Niche Dental Logos, Dentists Brands, Dentistry Branding: veneers marketing

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Monday

Dentistry Logos or Branding: Dentists, What Is Your Focus

Practice owner dentists have two goals: serving their patients and making money. Dentists not making money will not be able to serve patients. Everything stops without proper cash flow.

Dental logos, no matter how artistically pleasing, are not cash machines. Dental branding on the other hand can be your PIN password to success.

Dentists, have you asked yourself this question: Are logos really needed for my practice? Actually, no dental office needs a logo. However, every business needs a brand.

Strategic dental branding helps the consumer make faster, more accurate decisions:

Is this the dental office that I should consider?
How should I think about the dentist's expertise and services?
Are the dental office's fees commensurate with the service, and treatment value provided?

Yes, some dental practices can build brands with heavy lifting, sweat equity, and elbow grease. Others locate in an area with economy on cruise control (growing, upscale, many families). Then, you also have the dentist as selling machine.

What about the dentist that lacks oodles of time, long community standing, and/or sales prowess?

The Economy has hit the dentist hard, compared to other dentists
Dentists who have built their practice with referrals, but referrals are dwindling.
They change their dental treatment approach, and patients are not accepting this strategy.
Revenues have slowed and the practice realizes this is real, not a fluke.
The area has changed, and patients have different expectations, and other options (new dentist competitors).
It is a startup dental practice, and many things have to go right to be successful.
Finally, the area has some cruise control elements, but dental consumers are unaware of YOU!

How Can You Get Things To Move In Your Direction?

Do some advertising in the local newspaper?
Send direct mail dental postcards?
Improve your dental team?
Relocate or remodel your dental practice?
Lower your fees? Offer half off smile whitening?
Run PPC Online Advertising or SEO to your dental website?
Add new advanced technology, cosmetic (botox) services and promote them?
Develop a new dental logo?

The answer to these dental marketing questions are yes and maybe no. Here are some ideas to give you a way forward.

FIRST, Do Something Consistent And Unique

Doing something consistent is vital, but which ones and why do them? You figure this out by determining what your dental brand is. To many people and dentists, branding sounds like pure marketing consultant hokum.

Sadly, it often is. Not because there is no value in dental branding, but because few dentists develop their brand adequately, using rationale data and appropriate examination of their dental practice development goals.

Many companies disappear before most of us know who they are because of a weak idea. Other “great” marketing ideas have a short lifespan: the pet rock or petfood Dot Come, my pet examples. Then there are companies like Wells Fargo and Microsoft with brands that were built over time rather than through a "branding process".

Dental practices usually fall somewhere in the middle of the previous brand building examples. Waiting 5 years to build their dental brand is an eternity for some dentists. Most dentist brands also don’t outlive the first dentist who develops it.

Many dental practices start up much like a new family owned restaurant. They have good food (clinical skills), a nice interior presentation, and excited people ready to serve. They can thrive for a while on this energy and with a healthy referral base. "Come to my dentist - she just opened a practice and is looking for new patients. She is very friendly and gentle."

A few years later the schedule is full and “accepting” new patients are less of an issue. Maybe the dental practice is on cruise control on the wrong road and does not know it. Besides the economy hitting a wall, there also things like the community changing – younger competitors shake things up and newer suburbs pull people away.

Dental treatments, techniques, and strategies evolve. These complex concepts become a harder sell or just bewildering to present in a cohesive way. Financing and dental insurance add more issues and complexity to the relationship.

New dental patient referrals start diminishing. And face-to-face referrals often cannot provide the right mix of “education” to move consumers up the ladder to higher-level dentistry.

Patients still thinks the dentist is very nice, but $12,000 for a restorative or cosmetic case requires more than nice. Patients and other local consumers start seeing other dentists marketing and begin thinking the competitor has something their dentist does not have.

As dentists figure out how they will garner your portion of these dental patients, others are stumbling onto to these consumers by just doing something. These dentists slap together dental logos, ads, PPC advertising, SEO keyword content, DVDs, mailers and dental websites, Facebook, Twitter...

With shear force of doing something (and often being the first to do it), these doing something dentists find some success.

While dentists like you could jump into this fray with your own something here, something there dental marketing campaign (or possibly you already have) you stop short and say to yourself: "This is not for me. There should be a way I can have success, but still present the image I want." This is where dental branding is required!

Rather than "advertising" and hawking your dental wares, you want to communicate a different level of dental value and expertise. Your dental brand could be an upscale image or just an upgrade in expectations and results. An effective brand cannot be pulled from the shelf.

Make It Happen With Dynamic Dental Branding!

It’s an approach with more depth than artwork alone (a dental logo)
Determines who you should be (moving beyond the generic dentist concept)
Refines your image so you speak directly and efficiently to your target patients
Provides an effective background story to build memorable and genuine rapport

Communicating relevant aspects of who you are (your dental brand) helps consumers make quicker decisions about "what to do" as your patient. It prompts or cues dental patients to more easily accept what you emphasize.

