It’s all in the description plus a little FOMO
The above video is old but a great example of how the Home Shopping Network and others use FOMO (fear of missing out) to get people to buy…..well….mostly crap. The SNL skit does a great job showing how they are “giving away way too much here”. They describe add-ons like the poster and how what they are selling is worth X value but they are offering for much less.
How could you use FOMO in your marketing? Well, when we got close to being filled (1/2 to 3/4) we used to say that would had only so many openings left. That was mostly true as we couldn’t really handle that many joining at the same time and so we would pause and put people on a waiting list and then reopen when things settled down. And it worked.
FOMO works and there are many ways you can use it.
What also really works is properly describing what you have. They do this well in the video above. Let me give you another example. I recently made French toast. I am retired and have become a little bit of a food snob. Which of the following would you choose?
- French toast
vs.
2. French toast with homemade bread using flour from Italy (Cento Anna Napoletana Tipo “00” Extra Fine Unbleached Flour). Cooked using pastured free-range eggs in grass-fed butter, topped with cinnamon and a sprinkling of powdered sugar and accompanied with 100% pure maple for your enjoyment.
(Yeah, this is carb heavy and not to be eaten every day but you get the point).
Why do I bring this up? Because I see a lot of websites with very bland descriptions of what you do and what DPC does. I see FB posts and IG post with the same.
No one is asking you to lie but you can do a better job truly explaining things. FOMO + proper wording/description is critical for your marketing. Lastly, telling your patients what procedures, discounted labs, etc. saved them is really helpful. We did that in an email after they left and it was a way for them to share/brag to their friends which was also a marketing tactic.
The email went something like:
“Jim, It was great seeing you today. We love saving patients money. Your knee injection would have cost you $x in the system but it was free here at Forest Direct Primary Care. That’s the beauty of DPC. Thanks for being our patient!”
Well, there you go. I hope this helps some of you. If not then go eat some French toast. You’ll feel better.
I really like the email idea of informing patients the amount of money saved having relationships with lab companies and imaging companies. I think that is something I will adopt.