The Seven Essential Keys to Prosperous Dental Advertising

What is your most important newspaper advertising goal? Is it primarily to keep your practice name in front of the readers? Or is it to cause readers to pick up the phone and request an appointment?

If it’s the latter, then be sure to follow these seven essential keys to success…

Identify a specific dental problem or problems that a prospective patient can relate to…and is likely to respond to if s/he suffers from that problem.

Understand that people are not offended by dental advertising.

No one WANTS to go to the dentist. They do so for very specific reasons. Your job via your ad is to identify one or more of those reasons in such a way that it will entice the reader to pick up the phone and make an appointment.

Identify a solution to the above mentioned problem or problems, and do so in a way that gives the prospective patient confidence.

In the ad, be sure to tell the prospective patient that the problem you mentioned can be easily and quickly resolved in most cases. Don’t just assume they’ll make that jump from problem to solution. Yes, it’s a simple jump, but your assurance that—in most cases—a resolution is quickly and easily attainable can make a big difference.

The prospective patient must believe that by making an appointment with you that his or her problem has a better-than-reasonable chance of being "fixed".

Present yourself as the logical choice to caringly, effectively and professionally solve the prospective patient’s problem or problems.

Tied closely with #2 above, you want the prospective patient to perceive you as the dentist who can not only correct the problem…but one who can do it with skill, grace, caring and professionalism. This CAN be done in a way that enhances your professional image.

Encourage the prospective patient to respond right now…and make it easy for him or her to do so.

Don’t just assume that the mere presence of your ad is enough to cause people to call you. Use the power of suggestion and direct command to prompt the prospective patient to pick up the phone NOW and make an appointment.

Of course, the phone number should stand out…and not be tucked away at the bottom of the ad in 6-point type.

Make your ad stand out in the clutter of other newspaper ads. Many ads get lost in a sea of boxed off look-alikes.

It pays to study the ads that appear in the section/page of the paper where your ad will appear. What types of borders, backgrounds, eye-attention devices, typestyles, layouts, etc. are typical? What you want is an ad that when placed on this page will draw the reader’s eye directly to it. Thus, it should in some way be distinctively different than the other ads.

Place your ad in the appropriate section of the newspaper…and avoid the worst locations on a page.

Ask your newspaper for their readership studies to see which section gets read by which types of people…young, old, men, women, parents, wealthy, etc… and then test your ad in those sections which seem to match up best demographically and psychographically with the target audience of your ad.

Also, there are some locations that simply don’t get noticed as easily as others are. Readership studies have shown that ads placed in the "gutter" (the innermost columns of each page) don’t get noticed as often as those placed in columns not in the gutter.

Understand that people are not offended by dental advertising.
In fact, studies have shown that people consider advertising to be a valuable way for healthcare professionals to communicate with consumers. And a variety of tests clearly prove that dental advertisements can work in generating new patient flow. The secret is putting together ads that attract the reader’s attention, generate some interest, build the reader’s desire, and prompt action in the form of a phone call.

In closing…

Today managed care, increased competition, and an untapped public unknowing of the benefits of modern dentistry are putting a real strain on many practices. And this situation is likely to get much worse. If you want to be one of the few dentists who will enjoy a thriving fee-for-service practice into the next century, it’s important that you begin incorporating effective direct response advertising into your marketing mix.

Galen Stilson has authored the Seniors Marketing program, publishes Successful DENTIST Advertising, a free e-mail newsletter for dentists who advertise (to get your free subscription, e-mail Galen at gstilson@mindspring.com). If you would like more information on Galen's services, contact him by mail at 4036 Mermoor Court, Palm Harbor, FL 34685...by e-mail: gstilson@mindspring.com ...by phone: 727-786-1411...or by fax: 727-785-7049.