Your radiology practice didn’t just happen overnight. There was a process by which your practice was established, with your product and service offerings. By now, you know that an “if you build it, they will come” strategy just isn’t enough. To be successful, you need more than just your basic practice setup and operation. For your radiology practice to thrive in a growing market, you must establish a clear and consistent brand identity with an authentic voice and strategy. But branding is not a once-and-done proposition. Instead, it’s a constant process of differentiating and repositioning your practice via rebranding. It’s about continuing to demonstrate innovation and differentiation.
What is a brand?
A brand includes everything relating to your public image: your name, logo, tagline, colors, mission and vision, slogans, personality, and other details related to your practice. But your brand stands for something more. Your brand is tied into how your audience perceives your practice, who they think you are and what you offer. Your brand is about more than just your image. It’s about the promises you make to your patients. Your brand is further defined by every interaction you have with your audience. It’s about how you approach referring physicians and how you handle
patients when they reach out to you to schedule their imaging exam or procedure.
Why should you rebrand?
Rebranding is just what it sounds like. You re-evaluate your practice’s brand messaging and image and plan out a strategy for how you will change and improve it. You could have any number of reasons for considering rebranding.
• Reputation: You might be concerned about how your patients currently perceive your practice.
• Expectation: It might be that you need to refresh how your patients see you, including your values.
• Story: If you’ve been aiming too low, you might need to broaden your vision and expand your offerings.
• Market: The radiology market is growing, which means that you may need to evolve your brand and messaging to be competitive.
Whatever the reasons for your rebranding, it’s not something that you need to undertake overnight. Take your time, strategize, and make sure that your whole team is on board as you move forward. While rebranding can benefit your practice, it could also be handled poorly with costly results.
What’s the best time for rebranding?
If you’ve been in practice for 10+ years without ever considering a facelift or an update to the practice, you may be long overdue for rebranding. However, before you invest time and money in rebranding, make sure you understand what rebranding is and how it will benefit your practice.
• Competitors: You’ve noticed more competition, threatening future growth.
• Messaging: Do you feel that your audience doesn’t fully understand your vision?
• Leader: Your current branding may not differentiate you as a market leader.
• Growth: Have you noticed a dramatic change in the quality or quantity of patients?
Really, any time could be the right time to consider a rebrand, particularly after the last year of market upheaval. But you should consider how the timing of your rebrand could affect your scheduling and capacity. Would putting a full rebranding off a few months put you in a better position to strategically implement your plan? Or would rebranding now quickly position your practice to achieve your growth goals?
Why is strategy important?
Brand strategy allows you to clearly articulate your message in a way that your audience will understand. Your strategy is your guiding principle, what sets you apart from your competitors. It defines what your practice represents and what your core values are while focusing your efforts. Brand strategy allows you to keep brand articulation on message while maintaining control and accountability over how your brand is envisioned by referring physicians and the patients who call to schedule radiology services. As you continue to grow, you’ll need to keep tabs on how your practice is being perceived and the return on your investment from your outreach and advertising efforts. By continuing to monitor perceptions and growth factors, you’ll know when it’s time to refine and renew your brand all over again.
Want to read on the go? Download the PDF from RBMA by clicking HERE.
