Top Dental Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (ADX16)
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Great marketing can make the difference between a highly profitable dental practice and one that simply pays the bills. Properly developed and well executed marketing activities can connect you with the right patients, and get people talking about your practice. When you invest money in marketing your dental practice, the purpose is to get that money back through quality patients. Yet every practice has its fair share of ups and downs when it comes to marketing. Some marketing activities will work and some won’t. When it comes to marketing, many dental practices don't realise the mistakes they're making until it's too late. Unfortunately, many dental marketing activities actually lose money because the practice is making very common mistakes. They invest a lot of time, hard work and money, only to lose it all because they failed to develop a solid strategy to properly market their practice. By recognizing these mistakes, you can position yourself to avoid them and implement better tactics that will results in a stronger marketing response for your practice development. In this talk you will learn how your dental practice should approach marketing, as well as certain pitfalls you should avoid.
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Top Dental Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (ADX16)
- 1. 7 Dental Marketing Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
- 5. Dental Challenges 1. Increased competition (locally and overseas) 2. Corporates and insurance providers. 3. Oversupply of dentists 4. Ever-rising practice operating costs 5. More marketing-savvy patients. 6. Potential patients are more discerning. 7. Overseas dentistry
- 6. Marketing Challenges • Marketing companies constantly calling. • Well-meaning people offering advice. • Marketing is constantly evolving and it is impossible to keep up. • You want to focus on running your practice.
- 8. 7 Dental Marketing Mistakes 1. Don’t know your numbers 2. Not knowing your ideal patient 3. Wanting a silver bullet 4. Taking a scattergun approach 5. Thinking that you can do it all by yourself 6. Procrastination 7. Not getting the right advice
- 9. Today’s Presentation • What are these mistakes. • Why you should avoid them. • How to stop making these mistakes.
- 10. E-book • Fill in form • Give to a My Dental Marketing team member
- 11. Carolyn S Dean • Passionate about educating dentists in smart ways to use dental marketing. • Tired of speaking to dentists who have wasted time, money and effort on marketing
- 12. Carolyn S Dean • Managing Director - My Dental Marketing • Over 20 years marketing & sales • 10 years in dental, health and medical
- 13. Dental Marketing Book • Fully Booked - Dental marketing secrets for a full appointment book. • 9 steps to: – Have a full appointment schedule – Easily attract new patients – Retain existing patients and grow referrals
- 14. My Dental Marketing • My Dental Marketing (est.2009) Rebranded from Wellsites 2015 • Dental and Medical marketing specialists • 75% Dental / 25% Health & Medical • 13 people – 12 Australian /1 in UK • Worked with over 300 practices
- 16. My Dental Marketing • Marketing should never be ad-hoc but part of your business growth strategy. • Long-term communication with patients creates a brand and builds revenue. • Every practice is unique
- 19. Changing your mindset 1. Dentistry is a business 2. You are competing 3. You need to be marketing 4. Your patient is always right 5. Patient communication is key 6. You must abandon the silver bullet 7. Marketing is everything… everything is marketing
- 20. 7 Dental Marketing Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
- 21. 7 Dental Marketing Mistakes 1. Don’t know your numbers and are not tracking 2. Not knowing your ideal patient 3. Wanting a silver bullet 4. Taking a scattergun approach - no consistency 5. Thinking that you can do it all by yourself and taking short cuts to save money 6. Procrastination 7. Not getting the right advice
- 22. #1. Not knowing your numbers
- 23. Know your numbers • “If you fail to plan and plan to fail.“ • Track all your business metrics. • Track your marketing numbers. • How do you know which marketing is working?
- 24. Your basic numbers • Average lifetime value patient • Growth goals • Marketing budget • Marketing return of investment (ROI)
- 25. Case Study
- 26. Average lifetime value of a patient • Do you know how much a patient is worth to you? • How much to spend to attract new patients? • How much to spend to keep patients?
