DDS Brand Legwork - Dental Practice Referral Marketing Program

Yesterday, I spent my lunch hour shopping for some running shoes. Prior to hitting the stores, I hit the most successful restaurant in the world. What a moron! You stop by McDonalds to order a heart attack while on your way to buying running shoes?! I know, right? But instead of raking me over the coals for that decision, let’s take a look at what I learned from that diametrically opposed set of errands. It was an eye opener.

“Would like to try our new Fruit and Maple Oatmeal today?” asked the voice behind the sign. It’s a seemingly ironic question since the voice is coming behind a sign plastered with images of fat juicy burgers, beckoning fries and refreshing CocaCola. I don’t know about you, but I come here to place an order for a heart attack, not oatmeal. But I digress. There is a point to this post; I’ll let you know when I get to it.

While ordering, it was clear to me that the gentlemen knew his job -- at least the procedures. He knew exactly what scripts he was supposed to run through with each customer. The problem? He was trained to speak, but not to listen. He didn’t really care what I wanted. In fact, he cut me off several times while I was trying to explain my order. Apparently I wasn’t following HIS script.

For decades I have been asked how to properly measure the success of an advertising campaign. Frankly, marketers like myself working in the healthcare sector have resorted to recommending archaic tracking methods due to a lack of technology. For example, asking the patient how they heard of you and then measuring new patient flow was about the extent of our measurement recommendations until recently.

Today's new media technologies bring a set of highly useful measurements. Here are five new measurements you may not realize the importance of when monetizing your new media campaign effectiveness:

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Drs. Nutall, Lothyan & Richens from Auburn WA offered a Free Dentistry Day. The public was invited to come for free dental care on this special day. Numerous children and adults were given the gift of free dentistry including general exams, cleanings, extractions and fillings.

New media such as Twitter, Facebook and Websites were the main uses to promote this event. In tandem with an offline mailer and in-house flyers, patients were asked to nominate families and or friends in need for guaranteed appointments. Ten adults and ten children were awarded guaranteed appointments.

With over 350 million users of Facebook, businesses are looking for ways to leverage social media communication.  The positive impact social media has made in fund raising for Haiti relief efforts is an excellent case study on how to best communicate your business agenda.

For example, an article I read on www.usatoday.com stated that texting has contributed to over $25 Million in fund raising through various non-profit relief funds.  Although the article was implying that texting was the method of choice for fund raising efforts, what I find equally as impressive is how the nation discovered so quickly that they could text a donation.  Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter largely deserve this credit.

Found this great video by Chad Norman