All Ads Are Not Created Equal You don’t need celebrity endorsements to create effective elective surgery ads. “I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing. The first is ransom notes…” – Philip Dusenberry, 1936-2007 Philip Dusenberry was a well-known advertising executive who often used celebrities in ads (most notably Michael Jackson’s Pepsi commercial). He was instrumental in creating more of an “entertainment” focus on his ads, which were highly successful and profitable. It is not realistic for most elective surgery practices to have celebrity endorsements and huge marketing budgets. The truth is that celebrity endorsements are not the end-all, be-all in the world of advertising. Your elective surgery ads can be just as effective if you know the right words to say to potential patients. The right words will find the right people, regardless of the marketing medium you use to get your word out. And when the right people see your right words, you will increase leads to your practice. Advertising has changed. In the past, you ran ads that the majority of the people in your target market would see. There were limited media outlets. People didn’t have the resources at their fingertips to research things like elective surgery on their own. Messaging was all about branding and looking cool. Today people have an abundance of resources…as well as too many options competing for their “eyes” – their attention. They need to be spoken to on a more “human” level with ads that move their hearts and minds toward your specialty. Today you have to work hard to hook people with your messages and make potential patients in your area only have eyes for your ads. It’s probably safe to assume that you have fierce competition in the elective surgery market in your geographical area. In order to stay competitive, you have to advertise your practice in one of the dozens of mediums available today. But it’s not enough to simply throw an ad together and hope for the best. Today people are bombarded with visual and audio marketing messages and images. They cannot pay attention to each and every one. So if your ad isn’t crafted in a way that breaks through the clutter and makes them take notice, your marketing will fall flat. You will be wasting your efforts and your money. It is necessary to set your practice apart from your direct competitors as well as distinguish your practice – your service specialty – from every other company, product, event, etc. competing for the attention of your potential patients. Not sure where to start? Contact Brandi Musgrave (303-731-2634) or schedule a meeting online.