Your Medical Office is a Big Deal
Introduction
The focus on healthcare issues has never been greater than over the past year, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But even before the pandemic, the number of people in the United States seeking medical and dental care was on the upswing. A Statista survey from January 2019 found that 83% of US adults stated their current health-related priority was their oral health. They rated this higher than mental health, exercise, and diet as a health-related concern. Statista also found that, as of 2018, US physicians were seeing between 11 and 60 patients per day.
Both trends show that there are tremendous opportunities for medical and dental practices and facilities to use promotional strategies to increase business and profitability and improve the patient experience. These strategies should be designed to increase patient loyalty even as they are attracting new patients. While many promotional strategies require substantial investment, there is one that has been proven to deliver tremendous bang for every marketing buck – branded promotional products and uniforms .
Promotional products extend marketing reach for healthcare practices and facilities of all sizes and in all phases of their growth and development.
Research has consistently shown that at least 83% of consumers in the United States enjoy receiving promotional merchandise with advertising messaging and 89% of consumers who receive a promotional item within the last two years remembered the name of the company named on the item.
These reasons and plenty of others are why branded promotional products are often used in successful brand awareness campaigns for medical and dental practices. They are typically deployed as referral incentives, ways to lead customers to landing pages on websites, and tools to further the success of services conversations.
Creating a Strategy for Using Promotional Products to Market Your Medical or Dental Practice
Armed with the knowledge that at least 50% of people who receive branded promotional products use them in their daily lives, it is easy to see how these giveaways attract patients and deliver brand appeal if they are useful and add value to their experiences. For medical and dental practices, creating a strategy to achieve these results starts by answering a few important questions:
- Who is your audience?
- How do you reach your audience?
- Where are you reaching your audience?
- What will your budget allow?
Because everyone at one time or another needs medical and dental services, you likely access your important audiences via:
- Search engines
- Appointments with existing patients
- Online review websites for the healthcare industry
- Your website Your social media platforms
- Digital advertising
- Telephone conversations with patients and prospective patients
- Your practice’s physical location
- Community outreach events (health fairs, etc.)
Giving away branded promotional products as part of interactions you have with patients and prospective patients at all these access points will automatically enhance your practice’s brand awareness, positive image, and overall patient experience. These promotional items also differentiate you from your competition as you interact with your patients in each of these ways because as research has shown, branded promotional items are effective:
- Lead generators
- As patient review rewards
- In social media contests
- At community events
- As giveaways at your practice’s physical location
- And more
Determining a Budget for Branded Promotional Products Budget for Your Medical or Dental Practice
Understanding what your practice’s projected profits are for the year will help you understand how much to spend on branded promotional products to cost-effectively market your medical or dental practice. With these numbers in mind, choose a percentage of the projections for your spend on promotional activities. Then, determine how much of that percentage will be spent on promotional products.
Businesses that have been open for fewer than 5 years, should consider using 12 to 20% of their revenue for marketing, according to Entrepreneur. More experienced businesses should consider using 6 to 12% of their revenue for marketing efforts.
Budget Considerations
When considering how much of your practice’s budget to allocate to promotional products, the effectiveness of these products in promoting your healthcare practice cannot be ignored. Promotional products have one of the lowest cost per impression ratios – about .6 cents per impression, according to the promotional product industry’s largest membership organization, the Ad Specialty Institute (ASI). A single promotional item averages 344 impressions per month, according to research from industry experts.
Promotional products have the edge over other types of advertising in terms of impressions because 81% of consumers will keep promotional products for about 1 to 5 years – increasing the number of impressions it will make. To calculate an approximate return on impressions, marketers use Cost Per Thousand (CPM). Simply divide the total cost of the item by the number of estimated impressions, and then divide by 1,000.
Numbers Do not Lie – Consider the Research on Promotional Products as Effective Marketing Tools
Research conducted on consumer behaviors throughout the US by the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI)’s has found some numbers that cannot be ignored when considering your budget for implementing a promotional products strategy for your healthcare practice. 90% of consumers receiving a promotional product remember the business’s name. Of those receiving a promotional product, 89% still remember the brand on a promotional product they received in the last 2 years. Interestingly, 82% of consumers have a more favorable impression of a brand after receiving a promotional product from the brand. Regarding companies, they are unfamiliar with, 80% of consumers have an immediate reaction when they receive a promotional item from them.
