After snoozing the alarm only once I woke up to a commercial for a doctor’s office on the radio.
Where have I been? When did this happen? Do mental health professionals advertise like this, too?
Long ago, when I had hair, I sold radio advertising. It was an enjoyable seven year career for me, and I learned a lot. One of the tenants was about doctors: Don’t bother. They’re above advertising (we ignored the yellow pages, which was then what the Internet is now).
I predict the ad for the family practice I heard on the radio will be tremendously successful. One reason is that it’s hard to find a doctor accepting patients on Long Island. Another is that it was clear, and devoid of false airs that tend to accompany image advertising. The image approach apparently works for Prada, but family practices and mental health professionals need a different approach if they want advertising to be effective.
Websites are great, however they aren’t intrusive. In addition to the fact that I’d never heard a doctor’s office advertised on the radio, the intrusiveness of the medium got to me. It came into my home when I was fresh and couldn’t help but pay attention.
I left advertising during the “blitz ’em with a deal!” era…Buy NOW, because if you don’t the sale will be over and you’ll miss these once in a lifetime savings of FIFTY PERCENT! I don’t see healthcare professionals doing that. The ad I heard this morning didn’t.
In addition to the ad I heard locked into a news block this morning, there are other ways professionals advertise, and I question their effectiveness.
Charity events are far too popular in mental health and substance abuse treatment. While working for a software company on Long Island, I bought tickets to a customer’s golfing event simply because it was a chance to play a course I’d normally not be allowed to set foot upon. It was great fun, and a successful fund raiser for the substance abuse treatment agency that threw the party. The advertising included telephone, direct mail, and a lot of talk. I had three people connect with me prior to the outing prior to the event. It wouldn’t leave me alone, and I was sold on the idea enough to sell my bosses into buying expensive tickets for some programmers and myself. I wound up being quite popular among those programmers for a while.
The reason the event was successful was the work that went into marketing that relied heavily on personal contact. As I said, I was sold.
I just received an expensive, glossy, professional newsletter from Stony Brook University Medical Center. I get a number of these from local hospitals. It didn’t work for me, and none of them have. The lead story was for the new Stony Brook Children’s Hospital. My kids are in their 30’s, and don’t live anywhere near here, and there are no grandkids yet anyway. How many other folks did SBUMC waste the $3.00 flyer on? This is definitely a long term sell that won’t work with me any time soon. I have a very effective hospital and primary care system I work with, and the hassles of securing care for physical and mental health are over for me until something changes. Then again, perhaps I’ll cultivate a nice resentment against a psychiatrist.
I’d like to hear testimonials for my neighborhood counseling center on the radio. If the staff of these organizations get out into the community and meet me, casting an attractive message my way, they might sell me into making a change.
I liked the radio ad.
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