Is it Time to Update Your Branding?

There’s a lot of buzz about branding in the marketing world, and how important it is to any successful business. But what does it mean to an established dental practice whose well-planned logo and image was integrated long ago?

If you don’t even think about your brand identity anymore, then you may want to ask: Is it time for an update?

Branding is about perception. While a sharp, professional logo is great, patients are driven by their experience – whether visiting a website or the dentist’s chair. There are numerous reasons why that perception may change, indicating a need for an update, including:

• Attracting the wrong types of patients for the practice.
• Adding new services or changing focus of practice.
• Moving locations or maybe the current area is evolving.
• Wanting to stand out in a saturated market.
• New or exiting associates or joining a DSO.
• Changing the name of the business.
• Current branding looks dated.
• New and improved website merits fresher overall branding.
• Reputation management calls for a change.

Given these many motivating factors, you may decide to change one or more aspects of your brand – not just the logo or color scheme. RAMP takes a look at six elements of rebranding to consider.

6 Considerations When Updating Your Dental Practice Branding

1. Logo and Aesthetic

Creating a “timeless” brand is always the goal, but the truth is, many fonts and styles go out of favor over the years. If it’s time or a new logo design, aim for one that will stand the test of time. It should be simple, memorable, easy to read or identify, and reflect your practice’s image.

Choose colors that exude comfort and confidence, and that blend well with your office’s overall feel.

2. New Name?

Changing the name of the practice is a perfect time to rebrand. Many dentists who expand services, move locations, or add associates will want a more representational name. For example, changing “Dr. Smith, DDS” to “Smalltown Cosmetic Dentistry” or “Smith & Jones Dental Arts.” Take the opportunity of a name change to update your brand and herald in a new era.

3. Evolving UVP

Your unique value proposition (UVP) is what sets you apart from the other guys. As with a changing name, the evolution of your practice could involve new services or a more specific target patient. Refreshing your brand identity is also important if your best selling points are drowned out in a saturated market.

4. The Message is Clear

The UVP is also conveyed in all of your messaging, as well as any visual upgrades. Whether through a mission statement of values, website content, tagline, or office communications, the written language you use will define your brand and ultimately, the patient experience. A few examples of tone might be knowledgeable, fun, friendly, understanding, or any combination.

5. Digital Presence

Just like technology in your practice, the digital marketing world is constantly and rapidly changing. If your marketing strategy includes a healthy variety of tools and platforms (as it should), make sure you’re well-represented with a cutting-edge image that’s consistent with what you offer as a practice. A dentist who provides state-of-the-art CAD/CAM restorations but has a decades-old website will confuse – and lose – prospective patients.

Polish your digital identity wherever patients find you – website, social media, Google ads, and email marketing, to name a few.

6. Print Collateral & More

After updating the practice’s brand with a shiny new logo or website, look around the office. Incorporate the new branding where visiting patients will find it: business cards, brochures, promotional posters, etc. The same goes for newly branded direct-mail postcards.

It may be an investment, but the results are clean, consistent, and professional, which will reinforce the identity upgrade.

There’s a good reason why makeovers are so popular. When a business decides to update their brand identity, everyone takes notice – from the dentist to the team members to the prospective patients. If you’re looking for a complete image refresh or just a new direction for your marketing plan, reach out to RAMP for a free consultation. Change can be good!