- 27. Average Lifetime Value Patient Consider • How long average patients stay with practice • How much on average spend per year • Average number of referrals per patient • The spend of those referrals
- 28. Growth Goals & Marketing Budgets • Your marketing budget depends on growth goals. • Growth – Rapid, Sustained or Retention • Expect to budget 2% – 10%
- 29. Marketing ROI • Which activities are bringing in patients? • Which ones need to be improved? • Which ones aren’t performing and should be stopped? • A minimum of a 3:1 ROI
- 30. #1 – Summary • Know your numbers • Track constantly • Review regularly
- 31. #2. Not knowing your ideal patient
- 32. Do you know your ideal patient? • Don’t jump in and start marketing • You can no longer try and attract ‘everybody’ • Identify your ideal patient profile • How to communicate with them
- 33. Case Study Ideal patient #1 Ideal patient #2
- 34. Gender? Where do they live? Their profession Age? Income? Their lifestyle? Their attitudes towards your services? How do you help them? What they want to know about your services? Their concerns about your services?
- 35. Understanding your patients • Pricing – cost of the appointment and treatments. • Responsiveness – ease of getting an appointment and opening times • Waiting time – how long they waited. • Patient comfort –anxiety experienced, comfort level, and perceived pain. • Perceived professionalism – if they felt informed about treatments. • Practice ambience – the physical characteristics of the practice.
- 36. Your ideal patient • How is best to communicate with them? • Why should they come to you? • What can you offer them? • How to use marketing to reach them?
- 37. #2 – Summary • Think about your practice and who you want to attract • Identify your ideal patient • Think about what they care about • Pick suitable types of marketing to attract and retain them
- 38. #3. Wanting a silver bullet
- 39. The silver bullet • Many practices think (and hope) that there is a ‘silver bullet’ to solve their marketing issues. • This leaves them open to unscrupulous sales people. • Leads to disillusionment and frustration when their marketing fails.
- 40. There is no silver bullet • There is no one thing that you can do to fix your marketing. • You need multiple marketing touch points with your patient. • Never buy a ‘silver bullet’.
- 42. Touch Points • A collation of strategies. • A number of patient touch points. • To reinforce your brand message. • Build consistency in messaging.
- 43. Types Of Marketing • Attracting new patients • Retaining existing • Don’t follow shiny objects • Cheaper to retain existing patients than to attract new
- 44. #3 - Summary • No silver bullet • No single thing to get more patients • No single thing to guarantee patient retention • Introduce and refine multiple touch points with your patients.
- 45. #4. Taking a scattergun approach
- 46. The Scattergun Approach • ‘Nothing works for me’. • Many dentists have tried many different approaches. – No long term commitment – No consistency – No tracking – No refining • This will always end in failure.
- 47. Case Study • Website – Indian company out of business • SEO – Monthly fees no reporting • PPC –not sure of results or costs • Social media – patient’s wife • Website listings – USA • Newspaper – same ad for 2 years • No marketing to existing clients
- 48. The Scattergun Approach • It can take between six to eleven times for patients to see or hear a message before they act on it. • How many ways and how many times are you communicating with your patients?
- 49. Consistent Marketing • Requires – Thought – Strategy – Consistent implementation. • A good brand is built over time
- 50. #5. Doing it all by yourself
- 51. Professional Marketing • You are competing against businesses with large marketing budgets • Patients are bombarded with marketing messages • Patients expect more from your marketing
- 52. The deadly sins of branding
- 53. The Corporates
- 54. You can’t do it yourself • If you are not consistent & professional • Your brand will be damaged.
- 55. Professional Marketing • No more clip art or happy teeth logos • No more self made websites • Do not ‘create’ your own collateral • No more different colours and different fonts • Do not steal other peoples website content
- 56. #5 - Summary • Get the right people with the right skills to do the right jobs • Be consistent – same fonts, same images, same colours, same messaging • Do not take short cuts and do it yourself
- 58. Too many options? There are just so many things to think about • Too many marketing options? • Too many things you should be doing? • Too much advice? • Too hard? • Too technical? • Don’t have time?
