With the insane busyness in cosmetic surgery offices over the past couple of years, you’d be forgiven if focusing on your marketing wasn’t a top priority. After all, you had all those pesky customers who wanted things! Priorities, priorities.
But there are many signs that cosmetic surgery demand will soften a bit, at least over the next year as nearly all prognosticators are calling for a recession. We don’t expect any of our clients to be twiddling their thumbs, but we have a recommendation on how to wisely invest any spare bandwidth: take a thorough look at your branding, both online and offline.
Why Branding
Over the years, we’ve had some clients who think that a brand is something “nice to have,” not something essential to building a successful practice. If you think of branding very narrowly, as if it’s just slapping a new logo on your front door, then you may be right.
But branding is so much more than that if done properly. It’s about creating a compelling story and ensuring people feel that story in any interaction with your business. A clear and consistent brand sticks in people’s minds and provides signals of quality, trust and even status.
You may have heard stories recently about how, due to inflation, many people are switching to generic or store brands to save money. First off, recognize that these are still brands. When a person buys Kirkland Signature slacks at Costco instead of Calvin Klein ones, they are entrusting that the Kirkland Signature brand has some durability and value. Secondly, when you look at the data, the majority of shoppers continue to trust and purchase the brands they know best, even during significant economic downturns.
A good brand helps you stand out from other surgeons in your market. That becomes even more important as there is more noise and more marketing being aimed at a smaller number of prospects. Put simply, your brand is your main advertising advantage.
Your Online Branding
- Website – Your branding on the web starts with your website. It’s your homebase for telling your story, sharing your patients’ results, and acquiring leads. If it’s been 4 or more years since you last refreshed your site, you’re probably due for a website redesign. A more modern layout, a closer look at your text content, and a fresh push to get your latest before and after images added will help to make sure you’re representing your practice authentically and comprehensively.
- Online Reviews – For better or worse, your prospects rely on what your patients say about you online. While you won’t be able to please everyone, how you handle negative reviews and the work you do to solicit positive reviews that reinforce your story will have an outsized impact on your office’s perception.
- Social Media – One way to think about your social channels is to treat them as the places where your brand lives and breathes on a daily basis. A consistent “vibe” that reinforces your central brand components is your best way to build a loyal following. All about education? Wonk out til you zonk out. Is humor your thing? Make with the funny and keep an eye out for every meme-able moment.
Your Offline Branding
- Reception/Front Office – The experience prospective patients have when calling your office can make or break whether you earn their business. The same goes for how they feel they are treated by your support team. While finding top talent can be a challenge on many levels, when you find that perfect person, invest in them and encourage them to live and breathe your brand on the job.
- Events and Charities – Sponsoring, hosting, speaking at, or working for local charitable organizations can be an excellent way not only to support your community but also to put in practice the core values of your brand. For instance, if you’re all about beauty, maybe participate in an adopt-a-highway program or lead a park cleanup program.
- Office Space – No, we’re not talking about obtaining a red stapler. What patients see, hear, smell and feel when walking into your office sends all kinds of conscious and subconscious signals about what they can expect to experience. Even before they walk in the door, your parking lot/facility and exterior signage can influence how they feel.
- Word of Mouth – While there are few things you can do to directly control word of mouth, you can think of it as the sum total of all your branding efforts. If you nail your branding, you will naturally earn your own set of brand ambassadors who can’t wait to share their story with others.
