Is advertising really worth it?

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

George Cooper — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:35:42 GMT

Having studied this stuff for years I am left with the inescapable conclusion that, around 30 - 50 times every day, you have an opportunity to build your business. By that I mean the person at the front desk, or on the phone. They have already made their buying decision and are 'hooked', and if you can get them tro be your emissaries and evangelise about your practice, then you're done!!

The other factor in why clients choose you is your locality your proximity to them. The trick is to get clients top drive past 2 practices to get to you.

In rural Herefordshire our clients travelled an average of 5.5 miles to visit. A practice in S London had measured his by postcode and Microsoft Autoroute and his catchment was 900 yards!!

Clients need to know you exist, so any advert has to be available every time they look for it. A basic yellow pages 2 line entry is enough. Name and phone number is enough - not great lists of the kit you love to boast about. Open days merely succeed with the already bonded client, so you end up feeding and amusing those you know well.

With a brand new surgery, however, i think you ned to be a bit more aggressive.

and as ever editorial with stories of your successes or oddities counts hugely.

George

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

David Hopper — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:05:19 GMT

Hi Chris, you do not make it clear where you are locating your practice and whether you have worked in the area. We started a new business 3 years ago in a small market town. Our advertising budget was virtually nil. We had an opening night on late night christmas shopping with mulled wine, mince pies and loads of fun. The rest was word of mouth which in my opinion is worth mega bucks in advertising. You can waste heaps of money on spreads in newspapers and magazines etc. but hardly anybody reads them. Money down the drain mate like the yellow pages. Good luck !!

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Diederik Gelderman — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:44:50 GMT

Hi Chris

a really interesting question and one for which there is no answer.

The facts world wide now is that Yellow Pages no longer works - 8-10% of new clients will come from here - so an expensive investment

Referral programs work REALLY well - very cheap investment

Websites and social media are working better and better all the time - again cheap investment.

a good web page and high in the search engine rankings works really well - again inexpensive.

letter box drops and newspaper advertising rarely work.

So my advice is plan a marketing program which includes some of the above, marketing to your existing clients and really go for word of mouth.

TEST TEST TEST and measure everything that you do.

so you can't really give your bank manager any real numbers as you'd like to !!

Hope this helps

Diederik Gelderman

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Hanna Bennett — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 21:28:52 GMT

in my opinion apart from word of mouth your website is one of the best marketing tools you can have. if you're rebranding then an open day is great as folk love to be nosy.

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Hannah Wynne Richards — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:35:49 GMT

Royal College used to be very disapproving of veterinary surgeons recomending other businesses,simply because the "you scratch my back " scenario was unprofessional. As far as advertising is concerned, when I bought the practice I spent a lot of money on adverts, but was not convinced that it was cost -effective. Now I'm established I get enough new clients by word of mouth

Wynne

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Arlo Guthrie — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:54:06 GMT

Hi Ed,

Yes, I think viral marketing can be a very effective way of getting a message out there. In fact, you could say that our current VetSurgeon promotion (invite a fellow vet / vet student, and win a cash prize from a pool of £2500) is viral in nature. Hope you'll take part in that!

As to how it might apply to a veterinary practice, that's an interesting thought.

For example, a button on a practice website marked: 'Help us flourish, recommend us to a friend', which sends an intro email to friends of the 'inviter' might work.

Not sure. I mean, if I had just had great service from my vet, I think I'd use it.

On the other hand, we include a 'tell a colleague' link in our monthly VetSurgeon newsletter, and to be honest, not many people use it!

They are different scenarios, and the great thing about the Internet is that it is so easy to try this sort of thing. If it works, it works.

The other more traditional method of viral marketing is to send something (branded) which elicits a strong emotional reaction (laughter, interest, fear etc.) to a group of people, in the hope they'll pass it on. Dunno if it is just me, but I seem to get less of them these days. Personally, if I'm sent a long written joke, it's likely to get deleted before I read it. More likely to watch a short video.

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 10:40:23 GMT

Hi Chris,

This post seems to have created quite a debate!

I personally feel that the traditional methods of advertising through gencies and webiste is very good yet sometimes can prove quite expensive and if carried out incorrectly can be a bit of a waste of money. One method that has not been mentioned is Viral marketing. For example, why not write a blog about your product/service and promote that, get other to write about it and generate interest that way. All of the major companies use viral marketing as a method to promote themselves.

