More than an address: Marketing to the very best of your clinic’s location

Location. Location. Location.

We all know that where your practice (or home, for that matter) is located has a considerable impact on your bottom line and those “priceless” qualities, like comfort, well-being, and sense of security. However, we may not realize the extent of this conventional wisdom. Even seemingly nonconsequential details associated with a business location can outsize its sustainability and profitability. For instance, it is estimated that those organizations with favourable physical orientation—such as convenient and easy-to-access drive-through lanes—can command between 10% and 20% higher rents than “typical” lots.¹ In fact, a lack of accessibility has the opposite effect and is an often overlooked aspect when discussing stigmatized properties.

We tend to stigmatize homes and businesses where something “bad” happened or that are linked to urban legends and rumours,² like gossip about violence that may or may not have occurred at the site. The reputation for having a poorly-situated, hard-to-find, or otherwise logistically-unappealing office can spread across a community—as that site is such a hassle or nightmare to get to! You likely know the business we are referring to in an attractive neighbourhood or district, right off a main road. Yet it is inexplicably a revolving door of different types of businesses that never seem to “stick” at the location. The answer may be as seemingly simple as how the entrance or access point is situated compared to the road.

Of course, we are not making burgers and fries here. We are selling a personal, highly sophisticated, and essential health care service that requires everything but cycling patients through like they are just numbers in a lane. Yet, we tell you all of this for several reasons:

To underscore the genuine opportunity that resides with marketing those features that add to your practice’s appeal to new members of your community, or to those neighbours who are looking to make a change in their dental “home”.
To reinforce that digital marketing and communications strategies can help you overcome challenges in your clinic’s location (such as its visibility or access). You can roll out the “welcome mat” online to those who might otherwise never pass by or notice your practice.

Assess, assess, assess

From our perspective as health care marketing and communications professionals, the “end goal” with this exercise of assessing your “access” (and more) is to identify those distinctive qualities that make your location stand out favourably, notably from your competition in the neighbourhood, area, or community.

As relevant to your situation, take a step back and consider “why” you selected or acquired this particular location in the first place. What made it so attractive from a logistical perspective? Also, listen to patients’, employees’, and other stakeholders’ feedback about your location. If they are constantly praising how helpful it is to have ample parking, then this is likely something you should highlight in content—on your Facebook page or in local SEO articles and blog posts on your website.³ An entire section of your website could be dedicated to these amenities.

We know that you and your team are great at what you do; these features and amenities only elevate your clinics’ attractiveness and also demonstrate how much your patients’ comfort, convenience, and satisfaction with the whole experience—not just what happens in the treatment chair—matters to you. It sends a positive and meaningful message.

In all, consider the following location-oriented perks and highlight accordingly:

Sufficient parking
Affordable parking (or validation)
Ease of entering and exiting your office—both as a pedestrian and driver
Proximity to major streets
Proximity to public transportation, such as bus stops and train stations
Access to things like bike racks and storage for patients who commute by bike (this also encourages physical fitness/wellness among your cycling employees!)
Lack of transportation-related barriers; for instance, it can be a real coup to find a location that strikes just the right balance of access to a main thoroughfare that is not too busy, or does not require stress-inducing U-turns and jumping through other hoops to get to your practice.
Proximity to other health care partners and services; of course, it is nice to develop and build upon partnerships with like-minded professionals in your neighbourhood, but it is also a practical perk to have your oral surgeon or orthodontist referral nearby—patients can easily bounce back and forth between you and the specialist.
Availability of other appealing and essential services – All too often, practices do not properly promote what is around them. Day-to-day life is all about cramming as much as possible into a single trip. So, it is an incredibly nice feature to market how patients can drop by the ATM, pick up their dry cleaning, grab a coffee or sandwich, do some window shopping, visit a park or museum, and more all in the same day as their dental visit if they wanted to—and some “retail therapy” or “entertainment therapy” may definitely be in store for patients who may need to wind down before or after their visit.
Walkability, how safely and easily patients can walk to and from your office and other services and businesses.
“Curb appeal”—This characteristic speaks volumes on its own, but showcasing a charming exterior online conveys a great deal about the care you put into your practice, down to the seemingly small and insignificant details. You certainly highlight photos of advanced technologies or spa-like features inside, so why not do the same when you have an eye-catching practice that always attracts positive attention from passersby?

Linked to these location-specific considerations, it is important to regularly revisit and understand the potentially evolving nature of your patient base and your potentially moving goalposts (is expansion in the cards?). Always be reaching the “target”, aspirational patients who may not physically pass by or notice your practice. This is where ensuring any content that highlights these amenities also markets to and mentions specific suburbs, parts of town, communities, and other location targets where those patients live, work, and play.

After all, what good is communicating all of these logistical details/benefits in the digital space when those neighbours or targets cannot “find you” online? And highlighting the types of amenities mentioned above aligns very well with referencing your target neighbourhoods and areas of your community or neighbouring communities.

References

About the author

Naren Arulrajah, President and CEO of Ekwa Marketing, has been a leader in medical marketing for over a decade. Ekwa provides comprehensive marketing solutions for busy dentists, with a team of more than 180 full time professionals, providing web design, hosting, content creation, social media, reputation management, SEO, and more.

More than an address: Marketing to the very best of your clinic’s location

Location. Location. Location.

Assess, assess, assess

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Sell With Confidence – Professional Practice Sales