- 59. Too many options. • Confusion • Overwhelm • Procrastination
- 60. Remember • There are always so many things to do and ‘other priorities’. • The longer you leave marketing the bigger gain your competition has.
- 61. Case Study – Website
- 62. #6 - Summary • One step at a time. • Rank your potential marketing activities – Select one easy or inexpensive task – Select one high impact task • Do them to the best of your ability. • Do nothing else until you have done these well and consistently.
- 63. #7. Not getting the right advice
- 64. Too much advice? • Overwhelming amount of advice out there. – Team members – Patients – Friends & family – In the media
- 65. The problem • Not getting the right advice. • Listening to many different sources. • Opinion based on advice from people who don’t understand dentistry. • Have you wasted time and money on poor advice?
- 66. Sales People
- 67. Getting the right advice • Use a marketing consultant who understands your practice and your goals. • Experience in the business of dentistry. • Demonstrate a track record of delivering dental best practice solutions.
- 68. #7 - Summary • Be selective with the advice you accept. • Question everything that you are told. • Make sure that the advice is relevant to your practice and your ideal patient.
- 70. 7 Mistakes Summary • Pick your marketing carefully. • Take your time. • Market to the best of your ability and budget. • Being consistent. • Tracking your results. • Set goals and review on a regular basis. • Getting advice from trusted experts.
- 71. Remember • Marketing takes time and consistency • Be rewarded by – more patients – increased production – better relationships with patients – a sense of control
- 72. E-book • Fill in form • Give to a My Dental Marketing team member
- 73. Dental Marketing Book • Fully Booked - Dental marketing secrets for a full appointment book. • ADX16 Launch price • RRP $29.95
- 74. Book also available from
- 76. Further Talks
- 77. Thank You Contact • Carolyn Dean • 02 9410 1507 • carolyn@mydentalmarketing.com.au www.mydentalmarketing.com.au www.fullybookeddentists.com
- 78. Questions
Notas del editor
- Contact me Carolyn Dean 02 9410 1507 carolyn@mydentalmarketing.com.au www.mydentalmarketing.com.au www.fullybookeddentists.com
- Setting your goals Successful practices establish clear short-term and long-term goals before establishing detailed and incremental plans to achieve those goals. Without clear goals, progress and success cannot be measured. What are your goals? The aim of your marketing plan is to achieve the goals set by your business. Critical to your practice success is to have your business, financial, and marketing goals in alignment. The perfect scenario for practice success is when your business coach and marketing coach or consultant works in close collaboration with you. Setting SMART goals The key is to set goals that are SMART: Specific – Your goal needs to be well defined and be clear to anyone that has a basic knowledge of the practice. Measurable – You need to be able to track whether your goal is being achieved. Agreed Upon – There should be agreement with all the staff involved as to what your goal should be. Realistic – Your goal must be achievable, with regards availability of resources, knowledge, and time. Time-Based – Your goal should have an element of time, whether it be an established frequency (daily/weekly) or deadline (a certain date). Example: SMART Goal – To get forty-five new patients by running a promotion for the months of June and July offering free take-home teeth-whitening kits for all new patients.