Things as simple as 'recommend a friend' or questionnaires.

This will all help to generate interest and bring new business through to you.

What do you think Arlo?

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

The Doc

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Thu, 14 May 2009 01:26:23 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]Don't understand why you think it is unprofessional or dishonest to agree to recommend a service, provided it's one you'd recommend anyway.[/quote]

Roughly speaking, because you are doing it for reward. "You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours"

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:41:47 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]Well, if you knew and respected a breeder, you'd be pointing people their way anyway[/quote]

Sure, but probably you or they could be doing it more, or more effectively.

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"]you would I hope be adding "I'm sure there are others as good, but I don't personally know them"[/quote]

Well, I might. But I equally might not. I mean, when I recommend my doc (which I do), I don't add the caveat that I am sure there are others. That's a given, isn't it?

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"] But once you start agreeing to do it, that's unprofessional in my opinion and could be seen as dishonest.[/quote]

Don't understand why you think it is unprofessional or dishonest to agree to recommend a service, provided it's one you'd recommend anyway.

Think perhaps my use of the word partnership suggested something more insidious than I actually meant!

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:18:40 GMT

Well, if you knew and respected a breeder, you'd be pointing people their way anyway.... assuming that your client wanted that breed....... and you would I hope be adding "I'm sure there are others as good, but I don't personally know them". And the same the other way. I'm sure breeders do recommend veterinary surgeons (and disparage others).

But once you start agreeing to do it, that's unprofessional in my opinion and could be seen as dishonest.

Would you say to the client "I recommend Mrs. Boggins' Golden Retrievers" or would you say "I recommend Mrs. Boggins' Golden Retrievers, I have a partnership agreement with her"?

Spose you had this agreement, and later you found Mrs. Boggins was recommending the other practice down the road, 'cos they were giving her ten per cent off caesarians or something. You might be a bit miffed? Would you stop recommending her Golden Retrievers?

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:41:07 GMT

[quote user="Evelyn Barbour-Hill"] Absolutely no.[/quote]

Don't mince your words, Evelyn, will you

I didn't actually mean partnerships as a cynical ploy. I meant partnerships based on genuine mutual respect for the quality of each other's service. Nothing remotely unprofessional or dishonest about that.

Put another way, I am saying that if there is (for example) a breeder you know and respect, and they equally know and respect you, why not explore ways that you can each be telling your clients how good the other is.

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Ian Mostyn — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:19:05 GMT

Repetition is definitely the key. Get your name out there time and time again. It needs to be at the front of peoples minds, then they can look up youyr number in the yellow pages or on-line. Once you get people through the door, hopefully your customer service will keep them there.

I would like to second the bit about not smelling. I am possibly more paranoid than Gillian about smells, we want the surgery to be clean, bright and just smell of nothing. No antiseptic smells, no anal glands, no wet fur. Oust is excellent and we have a neutradol pot in every room. Doesn't cost much but it makes that first impression better.

Ian

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Wed, 13 May 2009 12:49:14 GMT

[quote user="Arlo Guthrie"]My question would be: when do owners 'buy' their vet? Is that not mainly at the time they buy the pet. And on that line of thinking, might it be a better, more targeted use of your money to look at strategic partnerships with breeders / pet shops. In other words, they recommend your services at the point of sale, and you recommend them to anyone that asks about buying another pet at your practice.[/quote]

Absolutely no.

Unprofessional and of dubious honesty.

And it wouldn't take the public long to see through your ploy.

Moreover, it might come back to haunt you if you later fall out with that breeder.

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Gillian Mostyn — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:38:15 GMT

At the end of the day, most people, on getting a new pet, go to their nearest practice. They will only choose not to do so if there is a very good reason. So to maximise your client base, make sure everyone in your client base knows you exist and you reinforce that constantly (never underestimate the benefit of being on a main road, with a big sign!) We are on a main road, but if we weren't, I'd consider a sign on a bus-stop on the nearest main road or something similar - just to remind people you exist. The repetition of seeing a company name a lot means that they will think of you when they think of a vet. We found that a one-off ad just doesn't work.

To most people, vet is a vet is a vet - so don't worry too much about selling the image - as people will judge that for themselves when they phone and then when they arrive - make sure there is always a friendly face talking to and greeting them, and DON'T SMELL! I was amazed the number of clients who came to our (new) practice and commented how clean it looked and smelled! (Oust is brill!!!)

