The other day, actually about a year ago, I was on the phone with a Pediatric Dentist who was a little hesitant on enrolling into The Ground Marketing Course. He was more concerned that there wasn’t enough information on Ground Marketing for Pediatric Dentists. He felt like maybe some of the Ground Marketing strategies taught in the Ground Marketing course wouldn’t translate to his target market, compared to a general dentist who sees adults.
Welp…. This dentist was right and wrong.
Right about the fact that you do need to be more specific on ground marketing strategies when it comes to pediatric patients, right about the fact that you do need to target different businesses and locations, but wrong about the fact that Ground Marketing principles can translate wonderfully and the results are AMAZING!
So, I went to work on testing formulas, tactics, and strategies to see how to get into Children Centers such as: Build A Bear Workshops, Clothing Stores, Indoor Playgrounds, Tutor Centers, Schools, Day Cares, and more!
I also did more research on the buying psychology of families.
For example, In an article titled“Children’s Influence on Family Decision Making” it stated:
“For almost all product categories, children have an important role. Whether the product/ service is for child's own use... or the product is for family use … the child has a very strong influencing power (Belch et al., 1985).
The study/ article continued to say that “Children are to a greater degree initiators rather than influencers in their family's purchase decisions…”
Children are initiators!
This is awesome news for Pediatric Dentists AND Family Dentists (if you see mom, dad, and the kids).
So… keep reading… because Ground Marketing to Private Schools, Day Cares, and Children Centers will bring new patients AND new families into your practice consistently!
However, before I share some strategies with you, I want to share with you some...
Mistakes!
I have made many mistakes and I have seen many mistakes when it comes to Ground Marketing to Children Centers. Now, I am not saying you are doing these mistakes but it is good to mention them in case someone on your team may think or feel this way.
Mistake 1: We think all we NEED to do is talk to the kids.
Mistake 2: We want to dress up as a tooth and engage with the kids and we HOPE that with this alone, the kids will tell their parents and then the parents will call us to make an appointment.
Mistake 3: We try to contact schools to only do demonstrations/ lectures.
Mistake 4: We talk to the WRONG people at schools and therefore we are shutdown.
Mistake 5: We think Ground Marketing to Children Centers will ONLY bring in kids and not adults.
Mistake 6: We disregard Children Centers because we think it’s only for pedo-practices.
Mistake 7: We end up seeing little to no results in our first attempt and get discouraged.
Throughout this article we will learn how to bust these myths and correct it all so you can see results and new patients coming in!
I will share with you two simple, yet, amazing Ground Marketing strategies that you can do today and attract new patients by the end of the week (if not sooner)!
Let’s jump into it!
How To Get New Patients from Day Cares
Now, Day Cares are an amazing place to talk to children and the parents… here is where parents actually have to get OUT of their cars… sign in, inside… and go get their child.
Take advantage of this!
Sometimes we feel like "oh I am going to teach the kids how to brush and do a small presentation and give them freebies at the end. From this the parents will see their freebies and my business card. Then the parent will contact me…. I hope".
This may work here and there but this is not a for sure SET strategy. You need to be able to sign parents/ children up on the spot!
I want you to be different than every other dentist who is just doing a presentation for the kids and then leaving and HOPING they get a call.
Remember hope doesn’t pay the bills. Patients do. So let’s learn how to get new patients from Day Cares.
This will only take 6 steps.
Ready?
Let’s do this:
STEP ONE: Go onto the search engine of your choice (probably Google)
STEP TWO: Type in the search bar "day care near me" or "(city name) daycare".
STEP THREE: Now, a lot of day cares will pop up which is great, but let’s target the day cares with the most reviews and the best reviews, so take your time and look for THREE of the best day cares in your community. Once you’ve found them write down the name and telephone number below:
1. ______________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________
STEP FOUR: Block out 10 minutes of your day to call these day cares.
STEP FIVE: Call the first day care you wrote down. Ask to speak with the "Director".
STEP SIX: Once you have the director on the line repeat the script below. HOWEVER, I want you to add your own personality to it, if you sound like you are READING over the phone, you will have a much less chance of completing this strategy:
You: "Hello, My name is________________ and I am from the dental office down the street from (name of day care). I wanted to see if it was ok if we could give the children some free goodies/ toothbrushes/ take-home kits and talk to them about the importance of taking care of their teeth?" (wait for response…. Which is most likely YES)
Director: Yes!
You: Awesome!
You: Do you think we could set-up a small booth somewhere, maybe in the entrance, around the time the parents come to pick up the kids? That way the parents can pick up the goodies for their kids and extra stuff for the rest of their family as well? We could also ask any questions or concerns they may have about their children’s dental health.
Director: Yes!