- “Fully Booked - Dental marketing secrets for a full appointment schedule” ‘Fully Booked’ – the definitive step-by-step dental marketing book helping dental professionals to successfully attract and retain their patients. As a dental professional, you are facing unfamiliar challenges running and marketing your practice. You are confronting: Increased competition (both locally and abroad). An oversupply of dentists. Ever-rising practice operating costs. More marketing-savvy patients. On top of this, your potential patients are becoming more discerning about where they go to get dental services, with many heading overseas. To achieve practice success, it is essential to build long-term relationships with patients and prospects. Long-term patients are more likely to feel satisfied. It is they who welcome the opportunity to refer others to you and who will continue to use your services in the future. It is now more critical than ever for you to make informed choices regarding how to market your dental practice in order to consistently attract new patients and retain current ones. http://fullybookeddentist.com
- My Dental Marketing Services My Dental Marketing is committed to assisting dental practices in using marketing to attract new and keep existing clients. We know that every dental business is unique, so our solutions are developed to best represent your business in style and affordability. Website design A well-designed and effective website is the key to successful dental marketing. We understand the very specific online marketing needs of the dental community. Online marketing services Once you have your website, you need to ensure that you can be found online. We can provide online marketing services such as SEO, PPC, email marketing, blog writing, and social media services. Practice branding & identity Well-considered, professionally-designed dental practice branding instantly communicates your professionalism, competence, and character. We design materials that are a true representation of you and your practice. Marketing services We have a comprehensive range of marketing services such as fully customised practice marketing campaigns, marketing planning and strategies, public relations, patient reactivation campaigns, and referral marketing solutions. Marketing coaching and consultancy We have a team of marketing consultants that can work with you and your team throughout the nine-step process detailed in Fully Booked. Work with one of our experienced consultants who can answer all of your questions, provide guidance, and share the latest skills and knowledge needed to ensure your marketing is unsurpassed by your competition.
- Contact me Carolyn Dean 02 9410 1507 carolyn@mydentalmarketing.com.au www.mydentalmarketing.com.au www.fullybookeddentists.com
- Changing your mindset I understand why many of the dentists out there are still of the mindset that marketing is wrong. But many excellent dentists have realised that, to grow their practices, marketing is necessary. To stay and flourish in business, you need to embrace marketing and recognise it as critical to your practice success. There are some significant mindset changes that I believe need to be taken into account before we progress. Dentistry is a business Even though you are delivering an important service to the community, your dental practice is most definitely a business and, as such, requires sound business practices. The business of dentistry requires that you understand everything from bookkeeping to basic tax law, from marketing strategies to good record keeping. Very good dentists are not necessarily equally good business people. It is widely recognised that business skills aren’t taught in dental school, meaning new dentists are unprepared to run a business. Therefore, dentists tend to learn the hard way, through making mistakes. Many realise after a couple of years that there are aspects of dentistry they don’t understand, such as how patients come and go from a practice, how to market a practice effectively, and how to employ and retain staff. Successful dental practitioners hire coaches and experts, attend business seminars, read up on marketing business practices, join networking groups, and take up whatever help is offered to hone their business skills. Those who do best running a dental practice are those who are able to embrace the business end of things. They find gratification, even fun, in setting business goals and achieving them. You are competing The combination of the huge increase in the dentist to population ratio and the rapid expansion of national corporate dental centres and franchised practices will impact almost every dental practice in the country. More than ever, it will force dentists to compete for work and look for ways to stand out from the crowd. You may consider the other dentists in your area to be your friends, and you are right. They are your colleagues, your allies, and maybe even your confidantes, but they are also your competitors. There are a finite number of potential patients in the area, and you are all fighting for a bigger piece of the pie. You and your practice are now in a highly competitive environment. You need to be marketing Relying on your current patient base and word of mouth is no longer good enough. In today’s world, marketing and advertising are not only accepted but expected. Don’t miss out because you view marketing as tarnishing your professional image. You can run a respected, professional business and still promote your practice and services to the community. Your patient is always right In today’s highly competitive arena, it is imperative that you start listening to and understanding your patients and potential patents. For your practice to survive and thrive, the patients have to come first. You need to adapt your business to account for patients’ needs, wants, and fears Patient education, sales, and communication are key If marketing has a bad reputation, then sales has one even worse. But we are now in a consumer age. Your patient today is more discerning and does not necessarily blindly follow your recommendations. Most dental treatment is discretionary and costs