Results of Informal Survey From UCLA List Serve May 2013

These are the results of the survey I conducted in May 2013. My intentions were purely information gathering and nothing more. The survey was 7 questions, and it is statistically valid since there were over 30 responses received, which is the minimum number a statistician would tell you that you need to have a valid sample size. The results, from a marketing perspective, are very interesting. I placed some comments below each question.

Excellent, over 80% of the respondents are willing to invest in a marketing campaign to raise awareness of OFP.

Ugh. 70% chose the minimum option to invest. However, the good news is that if the sample size was larger, some real money could be raised if someone decides to actually put a campaign together. For the record, I did receive several private messages in response to the survey. One of the messages questioned why I would want to start a PAC. My only interest is in marketing. Not politics.

Ugh, again. This one really surprised me but it did not surprise me. It takes money to get new patients but as you an see almost 2/3rd's of the respondents would not pay for a lead. Personally, I would pay all day long for a quality lead. A lead is someone who is interested in your service so I don't quite understand why the vast majority would not want to pay for leads but I could make two assumptions. The first is that the "no" respondents do not need new patients, and the second is that the conservative nature of our profession carries over into the marketing world since some doctors do not think it is ethical to pay for leads.

 

Ugh, yet again. Of those that are willing to pay for a lead, 75% chose the minimum value. If someone was interested in starting up a business to send leads to OFP doctors, the responses above would make them think hard about the business model. Personally, a new patient lead is worth at least $300 but that is just my opinion. 

Wow, the responses above tell me that, as a group, doctors who responded do not spend nearly enough on marketing. Please do not be offended by that statement. I'm only going by what I learned in business school, which may or may not relate to your practice. Standard marketing principles state that a small business should spend about 5% of its revenue on marketing to maintain its revenue. If you want to grow your business, that number can reach 10% to 20%. Some businesses spend up to 50% on marketing since their cost of producing their goods or service is minimal such as cosmetics, beverages, software, etc. Marketing spending includes activities such as trade events, advertising, public relations, brand strategy, brand management, brand licensing, brand consulting, collateral materials, direct marketing, social media and marketing research. It does not include selling or rent. For your information, three of the five respondents who spend over $30,000 a year on marketing are OFP only practices.

As you can see above, half of the respondents practice OFP only.

Every respondent was from the United States except one. The two in the "Other" column comprised of a doctor who has a practice in the US and Israel, and the other was from a student who does not currently have a practice.