• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • TEL: 01747 870910
  • Contact Us
  • Login

DPAS

your dental plans

  • Why DPAS
  • Why a plan
  • Switch savings
  • Blog
Close
Posted In: Blog Home > Plan Management

Our marketing guide to make you stand out from the competition!

5th June 2017 By Connie Hopper 0 Comments

Dentistry is an increasingly competitive marketplace, but with a proactive, strategic and structured approach to marketing you can make sure your practice outshines the rest. As a standout practice you can attract new patients and increase treatment uptake. So, here are five simple tips to get your marketing on the right track…

1. Start at the end

Sounds counter-intuitive, doesn’t it? What it means is that before you begin committing any resources to marketing activity, you need to know what your end-goal is. What is your overall vision for your practice? Taking some time to think about where you want to be in 3, 5, or 10 years, will enable you to plan your marketing activity in alignment with your business objectives. This will give you a structured approach and provide targets for you to measure your success against. Having tangible, specific goals can really help with this; so rather than saying your goal is to be the best practice in your town, it could be that you want to increase patient numbers or uptake of a certain treatment by x%.

2. Dedicate time and budget

The chances are that your practice doesn’t have a member of staff whose sole job revolves around marketing. That’s a common scenario in dentistry, with the responsibility generally falling on the principal or practice manager’s shoulders. Yet whilst most practices can’t justify the employment of a marketing manager, there should still be resources allocated to this type of activity. Each week or month some time and money should be apportioned to marketing activity. Deciding how much is the right amount to spend can be determined by coming up with a figure for how much you would pay for a new patient or the take up of a particular treatment. For example, if that figure is £50 for a new patient and you pay £500 for an advert you need to get 10 new patients for it to be worthwhile.

3. Create a website that works for you

One area that should always have some resources committed to it is your online presence. Google processes 40,000 search queries every second – for most people a search engine is the go-to source of information when they want to find something out, such as finding their local dentist. Even if they get a personal recommendation, it’s more than likely that the next step potential patients will take is to check out your website. You need a website that works for you, highlights your unique selling points, reflects your personality and values, and that is easy to understand.

4. Communicate in your customers’ language

Making the information easy to digest means making sure your website is all about your customers. Many dental practice websites fall into the trap of using jargon that dentists may understand but which your existing and prospective patients probably don’t. Rather than talking about Cerec technology or periodontics or caries, to maximise the potential of your website to attract new patients you need to focus on the benefits of the services you provide. In other words, how your services could impact on them; for example, by giving them a confident smile, or improving their self-esteem. By all means you can talk about the features of dentistry you offer, such as periodontics, just make sure you also explain – in layman’s terms – what the end result of that feature would be for the patient.

5. Analyse data to know what works

Once you begin your marketing activity you need to make sure you can track and measure what is working and what isn’t. If advertising in a particular magazine or online isn’t generating any results, then there is little point repeating it. You need to identify where the gaps are between your knowledge of the market, your potential customers and their response to your marketing activity. Then you can take steps to address it. For example, if you run a particular offer or advert try attaching a unique code to it, then you can track what enquiries come from that specific activity. Only by recording and analysing what you are doing can you understand what is effective.

Marketing is often de-prioritised or put on the backburner when it comes to running a dental practice, but investing some time, money and effort into this area will pay dividends as it can make a real impact in supporting you to build a strong and successful practice

Author

  • Connie Hopper
    Connie Hopper

    View all posts
Tweet
Share
Share7
0 Shares

Filed Under: Plan Management, Practice Management Tagged With: Brand, Dental Plan, Marketing, Patient Growth, Top Tips

The AuthorConnie Hopper

Connie Hopper is a Business Development Consultant for DPAS, supporting the ongoing needs of clients from the implementation of their dental plan to the provision of ongoing advice, guidance and support. With a background in business and marketing coupled with her experience in the private practice sector, she brings fresh ideas and enthusiasm to help practices grow their patient numbers.

You may also like:

  • employment status

    What the employment status means for associates and principals

    by Louise Beddow
  • Raise your voice

    by Jo Phillpot
  • Six things to include in your morning huddle

    by Connie Hopper
  • Why a plan works for our practice…

    by louisebone

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Don't miss out

Sign up to get all the latest blogs delivered straight to your inbox.
By subscribing to our blog, you agree to receiving our monthly blog update and newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time.

We will never spam you.                                                                         Privacy Notice

DPAS

  • Why DPAS
  • Why a plan
  • Switch savings
  • Blog

Legal

  • Website Terms of Use
  • Legal Notice
  • Privacy Policy
  • Modern Slavery Statement
  • Complaints

Follow us

  • FacebookFollow us on FacbookFollow us on Facebook
  • LinkedInFollow us on FacebookFollow us on LinkedIn
  • TwitterFollow us on twitterFollow us on Twitter
  • Gooogle +Follow us on Google+Follow us on Google +

Address

DPAS Limited, Cambrian Works, Gobowen Road, Oswestry, Shropshire SY11 1HS
VAT: 113983902

Changing dental plan providers?

Talk to us about your options, we would love to hear from you.

Contact usor call 01747 870910

© DPAS 2016 All Rights Reserved

0 Shares
Tweet
Share
Share7
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Yes, I acceptI do not acceptLearn more