The following 6-part learning series is designed to help you and especially your marketing coordinator develop and effectively manage print advertising as a component of your marketing mix.  Advertising is a powerful tool which can help to establish your practice as a trusted presence in the eyes of both current and potential patients in your community.

 

This learning series is dedicated to developing effective advertisements, geared particularly for the doctor, office manager or a practice’s marketing associate or coordinator. Whether they will be creating ads themselves or supervising a graphic artist, copywriter or advertising agency, they’ll find the data and ideas included here to be extremely valuable.

 

Today, print advertising is finding a place in considerably more professional marketing plans than ever before. In many situations, it’s because doctors and/or their marketing representatives are being proactive, rather than reactive, to the issues of increased competition and the ever-growing need for new patients.

 

Obviously, the advertisement itself is the cornerstone of any advertising campaign. In fact, most campaigns that fail do so because the advertisement was impotent … it was just too “resistible.”

 

You can create irresistible, successful advertising by paying attention to the basics, which we’ll review throughout this update as the Five Fundamental Characteristics of Good Ads.

 

Good ads must:

 

To begin, we’ll discuss getting the patient’s attention with effective headlines. Next, we’ll see how layout and copy can hold the patient’s attention and let them “grasp” the advantages or benefits to them.

 

Then we’ll review with a practical “checklist” that the doctor and/or marketing representative can use to critique internally or externally created ads.  Okay, let’s get started.

 

 

 

An advertisement cannot increase your new patient load or increase the use of additional services by current patients if it is not read. It cannot be read if it is not seen, and it will not be seen unless it has caught the patient’s attention.

 

As you know, that is much easier said than done. Never underestimate the fierce competition you face in getting a current/new patient’s attention. It’s sad but true; nobody in your neighborhood (except you and your staff) is waiting for your ad to appear. In fact, everybody in your neighborhood (except you and your staff) would much rather read the news, comics, sports, or editorials.

 

The hard fact is when it comes to newspapers, advertisers are the “uninvited guests”. No reader asked or paid for us to join the party. Rather, we paid the newspaper to get in. What the reader did purchase the paper for is news, entertainment, or instruction . . . all items of helpful personal value. So that is what your advertisement, if it is to be read, must also provide. To get new or current patients to pay for your services, you must give them a “payoff” to read about them.

 

All right, enough of the hard truths. How will you do it?

 

Here is the first question to answer. How important is the headline in getting their attention? Obviously, it is the headline that gets patients into the copy. The copy never gets them into the headline. Many unsuccessful ads contain body copy filled with educated, convincing material that was never read. Why? It wasn’t encapsulated into a good headline.

 

If you only remember two tips about creating headlines, remember these:

 

·         The headline must be persuasive. Yes, persuasive enough to compete with all the other distractions of life. It must make your reader realize there is action to be taken.

 

·         It also must offer a reward for reading. Whether it’s information, problem solving, or a free offer, this reward must be sufficiently attractive to induce the reader to continue reading beyond the headline.

 

Here are more tips for success:

 

Successful ads have two ways of promising “rewards for reading” – positively or negatively. Positive headlines convey in a few words how the reader can benefit from joining your practice. Negative headlines point out how readers can avoid or reduce the risk of some undesirable condition by accepting your services.

 

Good headlines help select your target audience from the total readership of the newspaper by specifically addressing some definitions or characteristics.

 

Your details should also be specific. This magnetically helps you draw this target audience into the body copy of your ad. Headline copy should contain specific words or phrases that promise to tell the reader how, here is, these, which, what or why. Another specific that works is the use of exact numbers, such as an amount of days, minutes, or even dollars.

 

Interrogative headlines also help: “Ever wish…?” “What would you do . . .?” And the words “you,” “your,” or “yourself,” draw attention to the ad.

 

One of the strongest headlines of this type ever developed was, “Uncle Sam Wants You!!” 

 

Accentuate the negative. That is a little different from the hit song of the thirties, (accentuate the positive; eliminate the negative). In creating headlines, it is sometimes necessary to construct a negative headline, which strikes directly at the situation confronting the reader. The negative headline pinpoints the problem or ailment rather than the cure. These negative headlines are only used about 20% of the time, but they can be effective in gaining the attention of your target audience.

 

Remember the “Prestige Factor.” In some professional ads, it is important to highlight what “other people” will say of them, think of them, do for them – how they will be admired, envied – even imitated . . . because of what your practice and the specific procedure will accomplish for them.

