Groupon is a fantastic website for deals on certain experiences or products. Food Storage Container Set: $9.99? YES! Portable Key-Chain Phone Charger: $7.99? Absolutely! Breast Augmentation: $2,999? Wait, what? How can this be a safe and smart choice for potential patients?
It’s not. How can a patient choose a plastic surgeon and procedure based on a “deal” instead of coming in for a consultation to learn about their doctor and their options for the best results? Deep down, you know it’s not a wise choice, and wonder if you may need a revision surgery in the future. Keep that in mind as you read this post.
Any reputable, board certified plastic surgeon will tell you that taking chances on a major surgery is a bad idea. Especially when it comes to something as important as the appearance of your body. Money saved today simply doesn’t outweigh the costs of even one touch-up, nevermind the risks, healing and frustrations associated with having to go through a revision.
Purchasing a website for your professional practice is a similar type of partnership. You are entrusting your online presence and all your first impressions to a marketing firm. Do you think it sounds like a good idea to use a template site with cookie cutter setup applied to everyone regardless of your needs?
We don’t either. We want you to be represented as a unique professional practice. All your designs, content, and strategies should be targeted to the audience you want to reach while representing your voice. Any reputable digital marketing firm will tell you the same thing.
Partnering With Firm Media – Professional Practice Digital Marketing
Firm Media is emerging as an authority in digital marketing for plastic surgeons. We travel around the world to educate doctors about our targeted strategies. Often when speaking with surgeons, the question of cost and overall value of a custom website comes up. One of the most common things we’ve heard this year is…
“Why would I spend all that money on a website? I talked to another company today that said they’d build me one of these responsive websites for half that cost. What makes your websites any different?” – Plastic Surgeons of America
There is No Such Thing as a FREE or “At Cost” Breast Augmentation
When potential patients believe they are getting a great deal for Breast Augmentation on Groupon, you would surely advise them that with facility and anesthesia fees, cost of the implants, plus your time as a surgeon, nothing is free.
For an excellent surgical result, the level of skill, overall quality of care, and the ability to provide customized results are all factors potential patients should take into consideration. Every Breast Augmentation procedure should be uniquely tailored for a patient’s specific needs.
If a doctor offers a surgical procedure for about the cost of the implants alone, you would advise a potential patient that corners are surely being cut. This is not a risk worth taking as noted by Manhattan Beach Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Jay Granzow:
“In my opinion, a quality result in breast augmentation, or any other surgery, requires experience, skill, and consistent attention to detail which cannot be achieved when you cut corners to cut costs.”
There is No Such Thing as a FREE or “At Cost” WEBSITE Either!
When we hear from potential clients that another company is offering them a free website, we gently advise against the pitfalls of the free site with marketing purchase deals. We don’t want to see another plastic surgeon fall prey to an unprofessional digital marketing and design partnership.
Technology is widely accessible, and many firms will present you with what appear to be similar options for marketing your practice. Just like our breast augmentation example, the time to design your website is not free either. The cost to purchase and maintain technology and retain a development and design team will be reflected in the price of your website design and marketing.
Firms that are willing to offer you cheap or free websites will often be forced to cut corners with creative direction (usually using a template that has been used for others) and diminish any customization of your website. Your practice should be represented online in a unique way with a site tailored to your specific needs and brand. If a company is offering you a cheap template driven website in return for choosing them as your digital marketing partner, it is generally a shiny distraction.
So How Do I Choose? What Questions Can I Ask a Digital Marketing Firm?
As a Plastic Surgeon seeking a new digital marketing partner, it’s important that you make a thoughtful decision. Cheaper and lesser options will always exist. However, there is absolutely nothing worse than settling for unfavorable results. To avoid costly redesign, and SEO clean-up, you should ask your digital marketing partner the following questions to see if the company has your best interests in mind:
- What are your qualifications?
- Do you understand my industry and patient demographic?
- What does your latest design work look like?
- Are your designs the best in the industry, or are there better options available?
It’s understandable that you would look for the best “deal” available when shopping for a new website, but if cost weren’t a factor would you really still choose “the other guy” to build it? Consider the difference between fair and appropriate pricing versus the bargain price.
If you don’t think you have time and money to design and market your website right, ask yourself if you can afford to do it twice.
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