Community seminars are a proven, cost-effective way to boost sales and build your practice’s brand within your local community. These events are an opportunity to demonstrate products and services you offer to a wide audience. A commonly overlooked benefit to hosting opportunity to network with other local businesses. These connections can generate referral sources but also potential solutions to business operation questions.
We have found that these events can generate the highest return on investments as you can target existing patients and new prospects at the same time. Through hosting a larger group event you can even find success in attracting new prospects that may still be starting their hearing care journey. Focusing on education also enables you to engage existing patients who may be interested in higher level or even new technology.
So how do we ensure these events generate the highest return on investment?
Step #1 Have Fun with the Event:
Recognize that our target audience is not staying at home anymore, they are active, working, socializing and traveling. So, we need to develop an event and message that appeals to their interests. For example, we have found success with event names like: Lunch and Listen, Dine and Discover, let’s talk Hearing, Coffee and Conversations, Movie Night. The goal is to create an atmosphere that is inviting, engaging and fun for the consumer. Work with local spaces to bring the event to the community – along with being more accessible it expands the reach of your office beyond its physical location.
Step #2 Marketing the Event:
Now that we have established the name and location the next step is marketing the event to your existing patients and local community. Some of the most cost-effective strategies we have found are calling existing patients due for an upgrade, flyers in high traffic areas, direct mail, posting your event on your website and social media pages, database mailings. Running a direct mail campaign targeting new prospects with an existing patient mailer allows you to reach the largest audience and generate the highest response. To maximize these strategies’ effectiveness, it is vital to use a variety of channels to market this event.
Step #3 Hosting:
During the event your goal is to educate people about hearing loss and hearing technology. Take your time to emotionally connect with your listeners and earn their trust highlighting your experience and knowledge in the hearing care field. Strive to ensure they have fun and enjoy the experience while also learning valuable information. Throughout the event ask open-ended questions to promote audience participation. If you are outside of the office, make sure to bring your appointment book as some attendees may be ready to schedule from the start. Make sure to close with an opportunity to schedule appointments with a potential offer to add an extra incentive.
Step #4 Post Event:
To experience the true value of a community seminar it is important to realize that even after the event date concludes the process is never truly over. Along with thanking attendees as they exit the event, we recommend following up with them through with consistent communication. Thanking them again for attending and offering to schedule an appointment through an email help increase the number of appointments in the long term. For those that scheduled appointments it is important to send appointment reminders to keep them engaged with the practice. The most important element is to repeat this cycle as it enables you to share the high quality of care you offer every single day.
If you are interested in learning more about how your practice can benefit from and coordinate a community seminar, please contact bradley.weil@unitron.com
Brad Weil graduated from North Central College with a degree in Marketing and Entrepreneurship Small Business Management. While in school Brad worked with a variety of local businesses to develop and implement custom marketing plans. Through his experience working at a wholesale printing firm, Brad has insight into the production and coordination of printed materials.
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