Tips for Building a Successful Practice Brand

We live in an age of authenticity. Our society is so focused on social media that many brands leverage this fascination to reach a massive audience with different demographics. 

So it comes as no surprise that the most successful practices are able to connect with their audience. Understanding what the prospective patient is looking for in a dental provider is a crucial element of growing a practice.  

Creating and Influencing Your Target Audience

The first thing you should do when building a practice brand is to identify your ideal client. To have a strong brand you need to know, see, and appeal to your demographic. The best way to do this is by building an avatar of whom you want your ideal consumer to be. Geography, age, hobbies, likes, dislikes, online status, education levels, dreams, etc. are all important factors. 

You will want to humanize your practice brand as much as possible. What is valuable to your customers? How is your practice different? And what can set you apart from other practices? All of these questions should be kept in mind when thinking about targeting new patients.

It’s also important to remember that people tend to base their dental care decisions on testimonials. Statements of approval from satisfied patients endorsing a practice tend to reign superior when someone is on a hunt for a new provider. We are heavily influenced by comments and statements from other people when making decisions. By leveraging testimonials and building a positive image your practice brand can build its demographic.

Authenticity is the Key to Success

Brands need to build trust and consumers will handle rewarding them. Making sure that your online visual representation matches your physical practice is extremely important. An authentic and consistent approach will allow your practice to gain trust from new patients a lot easier because you will not have to keep up a persona. With consistency in experience and messaging, building trust, and solidifying your practice brand become a lot easier.

Building your Brand

After finding your audience and how to speak to them, it’s time to market your brand directly. Creating an association between your services with emotion is a great way to establish a desire for what you offer.

A practice needs to understand the key desires and struggles of the targeted market to build the brand persona. By creating an association between feeling content and your practice’s offerings, people begin to associate their feeling with your practice. Of course, you need to make sure there are no negative feelings associated with the practice brand.

Finally, the best way to market your practice is to focus on messaging reflecting what you are completely passionate about. Not only fulfilling the consumer but also being fulfilled yourself is incredibly important. Without a message, you cannot have a successful practice brand.

 

Remember, a practice brand is so much more than a log or its visual elements. Having a brand means offering a clear story, feelings, and contributing to perception. Remember, you control your practice’s brand. Building your brand image and working on the strategy to fulfill that image should be something that is reflected throughout the entire journey of establishing a successful practice. Your brand is your chance to tell your patients a story, so make it count!

 

—Marie Dubray, Social Media Specialist, Sesame Communications