Your Healthcare Practice Logo (is it killing your marketing?)

I Know You Love Your Practice Logo But . . . 

Logos are funny things. Often one of the first things people do when they’re starting a new practice is decide they need a logo. They spend hours pouring over combinations of colours, fonts, and images, to come up with the right one that they feel reflects them and their practice.

Practitioners put so much into the process they become emotionally attached to their logo. They get so tied up with it, that it’s almost like the logo is the practice.

 

Your Practice Logo and Building Trust

Being a healthcare professional is a privileged position because people trust you almost without question. I know because I’ve been there.
Trust is a vital part of the patient practitioner relationship.

How Do Patients Trust You?

• They trust you with their health, one of the most precious and fragile commodities there is
• They trust you enough to be alone in a room with you
• They trust that you know exactly what you are doing and can actually do it
• They trust you enough to let you touch their body
• They trust that you will come into their home and treat it with respect
• They trust you enough to part with their hard earned money so you will help them
• They trust that you will be there when they’ve taken time off work and traveled to see you
• They just TRUST you.

 

How Does That Trust Come About ?

Well here’s the amazing thing, most of them trust you before they’ve ever met you.

Isn’t that just incredible? BEFORE they have ever met you!!!

Trust building is done pretty much subconsciously. Trust is connected massively to our gut instinct and there is no set method for developing your gut instinct, it just happens.
But it happens because of hundreds of tiny elements potential patients are piecing together subconsciously before they decide to call you for an appointment.

They are piecing together: 
• The words you use or don’t use on your website
• The images and videos of you
• The tone of your voice in your videos
• The things you share about yourself or don’t share online
• The words their friend uses to describe you
• The words you write in your local newspaper article
• The sound of your voice on your local radio station
• The words your patients use to praise your work

It’s a million different things that go into building (or not building) trust in the mind (or gut) of your potential patients. Then based on that, they will decide whether they like you and trust you enough to book an appointment.

 

So what the heck has all that got to do with your practice logo?

Well, there is one theme running through all of the trust building elements.
Re read the list of elements above and answer this question.

Q. What is it that crops up in every single one?

 

 

A : YOU

You are the key to building trust. To trust you, patients have to piece together a number of those tiny elements to help them get to know you first. Along with that feeling of how well they know you, will come the feeling of trust (or not).

So it’s your job and that of your marketing to give out as many different elements as you can that will help people get to know you and decide if they trust you.

 

Does Your Practice Logo Help Build Trust?

(SPOILER ALERT  - Not much)

I know that a great strong brand and logos like the ones above can really help communicate what you are about. Your logo is an image that gives coherence to the look of your practice and can convey your profession, values, and underpinning ethos.
So yes in a small way it can help potential patients paint this picture of you, but only in a very small way.

 

Your Healthcare Practice Logo - Don't overdo it !

So absolutely yes use your logo on your premises, your appointment cards, your website, your stationery, your uniforms, and your car.
But remember that your logo is not you. It will not really help potential patients get to know the real you and importantly decide whether they trust you or not. So don't use your logo when a picture of you or your team will do a much better marketing job for you.

Your marketing real estate is where you need to focus on building trust so you need to:

• Use people pictures as your profile picture on social media and online forums
• Use people pictures on your website About page
• Use people pictures on your flyers and business cards
• Use people pictures in your blog posts
• Use people pictures at the top of your website homepage

Your healthcare practice logo is not helping potential patients get to know you, so please stop using it inappropriately.

What to Do Instead

It's simple, start using Images of you or your team instead.

OK I felt it.
The sharp intake of breath and the repulsion and face pulling that went on in the minds of a large numbers of people.
So let’s clear this up once and for all, I hear these reasons for not getting in front of a camera, a lot.

 

“I’m not photogenic enough”

Well, sadly you just need to accept that to build trust you and your team have to get in front of the camera. 

 

“I hate looking at pictures of myself”

Your marketing material is not for you to look at - I'm not asking you to hang the photo over your fireplace!

 

“I’ve got a funny X (insert any part of your anatomy here)”

I'm sure many of us have hang ups about our X's (have you ever noticed my nose is really lopsided?) But 2 things here: a) you’re probably exaggerating your X and b) unless you run your clinic in the dark, your patients are going to see you and your X at some point!

 

“But using my picture will make it look like it’s just me”

Well if it is just you that’s the picture you should be painting. Don’t give potential patients a false impression that you are a big bustling practice if you are not. They will only be disappointed when they arrive to discover otherwise.

 

Replace your healthcare practice logo on your social media profiles, website, and printed literature with pictures packed with people and personality.

Get creative with

And get creative with your

Use formal and informal pictures that help people see the real you, and get to know you a bit better as a person, not just a practitioner.

Funny pictures, beautiful pictures, pictures of you working & pictures of you playing.

People don’t want to speak to you through the filter of cooperativeness. I know, it’s not a real word, but I’m hoping you get my meaning.
They are going to trust you with their health, they want to know if they can trust you as a person, and it’s your job to aid that process. So please ditch the inappropriate use of your practice logo and get more personal.

TRUST ME! 😉

If you have any questions about your healthcare practice logo, you know the drill by now, leave them in the comments section & I’ll get back to you – promise!

Until next time – Be good