Example of A Common Consumer Experience

Coffee is an intrinsic part of the consumer culture. Service stations give it away with a fill up. Some restaurants give free coffee refills. It can be sold as a loss leader to get you to buy a meal. Now with one word, I will get many of you to pay $3.99 for one cup a joe: Starbucks! What does coffee have to do with dentistry or dental marketing?

Well, too many consumers think of dentistry healthcare’s loss leader. If the patient gets it with a fill up (it's covered by their dental insurance) they will consider it. When done properly, dental branding changes this dynamic and puts dentistry higher up on the priority ladder.

Yes, not every consumer will reprioritize his/her dentistry budget because of marketing. No matter what Starbucks does to their coffee, I won’t pay $3.99--because I do not like coffee. But Starbucks is focused more on the “coffee group” than me. They have defined their audience and are mining that vein. Targeting me is a waste of their time.

Furthermore, brands cue consumers on what to do, believe in, and ask for. Rather than a restaurant that sells generic coffee you become a coffee spa. Dentists like you need to refine who you are.

Otherwise it will be difficult to make "your latte´" seem more valuable than people currently perceive it (and possibly have a higher price) if you are promoting a large menu of other choices.

This is more than becoming a cosmetic dentist, which is still a generic concept and misunderstood at the same time. Good dental branding is about the dentist, their passion and how the dentist wants to serve patients.

When targeted dental consumers (desired patients) are presented the dentist's brand, they will relate to it. If a dentist's audience sees another dentist doing the same thing, they will be grounded to the branded dentist because they will have self-selected the brand, not just stumbled into any dental office.

How does brand loyalty play out in the real world? Example: Few Starbucks' clientele are ever seen at McDonalds (or any other less refined competitor) getting their coffee.

While no dentist has the funds of a marketing behemoth like Starbucks, there are many strategies to develop and build your dental brand to make it standout. Most established practices only need 5 to 10 new "targeted" patients each month to be successful and new dental practices can develop a stronger following by going this route. A correctly positioned brand is able to "find" those new dental patients and draw them in.

So, do dentists like you NEED a dental logo or a dentistry brand? Not every dental practice does. Some dentists just plow ahead and get it done on their own terms.

However if I ask, "What is Nike's logo and what do you think when you see it?" Then you understand how a logo can change the dynamic of your dental marketing.

Dental logos makes communication visual, adding another dimension. Humans experience many things visually. It makes learning simpler. It gives us quick cues about our world. Colors, shapes, and the like speak to us emotionally, which is very powerful.

CONCLUSION: Still Don't Want A Dental Logo?

Still thinking dentists don’t need logos? First, it is your prerogative. Of course, many dentists tell me a person's smile can say a lot about them. My response, "And no one NEEDS a 'beautiful' smile! Do they?" So is visual experience important or not?

The logo is the "beautiful" on a dentist's marketing. Like bright, confident smiles, dental logos might not be "needed" but can be very persuasive at speaking in a way nothing else can. The dental logo also helps to integrate a dentist's marketing materials and message.

If the dentist's logo is designed to fit their dental brand, then it will be distinct enough to separate the dentist from the smiling teeth logos, generic toothbrush dentistry brands and other wannabes.

A dentistry brand is many things: the dentist, their dental team, and the practice environment. It is the patients wanted by the dentist. It is the community. It is people centered, not dental focused. And, it should have a complementary dental logo.

Don't get a wannabee dental logo, get a dental brand.

For the depth and experience in dental branding,

Contact Niche Dental - Email or

CALL Oli 1-888.380.0020
Have him set up a consultation with me

Dental Marketing Commentary by Dick Chwalek

Dental Communication Integration Consultant

Developer of Connective Communication©

Twitter.com/NicheDental

Facebook.com/NicheDental

> Member, co-founder Northern Dental Alliance

Review Niche Dental Client Testimonials

Original Dental Logos or Branding Article

Another Dental Branding Logos for Dentists Article

Friday

Dental Brands on the Downward, Deteriorating Direction: Then Upwardly Update!

Invigorate Your Referrals & Refresh Your New Patient Numbers
Dental office brands can become stagnant. Then deteriorate very quickly, depending on the the local and national economic environment, and strength of the practice structure and management.

Dental Dentists Office Logo

Generally, within seven to ten years many elements can begin to spread apart, and lose it's strength without a focused reenergizing effort.

A dentist's brand includes the office location, décor of facility, architectural layout, dentist expertise, team presentation, practice mission and advertising messages. Of course, there also is the logo design and the look of the collateral marketing materials. Some dental brand elements will have a much longer life, and other dentistry brands become outdated even before Google can rank it.

Weak & Confusing Dental Brands
Deteriorating & Stagnant Dental Brands
Dental Office Brand Identity
Visual Brand Icon: Dental Logos Design
Conclusion: Refreshing Dentistry Practice Brands

Does your dental practice brand have the strength to thrive?