are high. The reality of being in practice is that every time you get an enquiry and you respond, you are actually selling to the patient, i.e. convincing them that your dental services are right for them, that you are best positioned to deliver the services, and that you will deliver the service in a manner that is right for them. All of your staff members are your sales people, and your receptionist is your front line sales force. I am by no means suggesting that you adopt a hard line style sales talk. Once the patient believes the dentist has a sales agenda, trust is quickly broken. We have all had patients who have come to us having left the dentist down the road who tried to sell them expensive treatment. I suggest that you look at your team’s communication skills and work on how you can communicate effectively with your patients, so they accept the treatment right for them. Communicate with your patients so that you can guide them through the various options to prevent objections, without being viewed as a salesperson. You must abandon the silver bullet I am sorry to say that there is no silver bullet solution to your marketing woes. There is really no single thing that you can do to guarantee attracting more new patients; likewise, there is no single thing that you can do to guarantee the retention of your patients. The only true way to achieve marketing success with your practice is to introduce and refine upon multiple touch points with your patients. Marketing is everything… everything is marketing When I talk to dentists, I notice there is still a common belief that marketing is all about advertising and selling. The truth is that marketing is not only advertising; it is not only selling. These are just a small part of what marketing is. Marketing is about finding out who your patients are and how many of them there are, working out how to reach them, and letting them know about your services. This means that marketing covers every aspect of your dental practice from inception, design, pricing, selling, and promotion through to patient service and patient satisfaction. Developing the right marketing strategy to suit your dental practice is the key to attracting and retaining patients and to having a profitable business. It was Regis McKenna who coined the saying, ‘Marketing is everything and everything is marketing’ (Harvard Business Review). It was his way of expressing the fact that marketing is not a function but an all-pervasive way of doing business. If you wish to grow a sustainable practice, now is the time for you to embrace marketing at the core of your business.
- The myth of the marketing silver bullet Marketing your dental practice to attract the right kind of patients, keep them active, and get them to refer you to their contacts is no easy task. The companies trying to sell you the ‘marketing silver bullet’ that will ‘solve all your marketing worries’ are constantly calling. Well-meaning friends, colleagues, and patients are giving you advice on what they think you should do to market your practice. The range of marketing media is evolving, and the rapid changes in online marketing make it almost impossible to keep up. You must abandon the silver bullet I am sorry to say that there is no silver bullet solution to your marketing woes. There is really no single thing that you can do to guarantee attracting more new patients; likewise, there is no single thing that you can do to guarantee the retention of your patients. The only true way to achieve marketing success with your practice is to introduce and refine upon multiple touch points with your patients.
- Setting your goals Successful practices establish clear short-term and long-term goals before establishing detailed and incremental plans to achieve those goals. Without clear goals, progress and success cannot be measured. What are your goals? The aim of your marketing plan is to achieve the goals set by your business. Critical to your practice success is to have your business, financial, and marketing goals in alignment. The perfect scenario for practice success is when your business coach and marketing coach or consultant works in close collaboration with you. Setting SMART goals The key is to set goals that are SMART: Specific – Your goal needs to be well defined and be clear to anyone that has a basic knowledge of the practice. Measurable – You need to be able to track whether your goal is being achieved. Agreed Upon – There should be agreement with all the staff involved as to what your goal should be. Realistic – Your goal must be achievable, with regards availability of resources, knowledge, and time. Time-Based – Your goal should have an element of time, whether it be an established frequency (daily/weekly) or deadline (a certain date). Example: SMART Goal – To get forty-five new patients by running a promotion for the months of June and July offering free take-home teeth-whitening kits for all new patients.
- Don’t know your numbers / Are not tracking One of the most common mistakes that I see is that many dental practices just aren’t tracking their numbers. Not knowing the average lifetime value of a patient – how do you know how much you can spend on your marketing and attracting new patients to your practice if you don’t know how much they are worth to you when you have them as your patient. Not tracking their marketing ROI - not knowing which marketing activities are bringing in patients, which ones need to be improved upon and which ones are not performing and need to be stopped. You should expect a minimum of a 3:1 return on your marketing activities. Not tracking how many new patients are coming into the practice and where their patients are coming from Not tracking how may patients are leaving the practice and where they are going to There is a phrase that says that if you fail to plan and plan to fail. It is critical that you track all of the metrics in your business and your marketing spend is no exception. Think about it, if you don’t know how much is a patient worth how can you work out how much you can budget to attract new patients and how much you should be spending to keep patients in your practice.
