BRANDING---THE FIRST STEP IN MARKETING YOUR PRACTICE

What reputation does your practice carry in your community?  How visible is your practice to patients and potential patients in your area?  How is your practice different from other dental practices in your city?  Would you agree that branding (establishing a distinct identity for a business or organization) is not just for the “big guys” (big business), but is vitally important for a small business (your dental practice) as well?

Pew Internet Research, a respected source of opinion polls and surveys, says that 72% of Internet users look online for health information, and 93% of Americans ages 30 to 49 use the Internet.  That is a significant audience to reach.

Branding, the identity you establish for your practice, can be assured by a consistent online presence beginning with your Website.  Suggestion:  if no one on your staff has the skill or time to keep your online communications up to date, hire a reputable professional designer to coordinate your online efforts such as your Website, Blog, and Social Media postings.  Make certain your Website links to your Blog postings as well as your Social Media sites.  Conversely, create a link from your Blog and Social Media outlets to your Website.  Make certain either a knowledgeable staff member or the outsourced professional keep your Blog and Social Media sites up to date with fresh ideas and information.

The branding coordinator, whether an outsourced professional or a dental team member, should also assure your practice profile is active and accurate on Patient Review sites such as Google + and Healthgrades.com.  Further, your branding coordinator should optimize your Website’s visibility through search engines, monitoring results of patient searches, and linking your Website through all relevant-to-dentistry sites.

Make certain all references to your practice, whether print media, signage, or online, use the same name.  If your practice name differs from your own name (John H. Doe, DDS vs Doe Family Dentistry), use the practice name rather than your own in all cases of branding/marketing.  This assures that the identity of your practice is consistent across all online and offline marketing efforts.

Think of an example of big business branding---think of TARGET, the giant retailer.  The red color and the concentric-circle target make all TARGET ads distinctive and memorable whether seen online or received offline via print media.  Transfer that type of instant recognition to your practice with creative ideas generated during some brain storming sessions with your dental team.  While your own branding efforts may be more subtle that those of TARGET, you get the idea.  Go with it!