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Events and promotions
Marketing offers few quick fixes, but here are some promotions
that should give you a leg up on the competition
If you are looking for a quick fix
way to market your practice, be wary. Even the most creative
gimmicks often produce little or no results.
First, a little marketing 101. Keep
in mind that marketing is complex and traditionally covers four
areas of your practice:
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Your “product” or
in the case of a veterinary practice, the services
you offer and the all of the attributes associated with the
delivery of these services.
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Your pricing,
which means how you strategically cost your services, bundle
them and encourage buying of multiple services.
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Your place, which
includes everything from your location, your hours and facility
attributes.
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Promotion or how
you get the word out to clients and prospective clients about
your services.
We also add to the traditional list,
positioning, or the identity that you create for your
practice in the minds of clients and prospects.
If you are looking for ways to let people know about your practice
and attract new clients, you are talking about the fourth area on
the list, promotion. There are a lot of promotional
gimmicks out there and probably a lot of people asking you to try
their latest and greatest. Maybe you have been asked about
advertising on the backs of bathroom stalls or placing your logo on
the sleeves that come with your take-out coffee cup. Maybe the local
silk screener has suggested that you hand out t-shirts with your
clinic logo on them.
Do these things work?
Keep in mind, first of all, that if any of the other marketing areas
are not on target; promotion is not your quick fix. If your services
and delivery, your pricing, your place and your positioning are not
in tune with the needs of the marketplace, telling more people about
your practice is not the answer.
Second, if a coffee cup is all it takes to get new clients in the
door, most marketing firms would be out of business!
Third, and most importantly, promoting a veterinary clinic is a
complex proposition. Oftentimes new clients will go through a
process of gathering information, asking for referrals and perhaps
stopping in for a pre-appointment visit. While an ad on a coffee cup
might get you to pay a few bucks to check out a new quick oil change
place – or an inflatable cartoon character in the parking lot might
get you to go in and buy a hamburger – the decision to try a new
veterinary clinic is a bigger proposition.
That said, and assuming that your practice has the right combination
of product (service), place, price, and positioning, while there are
few quick fixes out there, there are still some ways that your
practice can spread the word without breaking your promotional
budget.
To be most effective, any type of promotion should be connected to
predetermined goals. Instead of just trying to “get your name
out there,” consider specifically what you want to accomplish from
the promotion as well as how you will measure results.
In all cases, the most effective promotions are those related to a
desired immediate response, for example, to attend a seminar or to
make an appointment for a specially priced dental exam and cleaning.
At the same time, consider your AUDIENCE or the target of the
promotion. You have heard it before. It’s easier to get current
clients to visit more often than it is to get a new client to come
in your door. Therefore, the best – and most cost effective –
promotions are those targeting the clients you already have. As said
earlier, getting someone to try a new vet as a result of a single
promotion is unlikely. Instead, you have a better shot at getting
the attention of targets that already know and like you. Also
consider reaching out to audiences such as referral sources who may
have some familiarity with your clinic, but may be unaware of all of
your services.
LOW-COST CLIENT PROMOTIONS
If you are looking for promotional ideas that do not cost a lot,
there are many reasons to reach out to existing clients. One is that
you already have established channels for reaching them – your
lobby, client mailers, a possible newsletter. Second they are a
DEFINED target meaning that you already know they have pets, want to
take care of their pets and spend money to take care of their pets.
This is unlike a promotion that tries to reach everyone and ends up
being a shot in the dark!
Try these low-cost promotions:
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Bundle services together with
special client pricing. Tie in with pet-related observances like
National Pet Dental Health Month or Spay Day. Promote this
through client mailers, lobby signage and a client newsletter if
you have one. Also send a news release to your local papers
which costs you nothing.
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Sponsor a contest or
competition. Use themes like “best smile or” most glamorous pet”
to promote teeth cleaning or grooming services. Offer incentives
to those who enter as well as service packages to winners.
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Promote services on client
reminder mailers. Since you are already sending out the mailer,
this is a NO-COST way to remind clients of what you are offering
and to also run specials.
