It’s a fun exercise to listen to orthodontists discuss marking, branding and logos. The opinions, likes and dislikes fly fast and furious and the discussion can go on and on and on… But to what point? Is there any advantage to asking a fellow orthodontist what he or she thinks about our marketing?

Not really – because you’re not trying to get orthodontists to come to you for braces!

What about office staff?

Nope. They know too much about orthodontics to give an opinion from the point of view of potential patients.

Friends and family?

Again, no because they are too familiar with what you do and how you do it and the nerd talk we all use to describe what we do.

“But it’s my business and my logo/branding/marketing should reflect who I am and what I stand for”, I can almost hear you say. True, it is your business and true your market position should reflect the essence of who you are but you’re missing the bigger issue. Marketing doesn’t do that. EFFECTIVE marketing is about explaining to potential customers what’s in it for them to come to your place of business and buy from you. That is a totally different thing than talking about yourself as is done in traditional orthodontic marketing. Marketing must be aimed at, liked by and intelligible to your target demographic (potential customers).

So, doctor, your opinion of what sounds good to you is not relevant and is, more often than not, counterproductive.