When it comes to gaining and maintaining a powerful brand identity for your dental implant practice, consistency is key. With consistency, you begin developing relationships with your ideal set of customers. Without it, you run the risk of diminishing patient loyalty.

When a prospective patient begins the search for dental implants, they want to see a consistent brand voice through the entire process. Whenever they see or feel a disconnect, they will begin to build doubt as to whether your implant practice is what they’re looking for.

Additionally, branding requires a holistic approach. It goes beyond the basics like logo design into your website, social media profiles, and even lobby. For instance, having a website tailored to select, high-ticket patients, and then a lobby with a more casual and cozy feel will cause patients to feel a disconnect right when they walk in the door.

So, take a consistent and holistic approach to your branding. Here are a few steps to follow to make sure your brand stays true to your practice’s identity at every step of the process.

Develop a Brand Style Guide

One of the best ways to ensure consistent branding throughout your practice is to develop clear expectations and write them down. To serve this purpose, many organizations implement a Brand Style Guide.

A well-rounded guide has the following components:

• A section detailing the logo design, colors, and fonts for all graphic design. This section should also influence the colors and design of your physical signage and office decor.
• A place that outlines the practice’s ideal patient. This goes into depth, listing things like their age, income, and primary reasons they seek treatment.
• A section on your implant practice’s copy. This part outlines the tone, voice, and reading level of all your writing across the web and print.
• Guidelines on the sort of imagery to use on your social media, website, and blog. For example, many businesses opt to use photos of smiling people as often as they can.

Hire Someone to Evaluate Your Brand

As you develop your guideline and begin making changes, it’s important to bring in an outside pair of eyes to see what you can’t. This is the reason writers hire proofreaders, and journalists hire independent fact-checkers. Additionally, many restaurants and retail stores have “secret shoppers” who go through the buying process as though they’re anonymous customers.

Having an outside consultant audit your brand will reveal things you didn’t catch on your own. It will also show you some of the primary things prospective patients see when they interact with your brand. All of this information is invaluable for your practice.

Get Patient Feedback

After making guidelines and getting outside consultation, you’re well on your way to consistent brand identity. The next step involves asking your patients what they think.

If you don’t have it already, develop a system that incentivizes every patient to leave honest feedback with you. Pay special attention to the feedback from patients within your ideal demographic. Asking the patient for feedback will help you see if you’re hitting the mark, both in your branding and practice in general.

Here are a few good questions to ask, all on a scale of 1 to 10:

“How satisfied are you with your experience with us?”

“How likely are you to recommend us to others?”

“How consistent was our look, feel, and tone throughout your time with us?”

When a patient feels satisfied and would easily recommend you to their friends, you have gained their loyalty, which is a clear sign of consistent branding.

Remain Vigilant About Consistency

Once you feel confident about your brand’s consistency, and get good feedback from outside eyes and real patients, don’t let up. You need to pay attention to the details of your brand identity because it will naturally drift over time. 

Make sure your designers and writers are familiar with your guidelines. Make sure your staff understands the tone and voice you’re going for. Whenever you find an inconsistency, gently but firmly correct it. Ensure there is a review system in place for new social media and blog posts.

Enjoy the Benefits of a Consistent Brand

When you do the hard work to develop consistency, it pays off. Your patients will feel a connection to your practice more easily. They will grow more loyal and start recommending you to the people in their lives. Stay on the lookout for inconsistencies, and enjoy the benefits.

If you ever want help gaining a more consistent brand identity, you can book a free strategy call with us.