brand is both helpful to recognition and a hindrance to execution.

Portman Dental and Implant Clinic – Maidenhead

Portman

They are growing organically, and take on new practices after a very careful evaluation process. It’s not about acquisition price; it’s about potential and fit. As such, Portman’s brand is all about consistent high quality.

Portman has also eliminated the conflict that plagues BUPA – they don’t offer NHS treatments. That means they can be 100% focused on offering quality private treatments. And that focus results in happier staff and happier patients.

Our verdict: 7/10. Well thought through positioning reflected across the company’s operations, but not a very visible brand.

JDRM

JDRM recently won an NHS emergency treatment contract in Leicester, and the business has created an impact by keeping it local and concentrated.

They have a real focus on their services. However, because this focus is around a single service in a single area, they have been able to use it as a central point around which they can offer other services: it’s a concentric strategy, not a just a bunch of tangential ideas.

They have also invested sensibly in creating a strong visual image for their seven practices and implemented the latest software to help create a single, integrated business. The software enables them to make savings through shared back office services.

JDRM also take the trouble to exploit PR opportunities (such as case studies by suppliers) to tell professionals about what they do, and so make recruitment easier.

Our verdict: 8/10. Visually exciting. Feels fresh, but also personal and friendly.

So Arkwright, what about a new till?

In Arkwright’s case, a new till and a small van would have made Granville much happier. And in today’s competitive market for dental associates and nurses, having better equipment and systems might well give you an edge. But what can you do about patients?

What do you do to advertise your presence in the area? If patients and potential patients don’t know about you they won’t book appointments.

JDRM Dental Care – invested in creating a strong local presence

Visuals

And when they do come in, what is their first impression? What does your signage look like? Is it reflected in the way your practice is decorated or do you have random colours and mismatched chairs in the waiting room?

Do your documents look like they’ve been printed professionally or at least on a professional office printer, or do they look like they’ve been churned out on one of those Gestetner devices they used to make school teachers suffer?

Do you have a practice logo, and if you do, is it used consistently?

And talking of logos, does yours look like everyone else’s anthropomorphic molar, or is it a bit ‘different’?

Does your business name suggest ‘dentist’ or could it be equally applied to a greengrocer or funeral director?

Online

What does your online presence say about you? Do you know what websites list your practice, let alone what they say about you? Have you created social media channels and then forgotten about them? And when was the last time your own website was updated?

Patient interaction

How do your reception team deal with patients? Do they have the right tools to manage your book (and training in how to use those tools)? How do they sound on the ‘phone? How long do patients have to stand at the reception desk before someone deals with them? How do the reception team deal with the pre-treatment paperwork? And how well do they handle the tricky and uncomfortable process of taking payment?

How we can help

Every single one of these things shapes the perception of your brand, and every single one is in your direct control.

Chris Webb is an Accredited Member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) and director of Precision PR Limited with a background in digital imaging technology and all its applications. Cary Cray-Webb is a practising dental nurse with a degree in Fine Art. Our company, Precision PR, has been working in the dental industry since we started in 2017, writing, creating websites, developing social media, web and media strategies.

Chris has nearly 30-years experience in marketing, marcoms, PR and social media, and 35-years experience in IT. Opinions and analogies about the brands discussed are based entirely on our personal observation and experience since, in branding, the perception of others is everything.

We can help you define your brand, and execute your marketing communications plans. If you would like to discuss how, please get in contact by emailing chris@precisionpr.co.uk or calling 07432 189149.

So let me ask you again? Which supermarket chain is most like your dental business?

Note: All opinions in this article are those of the writers, and are based on nearly 30 years of PR practice and personal observations of the UK dental industry.

The post How to brand your practice appeared first on .

How to waste money on advertising

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Mon, 04 Feb 2019 13:26:08 +0000

It’s easily done

The adage “Fail to plan and you plan to fail” couldn’t be more true of advertising. But we’ve all done it. You know what happens – the friendly advertising rep from your favourite magazine rings you and tells you they can give you a half-page at a 75% discount, so you buy your bargain space and feel pleased with yourself. Great! Except you’ve broken just about every basic rule there is in marketing.