Weak, Tired & Confusing Dentistry Brands

Employing generic marketing when dentists want to emphasize high value dental services
Advertising convenience and speed while expecting consumers to pay a high quality treatment fee
Promoting cosmetic dentistry without the look and feel of artistry within practice brand elements and office design
Building awareness of implant dentistry expertise while simultaneously focusing a lot on free and discounted dental services

Dental office brand inconsistencies mean your patients and consumers come in with hard to manage expectations.

Deteriorating & Stagnant Dental Brands

Dentists with significant expertise who have little high value public exposure
Referrals built solely on simplistic brand knowledge and expressions such as “friendly and nice”
Dental offices where comfort is not an obvious focus in the treatment, setting and team demeanor
Marketing focused on services, NOT on people and the overall value of advanced, lifelike dentistry

When a dental brand becomes stagnant and too internally focused (about what the dentist is comfortable with), patients start to look elsewhere. Simply being nice and friendly no longer makes the grade anymore.

Dentist, Practice Brand Identity

Logo Design, bottom portion

Brand is closely tied with image. A stronger dental brand can take the office image to a higher level. Dentists with exceptional credentials and a well-honed brand are an infinitely more cohesive entity. An expert can't stop adding new techniques and knowledge and a brand can't rely on one element to survive long term.

Many dental offices rely on one or two branding elements: nice/gentle, location/expertise, facility/high-tech or great team/superb service. These dentistry branding attempts can only cover so much ground on their own.

New dental patients are attracted because of many branding efforts. Relying on one or two elements like location and referrals means gaps in new patient development will appear. Branding is communication; communication is everything for a dental practice. Oral health, dentistry expertise, and preventive dental care compliance all need communication to make them viable within a consumer society, and ultimately, perceived as vital to each individual.

Marketing dental expertise is complicated. To be successful advocating your high value dentistry services, the complexity needs to be skillfully explained and succinctly understood. This is difficult to do when current and prospective patients are being influenced and distracted by other branding efforts that appeal to them at more basic and emotional levels from ‘free whitening’ and ‘covered by my dental insurance’ to ‘mercury fillings’ and ‘dentist visit fear.’

Marketing a full line of dental care services that are always changing and often misunderstood is problematic. This garble of clinical terms intermixed with always evolving marketing techniques adds to the confusion, which disconnects the consumer from understanding the value your dentistry expertise makes possible.

A relevant and concise brand sets your dental office apart from dentist competitors selling those same services as well as other consumer services, which will end up taking precedence when dentistry is missing from public discourse.

Standing out from the generic dentist crowd has a lasting impact. Providing brand name dental services like Lumineers, Invisalign, CEREC One-visit Crowns can be helpful initially. But when every other dentist is advertising the same way, you begin to blend in again.

Rather than being the “brand named” cosmetic dentistry veneers artist, invisible braces/orthodontic expert, or high-tech crown restorative dentist, develop an image that is bigger and more exclusive than a service you provide that every other dentist does. A unified and distinctive practice-branding strategy can tie together these other elements and create a focal point for your dental advertising and value educative messages.

Visual Brand Icon: Dental Logos Design

Combining a unique dental logo, cohesively designed package of materials, a congruent image with a consistent salvo of ongoing refreshed re-branding strategies can prevent your dentistry brand from going on life support.

Brand Consulting by Niche Dental, Logo Designed by TPV

Dental brands such as ‘drill, fill and bill’, ‘dentistry has little value’ and ‘only if insurance covers it’ survive in the minds of patients because most dental offices have similar images or generic marketing strategies. Therefore, dentistry mostly attracts one segment of the larger consumer audience - those who have tooth loss, those in pain, the insurance patient and the (non-fearful) health conscious.
Some of these consumers are desirable, but won't change their current perspective without a different message; many others are not likely to ever connect without an enhanced brand identity being presented.

A unique brand that incorporates pleasant images (no dental chair mouth mining), relaxing actual patient renewed smiles (not fear producing metal probes) comfort creating service strategies like sedation dentistry (avoiding the perception that tooth pulling is the goal) as well as advanced technology for a more rewarding experience and smile makeover result has substantial potential to change perspectives and lives.

Comprehensive dental branding will bring more people from the yesteryear of bad dental visit memories to the present day ‘brand’ of total oral health with the dental ‘logo’ of exceptional value and oft spoken ‘tagline’ of painless treatment and pain free living. Effective dental branding is about high value not high cost, great service not great expense, and lifelike results not lifeless quality.

Brands focused on rejuvenated oral health and stunning smile makeovers present the public with a reason to rethink their current value system and move beyond the generic concepts of fix and maintain into the realm optimal and exceptional. Whether dental branding makes sense to you or not, many of your patients and much of the general public need an assertive and refreshing message to move in the right direction quickly enough to preserve their oral health and in many too many cases save their smiles.

Conclusion: Refreshing Your Dentistry Office Brands

Sitting on the sidelines means more people missing out on your dental expertise and smile makeover artistry, which is a losing position for everyone. Patients lose teeth. Dentists like you miss out on revenues. Public dental health continues its supreme reign as the ultimate king of loss leaders.

LIFT your dental practice to a higher plane of dentistry communication. Get properly and profoundly branded!