For years, the numbers have been clear – implementing a promotional products strategy works for businesses. Healthcare practices are under increasing pressure to keep patients happy with insurance providers forcing them to choose between in-network and out-of-network practices on top of deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses. When reviewing the numbers for your medical or dental practice alongside providing the best medical attention for your patients is patient satisfaction. Branded promotional items that have been carefully selected should be considered part of your ongoing marketing program.
Branded Promotional Items Can Complement Your Overall Marketing Initiatives
When you consider the research noted above that illustrates how much people appreciate receiving promotional products, it is easy to understand how they might enhance virtually any type of marketing for medical or dental practices. Below are just a few of the many ways promotional products work hard for your marketing efforts.
Promotional products make your campaigns memorable. People hold onto the items for a long time and are reminded of your practice each time they use them.
Your practice receives enhanced and extended brand awareness and recognition. As you provide branded promotional products to audiences everywhere that matters to your practice, your practice receives more and continuing attention.
Promotional products are cost-effective. Keep the low cost per impression in mind and you will easily see the value.
Connect with your audience. Show your patients and potential patients that you understand them and know what matters to them when you select the right promotional products.
Selecting the Best Promotional Products for Your Medical or Dental PracticeSelecting the Best Promotional Products for Your Medical or Dental Practice
Studies conducted by the ASI show that some of the most popular and influential branded promotional products include writing instruments, outerwear, drinkware, and performance wear. But some of these items may not suit your patients – you know them best. For patients of medical and dental practices, consider the gender and age of your patients in addition to other factors. When selecting the promotional items for your healthcare practice, consider these branded promotional products that are likely to be used again and again:
- Reusable Face Masks
- Pill Boxes
- Thermometers
- Hot/Cold Packs
- First Aid Kits
- Eye Care Products
- Lip Balm
- Breath Mints
- Pedometers
- Reflective Wristbands
- Hand Sanitizer
- Sunscreen
- Toothbrushes & Dental Care Products
- Water Bottles
- Tote Bags
- Insulated Lunch Bags
The Importance of Uniforms for Your Medical and Dental Practice
Uniformed employees with embroidered custom uniforms send a clear message about professionalism to everyone who enters your medical or dental practice. Research has shown that most people associate uniformed medical and dental staff with skill and professionalism. Employees appreciate the cost-savings uniforms present for them as they do not have to wear their clothes at work. Medical and dental practices may wish to select different types of uniforms for the varying members of their staff – for example, lab coats, scrub shirts and pants, and smocks for the medical staff, and dress shirts for the office staff.
Everywhere your staff goes while wearing their uniform increases the brand exposure for your practice. In addition, branded uniforms improve security at your practice’s physical location. When your entire staff is in uniform, it is easy to spot anyone who should not be on your premises. Patients and their family members will find comfort in being able to quickly identify members of your staff should an emergency arise because their uniforms help to set them apart.
Tracking and Measuring – Is Your Promotional Product Strategy Effective?
When determining the success of a marketing initiative, the industry standard is using the benchmark revenue to ratio of 5:1 (or better) – for every marketing dollar spent, your practice generated $5 in revenue. To properly understand the success of your promotional products-enhanced marketing efforts, you must calculate and consider the return on investment (ROI). Begin by planning how you will track the promotional items your medical or dental practice will give to patients and prospective patients to be able to follow them and properly determine their ROI.
Items used as part of your promotional products strategy must have a trackability component if you are using the items to determine “sales.” This can be done by directing recipients to a URL or QR Code. Your selected promotional product must work with your choice of tracking. Purchase the items, give them away and sit back to wait for the results – did you end up with fewer patients in your office suffering from the flu because you were able to encourage them to get a flu shot? On a more basic level, you could calculate ROI with metrics by considering the cost of the promotional products and the outcome it generated (i.e., revenue, number of new patients, etc.). If your practice’s goal was to increase brand awareness, consider your ROI in the form of return on impressions – an impression is counted each time someone sees your specific promotional item or advertisement.
Partnering with the Right Promotional Products Professionals is Key to Your Successful Medical or Dental Practice’s Marketing Initiatives
To reach (and hopefully, surpass) the goals of your promotional product campaigns, your medical or dental practice will want to partner with an experienced promotional product expert. The promotional product and marketing experts at your local Fully Promoted have years of experience working with the healthcare industry and will work closely with your practice to select the best products for your patients. With thousands of products to choose from, our local experts will take the time to discuss your practice’s budget and goals to make the best recommendations.
Additionally, our local experts can help you choose uniforms for each segment of your staff keeping in mind the personality of your practice and who your patients are. We can provide samples of various uniform options for your review as you narrow down your staff’s choices. We take great pride in offering personalized service to assist all our customers at all our locations.