Adam Lueken
Quarterly or monthly promotions can be helpful for getting new and repeating patients, whether you are offering discounts on products or services or simply promoting a product or service. And if you already have marketing and communication channels set, all it takes is a little creative content.
If you are looking for promotional topic ideas for Q1, there are a variety of things you can do.
Winter Dry Skin
If you live in a cold-weather area, the weather can have drastic effects on the skin. For some patients, this can cause severe dry skin. Your patients (and prospective patients) know this too, so help educate them on what you and your team can do about it. In addition to winter weather, dry skin can be the result of another underlying skin condition that patients may not even be considering, so educate them on this as well.
Lip Enhancement for Valentine’s Day
On the cosmetic side, if you offer lip enhancement fillers like Juvederm or Restylane, February is the perfect time to promote these products. With the imagery and aesthetic of Valentine’s Day, there are plenty of campaign content opportunities that can be built around “kissable lips,” “loving your lips,” etc. This isn’t limited to lip augmentation either. Many other cosmetic services can be easily tied to a Valentine’s Day theme.
Getting Your Skin Ready for Summer
Also with cosmetic care, many skin rejuvenation services take multiple treatments spaced several weeks or months apart to see full, ideal results, such as laser resurfacing, hair removal and others. That being the case, Q1 is an optimal time to promote services like these to patients looking to have improved skin for summer. If they start treatment now, depending on their situation and what service they’re receiving, they can achieve the results they want right before summer kicks off.
Spring Break
When March rolls around, many people may be traveling for spring break. Many people travel for spring break, so this is a great opportunity to I provide tips, such as how to prevent and treat blisters, not bring home bed bugs, and for sun safety, tips for using self-tanner/sunscreen and explain why unprotected sun exposure and indoor tanning are dangerous.
Once you’ve decided on a promotion and built your messaging, now you can begin incorporating it into your existing marketing efforts (or you may even consider adding new marketing and communication channels if needed).
Digital – Your practice website is a great way to share information easily and quickly. Add content for your promotion and place it in an appropriate, easy-to-find location, whether it’s added to an existing page or a new page is created. Link to this on your homepage as well. If you feature blog posts on your site, be sure to include some information there too, whether it’s a benefits list or product review (just keep it in line with your key messaging). Likewise, if you have social media accounts like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, these are also great ways to communicate conveniently and quickly. Create engagement by having open dialogues with your audience and encouraging questions. Just be sure to respond promptly. If you’re running a discount or contest with your promotion, social media is ideal for doing so. If you use email marketing for current patients, encourage them to spread the word to others.
Print – Add educational and promotional information to your existing print materials, such as your practice brochures and in-office posters, table tents, flyers, etc.
Public relations – Depending on what the product or service is, you may be able to get some additional promotion from your local newspaper, radio or TV outlets. In this case, try to keep your releases factual and informative and less promotional. If not, paid advertisement may be suggested to you.
Word of mouth is an effective way to inform people. For patients who receive a promoted product or service, encourage them to share their experience with friends and family. Depending on the situation, you may be able to incentivize patient referrals too. Lean on your provider network as well. Connect with other providers and medical facilities in your community and share your new practice additions. If the new service or product is especially unique or advanced, you might even receive referrals from other dermatologists.
Don’t forget – if you are looking for a partner to help support your marketing and promotions, we are here to help. Schedule a consultation with one of our practice management experts today!