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Troy Cole

Troy Cole

Sales Coaching for Refractive & Cataract Surgery Teams

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Gwen Stefani Made Me Watch a Commercial

Want to dominate your market in the next decade? Attention is the name of the game.

Keep a close eye on the transformation that takes place in the media and how big companies are coming up with creative ways to capture attention.

Excellent recent example:

Did you watch the Grammys this year?

If not, you missed the best commercial Target’s ever done. Let me explain:

They ran a commercial that was a live video shoot for Gwen Stefani’s new single.

Repeat: Gwen Stefani performed her new single, “Make Me Like You” …

she did it live in commercial space that Target purchased on the Grammys…

…and it was the actual production footage they used to create her new music video.

It’s hard to explain, so take a few minutes and watch the recording below:

I watched this live. When they announced this “live video shoot” as the Grammys were going into the commercial break, I did NOT do my typical ‘during the commercials’ activities.

I DID NOT pick my phone back up. I did NOT take my laptop out of sleep mode and start working.

I watched. Something I (and most people) aren’t doing with live TV commercials anymore.

What makes this a genius move by Target? Here are 6 observations, which you can use in your marketing too.

1. They doubled down where attention already existed.

The programming that people watch most in REAL time is LIVE programming (i.e. Sports, the news and of course, the Grammys). Target knows this, and they decided to take full advantage with a novel approach to marketing.

The attention was already there, so that’s obstacle #1 out of the way.

Target decided to make a splash and capture as much attention as they could with this ‘live music video’ commercial format. Win.

2. Native Content Trumps All

‘Native’ content has the same characteristics as the context it’s in. Example: an article in the Dallas Morning News is ‘Native’ to the newspaper format.

Not only did Target put themselves in a position to siphon attention, they did it using a native format to the Grammys – music. Not just any music, but a LIVE musical performance by a superstar artist.

The result? People who dig live musical performances (Target knew this because they’re hitting viewers tuned into the Grammys already) get more of the content they want, in the format they want, at the time they are tuned in. Win.

3. Earned Media is Gasoline on the Marketing Fire

You know what’s better than an awesome commercial? Thousands of online articles about that awesome commercial.

For every person who saw the Apple commercial (you know the one) live in the 1984 Super Bowl, another 1000 people have been exposed to the spot via some kind of news story, blog or online article. This is a textbook example the power and value of earned media.

Same thing for GoDaddy when they started their risqué Super Bowl ads a decade ago. All the critical articles that were written about their misogynistic ads? There’s another term for it:

Free $#&* advertising.

Plenty of people talked about (and wrote about) Gwen Stefani’s live music video in the days and weeks leading up to the performance and of course after the fact. Target, the sponsor, is inexplicably tied to those articles. Win.

4. Budget for Greatness

Gwen Stefani, live production, full cast, a dozen set changes, 3-minutes of prime-time national ad space in an insanely popular program…

This all costs money. A helluva lot of it. Money Target could have used to do a lot of other marketing activities.

Hell, at the very least, they could have purchased a truck-load more :30-second spots in other programs. But they didn’t.

Rather than put out another decently forgettable Target commercial, they 50x’d their budget and their effort and created something truly exceptional with longevity built in.

5. Create assets and leverage them

This wasn’t just a commercial – Target sponsored a music video – a permanent asset.

They teased it on their social media for days leading up to the Grammys, and they’ll leverage it in 100 different ways from pre-roll to social media videos to in-store promotion.

The result is mileage. This wasn’t a one-and-done fireworks show. The asset Target created has longevity, and they’ll squeeze every ounce of opportunity out of it.

(We’ll all be sick of the song and the video once the campaign is over, but we’ll be on to the next thing by then anyway)

6. Build Affinity

I like Target. I don’t love Target. But I think Target is cooler now that they used their marketing dollars in this way.

Target earned cool points with me, and I’m not the only one.

They didn’t try to sell me something. They didn’t put out the usual ad drivel. They spent money and time to bring me something of value that I appreciate and enjoy.

(Want to trick yourself into thinking that ‘cool points’ don’t matter? You’re delusional. They matter to you, your colleagues and every one of your customers and patients. Stop lying to yourself and own up to the fact that everyone spends their money with businesses they like – even you.)

You can do it too

You can use all of these tactics in your marketing on some level.

Maybe you can’t produce a live music video with a Grammy-winning artist, but you can put out valuable content in places where people are already paying attention.

And you can make it fun and valuable, earning ‘cool points’ with your audience and getting one step closer to the sale in the process.

Whether you’re marketing your small business, medical practice, fortune 500 company or even if you’re marketing yourself, go make it happen.

Nice work, Target. You hit a bullseye with this one.

