"Copywriting is a welcome business tool that
most physicians have no knowledge about, yet
is an essential tool for the marketing of your
own medical practice business, at least if you
intend to improve the results for your patient
load, public relations, reputation, business cards,
medical website, medical charting, interactions with
your patients, among others."
(copywriting Part 4)
Other advantages that copywriting benefits provide to all physicians…
1. Physician Phone book ads...
Although these ads are necessary, overly expensive for the value they have, and are the least powerful of all marketing tactics, they offer patients a quick connect to your office—physically or by phone. For physicians and other healthcare professionals these listings do have one great advantage that most physicians overlook.
As you glare at your phone-book ad squeezed in between a hundred in the list and starving for attention, you may wonder how a potential patient might select your ad out of the pile to pursue.
When you scan the list as a potential patient does, looking for a way to make a choice of a doctor in your specialty, patients commonly go for the one closest to where they live for one of several reasons… convenience or name association.
The patient is normally given only a name, partial address, and phone number. There is nothing there that offers them another choice, like what that doctor does, likes to do, or specializes
in doing.
What catches a reader’s eye is the ad that breaks-up the vertical gray mass of words spilling down the page. A person looking for a doctor will most often choose the doctor in the ad that “stands out” from the rest.
Human behavior research and surveys clearly document that when you do something that is different from almost all others, your ad sends a subconscious message to anyone reading it.
The message isn’t the same for everyone, based on their own superficial judgment of the person creating the ad. A few potential medical patients will think that this doctor likely is arrogant, bragging, or overcharges patients.
But most will look at the ad and think that at least this physician has the balls to tell potential patients such things as what they are most interested in doing for patients, what they have
sub-specialized in and have special skills in doing, and what medical problems they love to tackle
and cure.
Those who have the negative perception about the ad are the patients you don’t want anyway.
Your ad, however, implanted the information in their memory banks and once your great reputation hits their ears they may end up in your office anyway.
Marketing lessons... Learn how to promote yourself and always look for ways to stand out above the crowd. No one else gives a damn whether you make a profit in your practice, are happy in your practice doing what you like best, or whether your patients like you on Facebook… with the exception of your family.
Your responsibility and accountability is to yourself and your family, not to your peers, or friends, or anyone else.
2. Create Your own Ads--Business Cards
In addition to the first line phone # and second line address; add a third or fourth line to let your reader know you better. It actually creates a relationship with you before the patient has even seen you for the first appointment. Their expectations for what you can do for them is already piling up.
Every eye is drawn to the one place where the scan pattern is interrupted as it streams down the list. You need to give a message to the searcher in as few words as possible and as focused
as possible.
You do that for two reasons:
First, because no other doctor is doing it (advertising rule, do what others are not doing).
Second, because your ad needs to standout from the rest (anything in that column that is out
of place of breaking the sequence of the list will attract attention first—because patients are
curious as to why your listing is different.
Copywriters create ads with the words that attract, persuade, and stimulate people. They find those words (keywords) by searching for the words that attract most patients to that page in the phone book in the first place.
What your potential patients want to know is what is different about what you do from all the
rest on the page. Usually that’s easy because no other physicians are doing it.
When you tell them right there what you do without forcing the patient to make 50 separate phone calls to every physician’s office listed on the page who do the same thing as you are, you are
the first one they will call.
You have just lessened the job of the patient in finding the right doctor. You have told them what
you can do for them. The next call they make is to your office for an appointment instead of asking
what you do in your practice.
For example, in the listing category for Obstetrics and Gynecology, the patient knows
that every listed doctor does obstetrics and gynecology. Your information at this point is buried
in the pile.
By listing on the second or third line what you also do as a specialist, is what the patient wants to know. Patients need to know if you do both obstetrics and gynecology and what you don’t do
(Ex. abortions, contraception, infertility, laparoscopy).
Many times these specialists stop doing OB or GYN to focus on the one they like best. Update
your Yellow Page ad as you become more skilled with new procedures.
Beyond that, many OBGs do microsurgery, operative laparoscopy, IVF, infertility, oncology, endocrinology, and laparoscopic assisted vaginal hysterectomies.
Your listing tells patients what you love to do and often is exactly what the patient is looking for.
It also subconsciously tells the patient that you are proud of what you can do and that you are
good at it.
Example of my phonebook Ad, back when phone books did your advertising to potential patients. Now patients use the Internet to find you, which has much more information about you.
| Phone # ________Graham Curtis G. MD, FACOG, FACS 7777 W. Medical Blvd., Somewhere, CA 96112 Infertility, Microsurgery-tuboplasty, Advanced Operative Laparoscopy, IVF, LAVH |
Make sure that you also use the back of your business card to promote your medical practice! A perfect place to create a map to your office, put a list of benefits you provide to your patients that other doctors don't. What makes you any different than the other 50 doctors in your city?
2. Medical Practice Websites...
Most physicians in private medical practice understand the variable advantages of having a website, blog, or social media site. I believe that social media has very little value for attracting new patients… unless a Facebook or Twitter subscriber lives within 30 miles from your office.
