Stories Over Noise, Pt. 1: Impressions

Stories Over Noise, Part 1: Impressions

What kind of impression do you want to make?

Whether you own a startup without a brick or a wall to its name yet, or a legacy practice trying for a fresh start with your marketing, one of the first questions you need to ask yourself is: What kind of impression do I want to make?

As we discussed in our last article about the marketing funnel, impressions occur when someone comes across your practice information through a sponsored ad, organic search, local search, social media, or another channel. It’s what it sounds like: the first impression you’re making on a potential patient online.

In this article, we’re telling the story of one client’s journey to discovering what that meant for him, and how Studio 8E8 got him started on that journey.

Dr. Dave Bruce of Fairhope, AL, knew that deciding on a quirky name like Lagniappe Dental was something of a risk. What if people didn’t understand it? What if they couldn’t even pronounce it?

But it was ultimately a risk he was willing to take. Patients who didn’t “get” Lagniappe wouldn’t get him, because Lagniappe is what he and his practice are all about.

Lagniappe (pronounced LAN-yap) is an old, old word that means “a little something extra.” Mark Twain called it, “A word worth traveling to New Orleans to get,” in his 1883 memoir Life on the Mississippi. In fact, it goes all the way back to the ancient Inca, whose word yapa meant “something added.” It traveled up from the south and across spans of time, first adapted to American Spanish (la ñapa), then to Louisiana French. Dig into lagniappe and you’ll discover a long history of humans adding a cherry on top.

But sure, it’s a lot for a dental office to explain on the front end. Dr. Bruce needed to figure out how to leave a lagniappe impression without a full explanation — something they didn’t teach him in dental school.

5 Seconds to Impress | Trade Secrets Episode 12: Stories Over Noise

In this first episode of Stories Over Noise, Dr. Bruce shares how he clarified the kind of impression he wanted to make and how he partnered with Studio 8E8 to bring that vision to life through branding, website design, SEO, social media management, and digital advertising. As the “new kid on the block,” Dr. Bruce knew he needed a solid marketing plan to show how his practice is different.

Like any dental startup, the challenges began from day one. Dr. Bruce was in a highly competitive market, hoping to stand out amongst practices as old and enduring as Fairhope’s signature magnolias. His first plan of action was to ensure Lagniappe Dental didn’t look or feel clinical. He came from the revolving door of corporate dentistry, with patients in and out without any meaningful touch points, and where comfort was not prioritized. So he made the lobby look like his living room, set up operatories for comfort and privacy, and hired people who understood his vision right away. Beyond that, he needed some professional help and turned to us.

Stories Over Noise: Something of a Studio 8E8 Philosophy

Our goal as a marketing agency is for our clients to see growth while staying true to their story. Knowing how to communicate that story in all the proper channels makes us the experts in dental marketing, just like knowing a bicuspid from a cuspid makes you a dentist (or something like that, right?).

Digital marketing is all about understanding how people discover your practice through many different channels, and how to make a good impression on all of them. It’s our job to manage how you look and sound online with:

• brand alignment
• accurate, up-to-date information across many platforms
• a consistent social presence
• a website that feels like your practice, online

Stories Over Noise defines our approach to making a good impression and eventually guiding the right patients to your door.

Noise is:

• Being present where your patients aren’t
• Talking about things your audience doesn’t care about
• All the other marketing messages in their face 24/7

Story is:

Your core values, your style, how you’ve curated your practice, what you believe patients deserve, what you’ve invested in your vision. What the community means to you. What people mean to you. Engaging your audience on a human level.

Back to the Story

I was lucky enough to get assigned to Lagniappe Dental when they came through as a new client, and it felt like we understood each other immediately. On my first call with Dr. Bruce and his wife, Chelsi, I veered from my usual script because I had one burning question: “Tell me more about the name… and am I pronouncing it right?” I was one of the first to hear what Dr. Bruce wanted Lagniappe Dental to be for his patients and in the community, and I thought this would be an easy one. He made such a good impression on me — he was genuine, with an openness and trust that we could deliver something that resonated.

As it turns out, we didn’t. Not right away.

As much as his vision resonated with me, we had to find our way to a mutual understanding of how to communicate what Lagniappe was all about. When we got into logo and website building, Dr. Bruce himself was surprised that he had a lot of opinions. It’s rare when someone loves the first logo concept they’re presented, so I wasn’t expecting that. But we got through a couple of rounds without getting anywhere. And, after landing on the perfect logo, we still had to start from scratch with the home page.

Getting through these challenges with Dr. Bruce was fun. I actually loved how determined he was to not put something out there that didn’t feel true to him. Shy in his feedback at first, I encouraged Dr. Bruce to give it to me straight. With strong collaboration, we not only got the best outcome for Lagniappe Dental, but we also built a trusting relationship! It was through that process that Dr. Bruce really learned that the way to stand out was to stay true to himself.

Stories Hit Different

You don’t want your marketing company to act like someone walking around with a megaphone shouting, “OK! Look who’s open for business! Get your butts in these seats!” That’s just noise. You want a partner who’s invested in your story, cares about what you care about, and uses their skills to bring you ideal patients. That’s always the goal for Studio 8E8.

The investment of time and effort (on both our part and Dr. Bruce’s) was worth it once we had a finalized website that became our template for spreading Lagniappe Dental’s brand message across all other platforms.

• Social media posts highlighted community and treating patients according to their golden rule.
• Digital ads were targeted to areas where Lagniappe’s values would resonate. As a startup general practice, they were also positioned to capture the attention of all kinds of patients, not just those looking for specific services.
• Local SEO strategies let everyone in Fairhope (and their preferred search engines) know where Lagniappe Dental was and what they offered.
• SEO content added more of Lagniappe’s voice to the website and focused on their core services so patients had access to more information.

Patients began to funnel in through all these channels while we learned and adjusted to what was working the best to bring in his ideal patients.

The underlying fact in all of this is that when you have a good brand and good values backing you, being yourself and telling your story are all in service of the greater goal. It helps patients and your practice grow. It’s why we love working with dentists like Dr. Bruce, who care about making a good impression because they are about delivering a phenomenal patient experience.

If Dr. Bruce’s story inspires you to start exploring your own story and how to tell it in a way that cuts through noise, download our Guide to Practice Growth below! Keep a lookout for more to come in this series. The marketing funnel gets narrow, strategies get stronger, and stories are the through-line through it all.