You: Wonderful! (Set time and date)
If the Director says NO
You: Ok that’s fine I understand. What date and time would work best to visit the children? (schedule accordingly)
See if you can set-up a booth around the times the parents pick up their children. This is the most important thing because here is where you will get the parents to sign-up on the spot!
POINTERS TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE YOU ARE AT THE DAY CARE:
· Go in with the intention to teach the kids, ASK to see if you could take pictures for Social Media (they may say NO because children are involved…but it does NOT hurt to ask) and give the children their FREEBIES.
· IF they say NO to setting up when the parents are coming (which they shouldn’t but you never know). When you are there, ask to see if you can leave a "Sign-Up Sheet" with the incentive you want to give to the children and the parents of the day-care. You are leaving it behind so that the parents can sign-up. The Director WILL allow you to leave a "Sign-Up Sheet" behind so the parents can sign-up to visit your practice.
· Have a SEPARATE Sign-Up Sheet for the employees in the day-care with a BETTER and different incentive! This way you are also targeting the employees and they will become a new lead as well. Let the "Director" know you would love to give something to the WONDERFUL employees and their families. Leave the Sign-Up Sheet with the "Director" reminding her it is specifically for the employees and their families. The incentive should be so good that the "Director" will LITERALLY write her information down in front of you FIRST.
· DON’T FORGET: Ask the "Director" when would be a good day and time to come back and pick up the Sign-Up Sheets.
And this is it! This is how you can start getting into Day Cares…. today!
Time for our next strategy….
Now think, where else do parents go OFTEN with or without their children?
If you are a Pediatric Dentist… where can you find your target patients, your exact ideal patient and … how can you KNOW for sure the parent will be there?!
What location/ business could this be?
Children’s Clothing Stores!
I will be showing you EXACTLY how to build a relationship with the managers from these stores, get new patients from these stores, and participate in their events.
Now, I actually created a video for you where I am doing the Children’s Clothing Store Strategy in REAL TIME!
Watch me here:
Can you imagine doing this strategy to every single Children’s Clothing Store?!
I challenge you to do it! Do just ONE store and let me know how it went! Just reach out to me on Instagram (@thedentalmarketer) and let me know!
Clothing stores are a place REGULAR customers/parents visit, a place where the decision maker is at, a place you know you your target market is at (especially if you are a Pediatric Dentist), a place where there is HEAVY traffic, and a place where you can build a great relationship with the employees!
I’m excited to hear from you and the turnout you received from this strategy.
And… that’s it!
Remember...
I really don’t like it when people just read good marketing strategies and never truly execute on them.
So, go out and EXECUTE!
Do the Day Care Strategy!
Do the Children’s Clothing Store Strategy!
There is just way too much potential and opportunity that you are leaving on the table if you do NOT do any of these two strategies!
If you have done any of the Children Center’s strategies that we discussed this month, please share with me your results.
Let’s do a quick recap of what we learned here:
1. Understanding why you need to Ground Market to Children Centers. We learned that Children are the initiators and the parents are the decision makers.
2. We learned the "Day Care Strategy". I taught you how to get into Day Cares and attract new patients (even the parents) with 6 simple easy steps.
3. I showed you a video! The video was me calling Carters/ Osh Kosh B’Gosh Clothing Store. You saw how I was able to get my foot in the door, market to the children and the parents, and even ground market to the employees (we even got the ok to give things out to children while they did events).
Now… remember at the beginning of this article I told you how I started working on Ground Marketing tactics and strategies specifically for Pediatric Dentists a little over year ago?
Well…
We have FINALLY completed our brand-new course:
The Pediatric Dental Marketing Course
I am so excited to share this with all our Pediatric Practices!!
I know for a long time this has been coming and many of you have expressed interest in wanting a Dental Marketing Course that is specific to Pediatric Dentists/ Practices… so... here it is!
There is NO OTHER course in the world like this… I guarantee it! I know because if you search for "Pediatric Dental Marketing Course" anywhere online… you’ll only find one… and that’s this one!
In this course...
...you will learn how to get into:
-Local Public Schools,
-Kids Martial Arts Centers,
-Private Schools,
-Pediatric Physicians & Medical Offices,
-Learning Centers
-Build A Bear Workshops
-Children Clothing Stores
and build partnerships with children photographers, lactation consultants, and SO MUCH MORE!
You will learn how to call all the leads you obtain from these businesses/ locations, and how to create strong relationships with businesses that refer patients to you.
...and this is just the Ground Marketing side of the course.... Marketing Strategist, Minal Sampat takes over the whole other side of the course and teaches us how to attract new patients through digital marketing!
You and your whole team can take this course annnnnd (this is one of the best parts) we continue to add to the course!! So it’s always growing with tactics and strategies!!!
