Niche Dental Marketing: MN Angie's List Rep Meeting Turns Toward VALUE Dentistry Marketing Discussion

Monday

MN Angie's List Rep Meeting Turns Toward VALUE Dentistry Marketing Discussion

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Last Friday (10/19/12) I had a good meeting with Spencer H. a representative of Angie's List in Twin Cities, MN. We discussed dentistry, advertising for dentists, and the group I co-founded with Rick Epple, Northern Dental Alliance, and many other topics. The most vital issue that came up was my concept of the high value dental consumer.

The 'high value' dentistry consumer approach focuses on the value someone puts on dental care versus marketing strategies that are more concentrated on demographic like the consumer's income or other financial demos and in the dental industry more specifically, how marketers tend to focus on perception and use of dental insurance. These elements are not dismissed in 'value dentistry' but are secondary, in a lower parallel placement as to the higher objective of building value.

Some consumers may spend 'a lot of money' on other items, such as a car, lake home and significant jewelry purchases. Many consumers' smaller value choices can also add up to what it would cost to 'access' the level of dental care they may need, beyond the basics, like a cleaning, solving a pain issue or once in a year or three for emergency dentistry treatment.

Instead the consumer forgoes any dentistry (or for long periods of time), which causes future deterioration to be more extensive. Having 1% of the population change their habits, move ahead decisions weeks, months or years, can be beneficial to the patient, dentist and even public health.

Value actually excludes very few people. (SEE NicheDental.com home page for pertinent stats.) While those not able to pay for any dentistry because they are barely getting by overall, do need a destination for their care, too many people, who do not have good dental health, could do more, if not much more.

By transferring their value perspective (then funds) to a better oral health place, dental consumers would save money in the long run, and/or avoid other health problems, embarrassment and all the issues from tooth loss. In addition, the statistics show an increased mortality risk for those with dental disease.

Therefore I see the data adding up to the availability of a pool of dental consumers who are on a fence (from fear, bad experience), or slightly below a sight line to understand the advances (and/or value of them). These advances include such treatments as dental implants, smile makeover veneers, removable clear braces, sedation dentistry and more effective ways to control periodontal disease, and eliminate its most harmful elements.

Giving these wary, and out-of-sight-line, consumers a comforting word or a step up to understanding value with Connective Communication© - a platform of marketing entities, vehicles, destinations is paramount. Each strategy has its specific effect on the movement towards advanced dentistry value appreciation.

Direct mail postcards are tactilely effective promotion, getting in front of heads of households, like no other marketing.

External obvious elements like billboards or OOH media of some kind stay in front of the consumer more continually.

Then online advertising like Angie's List, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and the other hot Internet properties, are able to provide a health boost for patients and revenue enhancer for dentists.