Over 95% of physicians have no knowledge how to create a website, manage a website, or maintain a website with any degree of expertise—so they hire it done and pay the price. Then you pay for the continuous updating and maintenance of the website indefinitely.
The ideal situation would be to have every private physician or professional healthcare
provider have expertise in business and marketing as well as copywriting. Such an education would enable every physician to keep close tabs on the work done by all those they hired to do these jobs.
Most physicians, however, without this copywriting, website building, and technical background knowledge have absolutely no idea whether their consultants are doing a good job for them or not. Physicians don’t know whether those they hired are truly experts at what they are being paid to do.
The truth is that most doctors are quite capable of doing all this work themselves if they were motivated to do so—and save a great deal of money in the process.
Learning copywriting techniques, tactics, and methods at least would enable you to know considerably more about creating the written and persuasive content of the website.
Patients want to know what their doctor thinks and believes about medical issues. And they don’t want to have to read a sentence loaded with commas, over four lines long, or having to look up the meaning of medical terminology words.
Physicians must decide what is “said” on the website, what the topics are, and what he or she wants their patients to know. Incidentally, the actual design, layout, and coloring of the website is critical to the reader’s attention and time spent on your website.
Hiring a non-physician copywriter to do it is risky, control of content is lost, and the website becomes a plaything for the website maintenance group.
If you would like to have someone of good quality and reputation to do it for you, best to ask someone who has already paid to have it done. Over the last few years new technology now makes it easy to create your own website… like paint by numbers in the past.
Even if you aren’t interested in building a site, it’s great as a hobby and entertainment—and spend time with your kids doing… rather than letting them become addicted to “gaming” (a complete waste of time and money many can ill afford).
Most medical websites I find end up being medical information machines. Often that same medical information can be obtained from many other sources online. Your information is therefore often not unique.
It can become unique when you create the medical info yourself. When you provide medical resources and information that is not easily found anywhere else, then potential patients will be attracted to your website (by your careful choice of using keywords) and make your site priority
number one persistently in their minds.
Very few medical websites attract “new” patients but they do provide patients with the clinical
medical information that helps them decide on specific medical procedures or treatments that they think about obtaining.
In my opinion social media is useless for attracting new patients—unless the social media participant lives within 20 miles from your practice location.
To be helpful in any effective sense social media has to be interacted with daily and wastes considerable amounts of time with very little patient recruiting advantage—a long run for a short slide. As a practicing physician your time can be spent on far better recruiting activity.
Your time can be more effectively used by implementing other methods for marketing your medical practice.
The marketing method that is most effective for recruiting new patients is by far an aggressive doctor referral program. Keep reminding yourself that over 60% of new patients who select your medical practice today originate with referrals from other medical doctors. Articles about how to do this are on my website.
Keep running records of where all of your new patients come from. Then you will know the facts. Then always send out a handwritten thank-you note to the referral person or source (Another profitable marketing tactic).
The effectiveness of your written words (your silent voice) is determined by the intentional words you use to specifically send your message in the most understandable way.
The ideas, thoughts, and message must carry the reader down the page in a sequence that answers their mental questions along the way and holds their curiosity and interest… or they won’t
read any further.
Why do you think that Amazon.com is able to sell so many books online? They tease buyers by offering a segment out of the actual book to read. If the information and readability is easy for the customer, they are more likely to buy a book.
The buyers sense the “voice” of the author and feel the strength of the author’s sincerity. The persuasive nature is created by the word structure and sequence (called “copywriting”).
Interestingly, once you have a focus on copywriting principles, your ability to communicate verbally becomes far more effective and persuasive.
3. Business Cards...
The business card design, colors and content is to tell anyone what you do and where you are located, and how to contact you with the least number of words possible.
To get a sense of the power of a business card, take you collection of other people’s business cards and spread them out over the top of your table or desk. Walk away for 5 minutes and return. See where your eyes go first as you scan the clutter of business cards.
Usually, your eyes are caught by colors—red often being the first. The icon or logo is often the second thing that catches the eye. So the size and design of the logo has to be prominently seen but still use only a small bit of the room on the card.
Last to be seen are the written words. So what’s the most important factor for enticing a patient to read your business card—your name, the color, or a logo?
The most important factor goes beyond these business card features. For most business people their business card functions only as a reference for filing somewhere—or thrown away. The contact information is always the one thing they go back and look for.
Smart business people think differently. They notice that the common business card is blank on
the backside, offers no reason to take action on anything and rarely provides helpful information for decision-making.
All successful business people view the business card as a marketing tool to be used to promote their business. They want their business card to be the first card in the pile that the eyes are attracted to.
Additionally, they want their business card to give reasons for people to take action as a selling tool and include compelling benefits you offer patients… that other physicians don’t.
Advice... Throw all your present business cards away!!!