3 Tools to Supercharge Your Refractive Practice Website

Your website is the hub of your practice online. It’s also foundational to your patient generation success in the digital era.

Maybe you have a beautiful site that looks great on mobile – awesome.

Even so, you’re “leaking patients” if you have limited ways to interact with – and bring value to – visitors on your website.

Below are three pretty darn awesome ways you can connect with your patients online, bring value to their lives, and thus turn more visitors into patients.

  1. Show Patients Around with a Notification Bar

It’s easy to assume that once someone’s visited your site, they’ve seen it all. But you know that’s not true from your own web browsing activities.

Rather than make visitors guess, or hope they find their way around, why not assist them?

One simple way to do this is via a Notification Bar:

**EXAMPLE**

A notification bar on your site is a great way to make it clear what your website visitors should do once they arrive. It’s conspicuous without being intrusive, and it can be customized to showcase different promotions and drive patients to various pages on your site.

You can also set the bar to be displayed on every page of your site, so you can be sure that no matter how someone ‘enters’ your site, he or she will see what you wish to showcase.

Running a promo?

Get news coverage?

Just announced a new procedure or piece of technology?

Highlight it on your site with a notification bar.

Resource: HelloBar.com or WP Notification Bar

2. Chat Your Way to More Patients

Online chat is a viable form of communication for everyone from millennials to baby boomers and beyond. Most grandparents know how to text, and anyone who has spent time in the workforce has used web chat to communicate with colleagues.

So the inclusion of a web chat on your website not only seems like a natural addition to your site visitor, it will engage a higher percentage of your visitors who may just have a few questions but aren’t quite ready to schedule.

The software we recommend for your online chat is called olark.com. It has a user-friendly interface for your office staff, automatically changes to an ‘away’ message when your team is not logged in, and can even be customized with unique prompts based on which page of your site the visitor is occupying.

Vital elements to note when chatting:

  • Make sure you have a protocol for your staff to answer ‘frequently asked questions’ that arise in chat. This will expedite the chat interaction and ensure potential patients receive consistent information.
  • “When in doubt, leave it out.” If a question is asked that the staff member cannot answer, it’s ok to say “Great question. I’m not sure. I would like to look into that further so I can provide you an accurate answer!” This is much better than ‘winging it’ and possibly disseminating improper information.
  • Remember the goal of the chat – to schedule an appointment. So each answer should lead back to that goal.
    • “What time are you open on Fridays?” – We’re open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays. We actually have an opening this Friday at 2 p.m., and I also see one on Monday at 1 p.m. Which works better for you?
    • “How much is Invisalign?” – The price varies from $X to $Y depending on your specific needs and treatment plan. Dr. Jones will meet with you for a free consultation to ensure you’re a good candidate, and we can give you an exact price following this appointment. Dr. Jones actually has an opening tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. or Thursday at 1 p.m. Which time works better for your schedule?

Attract More Patients with a Lead Magnet

One of the keys to increasing your bookings is to have a “give value first” mentality. Most practices constantly “ask” for the appointment without “giving” enough value so people are comfortable scheduling.

A “Lead Magnet” is an ideal way to immediately give value to visitors to your website. It is an irresistible bribe offering a specific level of value to a prospect in exchange for their contact information.

Remember, when looking at your website, the goal is to convert MORE visitors into actual leads. We talked about one way to do this is via more interaction points. A lead magnet provides yet another point of interaction on your site.

Put yourself in the patient’s shoes. You’re conducting local research to find a dentist in your area. You visit six websites. Five of them have the normal fare – pages about procedures, contact box, map to the practice and so forth.

The sixth site has something more. A free, valuable piece of content to help you make a smart decision when it comes to your dental care. For example:

  • “Free Download: The 6 Questions to Ask Before Your Child’s First Dental Visit”
  • “Free Report – Does Your Child Really Need Braces? 5 Important Questions to Ask Your Dentist”
  • “Invisalign vs. Traditional Braces – Which One is Best for You”
  • “Checklist – 10 Ways to Brighten Your Smile at Home”

These are all examples of lead magnet reports. Having a lead magnet on your site benefits you in a number of ways:

  • It instantly sets you apart from your competitors who are not using a lead magnet and therefore not providing the level of value you are.
  • A lead magnet showcases your authority on a topic as you are the person educating the patient through the free download. This elevates you in the mind of your prospects.
  • Lead magnets are given in exchange for contact information, typically name and email address. This allows you to contact your lead after the fact to follow-up and work toward turning him/her into a patient. (This follow-up can be done automatically as well, which is highly effective and completely autopilot once set up!)

Here’s an example of a Lead Magnet from Burleson Orthodontics in Kansas City. This pops up on Dr. Burleson’s home page, prompting the visitor to download in exchange for name and email.

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Troy Cole

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