Google Trends has been showing some very interesting data lately.
During 2020, “Costco Hearing Aids” has remained as the number one search for hearing aid related searches, yet hot on the heels is “Lively.”
Not too far behind sit options like Audicus and Zip Hearing.
The one thing they all have in common is that they spend a lot of dollars on advertising and their value proposition is all built around price/being the cheapest.
This is a BIG problem (for the unprepared).
With the average patient now having more access to information and more options available to them, they are doing more due diligence and research before making a decision than ever before.
They’re receiving mixed marketing messages, they’re being told that the hearing aid is the solution to their hearing loss, and they’re seeing messages that are telling them that hearing aids can cost as low as $1,199.00.
The question is, does your website and online presence clearly explain why a patient should spend significantly more to work with you?
If it doesn’t, then you run a huge risk of becoming obsolete with patients naturally choosing the likes of Costco, Lively, or Audicus to address their hearing challenges.
So, what do you do?
Well, there is a smart piece of content that you can create to powerfully explain why patients should choose you that I’ll share in a moment.
But first, I want to share a quick strategy for how you can run highly cost-effective marketing to ethically (and legally) win new patients with other people’s marketing budget.
Allow me to explain …
In the UK, we have a saying that “the second mouse gets the cheese.”
To apply this analogy to the hearing care industry, there are millions of dollars being spent on marketing by your “competitors” to convince people that they may need help with their hearing.
It’s taking people that are non-hearing aid wearers and making them question their hearing and whether they need some form of help.
Your opportunity right now is to benefit from their marketing spend by having them do all the work to convince somebody that they need help, then directing their leads’ attention towards you at the final hurdle.
And that’s where this smart piece of content comes in.
Last week, we introduced our “Inner Circle” members to their three monthly marketing campaigns.
One of the campaigns is the development of a ‘Comparison Article’
This is a simple yet powerful piece of content that runs a side-by-side comparison between you and one of your competitors, allowing prospective patients to clearly see the differences.
It shows where your competitor is better and where you’re better, allowing them to be able to make an informed decision on who they would like to work with.
Here’s a small example of what this looks like:
As you can see, it shows the clear differences and shines a spotlight on all the things that they get with you, compared to your competitor.
In this example, Costco wins on “the cheapest” and a “membership fee” with all the additional benefits stacked in your favor.
If you were comparing yourself to Lively – then you could use this comparison chart to explain how you can also help patients remotely, but you also offer in-person care, same-day repairs, etc.
It allows you to clearly demonstrate why a patient should choose you.
This content can sit on your website and be used in multiple ways.
- It can be used in tested not sold situations to explain to patients the benefits they receive with you rather than just trying to find “cheap hearing aids.”
- It can direct patients to them that are price shopping.
- But most importantly, with the right SEO work, it will rank on Google locally when people are searching for “Costco” or “Lively” hearing aids, allowing you to tap into their traffic and direct the attention towards you.
Being able to answer “why you” in a market that is becoming dominated by “cheap solutions” that are spending big marketing dollars is becoming increasingly important, both now and forever.
Whatever happens next, whether OTC or more “online options” – using this content strategy will allow you to continue to educate and help patients to make smart decisions and continue to position yourself as the number one local provider.