Computing

1. Audience

Opportunities to see, circulation, impressions – call it what you will. It matters not a jot how many people can see your advert. What matters is how many respond. So a huge audience is not in itself the RIGHT audience.

For example, if you sell dental software, is there any point to advertising in Computing with its 115,000 readers? Yes, it’s relevant to software. But how many dentists are included in that 115,000? On the other hand, if that same business were trying to recruit a software developer, would it make sense to advertise in a Professional Dentistry e-Bulletin? Choose the platform that suits your audience, not what suits you or your advertising sales rep.

Professional Dentistry

2. Message

What are you actually trying to achieve with your advert? It has a huge effect on where you advertise, but it also affects when you advertise and what your advertisement should say.

For example, if our software company were advertising its products in Professional Dentistry it should explain how its products will make your practice run more smoothly and maintain compliance with regulations. However, in a Computing recruitment advert, it should talk about the interesting work, employee benefits and culture.

Equally, in Professional Dentistry they should perhaps focus efforts around a new product launch, whereas their Computing adverts should obviously be placed when they need to recruit.

3. Presentation

Artwork. Sounds trivial, but how an advert looks is what gets people to read it. It has to be ‘eye-catching’. So spend time finding and briefing your designer or advertising agency. And give them time to develop their ideas properly. A last-minute brief will produce last-minute work.

Done right and done well, advertising is an investment every business and dental practice should make. Done wrong and you are not just making a poor investment; you are wasting your money.

For more information about the role advertising plays in an integrated marketing and PR campaign, please call Chris Webb on 07432 189149 or email chris@precisionpr.co.uk

The post How to waste money on advertising appeared first on .

Getting digital marketing right

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 17:10:05 +0000

Don’t shout – whisper

Digital PR and marketing apparently provide businesses with some distinct advantages over traditional methods. People will tell you that you can reach a bigger audience. Well, you sort of can, sometimes. But traditional media still has a massive reach.

They will also tell you that, you can more easily reach a better-targeted audience. Well, that’s true also true to an extent. But trade papers are by definition, read by people in the trade, and local papers by people who are local. So so don’t dismiss them as a targetted communications channel.

However, the biggest advantage of digital PR and marketing is ‘trackability’. They allow you to easily find out who you’ve reached and what effect your message has had. And this is the point.

Many people spend a great deal of time and money gathering data about who has seen their online marketing efforts. Some will then spend further time trying to work out what this means. However, the real key to success with digital marketing is continuously responding to the data to build your reputation and improve your marketing activities.

What to do

Tailoring your message to match the market is really difficult. It is too easy to believe that your vision is perfect and become so invested in it that you cannot make adjustments. You can have the best product in the world, but if your audience doesn’t understand what they will gain from buying it, then they won’t.

Success comes from cutting through the noise with a message that addresses the needs of the individual. So if your message doesn’t mean something to that individual it’s just part of the noise.

Let’s face it, you don’t really care if your competitor on the other side of town has a beautifully designed website. What you care about is getting more new customers or patients, and existing ones spending more money with you for premium services.

So work out what you need to do to let people know why they should trust you. In other words, what do they want to hear from you?

Show people that you are the expert in your field. That doesn’t mean just telling them – it means giving them reasons to believe. In other words, tell them something they will find useful.

Show them that you care passionately about your industry and profession. Let them see that you have pride in your work. In other words, demonstrate meaningful innovation and understanding of new developments.

Show them that you care about them. Focus on their needs and look at your business from their perspective. In other words, think how you would react to your message if they were sent to you by a competitor.

Show them others who you have carried out work for. Let them identify with those people and see that you are the right choice for them as well. In other words, put emphasis on testimonials and case studies that explain what you deliver.

And above all, don’t ‘sell’ to them. Digital marketing lets you cut to the sale so easily. But resist the temptation – give them space and time to ‘buy’ from you. In other words, people will only become happy customers or patients if they see real value in the products and services you offer.

In a world of shouting, the clearest sound is sometimes a whisper.

The post Getting digital marketing right appeared first on .

So put your money where your mouth is

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Fri, 08 Jun 2018 14:09:57 +0000

Our first advert

“Well Mr Client, chasing earned media and working with Social Media is only half the battle.”

