One of the first steps every medical or dental practice should take when embarking on a strategic marketing program is identifying your target audience.
Knowing who your marketing messages should be aimed at (and tailoring your messages accordingly) will be critical to your marketing success. For example:
A client recently asked us for an assessment of his self-created print ad. This ad for vision care showed a cute kid in eyeglasses who was about 8 years old. The ad had an even cuter headline that contained no benefit to the reader, no unique sales proposition (USP) and no differentiation for the practice. But the biggest problem with the ad was that it was aimed at only 5% of the client’s actual target audience. And the client was spending over $50,000 on advertising space!
Knowing your target audience means knowing the age ranges of patients you want to treat. It means knowing whether they are primarily male or female and whether they are primarily blue-and pink- collar working people, white-collar executives or some blend of lower-class, middle-class and upper-class individuals. It also means knowing how well-educated they are – and understanding the demographics and psychographics most prevalent in your area. Most importantly, it means knowing their wants and needs.
You Are Not Your Target Audience
This is one of the hardest lessons to learn for most health practitioners. If you create marketing messages that suit your own personal taste, you are likely to fail at marketing. Unless your patients earn your income, live the way you live and have the same level of education you have, they will not likely share your personal tastes and preferences. And they will not likely have the same wants and needs in life.
Your best bet: Partner with a professional healthcare marketing consulting company who already understands the most effective ways to reach virtually any target audience with the right messaging. At Practice Builders, we help physicians, dentists and ancillary healthcare practitioners market more effectively every day. Ask us how we can help you, too.