Re-create your new business cards with some thoughts about marketing your medical practice such as…
- Explain why you or your medical practice is different from all the others
2. Reasons why you are a better doctor than your competition
3. Provide multiple ways for patients to contact you
4. Make your business card outrageous—so when patients look at it and say to
themselves… what’s all this about? Color red draws the most attention.
What are the ways to create a business card that markets your practice?
1. Include information on both sides of your business card… why waste space on the back
of your business card when you can provide more info and reasons to contact you there.
2. Best to have a bright red color worked into the design somewhere… red attracts the eye
first of all colors.
3. Your personal name and credentials should be the most prominent text on the front of the card.
Don’t use fancy font type text. Keep it easy to read without reading glasses. (Verdana, Times
New Roman, Calibri, Ariel, or Courier fonts)
4. Use simple, easier to read font type such as Verdana, Ariel, Times New Roman, Courier, Calibri.
5. List multiple ways a patient can contact you, such as office address, email, telephone, fax, or
carrier pigeon.
6. Avoid a dark or black background with white or light lettering—proven to be harder to read.
7. Create a 6 to 10 word paragraph or quote that says what your primary interest is about (good
way to use the back of your card).
Examples...
“If you aren’t healthy, nothing else matters”
“Learn unique healthcare strategies that make your life hummable”
“Good health is the foundation for all else that you accomplish”
8. Develop a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for what you do. If someone asked you what you
do in your career, what would you tell them in 20 words or less. It’s sometimes called an
“elevator speech.” You only have time to tell a person before you get off the elevator. Put it
on your card. This is mine: “I provide the expert medical business and marketing knowledge
that enables you to maximize your medical practice potential and profits reliably
and immediately.”
9. Many use the back of their card for a simple map to their office. Others use the back to tell
their patients the 5 or 6 distinct attributes that distinguishes you from other physicians.
Some doctors want to use the back of the card to list their special knowledge, skills, and
accomplishments—what they have a special expertise in doing.
a. List any subspecialty you are qualified in
b. List special knowledge in a certain area of medicine that few physicians have
c. List what you believe distinguishes you from other physicians
d. Create a persuasive paragraph that you believe will attract new patients and that other
physicians rarely bother with--Remember other options for a business card design are
folded, wallet like, odd shaped, and attached to a brochure for your office, among others.
10. All of these ideas can be very useful on all your office stationary.
11. The phone number on the front of your card should be prominent and in larger
size than the rest of the text.
12. Some business people like to have the information put on a card consistency that is soft enough
to write on it when the need arises… something you can’t do on shiny surface cards.
13. Using odd shaped business cards, fold over cards, and other unusual designs does not improve
their usefulness to any significant degree… and cost you a lot more.
14. Logo designs you can do yourself online, simply Google the keywords “design my own logo”
(use quotes around keywords when searching online) and you’ll find many choices for
doing that. The size of the logo should not be larger than the width of a penny… at least
for your business cards.
4. Newsletters...
The least expensive and most productive use of your marketing efforts is publishing a newsletter through your website that you write yourself or control the content. The most effective and most often read are newsletters you have printed and sent by snail mail to your patients and/or
subscribers that subscribe online.
The easiest way to do that is to write the newsletter or article (from 1000 to 2000 words range) –summarize it for your subscribers in an email to them. Include a hyperlink in the email
that sends them to your webpage on your website that contains the full newsletter.
You will need a middleman email service to handle that part, such as www.aweber.com or www.getresponse.com among others. I started with the Aweber.com service and find it to be comfortable to use.
They have lots of video instructions and tutorials to help you. They give you templates to choose from for the design of the email, sign-up forms to put on your site for subscribers, and a html editor to move, change, or edit your message.
Once you select the “new broadcast” button a blank page comes up where you can type your message on the screen… or copy and paste your message from MSWord where you created it.
Set a time to be mailed, test the message by sending it only to yourself to avoid sending the message full of errors to a thousand subscribers and making an idiot our of yourself. Click “send”.
I started by trying to do my creating of the article or newsletter on the blank page on Aweber.
I discovered there were a few things that weren’t to my satisfaction.
I started by trying to do my creating of the article or newsletter on the blank page on Aweber.
I discovered there were a few things that weren’t to my satisfaction.
---Adding photos and graphics involved gettin them approved
---Long articles such as this one are not advisable with emails
---I wanted to use photos and design a professional webpage that matched my website and let
me do a lot more things like you see on this page of my website, that is not possible on Aweber.
---Marketing wise, this process got the reader right to my website where I wanted them to
look around and get more information… can’t easily be done with email alone and no website.
You are able on Aweber to have them collect all your subscriber data and lists, can download those data, can send different messages to different groups on your list, can get data on how many of subscribers open and read your message, etc. All of which is almost impossible for you to do
by yourself.
Final Note...
This long article concludes my series on copywriting and how it directly affects all aspects of your medical practice. There’s a lot more to say about all this but not the time to say it… which means that you have to grab a couple books about this topic to learn even more.
I recommend the Copywriting books by Bob Bly and Denny Hatch, both on Amazon.com .
----Professional Probe----
