Here Shelley Frosdick, PR Director at award-winning consumer agency PHA Media (www.pha-media.com), provides her top tips for promoting your practice.
Tip 1: Understand what makes your practice unique
In order for your practice to stand out in a crowded market it is vital to know and to understand your brand’s unique selling points (USP). Defining your USP will not only help you engage with journalists and bloggers – but more importantly it will allow you to differentiate yourself from your competitors and engage your target market.
Tip 2: Utilise your expertise – give your practice a personality
Alongside a strong USP, what will set your practice apart from your competitors is, well, you…Giving your brand, business or – in this case – your practice a personality will not only raise awareness about what you do but, crucially, will help you build trust with your audience. There are a number of ways you can get your name out there – from hosting networking events and writing thought leadership pieces for newspapers/magazines/blogs to putting yourself forward as a media spokesperson.
Tip 3: Monitor and respond to the news agenda
Monitoring the news agenda is an important tactic for dental practices. If you spot a story that is relevant to your practice or industry then the chances are you will be a strong media commentator.
How will this benefit you? Well simply if you are regularly appearing on well-respected news channels such as Sky, CNN and the BBC you can generate huge exposure and reinforce your reputation as a leading expert. It will also position the practice as current, topical and on track of the latest trends and developments within the industry.
Tip 4: The power of celebrity
Celebrity endorsement can have a huge impact on the success of your practice. While some may look down on the cult of celebrity the fact remains they can generate huge exposure for your brand through media and social media. Having a celebrity photographed coming out of your clinic or tweeting about a treatment can be the best form of advertising and in many cases much more cost effective. But how can you engage a celeb?
The best way to get a celebrity to try your treatment is to speak to their agent and offer the service complimentary in return for a promotional activity – for example this could be anything from a tweet or quote to a series of media interviews (big tick). It is really important, however, that you carefully pick the celebrities you want to approach and who will appeal most to your target consumer.
Tip 5: Engage with valuable bloggers
Blogger influence has grown rapidly over the past five years, and popular bloggers are now deemed to be equally powerful in selling treatments or products as some celebrities and press. It is really important that you treat bloggers in the same vein as press, and engage with them regularly about your practice’s services and new treatments.
The best way to engage target bloggers in your clinic is to offer a treatment or service complimentary in return for a review on their site. Not only will this drive their readers to your practice, but many will push their reviews out across social media channels, which will engage a different audience.
Tip 6: Let your patients shout about your work
Personal testimony and recommendation are a vital part of reputation building for many practices and, as a result, case study placement is often seen as a key part of a practice’s overall PR strategy to get patients through the door.
Tip 7: Make the most of your website
Adding a blog to your practice’s website is a relatively easy and inexpensive way to establish yourself as an industry leader on top of current trends and topics, as well as helping drive customers to the site.
Appoint one or two chief bloggers to regularly post articles on new treatments or trends within the industry. By including valuable, expert opinion in your blog posts, it will help give visitors insight into the professionals behind the brand and establish the practice as a ‘go to’ source for helpful and informative information. Blogs can also spark comments and questions from website visitors, allowing clinics to build a rapport with potential customers.
Effective blogging can also help clinics get discovered via social media. For every post that gets published it is imperative that this is then shared across social media networks (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+), helping to expose your business to a much bigger audience.
Tip 8: Awards
Being shortlisted or winning an industry award is not only is a fantastic accolade allowing your practice to shine against its competitors, but it also offers a great opportunity to promote your brand. It is important to regularly monitor your sector and the media for any prestigious awards.
Tip 9: Get involved in charity work
Taking part in charity work or corporate social responsibility not only allows practices to help others, but also provides a fantastic media talking point for both the practice and the initiative you are supporting. Consider your practice’s expertise and look into charities or initiatives that it could help and support. This partnership can then be promoted across national and trade titles as well as social media channels.
Tip 10: Use social media effectively
Social media is an invaluable way to reach your target audience. It’s also a brilliant way to build trust and a prominent tone of voice in a crowded market, so even the most niche practices should maximise what social media can do. It doesn’t have to be all about trying to sell products or services to the customer – instead you can use social media as a way to show that you are a leader in your field. A great way to generate content is by jumping on the news agenda, for example a cosmetic dental practice could share a link to a news story about the dangers of sun damage or comment on current trends in the industry. It’s also easy to jump on popular hashtags such as #TopTipTuesday or #FunFactFriday by sharing advice.