Brand Identity Isn't Just for Products
Building brand recognition for your health care practice that is both strong and sustainable, creates a unique identity that will make clear to patients your vision, philosophy and purpose.
Patient testimonials, before and after pictures, videos, and various honors and recognition you have received should be added to your website daily.
Branding will provide your dental practice a unique identity that will make clear to your patients everything you stand for. Your brand will reflect your vision, philosophy and purpose. Every practice is different from each other, as the dentists are different. It is the dentists who provide a unique value to a practice.
The patients will be interested in gauging that value, which will give them a compelling reason to choose your practice for a consultation. The daunting task of connecting and communicating with new patients and convincing them to select your services will be done by your brand.
Branding Through Your Website
The website for your dental practice will become your most valuable tool for building your brand. For a small or mid-sized practice with only one or two office locations, a website is the most effective promotion tool to maximize brand impact at minimal costs.
It is important that your website only promise what you can deliver. It will pay in the long run if all your claims on the website are completely honest. Great websites, like great businesses, have a strong foundation of uncompromising integrity.
Your goal should be to build a practice that will deliver more than what it promised and repeatedly exceed the expectations of patients. Your website should communicate that spirit clearly.
Evolving Brand Presence
When your brand starts to grow, it will be important that your website, which will have become your most valuable online asset by then, also grow at the same pace. Make sure that the website is regularly updated with new technologies, procedures, and techniques related to your practice.
Patient testimonials, before and after pictures, videos, and various honors and recognition you have received should be added to your website daily.
If you also have a blog, make sure to update it as often as possible with latest news and articles. If you decide to extend your presence to a social media network, make sure it is seamlessly integrated with your website.
Stay tuned to recent developments and new technologies in the world of graphics, videos, social media, web design and compatibility of mobile devices. Pay attention to what your competitors are doing with their websites to stay on top of things.
Branding Through Social Media
To project a powerful brand image for your practice, your marketing must be so good that others discuss your practice in such glowing terms as if you yourself are talking about it. In the highly connected environment of our times, you cannot afford to underestimate the power of social media in attaining your goals.
To build brand recognition for your health care practice that is both strong and sustainable, it is important that the story about your brand is consistent with what other people say about you.
Marketing your Brand with SEO
Google has repeatedly stated over the last decade that an important criterion for determining rankings in its search engine is the branding of the business.
Eric Schmidt, the chairman of Google, once said that it is through brands that they sort the site rankings. According to Schmidt, brand affinity is hard wired and fundamental to the existence of humanity. He said that branding might have some sort of a ‘genetic’ component.
A branded service or product becomes a trusted source for consumers and search engine algorithms understand this fact. In a tactical sense for the online marketing strategy of your health care practice, building your brand and building the SEO profile of your website goes hand in hand. Your brand will signify the association of your practice with a set of values. Search engines focus on prime brands that have those values.
The SEO content for your dental practice must speak in the voice of the brand. The commitments and values that your brand stands for should be reflected in the search engine optimization process.
The pages of content on your website, newsletters, press releases, guest blogs, social media content and published articles should be consistent with the voice of your brand.
Your brand values will get highlighted as part of your SEO campaign in the number of inbound links for your practice’s website, patient testimonials, videos, images, and the overall presentation and design of the dental website.
About the Author:
Naren Arulrajah is President and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, a complete internet marketing company that focuses on SEO, social media, marketing education, and the online reputations of dentists. With a team of 180+ full time marketers, www.ekwa.com helps dentists who know where they want to go, get there by dominating their market and growing their business significantly year after year. If you have questions about marketing your practice online, call 855-598-3320 to speak one-on-one with Naren.
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