Eight Worst Advertising Mistakes

This article presents strategies for advertising the medical practice. The emphasis is on breaking out of the old rules of how one should advertise and delves into asking questions that lead to a true strategy unique to one’s medical practice and offerings. The article discusses the myriad ways to think about and create a patient-centered approach, turning from “here is what we offer” to instead “what you want we offer.”

Do you feel like you are throwing your money away on advertisements that just do not pay off?

How many times have the advertising sales representatives showed up in your office with a really great deal for this month’s edition and they were really excited so you were really excited and you went for it? Then you and your staff spent time deciding on what you were going to say in your advertisement, and you then gave it to the advertising representative who designed an advertisement that you thought was great.

You waited impatiently for your advertisement to come out and had your staff on alert so that they can handle the flood of telephone calls you most assuredly will get.

Instead, you ended up getting only 4 telephone calls: 2 of the callers just wanted to know how much it was going to cost and then hung up, 1 wanted to confirm their appointment that they already scheduled with you, and 1 was legitimately interested but needs to call you back when he or she has more time to consider the advertisement.

Huh? That was not supposed to happen.

Aesthetic advertising is growing and changing

The aesthetic patient is on an information overload.

These patients are being flooded with messages that are confusing and overwhelming. They do not know where to begin, who to believe, and how to respond.

This surge of aesthetic advertising, as well as advertising in general, means that it is getting more difficult to be heard. So, you need to think more strategically about your advertising efforts before investing another dime.

The Latest Trend is Media Fragmentation

Not long ago, you could put an advertisement in your local newspaper or be seen on your local news channel because that was where 85% of your patients went for their news. Not now! Patients today are consumers and go to hundreds of different places to get their news. They decide where they go for information.

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