North Texas Dentistry Volume 8 Issue 1 NTD 2018 ISSUE 1 DE | Page 26
practice marketing
HOW TO STAND OUT
in an era of commoditization
by Marc Fowler
There is no shortage of dental practices in
North Texas. So, why would a patient choose
you? What makes you unique?
Many practices try to be all things to all peo-
ple. This is a mistake. They cast a wide net with
a broad marketing message hoping to appeal
to enough people to meet their new patient
goals.
You’ve seen the ads and postcards – “Spa-like
atmosphere. Senior discounts. Cosmetic den-
tistry. Orthodontics. Dental implants. Smile
makeovers. Kids’ play area.” Add a stock image
of the smiling models used on a dozen other
postcards and dental websites and you have
a recipe for marketing failure. This broad,
generic messaging simply gets lost in all
the noise.
This is called commoditization .
26 NORTH TEXAS DENTISTRY | www.northtexasdentistry.com
Commoditization is the process in which goods or services
become relatively indistinguishable from competing offer-
ings. The services are so similar to one another that the only
distinguishing feature is price. When consumers can’t differ-
entiate one dental practice from another, the result is a
commoditization of dental services.
So, how do you stop the
commoditization of your services?
First, select a focused, target audience or niche.
This can be done by narrowing in on a service that isn’t actively
being marketed in your area. Or, it could be by marketing a clear
distinction in your approach (ie., convenience – open late, open
Saturday, family blocks of appointments, easy online schedul-
ing, same day crowns, same day denture repair, etc.).
Find a deep market. When selecting a niche, you want to
identify a market that is an inch wide and a mile deep. Picture
the cracks we get in our high-clay soil around here in the sum-
mer. Not very wide, but extremely deep. A favorable niche is an
inch wide because it’s a narrowly targeted market segment. It’s
a mile deep because there are a lot of people looking for a solu-
tion to that problem.