34 AE Winter 2012

make them want to know more. Forexample, look at these two headlines:• Learn All About Social Media and

What it Can Do for You• Want 48% More LASIK Patients?

Here’s How to Get Them.Learning is something you can

put in a drawer and do later. Sohere’s what happens in the mind ofa reader when you have that kind ofheadline: It might be good to learnabout social media, but the headline isnot enough to make me want to stopand read on.

The second headline draws uponwhat LASIK doctors really want—anincrease in patients. It’s relevant andit is something they are interested inright now. The headline makes them

Doubling your advertisingresponses can be as easy asrewriting your ads andusing the MarketingEquation to formulate

every ad. The Marketing Equation for-mula is simple: Interrupt + Engage +Educate + Offer + Hot SeatEvaluation. Here’s how.

Interrupt We are so inundated with advertisingon the internet, TV, radio, smart-phones, movies, etc., that we don’teven register 90% of what we see. Ifyou want someone to read what youhave to say, a great headline is essen-tial. Great headlines will interruptreaders from what they are doing and

A Formula for Doubling the Number of Responses You Get

Running the Practice Marketing

Michelle Hamilton

stop and say, “Yes, I want morepatients. What do I need to do?”

Engage + EducateHave you ever picked up a magazinewith an enticing cover story, flippedto the article, only to be bored withthe first paragraph? Did you put themagazine down and walk away?

Once you grab the attention ofyour readers, you need to engagethem in what you have to say. Thisstep often goes hand-in-hand withthe next part of the marketing equa-tion, Educate. In keeping with theheadline “Want 48% More LASIKPatients?” here’s an example ofEngage:

3 simple steps to increasing yourLASIK patient flow by 48%Three simple steps and you are

going to give me all three here? Yes,I will keep reading.

Educate is often a tricky part ofthis equation. You don’t want toeducate your readers on just any-thing. Is it relevant? Is it timely? Canit position you as the obvious choicefor your readers? If not, then your adneeds more work.

The Educate step is where youwill set yourself apart from the com-petition. This is where many peoplefail at writing effective ads. If LASIKPractice A has two of the top lasersin the industry and is completelyblade-free, but LASIK Practice B hasan older laser and still uses a micro-keratome, then Practice A should noteducate readers on a free consulta-

AE Winter 2012 35

tion or why someone should go totheir website. The focus should beon why having the top technology isessential for the best results and edu-cating the reader on blade vs. blade-free. Once the reader is educated,Practice A will be the obvious choice.

OfferEvery advertisement should have anoffer. This doesn’t have to be a dis-count offer. The purpose of an ad isto grab readers’ attention and havethem take some sort of action. Thesimpler you make the offer, the morelikely someone is to take action.Cluttering an ad with five differentoffers will lose the interest of thereader. Keep it clean and simple:

Call to receive your free LASIK information kit.While your ad should contain

your address, phone number, andwebsite address, the only action youare currently asking readers to take isto make a quick phone call. Theydon’t have to go anywhere and fearthe possibility of getting sold onLASIK before they are ready.

If you only market to the NowBuyer—those people who are readyto purchase LASIK right now—thenyou should have an offer for them tocall for a consultation. Keep in mind

that if you do this, you run the riskof losing a much bigger quantity ofpeople who might be interested butare not quite ready to come intoyour office. The most effective wayto reach both groups would be torun two ads, one that offers the FreeInfo Kit and the other offering theFree Consultation. This techniqueworks well for radio and television.

The “Hot Seat” evaluationThe final step is to put your ad inthe Hot Seat. This means reviewingyour ad and not being afraid of real-ly editing it until you come out withan excellent final product.

Hot Seat guidelines:1. I would hope so!2.Who else can say that?3.Compared to what?4.Whoop-dee-doo5.Who, what, when, where, how,and why specifically?If you read your ad and your

response is “Well, I would hope so!”you are saying something that does-n’t need to be said. A toothpaste adthat talks about keeping your teethclean would fail this test.

Knowing your competition iskey to ensuring you are advertisingeffectively. If you can take yourname and replace it with your com-

petitor’s, then you aren’t giving acompelling reason for anyone tochoose you over the competitor. Inthe earlier example of the blade-freevs. microkeratome, Practice A knowsthat Practice B cannot make thesame claims, thus giving people areason to choose Practice A over itscompetitor.

Always give a reference pointwhen making claims. “According toa recent insurance industry study,LASIK can save you money over thecontinual use of glasses and con-tacts.” Compared to what?Compared to what you’re doingnow, wearing glasses and contacts.Now that’s saying something.

The next two evaluations gotogether. If your ad doesn’t excitethe reader or make a really goodpoint, then readers will disregard thead and be on their way. However, ifyou can excite them and give them areally good reason with specific facts,then they’ll take you up on youroffer.

The Marketing Equation is abreakthrough in advertising for busi-nesses that want to generate leadsand not just build a brand. Use itwisely and watch your volume ofinquiries soar. AE

Per Dollar of Advertising

Doubling your advertising responses can be as easy as rewriting your ads and using the Marketing Equation to formulate every ad.

Michelle Hamilton (303-447-9192, michelle@fast-track-marketing.com) is a clientproject manager for Fast TrackMarketing, Boulder, Colo.