5 Dental Marketing Lessons From The NFL

Dental marketing can be a tricky business, especially when there is competition from other practices in the area. But with some creative strategies and thought-out tactics, you can make your dental business stand out from the crowd. In this blog post, we'll discuss 5 tips to help you market your dental practice to increase visibility and get more people through your door. From adding exclusivity or limited supply to leveraging the fact that you may be considered an ‘underdog’ when compared with corporate practices, these tips will give you a great start on creating a successful dental marketing campaign. So let's dive right in!

The NFL: A Sophisticated Marketing Machine

Welcome to October! Right now we are in ‘football’ season, that’s American football for us Brits and not ‘soccer’. With the National Football League (NFL) projected to generate $14 billion in 2017 alone, they sure do know what they are doing.

Let’s take a look at some lessons dentists can learn from the NFL when marketing their dental practice.

My first experience of American football was watching the New York Jets play at home the day after my 18th birthday.

It was an absolute blast and some of the characters we met in the stand were absolutely hilarious. I couldn’t drink because I wasn’t 21 but while my friends were throwing parties back home, I was in New York with my folks around Christmas time. It was magical and I feel I got the better deal in the end.

Having spent a year studying in America as part of my degree, American football became a routine part of my ‘college’ life. The university had its own team, together with a pitch on campus and I am proud to say that I never missed a home game.

Granted, I didn’t really understand what was going on at the time, however, the atmosphere in the stadium was absolutely electric.

The season typically runs from September to January. Ohio is not the warmest place to be at this time, with temperatures averaging highs of 2°C and lows of -5°C in December.

Safe to say we spent most of the time shivering our unmentionables off but it was all part of the experience.

Pre-game college photo 2004

Fast forward 3 years and I found myself at Wembley Stadium, attending an exclusive tailgate party and watching an incredibly close game with the New York Giants beating the Miami Dolphins 13-10. By this time, I had a better idea of what I was actually watching – having a girl at college explain the rules and the concept certainly helped!

From then on, I’ve made it to nearly every annual match in the UK apart from the occasional seasonal flu, where I was absolutely dying. That’s absolute fact I’ll have you know. I’m convinced that man flu had successfully crossed the sexes barrier. 

From my experience of the American football culture, I’ve selected my top 5 tips that dentists can learn from the NFL when marketing their dental practice.

1. Know Your Target Market

The NFL is clear that it wants to market to younger fans. They understand that if they can entice fans when they are young, the likelihood is they become a ‘fan for life’.

This is a strategic decision on their part as they understand that a younger ‘consumer’ has a higher lifetime value to the business than to someone who is older.

So instead of targeting the mass market, the NFL has decided to segment, target and position their product offering with laser focus on their younger fans.

With all the revenue the NFL can make from ticket sales, streaming subscriptions and all that merchandising, it’s a smart move indeed.

Not only will the NFL be benefiting from this targeting, the advertisers will do too with the average advertising spend at the Superbowl averaging a cool $5 million for a 30-second advert. For a captive audience more than 100 million sets of eyeballs, what a steal.

With your dental practice, perhaps you could benefit from increased revenue to invest back into your business. If this is the case, you might want to try segmenting and targeting your audience (patients, new and current) so that you can bring in more implant and cosmetic patients. 

Be sure you have a real clear idea of the characteristics of this customer. How old are they? Are they male or female? What are their likes or dislikes? What social media tools do they use? Are you targeting new customers or can you target your marketing to your existing patient list?

Having a clear idea of your ideal patient, alongside their characteristics and behaviours can transform your dental marketing from a mass market, expensive venture, to one that is highly targeted, more likely to generate results and cost you less in the long run.

2. Dip Your Toe In

There was never any guarantee that a football game in an international location would be as successful as the home games.

With this in mind, the NFL could ‘go big, or go home’ but that would be an incredible waste of money if the demand for their product wasn’t there.

The first International Series NFL game was held 28 October 2007 and was a record success. I remember being in the stands, looking around the stadium and thinking it must have been a sell-out. Sure enough, 40,000 tickets were sold in the first 90 minutes alone and with 90,000 sold in total.

I also remember having excellent seats, a mere 15 rows back, with the cheerleaders right in front, but with the October British weather, we also got absolutely soaked from Wembley’s open roof.

Although we sat through 4+ hours of cold, miserable drizzle, that didn’t dampen our spirits as the guys in the stands were shouting “call me!” to the cheerleaders, with the occasional wolf whistle. They loved it, of course, the guys and the cheerleaders that is.

Having tested the waters, the NFL International Series has gone from a single annual game to 4 games this year and has no signs of slowing down. There have even been hints at a franchise or even hosting the Superbowl in the future, which I am personally very excited about!

If you are about to start marketing your dental practice or thinking of trying something new, don’t forget to dip your toe in and not go all in. 

Test the waters on a small scale, find out what works, then double down on what brings you results and increase your investment.

3. Make It Fun And Unforgettable

One of the highlights of the NFL games is the culture of the Tailgate Party. Having been to a few in the past, they really get you pumped up for the game, everyone gets to have fun and gets into the spirit before the game.

