'Running the Race at the Patient's Pace'
why you cannot afford not to keep in touch with website visitors

The Internet has changed the way people buy products and services. Instead of only receiving information via TV, radio, magazines, direct mail, etc., consumers actively consult the Internet to make key decisions about where to stay, what airline to fly, movie to see and, with ever increasing frequency, what dentist to visit.

Even analysts who work for the Yellow Pages reported in early 2006 that individuals used the Internet 70% of the time vs. only 30% for their medium when searching for a local service.* And by far, the greatest growth in Internet usage is in the area of local search, that is, people searching for products and services that are within driving distance of their home or office.

Simply put, if these people aren’t finding you through online local search to be their dentist, they’re finding someone else. It is, therefore, imperative your web-based marketing system be structured and managed so that, when qualified prospective patients are looking for a dentist, it’s you they find.

There are 3 things your website needs to be a true patient generating system. It must:

1. Attract The Visitor

2. Convert The Visitor Into A Qualified Patient Lead (QPL)

and

3. Convert the QPL into a Patient

Attracting The Visitor

Before you can encourage patients to visit your office, they first must find your website. For this to happen, you need to position yourself at or near the top of search engine rankings so that, when people and businesses in your community are searching for dental care, they find you. This may be accomplished in one of two general ways.

One way is via conventional marketing, that is, by placing your website address anywhere a prospective patient or referral source might hear or see it e.g. on all stationery, signage, and marketing strategies such as direct mail, radio, TV, billboards, and your on hold message system.

The other way is through internet search. This method is sub-classified into natural and paid search strategies.

Your website gets listed on search engines through natural search when it is structured (or optimized) such that the search engine ‘bots’ (automated systems that continuously scour the cyber landscape to identify websites that are relevant to a given search word or phrase) identify your site as worthy of inclusion in the results a surfer sees upon entering a given word or phrase. The thing about natural search is that, notwithstanding the fact the bots move at nearly the speed of light, it takes time for a website to establish a track record of relevance for the search engines to recognize and place it near the top of its results rankings.

Paid search (also called pay-per-click) is a method by which the practice agrees to pay a certain maximum price for keywords and phrases to both appear on the search engine’s Results Page and be clicked on by the web surfer. Because the search engines earn their income by these so called ‘click-throughs,’ a practice can achieve higher rankings far more quickly than by relying on natural search alone. This is why most practices, especially those just beginning their Internet presence, will benefit from a well managed pay per click campaign.

Paid vs. Natural Search Results
Links in the blue box near top and those along right side of page are Paid Placements

Whether you choose organic search alone or organic and paid search in concert, the goal is to maximize your qualified site visits. Implemented correctly, local individuals, families, and businesses searching for dental care are directed to your practice website. Clearly, this represents a powerful marketing advantage.

Some Quick Hints To Get Your Site Noticed Both By Bots and People

· Title Bar (top-most highlighted in yellow) is most important in that the bots use it to recognize yours as a local business

· Have your telephone number, including area code, on every page of your website

· Because convenience is so important to the prospective patient, be sure to have all communities you serve on every page of your website. If a visitor can’t quickly determine where you are located, they might return to the search engine and continue their search

· Having your address on your web pages indicates yours is a local business

· Be sure the above is all printed in text format, as search engine bots cannot read graphics

· For a website analysis template click here

Remember: a good looking website and qualified visitors are necessary, but insufficient to guarantee success. In other words, even if objective analysis of your website confirms it is doing a good job of attracting and impressing the visitor with its content, it must also generate Qualified Patient Leads (QPL) and convert the QPL into a patient, which happen to be the second and third keys to success with web based marketing.

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.

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 them special content with a high perception of value for 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:

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

Immediately deliver the promised Report to Them

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-important segment of your market. Remember: today’s Tire Kickers and tomorrow’s Trigger Pullers!

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.

Summary

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 so that, when they are ready, you’ll be waiting.

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