Why Your Dental Practice Needs to Master Branding
Although branding is often thought of in terms of large companies that provide products to consumers, like Apple, Coca-Cola and Nike, building a strong brand identity is also important for dental professionals. This article is a brief discussion of how branding can benefit your practice.
What is a brand?
Generally, from a purely marketing perspective, a brand is a name, term, design, symbol or other feature that helps the public identify a seller’s goods or services. A strong brand, moreover, is one that distinguishes a company or product from others in the marketplace. At its core, branding is a reflection of what customers or clients think and how they feel about a company or product.
In the context of dental practices, branding can help to attract and retain patients. By delivering a satisfying patient experience, a practice can continue to grow. Branding is not merely about limited to having an attractive logo or catchy slogan, however, it’s a reflection of everything that a practice does. This includes the the quality of the treatment, the office environment, equipment and tools. Above all, having a friendly, professional and responsive staff can make or break your brand.
How to Build a Brand
In the end, building a brand is all about the patient experience: How does the practice look? How courteous is the staff? How professional are they? All of these factors play a part in your brand identity, which may not be directly related to dentistry. Responding to the concerns can help to set your practice apart from the competition.
Essentially, a positive brand is in the minds of patients. The best way to build it, therefore, is to provide a positive client experience centered on quality care. In sum, creating a positive client experience means asking yourself some important questions:
What are the values of your practice and are these values communicated to patients?
How is your practice different or unique from other practices?
How can you improve the experience for your patients?
Don’t Forget Your Website
Finally, your website should also convey your brand identity and help prospective patients to get a feel for the experience. By setting yourself apart from the competition and making your brand part of everything you do, you can attract and keep more patients which will ultimately drive returns.
The Takeaway
It goes without saying that one needs to be well schooled and skilled in the practice of dentistry. At the same time, delivering a positive client experience can help to set your brand apart from the competition and take your practice to a higher level.