- Knowing your numbers In order to truly know how your business is going and be able to plan for where you want it to be, you need to track and analyse your practice figures regularly over time. When you know your figures, you are able to identify the causes and effects of changes that occur and make adjustments where necessary. Knowing your numbers can prevent unnecessary stress, panic, and rash decisions from being made. Additionally, tracking where new patients are coming from and weighing that against money spent on marketing will give you a clear indication of the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, without which you will never know what to continue, repeat, or stop. More than 60% of dental practices are unaware of their numbers of lapsed patients, more than 40% do not track where new patients are coming from and almost 30% are unaware how many new patients
- Identifying your ideal patient One of the cornerstones of any marketing campaign is knowing who your ‘ideal patient’ is. Many practices make the mistake of avoiding this stage in the eagerness of going ahead with their marketing campaign as soon as possible. You need to stop and think about whom your marketing will be directed to, what they want, what problems they have, and what solutions they need. The key for implementing a strategic marketing plan is for dentists to identify their practices’ ideal patient or target patient profile. Once you know your market, you need to get to know how best to communicate with them. Take into consideration what activities will best help reach these people. For example, general dentists, orthodontists, and paediatric dentists might focus on reaching mothers. In this day and age, social media marketing and electronic patient communication would be a better use of the marketing budget to reach that particular demographic than advertising in the yellow pages. For a young demographic, you may turn to the Internet, whereas for an ethnic demographic, you may want to communicate using an ethnic community newspaper.
- Knowing your numbers In order to truly know how your business is going and be able to plan for where you want it to be, you need to track and analyse your practice figures regularly over time. When you know your figures, you are able to identify the causes and effects of changes that occur and make adjustments where necessary. Knowing your numbers can prevent unnecessary stress, panic, and rash decisions from being made. Additionally, tracking where new patients are coming from and weighing that against money spent on marketing will give you a clear indication of the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, without which you will never know what to continue, repeat, or stop. More than 60% of dental practices are unaware of their numbers of lapsed patients, more than 40% do not track where new patients are coming from and almost 30% are unaware how many new patients
- Identifying your growth needs The first thing to do is identify your desired growth goals. Most practices fit within three specific growth models: Rapid Growth – This is generally for new practices, recently purchased practices, or practices that experience high turnover. The aim is to bring in a lot of patients quickly. Sustained Growth – The majority of practices fit within this category. Growth is important, but not too fast. It’s really about steady, controlled growth. Patient Retention – Maybe you are in the enviable position of not needing new patients and you simply want to retain the patients you have.
- Identifying your ideal patient One of the cornerstones of any marketing campaign is knowing who your ‘ideal patient’ is. Many practices make the mistake of avoiding this stage in the eagerness of going ahead with their marketing campaign as soon as possible. You need to stop and think about whom your marketing will be directed to, what they want, what problems they have, and what solutions they need. The key for implementing a strategic marketing plan is for dentists to identify their practices’ ideal patient or target patient profile. Once you know your market, you need to get to know how best to communicate with them. Take into consideration what activities will best help reach these people. For example, general dentists, orthodontists, and paediatric dentists might focus on reaching mothers. In this day and age, social media marketing and electronic patient communication would be a better use of the marketing budget to reach that particular demographic than advertising in the yellow pages. For a young demographic, you may turn to the Internet, whereas for an ethnic demographic, you may want to communicate using an ethnic community newspaper.
- Who is your ideal patient? Where do they live? Where do they work? What gender are they? What age are they? How much do they earn? What lifestyle do they have? What are their attitudes towards your services? How do you help them? What do they want to know about your services? What are their concerns and fears about your services?