 

News works. Getting news or news value into your headline is a proven way to get attention. As you read headlines, you inevitably will see versions utilizing the word “new,” or “new kind of,” “new discovery,” “new way to.” The news of a new or novel approach to something captivates readers, especially in America. Be sure, however, that if you use the word “new” in a headline it is backed up by body copy pointing out the merits of a procedure or product that are in fact really new and advantageous . . . not just a trivial difference.

 

Don’t make your “new advances” your best-kept secrets. Don’t think that because a few other doctors in the state also have the same piece of equipment or perform the same procedure it is old news. From the reader’s point of view, the first practice they read about offering something new – in fact, the first ad that gets their attention – is the innovator. This holds true regardless of the number of other “ineffective ads” for the same procedure that might have been published previously.

 

How long should a headline be? No lengthier than its primary function requires. Some sources say headlines should have no more than a certain amount of words – don’t buy it. Success can come with quite long, as well as short (even one word) headlines. If it is a long headline, it is imperative that its key points of interest are physically well broken up and clearly displayed.

 

One final comment on the successful headline: It is key that the advantages promised are presented in a way that makes each target reader certain it was written for their eyes only. 

 

Following is a list of successful headlines sure to get your “creative juices” flowing.

 

 

 

Here are a few observations about attention-winning layouts. To get a potential or current patient’s attention with your layout, you may do either one of two things:

 

1.      Make it so powerful or so unusual that it captures the eye, despite the competition of other advertisements.

 

2.      Or, you can go to the other extreme and make your layout so simple, so sedate, that the contrast captures attention.

 

Of course these two options are extremes, but you will find that the more “neutral” layouts are more than likely bypassed, even if the headline caused the reader to pause.

 

 

Here are a few more layout pointers:

 

To get attention and hold it, the advertisement should be interesting to look at. It can’t be static, and should convey the feeling of movement and action.

 

Pictures in the advertisement are a plus. Usually pictures of adults, children, and animals are natural attention-winners. Size also helps – a large photograph gets more attention than several small pictures. Some interesting research shows that pictures of women, a young child, or a baby generally get greater attention from women than from men. Pictures of men will generally get greater attention from men than women. Generally, people are more interested in words combined with pictures than words alone. They also like “action-oriented” pictures versus static (posed) ones.

 

If showing your equipment, services, or techniques in a picture, show them in action . . . doing something, accomplishing an advantage for the patient.  The picture should be relevant to the equipment or service being performed. It should do a specific job pictorially to substantiate the points being made in the copy.

 

Your concentration should be on the substance of the ad, not with the form.

 

The pictures you select should show the advantage of working with the practice.

 

They should persuasively illustrate the purpose, merit, and advantage of the equipment or technique and how it benefits the patient.

 

 

Catching a patient’s attention with your headline, your layout, or both, should lead to capturing their mind. The thing the reader obviously wants to know is: What will this practice do for me that my current or past practices have not?

 

You must show them an advantage. As you create the copy, be aware of how the equipment, service, or technique really works, but realize that your primary focus must be to surround these facts with key information on the benefits to patients. You can also show in words, pictures, or both, what risks, worries, pains, or embarrassments your practice can help patients avoid. If you can package the advantages in terms of what patients can gain, be, do, and save, you will make them believers in your practice.

 

A crucial step in determining whether your potential or current patient will decide to read the copy is your first paragraph. It should follow through with the idea or appeal expressed in the main headline, which attracted them in the first place.

 

When creating that all-important first paragraph, keep it short, with quick, easy-to-read sentences. Try to entice the reader to stay with you into the paragraph or paragraphs that follow. A technique you may utilize is “the question” – one so pertinent or challenging as to grip the patient’s interest at once and compel them to keep reading to find an answer.

 

Whatever headline strategy you use, don’t wait to begin revealing benefits to the patient. Start immediately to carry out the reward-for-reading promised in the headline. Compress into the first paragraph a few major advantages of your technique or equipment. Go for the big ones; don’t clutter it up with minor claims.

 

 

As you’re writing the copy, remember the third fundamental characteristic of a good ad – prove it! Proof material can be introduced at any point in the advertisement from headline to close. The ad’s chance of success increases with the number of pertinent “proof facts” you include.

