Create Your Own Awareness Campaign for Patients

Where are the great marketing campaigns for modern dentistry?

Remember those "Got Milk?" ads that ran for so long? They took something that was already a staple of contemporary life – the milk that just about everyone has in their refrigerator – and they managed to create more awareness and appreciation for this everyday product through clever and memorable advertising. That happened because a bunch of dairy producers decided it was time to pool their resources and raise the profile of the humble glass of milk – and it was remarkably effective.

Wouldn't it be great if we could "reboot" the way people think about dentistry and get them to appreciate it in a new way, the way the dairy producers managed to do with milk? What if dentistry had an awareness campaign like that?

This can happen – at least in your practice. The fact is that a significant majority of Americans are committed to seeing a dentist regularly. They are already coming in, which means you have the ability to do some one-on-one value building and raise awareness. As I mentioned in a previous article it's just a matter of what you choose to do to change what dentistry means to them.

Are you giving them a comprehensive tour of your practice? Are you showing them your technology and what it can do? Do you make them aware of the difference you have made in the lives of other patients, by showing before-and-after case studies and testimonials? Are you delivering a patient experience that is designed to get them excited about their possibilities? Most importantly, what mindset are you instilling in them – a tooth-based, insurance-driven perspective, or a vision-based, value-driven one?

Great dentistry does not sell itself; you have to continually make patients aware of the value of what you do. Until there is a national ad campaign for dentistry that captures their imagination, you have to make that happen at the practice level.