The landscape for dental marketing continues to change. Identifying the changes surrounding your dental practice can position you for success. Whether those are on-line changes Google makes to search results or a branded DSO group opening on your block, having a nimble dental marketing plan will help secure your success. Sharon Kantor Bogetz, managing partner at Cutting Edge Practice recommends that every dental practice implement a dental marketing plan that includes at least 4 different marketing initiatives every month.
“Dentists are always asking me what is the best way to spend my marketing dollars?” A shotgun approach where you spend all of your marketing dollars in one place will not bring the long lasting effects you might hope for. Planning to implement a diverse set of initiatives will produce reliable monthly new patient numbers for your practice. You may be wondering what that looks like?
- Use marketing research. Review your patient demographic profile to find opportunities. Look at what your competition is doing in print and on-line to position yourself properly.
- Set up a calendar for the implementation of your 4 marketing initiatives. Set up a calendar to outline the marketing activities you will do each month in print, on-line and in the community. That calendar should include an implementation timeline as well.
- Set up a system for tracking the results of each marketing initiative. Learn how to track the new patient referral source in your dental practice management software. Use your software to evaluate the cost and ROI (return on investment) for each new patient acquisition.
- Train your staff to support your marketing calendar. Meet with your staff to show them what marketing you will be doing. You may have to train them in how to use your dental software to track your marketing results. They staff may need coaching on how to answer the phone, greet the patient upon their arrival or how to enter the referral data into the computer.
- Evaluate the plan and make adjustments based on your results. Meet with your dental consultant to review your progress and adjust the plan accordingly.
Sharon Bogetz can help you develop and implement a winning dental marketing plan that will move your practice forward. Sharon has been doing dental marketing since 2002. Call her at 847-370-9131 for a free consultation.