 

Often, patients need and want facts as reasons and/or excuses for making a decision which otherwise would have been based on emotion. Your proof material in copy builds belief. It furnishes evidence of the advantage you have promised. It makes the reader feel that their decision was a safe and wise one that indicated good judgment. If necessary, the facts will assist the reader in justifying to others that the decision was sound and was not based on emotion alone.

 

Proof material in copy can come in many forms. For a product, it may be specifications of quality ingredients, lab tests, or details of workmanship. It also may be the reputation and experience of the doctor and the team members.

 

For a technique, the research data and reputation of the testing group may be key, as well as the number of successful applications performed on patients.

 

Equipment proof-material would also focus on the manufacturing experience of the company, related equipment successes, and any special claims or patents they may possess.

 

For many doctors, the proof may be in the form of true and believable before-and-after photographs or dramatic performance records. Of course, the testimony of others, both experts and consumers, is valuable, as is any award or certification the application, equipment, or technique may have won.

 

 

 

Next, you must try to persuade people to grasp the advantages you’ve presented and apply it to their own situations. This is the fourth fundamental characteristic of a good ad. Paint a picture of the practice’s benefits in the daily lives of current or potential patients. Sum up all you have stated thus far, and show how easy it will be for them to obtain it. Most times it’s only one or two sentences that act as a preparatory stage to asking for a specific action. It gathers the various threads of claims and proofs and weaves them into a strong close. It reiterates. It reminds. It concludes. 

 

The best way to explain the fourth fundamental characteristic is by a sample illustration. Suppose a dentist, a marketing associate, or a copywriter is writing copy about a new cosmetic technique for improving smiles. The copy may first have pointed out: how good the patient will look; how much more confident they will feel; and why the procedure’s proven track record represents a wise purchase decision.

 

This copy proved the advantages and benefits. Now the copy must go further in persuading readers to grasp these advantages. The writer may stress the same benefits again, but with greater personal impact. The ad may end by explaining that this particular procedure assures the patient of an attractive, beautiful smile, which is indicative of the success so necessary to those seeking business or social advancement.

 

 

Many advertisements cause readers to observe that they are well-written, attractive, and convincing. Others not only capture attention, hold interest, and win conviction . . . but also get action. That is the fifth characteristic of a good ad.

 

There are usually three forms utilized to ask for action.

 

The first, which you see most often, can be designated, “Give us a call.” It is the most simple approach, yet far better than doing nothing. Here you ask for action without any real tie-in to the rest of the copy, such as, “For more information, give our office a call,” or “Contact Sue to set an appointment to review this new procedure.”

 

The second form suggests the patient or potential patient perform an action which will establish a closer bond between them and the doctor or the staff. It gives the reader something interesting to carry out which will make them more friendly to the advertiser. This form might be called, “Do something.” It may ask the reader to fill out a short related questionnaire, or to review photos in the advertisement that depict different stages of a condition and check off the stage closest to their own. It may simply be an invitation to stop by the practice for a tour or free brochure or free practice CD.

 

The third form of call-to-action copy asks for a “direct response” from readers: a free diagnosis, a free trial offer, an entry in a contest, or signing up for a free seminar. There are a few specific ways to press for immediate action:

 

·         Make an offer. Use a “hook.” Offer a free analysis, demonstration or trial offer.

 

·         Add a time limit. Give a time limit on the offer.

 

·         Give a guarantee. If the offer can be guaranteed, stress that this assurance removes their cause for delay or inaction.

 

 

Here are the “Ideal Eight” basic patient reactions to a successful advertisement:

 

1.      The advertisement caught my attention.

2.      Its headline won my attention.

3.      This interest carried me into the first paragraph.

4.      The first paragraph got me to go on reading the copy.

5.      This copy held my interest, convinced me; and made me decide . . .

6.      This practice must be good; and . . .

7.      I will visit it, or . . .

8.      I am calling for a tour today.

 

 

 

This section is designed to assist you in critiquing the ads you have created. Whether you’re the doctor or the marketing coordinator and whether you’re creating the advertisements yourself or supervising an agency, graphic artist, or copywriter; this checklist will provide you with a mechanism for reviewing the effectiveness of the advertisements which are produced.

 

Here are three rules-of-thumb to utilize when approving (or disapproving) ads in the primary or final stages. Each rule is followed by a “checklist” of key questions to ask.

