Success with Web-Based Marketing
By
Daniel A. Bobrow, MBA (University of Chicago) & MBA (K.U.L. Belgium)

This is the third and final of three Issues devoted to
success with web-based marketing

Synopsis

Success at web-based marketing means implementing strategies, both conventional and Internet-based, which direct qualified prospective patients to your website. It also means having a website that encourages visitors to relinquish their anonymity, that is, willingly provide you with their contact information. Finally, it means giving the market segment we call Tire Kickers the means and motivation to remain in communication with your practice. This represents an especially fertile opportunity for practice growth because hardly anyone ever bothers to keep in touch with the Tire Kickers. Therefore, by simply capturing visitor information and communicating with them over time, you have the potential to dominate this all-mportant segment of your market.

Remember: today's Tire Kickers are tomorrow's Trigger Pullers!

Generating the Qualified Patient Lead and Converting the QPL into a Patient
As we have discussed, a good looking website and qualified visitors are certainly necessary, but they are insufficient to guarantee success. Even if your Website Performance Assessment confirms your site doing a good job attracting, and impressing the visitor with its content, it must also generate Qualified Patient Leads (QPLs) and convert the QPL into a patient.

Of Tire Kickers and Trigger Pullers
Studies* have shown that first-time website inquiries may be classified as follows:

• 20% will take action immediately (we call these the ‘Trigger Pullers')
• 20% will not buy at all (the DNRs for do not resuscitate)
  and
• The remaining 60% will buy from someone within 12 months. We call this group the ‘Tire Kickers.'

Many people are surprised to learn that this third category is every bit as important as the first, because, if they are treated correctly, they represent a highly profitable source of new patients. The key is to run the race at the patient's pace.

Generating The Qualified Patient Lead (QPL)
The home page of your website needs to cater to both the Trigger Puller as well as the Tire Kicker. For those visitors who are ready to appoint, be sure you have a Request an Appointment Form on your Home Page and a Unique Telephone Number. Both allow you to track the new patient as originating from your website, which aids in evaluating your website marketing investment.

Converting Tire Kickers into Trigger Pullers
To capitalize on this segment of your market, your website must offer opportunities for the visitor to learn about your practice without having to commit to a visit. Offer special content offering a high perception of value to your website visitors. In so doing, you convert anonymous surfers on your website into valuable QPLs. Below are some examples of how to achieve this:

Use Sign-Up Forms And Graphics On Your Home Page and Throughout Your Website

Encourage visitors to complete a Form to receive information of interest and value

Next Steps
Now that you have delivered on your first promise to the QPL, that is, the Special Report, continue to deliver timely, valuable, and frequent (but not too frequent!) communications. Here's a sample Schedule:

Day One – E-mail Special Report
Day Five – Audio Post Card
Day Fourteen – Email Smile Secret #1
Day Twenty-Eight – Mail Postcard
Day Forty-Two – E-mail Smile Secret #2
Day Fifty-Six – Email Smile Secret #3
Day Seventy – Mail Invitation for Free Consultation
Day Eighty-Four – Email Smile Secret #4
Day Ninety-Eight – Email Smile Secret #5
Day One Hundred Twelve – Mail Postcard

And so on for the rest of the year…

And here are examples of possible communications:

Direct Mail Sample

We recommend a combination of invitation and post card style mailings. The design should be similar, so you reinforce your practice brand in the mind of the QPL. The key to success with this is memorable simplicity.

Email Sample

Emails should include links to your photo gallery, testimonial pages, and other compelling reasons to keep in contact with you, such as attractive Special Offers.

Audio Postcard Sample

Audio postcards are colorful emails that also include a recording of your or a staff member's voice. This is another way to subtly create a sense of familiarity and comfort in the mind (and emotions) of your QPL.

Communications should continue for up to a year, which is what our research shows can be the ‘gestation period' during which the Tire Kicker metamorphoses into a Trigger Puller.

By regularly and professionally following up with your website visitors, you have positioned yourself as a trusted expert in the field so, when they do decide the time is right, it's you they'll call.

By the way, if you already have a website, all you need to do is add the forms to your existing site, and be sure the visitors who complete them are automatically fed into your communication campaign. Here are examples of visitor follow up services we can create using existing websites:

Prosites
IDA
Einstein

*Source: ConStat, Yellow-Page industry analysts ( www.Constat.com ).

To receive a complimentary analysis of your website click here

Our next Issue is the first of three concerned with Communicating With Patients of Record

Sincerely,

AMERICAN DENTAL MARKETING COMPANY

Daniel A. (Danny) Bobrow, MBA

To learn more or to ask a question contact us

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