This post won’t be what you think it is. I am not going to give you great examples of ads that get people to join your practice. I just want to walk you through a thought experiment so that you understand some principles of advertising/marketing.
This topic interests me and I have read a ton of books on it over the past ten years. I have listened to many podcasts as well. I recently heard in an Audible book that you are more successful if your product satisfies a customer’s wants rather than their needs. What does that mean? It means that people are ready to buy when they have a WANT. They don’t need a push. If you believe that your product is NEEDED by the customer and they don’t want it yet then you have a lot of work to do. I actually think, unfortunately, that DPC fits the latter. They may want what we offer and obviously need it, but they have to be educated about what we do first.
Another book I read describes two types of advertising. The first is informative (educational) and the second is manipulative. The latter is deceitful and nothing we want to be involved with. Those who use this try to manufacture a fake need. That is not what we do. We know DPC is the savior of primary care while the most affordable. We just have to get the word out.
So, putting this all together, we know that the competition in primary care sucks. Patients also know that the industrialized model sucks. They want something better and our job is to educate them constantly about why DPC is their answer. This makes them WANT us.
How you educate them is up to you. It could be social media posts, newspaper editorials, a consumer guide, or a radio interview. Show them that you are what they want and need and you will be on the road to filling your practice.