 

 

An effective print advertisement offers the strongest possible advantage (benefit) to the largest number of patients in your target audience. The visually strongest, and thus first seen, element of the ad is compatible with the advantage (benefit) being proposed.

 

 

·   Will the information in the advertisement be understood by the average potential or current patient who will relate to the offering?

·   Is the overall “look” of the advertisement compatible with the benefit it proposes?

·   Does the information the patients comprehend from the ad meet their needs, or provide the solutions they are searching for?

·   If the ad is aimed at current patients, does it reinforce their “good judgment” in selecting your practice?

·   If aimed at new patients, does it offer what most patients might consider a good reason to switch practices or to begin with your practice if they are relocating to your area?

·   If the headline asks a question, is it one that many patients logically might ask before they join a practice?

·   If the headline offers to explain a new procedure, technique, or service, is it something many patients might care to have explained to them?

 

 

Even when the patient gives an idle, absent-minded glance at the ad, it should instantly signal some benefit. It must make patients see or sense, quickly and easily, some reason to pause. Then, either simultaneously or instantly thereafter, it brings that “benefit” into sharp focus . . . clearly enough to make them STOP.

 

 

·         Will idle glancing by the patient, or potential patient, reveal any reason(s) to “pause” . . . and hopefully “stop”?

·         Does the layout of the advertisement pull readers’ eyes to where they should go first – to where they will see or sense some reason to pause?

·         Does the headline use an easy-to-read typeface, set in an easy-to-read style?

·         If the headline contains multiple words, is it broken into two or more lines?

·         If there is no headline, is at least the opening copy (if not all the copy) set in type large enough and easy enough to read that patients will “slide” into reading the ad before they consciously decide to?

·         If there is a “response feature,” is the coupon, entry form, or order form in the lower, outside corner or along the bottom? Is it instantly recognizable?

 

 

During the quick period after your ad gets your audience to pause and then to stop, every element of the advertisement must work to make the proposed benefit quickly, easily and fully understood.

 

 

·         Does the headline and/or major illustration get right to work helping to make the benefit fully clear?

·         Eyes generally go first to an illustration. Be certain the headline and illustration work together. Is the art “instantly” understandable?

·         Does the ad reflect a sincere interest in the care of the patient (even if humorous) as opposed to being entirely “practice-centered”?

·         Is the copy free of extreme widow lines?

·         Is the copy set in no more than two columns per page?

·         Unless a border is needed for some important reason, is the advertisement unbordered?

·         In overall feeling (word and illustration) is the advertisement courteous to the patient as opposed to being antagonistic?

 

Now look at five additional factors, apart from the advertisement content itself, which can influence the effectiveness of the advertisement.

 

·         The Size of the Advertisement. Naturally, the size of the ad will have a bearing on how much attention it will get. Don’t assume that large space advertisements will produce increased inquires in direct proportion to their size. For example, experience indicates a full-page ad will not bring twice as many inquires as a half page; it is more likely to produce about two thirds as many.

 

·         The Use of Color. If your newspapers offer color, be assured that the addition of color will increase attention value. You must be sure, however, that the color rate charge is not out of proportion to the additional response it can bring in.

 

·         When it Appears. Your goal is to run your ad when people are devoting more time to the newspapers they read. Research has shown that January, February, September, October, and November are the five most effective months. April and May are usually the poorest.

 

·         Position. The position of an advertisement in a newspaper is of major importance. You must be concerned with the position that your ad will occupy. You should also make every effort to obtain a right-hand page. When working with your newspaper space representative, inquire as to the available positions in the sections you’ll be purchasing. And, by the way, it is just as important to state where you don’t want to be.

 

·         Record Keeping. Probably the most important factor of all is keeping records of the results of your ad’s performance in each of the newspapers you use, as well as the location and section each was in. Doing this systematically and diligently over a period of time will cut down on costly mistakes and will tell you:

 

o        Which newspapers to continue using and which to drop.

o        Whether to use newspapers during the week or to use the Sunday paper only. This also goes for which sections to be in, and which locations to fight for.

o        When to run and how often.

o        What the best positions are.

o        If you are using two, three, or more ad layouts and ad sizes, which should be retained and which discarded.

 

We hope this learning series was helpful to you and your marketing coordinator as you continue to develop and evaluate the use of print advertising for your practice. Advertising is an important part of your marketing mix, and, once mastered, can be a major component in increasing your practice revenue.