A Question I Received…
Last month, I received a question from a dentist that said,
“I know I should be at least trying to market to my patients, but it seems like I don’t know where I should invest – what are some affordable options to market currently?”
This is a good question because I see the companies out there all trying to sell you on what is the ‘best’ marketing and advertising program, and it can be a bit confusing.
Here is a breakdown of 4 of the current methods that work, along with the pro’s and con’s of each. NOTE – these are all GREAT options that are affordable too!
1. Email Newsletter Marketing – This is a very inexpensive method to keep in contact with your existing patients to continue to build trust and educate on the services you provide. You can capture new email addresses for all of your existing patients when they visit the practice. Pros – inexpensive, easy to do. Cons – Usually only applies to your existing patients and those in your practice, so not the best for obtaining new patients.
This is the most popular method of advertising and educating from most of my clients. See more info at our Dental Email Newsletter Program.
What the Big Boys Do
Email Newsletter marketing is done by virtually EVERY large company – well, because it is effective for staying in front of your audience.
Every week after the Green Bay Packers win, I get an email from NFL.com to purchase more Packers gear. I don’t always open them, but they are always on my mind!
My advice – do what the “big boys do.” – PLUS, it’s affordable!
2. Social Media Marketing – this takes time and effort, OR a big upfront cost. Once Facebook, Twitter, Google and all the other programs are set up, you must spend time engaging and creating awareness with your patients and guests. Facebook allows ads that can directly increase your efforts, but be careful with how much you spend as ad dollars can add up!
3. SEO – most dentists are jumping on the online bandwagon – and rightfully so because all of your patients are online and searching. This is ideal for new patients seeking a general dentist, BUT the competition is FIERCE! Costs can be high to “rank” high on Google and Bing, and the reward is not always the best. And again, it is best for obtaining new patients to the practice.
The cons however, is you may NOT be getting the types of clients you want. It is 1000x more effective to build on the relationships of your existing patients, treat them well, suggest optimal health related treatments, and teach them how to refer!
4. Direct Mail – this is considered old school by many, but highly effective. AGAIN, look at what the “big boys” are doing, by that I mean the big corporations. I get tons of postcards from all sorts of companies – and they keep sending them – because they work!
Pros – can be really affordable, if you define your market (i.e. TMD, pain, OSA patients, implants, ortho, etc), plus you can start small and scale up.
We have lots of people having success with this just with advertising simple postcards on the MLS laser for example.
Cons – it takes consistency – you can’t expect to send 1 mailing and have instant results.
Case Study...
I get a postcard from a dentist here in Milwaukee about once every 6 weeks - AND I'm not even geographically close to the office. BUT, the guy knows how to stay in front of people! It MUST be working, otherwise he would not keep sending out postcards each month!
And his name is Dr. Molar - how is that for Marketing!
The moral of the story is that there are a lot of options for dental marketing. If you have the budget to grow, then you can get involved with SEO, additional web sites and lead generation pages, etc, but only if you are seeking to get more butts in chairs. If you are working long hours and have a full schedule, you will need to implement some methods to increase profits and sell higher-fee cases.
(You can get a FREE Coaching Call on that on our FREE Dental Consultation page)
Hope this clears some things up for all of you!
Cheers
– Nate
P.S. If you are wanting to start small on a simple budget – I highly recommend starting with an email newsletter to your patients. Watch this video on Patient Email Newsletters and check out the new program I’m working on with many dentists currently!
- See more at: http://womdental.com/2015/02/05/a-marketing-method-that-top-companies-and-dentists-always-do/