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Arlo Guthrie — Wed, 13 May 2009 09:14:38 GMT

You're not in Northamptonshire are you? Drontal sponsored their poo bins this year: http://www.northampton.gov.uk/site/scripts/news_article.php?newsID=3

I too think this might be a good idea (depending on cost), on the basis that the sort of person that collects dog poo is a responsible pet owner, likely to visit their vet as often as they should. Having said that, by the time they get to the park, probably most of them already have a vet? Perhaps that means you are only reaching those that are unhappy with their current vet, and I wonder whether they make very good clients.

My question would be: when do owners 'buy' their vet? Is that not mainly at the time they buy the pet. And on that line of thinking, might it be a better, more targeted use of your money to look at strategic partnerships with breeders / pet shops. In other words, they recommend your services at the point of sale, and you recommend them to anyone that asks about buying another pet at your practice.

I'm a great believer in making sure that both parties in this kind of arrangement are genuine believers in, and advocates for the quality of service offered by the other. So I'd want all staff from the practice to visit the partner and understand what they do, and all staff from the shop, or the breeder to visit the practice.

That's my bit of marketing thinking for the morning

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Christopher Tansley — Wed, 13 May 2009 08:47:24 GMT

Thanks everyone - some very useful information here.

I will be rebranding the practice if I get it so that will involve a lot of marketing!

The word of mouth component is especially important I agree - and I have always told the reception staff that they will make more difference to if a person returns than I can!

My local council had a novel idea for sponsorship recently - sponsor a dog poo bin for a year - great idea I thought!

Thanks again

Chris

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Garry Bright — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:53:45 GMT

Heh Chris

I ve done loads of advertisng that did not work. I find it is the easy options that work the least - ie the newspaper ad .

The best is to try and locate what your clients read - for me it was a free newspaper the all my clients read. That was key.

The other was just simply a classiefied advert in Pets section of the local newspaper. Everyone who is pet orientated always looks there to see whats for sale.

The next best thing are talks - getting out of your comfort zone.

Hope it it helps

Garry

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Ian Thompson — Mon, 11 May 2009 10:50:24 GMT

Hi chris

Marketing your practice is a difficult thing to get right. Ive heard a story of a practice spending over £30k and not increasing the client base. Word of mouth accounts for over 40% of new clients and getting the customer care right can mean a difference of £50k to £100k in revenue.

As part of your marketing I would look at your team of people you intend to hire or keep on in an existing or new practice. These are your key elements -

1. Receptionist(s) - Get the right receptionist with the right personality and it will create the impact when the client comes in the door, when they pay the bill and when they leave. On average a client will spend more time speaking to a receptionist or listening to others speaking to them, than they will spend with any other member of your staff.

2. Nurses - Again personality counts here and I have seen practices that have struggled to retain clients because the nursing team were down beat, unhappy or sullen. The right team of nurses can prove popular and can be utlised to enhance a customers experience and access to knowledge.

Gone are the days of buying in the cheapest labor and expecting miracles, you will need to look at renumeration and factor it in properly. Then there is proper employment contracts, handbooks, and job descriptions. These might seem like they have nothing to do with marketing but an employee that feels secure and knows where they stand in regards to their employment will be more productive when it comes to clients than those that dont.

As part of your marketing I would also look at a website. You dont have to pay a fortune for one if your prepared to put in a little basic work. BT supply a "What you see is what you get" template system that costs about £30+VAT per month. Its not difficult to setup or maintain and can be a good source of information and revenue.

If you buy a practice go to the local press and look at a free article on the new ownership of the business as this can prove to be invaluable in not only attractiing new business but also ex clients who may feel the change in management is worth looking at.

Yellow pages is ok if not a little expensive and for an established practice it may not be that worthwhile but for a practice that is relaunching with a potential change of name then I would say yes buy a fairly basic advertising package in the first year. In conjunction with this however I would say make sure you have a logo. It doesnt have to be complicated and you shouldnt need to pay anyone else to create it. However a logo ties all your different parts of the business together, from the website to the building and even the letter heads and invoices.

Its monday morning so my brain is not fuctioning yet but hopefully ive covered a few things that might help.

Cheers

P.s. Sorry for the length of the post.

