If you’re reading this then you’ll know that we’ve moved on from the traditional ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy. In the good old days you could place some adverts in your local paper, Yellow Pages and then if you want to be really flash, you could do some radio advertising, then sit back and wait for the clients to turn up.
However none of us can rely on being the only provider of our service or product any more. In fact, we’re not just competing with the clinic down the road, but those overseas too, and the market has never been more competitive. But believe it or not this is great news!
And it’s great news because a lot of your competitors are still using traditional methods, in how they operate, market and position themselves, better still they’re even doing them poorly. Only the other day I saw a billboard advertising for a beauty clinic, the billboard had the name of the clinic emblazoned across it and it was in a prime location. I’d imagine the owner would have been pleased as punch as they were getting their name out there and it was probably a big chunk of their marketing budget to get designed then hire the space. Unfortunately it’s highly unlikely that this would have actually driven any footfall to the clinic, there was no call to action, no offer and there wasn’t even a phone number. All the billboard advert was good for was some brand awareness and unless you’re one of the corporations with a massive budget, it’s a complete waste of money.
Also there are smarter ways of engaging with clients these days, through the use of social media, websites, pay per click adverts, downloads, strategic partners, the list goes on and on. However, again you’ll see these mediums being used in a poor and ineffective way not just by the owners, but by so-called experts in the marketplace, so don’t think hiring somebody can fix your problems marketing wise, you personally have to have a grasp of what works and doesn’t work.
However the one good thing is that competition clears out all but the best business in the end, and if you follow the tactics we share in these blogs (I’d recommend starting at this BLOG) and my book The Beautiful Business, then you’ll absolutely be at the top of your game and you’ll stand out for all of the right reasons.
By Alan Adams The Clinic Coach