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Consider extending your hours.
Our research tells us that having convenient clinic hours is of
high importance to clients. Yet, few practices are open during
times that fit most clients’ schedules. Consider testing evening
and/or weekend hours.
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Become a donation site. Local
rescue groups are always looking for donated pet supplies and
other items. Register as a drop-off site and then be sure to
have literature on hand promoting your clinic’s services.
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Host a special event. This does
not have to complicated or costly. Consider:
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A seminar or workshop for
pet guardians with similar interests
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An anniversary or other such
celebration
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Programs that tie in with
national observances such as Be Kind to Animals Week or
Adopt a Shelter Pet Week
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An open house to showcase
new facilities or services
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Invite clients to bring a
friend. Offer incentives for clients to introduce your clinic to
friends and family.
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Use your walls! Promote your
services and the personality of your practice in your lobby and
exams rooms. Use colorful posters and flyers. I visited a
practice yesterday to get oral surgery for my pet rabbit. The
vet was a dental specialist with more than 20 years of
experience yet the “same old” dog and cat pictures in the lobby
said that was s generalist practice.
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Use your staff! Get staff to
wear colorful buttons to peak clients’ interest and promote
services.
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Use your lobby! You have a
captive audience for reading material, flyers, videos,
electronic presentations and other media. Educate clients about
pet care while they wait!
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Reward client loyalty with
perks. Surprise clients who reach certain levels of expenditure
with gift cards to local pet supplies retailers, restaurants or
coffee shops.
OTHER LOW-COST PROMOTIONS
In addition to clients, reach out to other audiences such as
referral sources and local pet-related businesses who are in a
position to send clients your way.
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Collaborate with related local
businesses. Attract clients of other pet-related businesses by
cross-promoting your services with theirs. For example, offer
incentives to visit your clinic or invite local businesses to
clinic-sponsored events and programs.
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Stay connected with
referring veterinarians. In many cases, colleagues may not be
aware of your evolving experience or services. This is
especially true if your practice offers specialty services such
as oral surgery, oncology or orthopedics. Or, perhaps you treat
pets that others do not including many exotics. Sponsor periodic
open houses or consider mailers and newsletters to keep other
veterinarians informed.
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Issue a news release. If
you have news at your clinic, let the community know about it
through the local press. There is no charge for publicity,
though it will have to be something that your local papers
consider newsworthy. See our prior columns on publicity and
media relations.
Events and promotions
Do
special promotions get tails wagging?
Question:
How effective are special promotions in attracting new clients?
Answer:
Special promotions – events, targeted programs, service packages –
can be effective tools for reaching out to new clients and
strengthening relationships with existing ones. At the same time,
promotions are no substitute for a positive client experience.
Effective promotions should have clear goals (see your marketing or
business plan!), deliver value, follow a plan and provide measurable
results.
Goals
Building awareness and getting new business are too general. Price
reductions position you as the low cost provider. A promotion should
be based on specific goals and strategies identified in your
marketing or business plan. For example, based on what you know
about clients and marketplace trends, are you targeting:
New clients through an entry point like spay and neuter?
Singles (high spenders on pet care)?
Existing clients for dental services?
A greater share of the reptile market?
Senior citizens (growing market)?
Value
One of our clients sponsored a National Pet Dental Health Month
photo contest that educated clients, positioned the practice as
experts, offered dental service packages and rewarded the winners.
Effective promotions provide value that goes beyond veterinary (or
other) services. Consider the intellectual, emotional and social
benefits that you can deliver based on the needs of your target
audience.
Execution
Even the best ideas often fail in the execution stage. Develop a
detailed promotion plan that addresses timing, potential conflicts
with other events, key tasks and completion dates. Consider how to
leverage the promotion by identifying opportunities for:
Publicity in the local media
Tie ins with national and local events
Collaborations with other businesses or organizations
Promoting your
website
Measurement
Was the promotion successful? Go back to goals. Identify early how
you will track your response.
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Marketing Mistakes
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