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Arlo Guthrie — Mon, 11 May 2009 10:49:22 GMT

That's a really helpful answer, thanks Ian.

As I wrote my last post, I was thinking that probably few vets measure their marketing initiatives properly (many professional marketing experts don't either, for that matter), so a survey asking such specific questions as precise response levels and the return on investment would be difficult for most members to answer.

For that reason, if we do a survey, probably best to start with a more anecdotal one (i.e which marketing tactics do members think have been most effective for them), and then go from there.

Similarly, would be great if anyone else could contribute to this thread in a similar way that Ian did, even if it seems slightly repetitive (ie agreeing with Ian).

I'm a big fan of vehicle advertising. Cheap. Targeted (geographically). Effective (speaking as one who just stopped the driver of a saloon car which had an advert on it for fly fishing tuition!) If I ran a veterinary practice, I'd ask all my staff to at least display a bumper sticker.

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Ian Mostyn — Sat, 09 May 2009 21:40:08 GMT

We have tried a number of advertising strategies over the years. I am not sure I can answer the questions as listed by Arlo but here are my thoughts:-

Newspaper advert - We have tried this a couple of times, both as a standard advert and as part of a special feature. We even ran a kids colouring competition to advertise an open day. I feel that this was expensive, didn't reach the right people and from responses to the colouring competition, I don't feel it was cost effective.
Newspaper article - we have submitted several short articles about cases, events etc that we have done at the practice and they have put a couple of inches in the paper. Free, easy to do and does seem to get noticed more than an advert. Clients seem to hold more by an editorial piece

Sponsorship - we have done a number of sponsorships @ church magazines, school fairs, kids football team, hospital diaries etc. £20 - £30 for a year, good value, people tend to read the ads because they want to support the cause. We are also happy that we are supporting local groups - makes me a little warm and fuzzy
Vehicles - we have a small sign on the back of each of our cars with practice name and phone number. £30 each and great value. Driving around all day, people see it a lot and it keeps our name in their minds. Fantastic - best advert we ever did.
Yellow Pages - I am not convinced but we have a couple of adverts. Personally they seem expensive but it is difficult to quantify
Good sign on the building - we have a big red sign on each surgery. Big, bold, bright and very effective. £400-500 but lasts for years. Some vets seem to hide themselves
Word of Mouth - fantastic value and the best form of advertising. We do this simply by looking after people and caring about what we do. Deceptively simple but amazing how many businesses in so many fields don't do it well.

I hope my two-penneth worth is helpful and what you were looking for but I can't overestimate the value of good word of mouth. Dog walkers don't half talk a lot!!

Ian

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Christopher Tansley — Sat, 09 May 2009 17:53:58 GMT

Thanks Arlo, I thought it would be an impossible question!

Would be great to find what other members have found useful.

Chris

Re: Is advertising really worth it?

Arlo Guthrie — Sat, 09 May 2009 09:13:24 GMT

Hi Chris,

My experience mainly lies in PR, direct mail, events and electronic communication. Although I once worked for one of the top ad men ('If only all things were as reliable in life as a Golf), it's not something I've really been formally trained in.

That in mind, it is notoriously difficult to predict return on investment (ROI) because there are so many different factors involved, including but not limited to:

Underlying demand for your product / service
Design of the ad / direct mail / electronic communication
Strength of the 'call to action' in your ad / direct mail / electronic communication
Your choice of medium (ie local newspaper, radio, internet), and how well targeted it is.

The best way to try and forecast ROI is to try and find out what other broadly similar campaigns have achieved in the past.

I don't think anyone has gathered this kind of data before, and that it could be immensely useful for all practices to have.

Firstly, could any other members who've spent money marketing veterinary services add to this thread with the following information:

When you did it
Where you are (ie city/town/rural and which part of the country)
What medium you used (e.g. ad in local paper, on local radio, PR, event, website etc)
If you have it, show us the artwork for your advert (you can upload an image using the filmstrip icon), or tell us what it said
How you measured the response, and what the response was
If possible, the value, in £££ of the response.

If there are a few replies to this thread, and it looks like it's worth asking the question more widely, I'll construct a survey for the profession, and email to all members.

That's really the only way we could get to a half-way accurate idea of ROI. But it could also give you some really useful data concerning which media outlets are most effective (local paper / radio etc), what 'call to action' works etc. etc.