{"id":1074,"date":"2022-02-08T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-02-08T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.digitalpractice.co\/?p=1074"},"modified":"2022-02-09T04:28:21","modified_gmt":"2022-02-08T20:28:21","slug":"advertising-for-doctors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digitalpractice.co\/articles\/advertising-for-doctors\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing vs advertising for doctors"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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advertising for doctors<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Marketing vs advertising for doctors<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Do you find yourself using both concepts interchangeably when you discuss lead generation tactics for your practice? The confusion is not just about the words. This is a fundamental distinction to make and we have helped doctors save hundreds of thousands of dollars once we had clarified the differences.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Marketing vs advertising for doctors<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"Kris<\/figure>

Kris Borgraeve<\/h3>

February 8, 2022<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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What is the difference between marketing and advertising?<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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medical advertising<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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This journey starts with an important distinction. In order to gain a deeper insight into the most effective choices for your practice, we need to unravel a myth first. Marketing and advertising are not the same.\u00a0<\/p>

I like to work with the American Marketing Association<\/a>\u2019s definitions: Marketing is the process of identifying customer needs and determining how best to meet those needs. In contrast, advertising is the exercise of promoting a company and its products or services through paid channels.<\/p>

Let\u2019s work through what that actually means for your private practice and how you can comply with regulations and choose a sustainable, long-term strategy that gives you the best return on investment.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Advertising campaigns for doctors<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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ads for doctors<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Here in Australia, full-blown ad campaigns for doctors in traditional media are rare because of the strict AHPRA-regulations for health practitioners. Dentists tend to find it convenient to use radio and TV advertising as well as print to simply pay for space and promote their qualities.\u00a0<\/p>

Advertising is often defined by its format: it sits in space that is paid for, and the reason someone is willing to pay for that space is that the container of the space hooks the audience: the newspaper page with the story of the day, the TV channel that has Neighbours on in a few moments, the radio that just promised you three great hits in a row after this break.<\/p>

You pay for the space and the volume this outlet promises you will reach by inserting your message into theirs.<\/p>

There is no market research into the exact needs of those readers, viewers or listeners for shoulder surgery, IVF treatment, endometriosis surgery or breast enhancement. Nor is there any direct way to measure the connection between the money you have spent and the patients you would otherwise have gained through other channels.<\/p>

In brief: there is no connection with the needs of the market. Advertising works because you spend big dollars on big numbers of people, some of whom might coincidentally be open to what you have to say.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Why marketing is so much bigger than advertising<\/h3>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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what is marketing for doctors<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Let\u2019s unpack this other concept called \u201cmarketing\u201d with a particular interest in what that means for you, a surgeon or a specialist doctor in private practice.<\/p>

If advertising is a slice of the pie, then marketing is the whole pie.<\/p>

Marketing can be described as everything we do to understand the market, bring your product to the market and get the market\u2019s feedback so you can improve your system and serve your market even better next time. Advertising can be part of that, but it doesn\u2019t have to be.<\/p>

The essence in the above definition can be unpacked even further:<\/p>