PR is a tool that can showcase your reputation, helping you stand out from the competition and cement your status as an industry leader. This, in turn, translates into sales growth and more patients coming through the door – but how exactly does it work? And what is different about a PR approach?
How We Shop: The Consumer Purchasing Cycle
Before we bring PR into the equation, we must review the process everybody makes when considering a new purchase. Its not just about patients thinking of aesthetic treatments – viewed simplistically, these are people planning to BUY something – so how do you tap into that? The Consumer Purchasing Cycle describes this process and it begins with need recognition: where the customer identifies that they NEED something – be it a product, an experience, wanting to think, feel or act differently.
Next, they conduct an information search and compare alternatives – this is where they find who can give them what they NEED and decide based on a variety of factors (price, distance, service, reputation, peer recommendations). Finally, they make the purchase. The potential for repeat custom is there based on the outcome and overall experience, and if both are positive, it is likely the customer will return.
The Power of PR
PR supports your business by actively inputting at every stage of the above cycle. For example, a customer may decide they NEED some aesthetic treatments having seen a news item, or hearing from a friends experience. These are high-impact, persuasive channels because they are from trusted third parties (media, friends) rather than direct company advertising. At the search stage, this is where a good PR strategy (strong web messages, SEO, media articles, social media, blogs) helps get you to the top of the potential patients Google search, ahead of your competitors.
Your current patients are powerful PR advocates, as their testimonials and active friend recommendations can help considering patients get over their final hurdles and into your appointment book. Once the purchase is complete, positive PR helps patients not only return to your clinic again, but can influence others to seek treatment – creating a self-sustaining cycle of profitability.
Inputting PR at every stage of the patients quest for treatment takes many different formats. It is not just about media exposure, but securing high quality content, an engaging website, strong media articles and ensuring you outshine the competition in the search and comparison stages. For more information on what PR can do for you, or how to utilise it, please feel free to get in touch Julia and the team here at Kendrick PR.