We admit it – we’ve said it many times. No one route to an audience is seen by everyone you’d like, so the more (properly chosen and co-ordinated) routes you have the more people will read your message.

Precision PR Advert in Modern Dentist Magazine

So now we’ve taken our own advice and started advertising!

Subtle changes

Yes, we certainly have taken our own advice. And used our own resources to design the advert which first appeared in the latest issue of Modern Dentist (on the inside back cover).

And that starts with an advertising campaign using the strapline; “In a world of shouting, sometimes the clearest sound you’ll hear is a whisper.”

You might have also noticed a few little changes to our website. When we started our business we expected to appeal to US (and other international) companies planning to move into the UK market.

Instead, we’ve found a greater demand for our specialist skills in dentistry and digital imaging. At the same time, ‘Brexit’ (or rather the uncertain it’s created) has negatively impacted on the type of marketing investments we have been involved with in the past. So we’ve refined our messaging to reflect this.

Communications campaign planning

We are currently managing coordinated marketing communications campaigns for multiple clients. So if you are looking for ideas to help you say the right thing to the right person at the right time, call us: +447432 189 149.

The post So put your money where your mouth is appeared first on .

We’ve been filming … 6Ws of video

chris@precisionpr.co.uk — Thu, 10 May 2018 11:22:01 +0000

Hint’s and tips on creating videos

We recently started work on a series of videos for one of our clients, which has prompted us to write this blog about some of the things we believe you should think about when creating videos.

As in all communications, the 6Ws are a good starting point.

Why

Think about what you are trying to achieve.

Sage is using a video of Peter Jones on social media and TV.

Creating videos is expensive, so think as carefully about why you’re doing it as how your’re doing it.

What are you trying to achieve? There might be easier, cheaper or more effective ways to spend that money.

What

Think about what you want to say.

Video is a very powerful medium. You can get a lot of information across in a very short period of time, and in a way that is easily assimalated. But it can also become an ‘information avalanch’ if you try to do too much.

Write a script to guide your presenter to formulate and structure your messages.

Where

Think about where you’re going to promote your videos.

Having a video is a bit pointless if you don’t bring it to the attention of your target audience. So, like any other form of content, plan a campaign of promotional activities that will place the video in front of your audience.

Use advertising, direct electronic mail, social media and any other method you can think of, but don’t just load it to your website and expect it to do something on its own.

Karl Lang explains Epsons CLO output in comparison to competitors

Who

Choose the right team.

Make sure you have the best presenter you can find on the project. They don’t necessarily have to be subject matter experts, but they MUST sound like they are.

If different people in your organisation have responsibility for the marketing channels you want to use to promote the video, make sure they are included in the planning.

They will need to plan their own campaigns and might need to organise resources you are not aware of. Additionally, their channel may have specific technical requirements.

Plus, involving other members of your organisation means you also get their ideas and enthusiasm for free.

When

Think about all aspects of timing.

It might take longer than you think to produce a video, so start with the date you need it and work backwards.

Think about all your compnents. For example, if you need screen shots of a software product or still of a physical product, make sure you can actually get them ahead of editing.

Also consider the physical timing. If you want to use outdoor shots, would it look right to film those shots on a dark winter’s day if the video is going to launch in high summer?

Still taken from a video for Kingfisher Cricket by our partners CWM Studios

How

Think carefully about your choice of production company. They need to be a good fit for your brand AND for the project sponsors.

There’s no point in hiring some zany, wacky, newly qualified art student type if your brand calls for you to demonstrate technical competancy. Equally, hiring a highley structured, ultra-slick outfit won’t work if your project sponsor is looking for ‘something new and different’.

Once you have settled on a production company, listen to what they have to say. While it’s true that they have all the cameras, lights and editing suites you need, what you’re really buying is their expertise. They will have created many more videos than you, so ask them what they think and take on board their advice.

Video is a growing content format and it’s important that everyone running online marketing campaigns should consider using it. It’s not ‘magic’, but neither is is ‘rocket science’. What it is is infact simply a different way of getting your message across to your target audience.

If you would like to talk about video production we will glad to hear from you. We’ve written many video scripts and worked with several videographers in the past and can find the right team for you.

The post We’ve been filming … 6Ws of video appeared first on .