Dental Marketing Ideas
Niche Marketing: Zeroing in on New Patients
By Roger Eshaghian, DDS

To stay healthy, every professional practice needs a steady flow of new patients. One of the best ways to address this need is by identifying an under-served segment in your community and providing them with the services they want.

This process of locating a desirable group of potential patients and targeting their specific needs is called "niche marketing." With niche marketing, you can play the market any way you want, targeting upscale, middle-of-the-road or budget-conscious clients. The secret to success involves zeroing in on one (and only one!) of these segments with laser-beam precision so that you serve the specialized needs of that segment better than anyone else.

Another critical component of niche marketing is consistency, making sure your practice looks the part. Is the scope of your services in line with the clientele that you'd like to attract? Does the look, feel and "personality" of your practice match the segment you are trying to serve? Most important, does your customer service meet the expectations of your selected niche?

Although outside the dental field, Starbucks provides a shining example of niche marketing at its best. Ten years ago, who would have thought people would stand in line to pay $3 for a cup of coffee? Nevertheless, Starbucks identified a group of people willing to pay a premium for quality products and nice looking stores and put their strategy to the test. They succeeded because they made sure the product, the staff and the ambience created a winning "business personality" that their target market couldn't resist.

Standing Out from the Crowd

A group of dental practices under the umbrella brand name BriteSmile has achieved rapid growth by using a similar strategy. They figured out that there are plenty of patients/customers seeking top-of-the-line teeth whitening services and -- more important -- are willing to pay a premium for quick results, convenience and ambience.

You might argue with BrightSmile's positioning strategy, but from a strictly marketing perspective, you can't argue with their success. They have created a clear and compelling perception in the minds of their consumers/patients about what they have to offer. As a result, their cash registers are ringing off the wall.

To stand out from the crowd, you don't have to master every dental service under the sun. In fact, you only have to be better than everyone else in one aspect. That advantage might come through innovation, overall quality, pricing, customer service, a unique case presentation technique or any number of things. But whatever differentiator you choose, your market must know that you do it better than anyone else.

How do you identify a niche market to pursue? Start with your own charts. Look at them from a different perspective to create a profile of the kind of patients you'd like to receive more often. Are they young professionals with disposable income, families with basic dental coverage, or older folks with more sophisticated tastes and desires?

In the long run, attempting to serve multiple groups of clients at the same time dilutes your marketing efforts and limits the growth of your practice. Instead, take dead aim on one target market, adjust your performance to meet the specific needs of that niche and serve that niche better than anyone else.

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