There are inflatable games and an official NFL merchandise store. Despite being the size of a small circus tent, if you want to brave queuing up for some official game day merchandise, as well as your favourite team’s apparel, or even just a beer, you might want to consider getting there 2 days early as the line is unbelievable.

I’ve seen my fair share of NFL marketing videos and trust me when I tell you, they’re on the same scale as the next blockbuster movie trailer.

They can include dramatic music, slow-motion replays, shots of the passionate fans, dramatic and emotional underdog stories.

They stir up the emotion in you and really get behind the team. It’s the equivalent of their own digital cheerleader. Go, team, go!

Not only this, the NFL understand that you need interesting content to keep your audience hooked and maybe they will even share content with their friends.

A series of NFL videos were produced to showcase the talents of some of its players. When I first watched them, I distinctly remember my jaw dropping to catch the occasional passing fly.

Genuine or not, you have to admit, they are interesting to watch! Take my hat off to them, they need to be seen to believed.

Now, the NFL used this tip to promote an event but there is no reason why you can’t incorporate it into your practice. Don’t be afraid to stand out.

Have you ever thought of releasing a cinematic trailer for your dental practice? I’ve personally never seen one!

Maybe just make your marketing fun and incorporate your team spirit and personality. Don’t be afraid to be different.

People connect with people and the more personable you can be, the likely you are to be remembered.

4. Add Exclusivity Or Limited Supply

At the first UK match, the tailgate party was held undercover with photo opportunities with the cheerleaders, interactive games and more free gifts than you can shake your pulled pork and macaroni cheese hotdog at.

If memory serves me correctly (I’m getting old now, poor love) this was strictly limited to 10,000 tickets and it was a lottery you had to enter to win.

I was lucky enough to get tickets, or should I say my Dad was and I was lucky enough to be his +1!

The tailgate parties now held are free to get in, they just limit the numbers in at any one time for safety reasons.

Not going to the match but still want to be involved? Have no fear, there are normally other parties you can attend in central London.

How can this be translated to your dental practice? Why not consider a limited time offer on some of your services but limit it to the first X number of patients.

Use scarcity alongside a time-sensitive nature that may encourage your patients to inquire about your services quicker for FOMO as the kids call it, or Fear Of Missing Out if you’re like me.

This doesn’t always work and it’s not always suitable but as with everything, it would be worth testing and see what happens.

5. Everyone Loves An Underdog

If you ever have the opportunity to go to the NFL International Series at Wembley (or newly added Twickenham) then please do so. I cannot recommend it enough.

Even if you’re not a football fan, or like any sport for that matter, go for the atmosphere. It’s not like its soccer counterpart where there are 2 teams and their passionate, sometimes very aggressive fans (in my experience).

At the NFL, certainly in the early days, it was hard to distinguish a team majority in the stands. All 32 teams were represented with an eclectic rainbow of shirts.

The recent Jacksonville Jaguars vs Baltimore Ravens game that I attended, there was a distinct sea of purple and white, indicating a majority of Ravens fans who had ventured out to support their team – and not just from the UK I might add. I distinctly remember hearing French and German accents in the crowd too.

If my team isn’t playing, I am always behind the underdog but I must admit, I was pretty much Switzerland at the Jaguars and Ravens game.

I just wanted to watch a good show and soak up the atmosphere. The game itself was one-sided with the Ravens being absolutely annihilated but there were some Americans on hand to lighten the mood, with one woman absolutely convinced that her team hadn’t got on the plane and we were, in fact, watching a team of Raven’s doppelgangers on the pitch.

Did the Jaguars win because they had a home advantage? Well, I’ll let you decide but if there’s one thing to learn here, it’s that us Brits love an underdog.

If you are a small local practice, competing against a large corporate in your area, use this to your advantage. Play on your strengths of being able to offer a more bespoke service.

Maybe you’ve been a family run business for many, many years. Channel your inner (perceived) ‘underdog’ and you may be onto a winner.

Recap

So just to recap we have covered;

Know your target market – knowing who you are marketing to and who your ideal dental patient is will result in more successful marketing campaigns and cost you less.

Dip your toe in – don’t say you are going to attack all social media channels, promoting all your dental services all at the same time. That’s a sure-fire way to pour your money down the toilet. Instead, concentrate on 1 or 2 dental treatments and 1 or 2 channels (platforms). Once you have optimised these as best you can, then branch out.

Make it fun and unforgettable – Make your dental marketing different from the other practices in your area. If you all look the same, none of you will stand out. Try new and fun marketing ideas that put your practice on the map and try to incorporate the fun and culture of your dental practice. People buy from people.

Add exclusivity or limited supply – use scarcity and limited time offer to activate people’s ‘fear of missing out’ to generate interest.

Everyone loves an underdog – leverage the fact you may be considered an ‘underdog’ (maybe only by your own opinion, justified or not) when compared with your local corporate dental practice. You are agile and adaptable to change.

So, I hope that this has been a valuable article for you and you learned something you can take away. Or maybe I’ve whet your appetite to attend your first NFL game.

If this is the case, you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be competing with you to buy the best seats when tickets go on sale.

See you at the game?

If you enjoyed this post, please let me know and I will write similar content for you in the future!

Tell me, which industry would you like to learn from next?