What’s the point of generating droves of leads for your practice if they don’t turn into consultations and patients?
Plastic surgeons are starting to feel the pain of bloated “prospect” databases. They’re watching dollars go out on marketing, but simply not watching enough dollars come back in.
And there doesn’t seem to be any procedure for removing the bloat.
Here’s what we’ve found many plastic surgeons try to do when they run into this issue:Hire a different marketing agency to take over, hoping fresh eyes and minds will do the trick…
Start investing in more marketing channels, hoping that diversifying will grow their practice…
Start buying leads from lead generation sites, thinking that they might have better leads…
Invest in sales training for their front office, thinking this will improve conversion of leads…
…and the result?
Often it’s a short spike and then back to business as usual.
So we come to the next thing we see plastic surgeons do in an attempt to finally move the needle on the bottom line:
- Start making “Groupon” discount type offers, in hopes of just getting bodies through the door so they have a chance to a) offer additional services, and b) possibly get referrals…
Does that work?
Well, if you’ve ever run a Groupon promotion…
…you know the idea makes sense logically. Unfortunately, it brings in bunches of low-quality, high-maintenance patients. You know, the patients who will leave you a one-star Yelp review just because they didn’t like the paint color in your waiting room.
We’ve heard some plastic surgeons call this the “Groupon Kiss of Death”.
And while the Groupon model seems to have faded away (right?)
…the torch of offering discounts to get first-time patients has been carried on by most marketing agencies.
The result?
Search Google for just about any cosmetic procedure and you’ll see offers competing on one of two angles:
- “Hey, I’m cheaper than the other guy…”
- “I’m the Top! Best! #1! Plastic Surgeon that ever was…”
So here’s the point…
The reason why your leads are not turning into consultations and patients is because your offers are being drowned out in a sea of look-alike, me-too offers.
Why are you being reduced to a commodity, chasing after patients like a dog after cars?
Because most marketing agencies deploy the same strategies on behalf of you and your competition …plus or minus a 10% difference. They’re all working from pretty much the same play book.
Here’s what they do:
- Analyze your competition’s ads and keywords, either manually or through a spy software tool
- Dump all the examples into a spreadsheet
- Figure how to rewrite your ads to sound (a little) different
- Deploy those ads on your behalf
- Spend your money and collect their check
It is any wonder that this creates an ocean of ‘me-too’ offers, making it nearly impossible for your prospective patients to make a choice?
They go online to begin their research process for what might be a life-changing procedure, and they get that junk? It leaves them a bit paralyzed … which leads to indecision.
And THAT is why you have a very expensive, very bloated, and very stubborn database of leads that won’t turn into patients and profits.
Remember this marketing nugget:
If someone opts in for an offer of yours, they’ve also opted in with at least two of your competitors. You’re never marketing in a vacuum.
And as bad as the ‘me-too’ offers are in the ads themselves, the follow-up marketing sequences – for those practices that even have one – are just about identical in their calls to action.
All the worse for your prospective patient and for you ever turning that lead into a consultation.
So from this, can I hazard a guess about a few of the things you wind up feeling?
- You’re overpaying for clicks and impressions…
- You’re slogging it out with competitors, having been reduced to a commodity…
- Prospective patients try to negotiate with you on price…
- You’re constantly in head-to-head battles with your competition…
- Many patients for whom you’re the best option simply shrug their shoulders and move along, doing nothing…
So what’s a plastic surgeon to do?
Here’s the thing.
The steps we listed in the beginning of this post (that many plastic surgeons take in an attempt to finally move the needle…)
…all address the symptoms they’re feeling due to ineffective marketing.
But those steps don’t work because, well, they’re just putting Band-Aids on those problems.
You want to know what the root cause is behind these symptoms?
It’s not knowing how to craft compelling offers that cut through the clutter, making it easy for your prospective patients to pay attention to you (specifically.)
How does a plastic surgeon craft a compelling offer that cuts through the clutter, you ask?
To help you with exactly that, we’ve written an in-depth, no-fluff report, “3 Secrets To Getting High Quality Patients”, on how plastic surgeons can:
- Start converting leads into consults predictably and profitably…
- Have people show up to their consultations already seeing you as an authority, expert, and their obvious choice
- Stop being compared to your competitors like a cheap commodity and start consistently generating referrals
You can download this complimentary report by clicking on the link below: