Advertising interrupts us.
Ads call attention to a product or service without context. Ads don’t care about the customer’s well being as they throw caution to the wind and shout “Hey! Look over HERE” as we drive along a highway.
When roadside diners were exploading, In-N-Out Burger was famous for this; they would place large signs on streets leading to an In-N-Out. Usually, these signs would say little more than “In-N-Out Burger 2.5 Miles Ahead” accompanied by a three-dimensional, over-sized replica of a Double-Double with steam coming out of it (Perman, In-N-Out Burger).
Apparently, some other companies liked the idea and created there own clever distractions.
We rarely have a good reason to interrupt someone – especially a stranger. So what makes us think that we can successfully persuade a reader with an ad in a magazine? Because BMW can? BMW creates great advertisements, but none of them work alone. It takes years (and years) worth of ads to convince us that spending thousands of dollars on what they’ve told us is the “ultimate driving machine” is worth it. This type of recognition is never invented overnight, and while running an ad for your dental practice seems easy, it’s a shameful waste of money if it’s delivered out of context.
Remember, marketing and advertising are not synonyms.
Here are 10 tools to help market your practice and a brief guide introducing dentists to marketing.
In-n-Out photo credit: adamwilson via photopin ccCup of Noodles photo credit: karanj via photopin cc
