Intelligent Marketing Spend Brings in More Patients for Less
This post will explain why online marketing is so crucial during a recession. As the country settles into what looks like a long recession it is crucial that the marketing spend for your dental, chiropractor, or physician website stays constant or, ideally, increases.
People react to tough times in a predictable manner – they sit on their money. Many people consider chiropractor services and dental work to be discretionary and are therefore more likely to endure a bit more pain before making an appointment, or skip that next dental visit. You are probably feeling it in your bottom line, and if you aren’t, you will.
This means that the same amount of dental practices and chiropractor offices are competing for less clientele. Increase your online marketing spend to weather the storm, or face the prospect of lower revenues in 2009.
Consider the life time value of a patient when deciding on your internet marketing spend. The latest statistics show that the life time value of a dental patient is about $22,000. With this in mind, consider investing more in marketing to get patients in the door.
Try this:
Divide your total monthly or quarterly marketing spend by the number of new patients you are bringing in the door for the same period of time. This is what it costing you to bring in new patients. Is it currently $200, $500, a $1,000 to bring in a new patient? If you haven’t done this kind of math, you will find it enlightening.
Internet marketing is effective during this time because you can’t afford to be targeting people that are not interested in your services. Online marketing targets people at the split second they are searching for your services. When someone is typing in ‘veneers roanoke virginia’ your practice needs to be displayed.
Direct Mail, radio, television, and newspaper advertising are all examples of mass market advertising that puts your message in front of thousands of people, most of which are uninterested in what you are offering. Internet marketing spend continues to grow year over year because it is two things – accurate and testable. The accuracy comes from its ability to target those that are actively searching for a particular service.
But testability is what is driving most businesses from the mass market advertising to the internet. Analytics programs that can tell you where you are succeeding and where you are failing. Pay per click campaigns that can give you true ROI figures. Online marketing shatters the theory of the mysterious “black box” into which marketers of the past deposited their money.
As always, let me know if you have questions. You can leave a comment below or contact me directly here.
November 25, 2008
Posted in: Converting Traffic to Patients
One Response
It’s refreshing to see someone encouraging doctors and dentists to look at statistics and hard numbers when analyzing the results and benefits of their marketing campaigns.
I agree that targeting potential patients already looking for dental and medical procedures (“Pull” marketing) is a wise move during difficult economic times.
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