“We’re ready to scale,” the clinic owner told me.
Until now, their practice had mostly grown through Word-of-Mouth.
But recently, they’d hired someone to increase their social media presence.
And they’re started to invest in online advertising too.
“So what exactly are you advertising?” I asked.
“Oh, we’re just getting our name out there…”
My heart sunk. They were paying for adverts promoting their clinician or clinic.
It was lucky they hadn’t invested too much in this campaign, because – as he told me when I pressed further – it hadn’t actually generated a single lead.
“Just getting our name out there” marketing rarely pays off.
But it’s a mistake larger, more experienced clinics make too.
For example, I’ve recently been retargeted on Facebook by a very respectable clinic whose website I visited.
The ads they show me introduce their “expert skin doctor”.
And when you click on the link, it leads you right back to the Home Page of their website, where you are free to explore all their treatments and find out more.
It’s all very general and vague. Their ads pretty much just say, “Hey, we’re here”.
But the most successful campaigns are always much more specific.
They target a specific person – Not trying to reach “everyone” but a particular demographic.
They target a specific problem – Not talking generalities about “the answer to your skin problems” but zeroing in on a particular issue, like puffy eyes, sagging jowls, stubborn fat…
The very best campaigns define the problems even more precisely, for example “looking chronically exhausted because your eyes are puffy”.
They make a specific promise – Not offering vague assurances that “you’ll look better” but giving people a specific outcome to look forward to.
So, for example, “You could lose up to 24% of the fat around your abs” or better still, “Imagine finally being able to wear the fitted shirts you love”…
They promote a specific product. This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to focus on one treatment (you may be promoting a combination of treatments… or a program… or a consultation), but you do need to show people you have a mechanism to help them.
Finally, the most successful campaigns have a specific path to action.
They don’t make people start hunting around your website for your contact details…
You make it extremely clear and extremely easy for them to get in touch, mapping out exactly what they’re expected to do next (“click here before 5pm”).
When you get that specific, your target market will feel like you’re talking directly to them… They’ll know you understand their needs and goals completely… They’ll believe you can help them…
And they’ll have a direct route to get that help.
It’s the quickest path from “advertising” to “revenue”.
By contrast, when you put up an ad focusing on yourself or your clinic, it might feel like you’re talking to “everyone”.
But no patient will have that “aha!” moment when they feel that you’re the answer to their prayers.
And you have to wait for them to figure out, by themselves, what kind of help you can offer them – and how to get it.
That takes a lot longer to pay off – if at all.
That’s why the only time to do “Just getting our name out there” marketing is when you’re extremely established…
…and can afford to spend your advertising money building your brand long-term, rather than getting new patients through your doors here and now.
Everyone else – get specific!
Miriam Shaviv is creator of Inbox Express, the library of marketing emails for aesthetic clinics and med spas, designed to make your marketing effective and easy – and send the right messages to your patients as you re-open after Coronavirus! Find out more here.
She is Director of Content at Brainstorm Digital, which helps aesthetic clinics and med spas get patients through their doors again and again – without the headache of costly online advertising.