- What is important to your patients? It is critical to understand what is important to your patients. There have been a number of studies in this area. You should understand that most of your patients do not have the knowledge to assess your skill or work. They therefore rely on the experiential cues to assess your service quality. It has been found that the most important factors that significantly influenced dental patients’ perception of service quality were: Baldwin & Sohal - Service quality factors and outcomes in dental care http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/09604520310476472. Prime Practice - Experience surveys http://bitemagazine.com.au/checking-your-blind-spot/ RDH eVillage - What patients like about dental office experience http://www.dentistryiq.com/articles/2012/12/survey-what-do-patients-like-about-dental-offices.html
- The myth of the marketing silver bullet Marketing your dental practice to attract the right kind of patients, keep them active, and get them to refer you to their contacts is no easy task. The companies trying to sell you the ‘marketing silver bullet’ that will ‘solve all your marketing worries’ are constantly calling. Well-meaning friends, colleagues, and patients are giving you advice on what they think you should do to market your practice. The range of marketing media is evolving, and the rapid changes in online marketing make it almost impossible to keep up. You must abandon the silver bullet I am sorry to say that there is no silver bullet solution to your marketing woes. There is really no single thing that you can do to guarantee attracting more new patients; likewise, there is no single thing that you can do to guarantee the retention of your patients. The only true way to achieve marketing success with your practice is to introduce and refine upon multiple touch points with your patients.
- Dropping the scattergun approach I speak to many dentists who tell me that they have tried many types of different marketing and they have all failed and ‘nothing works for them’. When I dig deeper, I discover that they have tried many different approaches, but nearly all of these have been done in a haphazard way and in short bursts. I call this a scattergun approach to marketing. It doesn’t work to try one approach for a month or two in an inconsistent manner without tracking the results or refining on a campaign. This will always end in failure. It has been shown that it can take between six to eleven times for patients to see or hear a message before they act on it. Do you know many ways and how many times are you communicating with your patients? ‘Don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ goes the old saying. As stated before there is no silver bullet when it comes to marketing. It is important that you see your practice marketing as a collation of strategies. Creating effective marketing with different patient touch points is key to your success. Your potential patients and existing patients need to experience a number of touch points all reinforcing your brand message before making the decision to buy from you.
- Thinking that you can do it all by yourself / Taking short cuts to save money I am so sorry to say that the days of having a logo that is a clip art image of a happy tooth holding a toothbrush are over; you cannot do this. You can no longer ‘build your own’ website and you cannot ‘steal’ images, content or logos from other practices. You have to remember that patients are savvier than ever before. They are constantly exposed to a huge amount of marketing and their expectations of what is and is not professional are forever increasing. The reality is that when you are competing against the corporates, you need to ensure that your marketing is up to scratch. It is also very common for practices to have their branding and logo professionally designed and then decide to ‘take it over’, producing homemade brochures and other marketing collateral that use different colours, fonts, and even different versions of the logo. They often use free templates or tools not meant for design work (such as using Microsoft Word to produce a practice brochure). I understand that practices are trying to save time and money by doing this, but the result gives your practice an unprofessional feel. If you are not consistent, your attempts at establishing a brand will be damaged.
- The deadly sins of branding I apologise in advance if what I am about to say upsets you, but I feel that it needs to be reinforced. I am so sorry to say that the days of having a logo that is a clip art image of a happy tooth holding a toothbrush are over; you cannot do this. You can no longer ‘build your own’ and you cannot ‘steal’ an image from another practice’s logo and add your own practice name. Yes, I have seen all of this and many more logo deadly sins in my time. You have to remember that patients are savvier than ever before. They are constantly exposed to a huge amount of branding and their expectations of what is and is not professional are forever increasing. The reality is that when you are competing against the corporates, you need to ensure that your branding is up to scratch. It is also very common for practices to have their branding and logo professionally designed and then decide to ‘take it over’, producing homemade brochures and other marketing collateral that use different colours, fonts, and even different versions of the logo. They often use free templates or tools not meant for design work (such as using Microsoft Word to produce a practice brochure). I understand that practices are trying to save time and money by doing this, but the result gives your practice an unprofessional feel. If you are not consistent, your attempts at establishing a brand will be damaged.
- Procrastinating There are just so many things for you to think about when it comes to your dental marketing that very often dental practice owners or managers. How can you fix your website that isn't performing? Should you be engaging with your patients on social media and how to start? You know that you need to educate your patients on a regular basis but what are they best ways to do this? You need reactivation and referral campaigns but you have no idea how to carry this out in a professional and consistent manner. It is not uncommon to be so confused and overwhelmed that you spend your time procrastinating and doing nothing. So where do you spend your time, money and effort? How do you tackle this overwhelming list of dental marketing tasks? The old adage "how do you eat an elephant? One step at a time!" comes into play here. We recommend that you make a list of all of the dental marketing activities that you feel that you 'should' be doing and rank them. Then take one task that is easy or cheap to implement and one task that has a high impact and work on these. Do these 2 tasks to the best of your ability (taking into consideration your time an financial resources) Do nothing else. Know that when these have been completed you can then move through your list
- Not getting the right advice When you own or run a dental practice in fact when you own or run any kind of business there is no shortage of marketing advice to follow. In fact there is an overwhelming amount of advice out there. Many members of your team will probably think that they can do things in a better or smarter way than you and will offer you well meaning advice. You will have patients and friends that care about your practice and may 'know somebody' or may even offer to carry out some aspects of your marketing in return for dental services. In the media you will probably read about or hear about the many ways that you could be marketing your dental practice. You may have had the experience of wasting time on money on poor advice. The problem is that many dentists are not getting the right dental marketing advice. They are listening to many different sources and forming opinion based on advice from people who may not understand the business of dentistry. When getting help and advice for our dental marketing it is critical that you use a marketing consultant or marketing firm who understands your practice and your business goals, who has experience in the business of dentistry and can demonstrate that they have a track record of delivering best practice solutions with marketing dental. Next time that you are tempted to follow somebody’s marketing recommendations and before you spend time or money on this make sure that you are listening to expert dental marketing advice.
- Not getting the right advice When you own or run a dental practice in fact when you own or run any kind of business there is no shortage of marketing advice to follow. In fact there is an overwhelming amount of advice out there. Many members of your team will probably think that they can do things in a better or smarter way than you and will offer you well meaning advice. You will have patients and friends that care about your practice and may 'know somebody' or may even offer to carry out some aspects of your marketing in return for dental services. In the media you will probably read about or hear about the many ways that you could be marketing your dental practice. You may have had the experience of wasting time on money on poor advice. The problem is that many dentists are not getting the right dental marketing advice. They are listening to many different sources and forming opinion based on advice from people who may not understand the business of dentistry. When getting help and advice for our dental marketing it is critical that you use a marketing consultant or marketing firm who understands your practice and your business goals, who has experience in the business of dentistry and can demonstrate that they have a track record of delivering best practice solutions with marketing dental. Next time that you are tempted to follow somebody’s marketing recommendations and before you spend time or money on this make sure that you are listening to expert dental marketing advice.
- “Fully Booked - Dental marketing secrets for a full appointment schedule” ‘Fully Booked’ – the definitive step-by-step dental marketing book helping dental professionals to successfully attract and retain their patients. As a dental professional, you are facing unfamiliar challenges running and marketing your practice. You are confronting: Increased competition (both locally and abroad). An oversupply of dentists. Ever-rising practice operating costs. More marketing-savvy patients. On top of this, your potential patients are becoming more discerning about where they go to get dental services, with many heading overseas. To achieve practice success, it is essential to build long-term relationships with patients and prospects. Long-term patients are more likely to feel satisfied. It is they who welcome the opportunity to refer others to you and who will continue to use your services in the future. It is now more critical than ever for you to make informed choices regarding how to market your dental practice in order to consistently attract new patients and retain current ones. http://fullybookeddentist.com