Attracting patients to your practice is only the beginning. You need to understand how to build on relationships with your existing patients by using effective marketing tools and techniques to turn them into long-term patients.
Many practices make the mistake of focusing only on gaining new patients. They fail to effectively address the need to retain those they already have. Did you know that the most valuable asset that a practice has is its existing patient base? Every practice wants and needs new patients, but your surest and most predictable source of new revenue is right under your nose. It comes from the loyal patients who already know your practice.
It’s also far easier to sell to existing patients than to get new patients. Acquiring new patients is expensive (five to ten times the cost of retaining an existing one), but the average spend of a repeat patient is a huge 67% more.
Top Dental Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (ADX16)Carolyn S Dean
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.
How restaurant owners can partner with dentists for dental marketingCarolyn S Dean
How restaurant owners can approach and set up joint ventures with dental practices for marketing partnerships.
Restaurant owners can add a lot of value to dental marketing initiatives
Retail customer service training PowerPoint
This is an easy presentation to understand. Train employees on the importance of basic customer service.
please visit my website - www.bamservicetraining.com
Top Dental Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (ADX16)Carolyn S Dean
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.
How restaurant owners can partner with dentists for dental marketingCarolyn S Dean
How restaurant owners can approach and set up joint ventures with dental practices for marketing partnerships.
Restaurant owners can add a lot of value to dental marketing initiatives
Retail customer service training PowerPoint
This is an easy presentation to understand. Train employees on the importance of basic customer service.
please visit my website - www.bamservicetraining.com
Learn the keys to creating outstanding customer experiences that can lead to sale in this dynamic presentation originally delivered by Deb Brown to farmer's market stand owners.
This “Customer Service Excellence Training” slideshow is geared to help participants understand:
- The principles of strong customer service
- The concept of internal and external customer service
- Ideas for customer service improvement within their workplace
Hi All,
Now you can download my Presentation easily. I changed my Privacy setting.. I wish I can make more presentations for the young salesmen, but I am so busy these days and couldn't reply everyone who need my presentation. So here you can download now and present it to your teams etc.
Regards,
Shahzad Chohan
The ULTIMATE Dental Marketing Plan ... for 2014 and Beyond!Ken Newhouse & Co.
The ULTIMATE Dental Marketing Plan ... for 2014 and Beyond is the complete "How-To" manual for helping you generate MORE quality new dental patients from the Internet. The Ultimate Dental Marketing Plan gives you fresh insights and ideas that have been practice-proven and time-tested and are the most advanced dental marketing strategies on the planet.
So if you're looking for the ultimate dental marketing plan... want to beef up your dental web marketing program... have been searching for the absolute best in dental marketing strategies and ideas... or simply want to improve your professional reputation and strengthen your online presence then the Ultimate Dental Marketing Plan from Growth Hacker Central is what you've been waiting for!
The ULTIMATE Dental Marketing Plan ... for 2014 and Beyond is a free guides and available for immediate download and instant application which means your dental marketing program can FINALLY start producing MORE quality new dental patients today.
The ULTIMATE Dental Marketing Plan ... for 2014 and Beyond is a product of Growth Hacker Central by Ken Newhouse.... the 'OFFICIAL' Growth Hacker for the Dental Profession Worldwide ™
To register please go to http://www.growthhackercentral.com/mass-referral-2-0-seminar/
Learn the keys to creating outstanding customer experiences that can lead to sale in this dynamic presentation originally delivered by Deb Brown to farmer's market stand owners.
This “Customer Service Excellence Training” slideshow is geared to help participants understand:
- The principles of strong customer service
- The concept of internal and external customer service
- Ideas for customer service improvement within their workplace
Hi All,
Now you can download my Presentation easily. I changed my Privacy setting.. I wish I can make more presentations for the young salesmen, but I am so busy these days and couldn't reply everyone who need my presentation. So here you can download now and present it to your teams etc.
Regards,
Shahzad Chohan
The ULTIMATE Dental Marketing Plan ... for 2014 and Beyond!Ken Newhouse & Co.
The ULTIMATE Dental Marketing Plan ... for 2014 and Beyond is the complete "How-To" manual for helping you generate MORE quality new dental patients from the Internet. The Ultimate Dental Marketing Plan gives you fresh insights and ideas that have been practice-proven and time-tested and are the most advanced dental marketing strategies on the planet.
So if you're looking for the ultimate dental marketing plan... want to beef up your dental web marketing program... have been searching for the absolute best in dental marketing strategies and ideas... or simply want to improve your professional reputation and strengthen your online presence then the Ultimate Dental Marketing Plan from Growth Hacker Central is what you've been waiting for!
The ULTIMATE Dental Marketing Plan ... for 2014 and Beyond is a free guides and available for immediate download and instant application which means your dental marketing program can FINALLY start producing MORE quality new dental patients today.
The ULTIMATE Dental Marketing Plan ... for 2014 and Beyond is a product of Growth Hacker Central by Ken Newhouse.... the 'OFFICIAL' Growth Hacker for the Dental Profession Worldwide ™
To register please go to http://www.growthhackercentral.com/mass-referral-2-0-seminar/
Dental Marketing Online - Trends And Best Practice In Online Marketing (ADX16)Carolyn S Dean
There is a lot of discussion about online marketing, social media and search engine marketing for businesses. Some dental practices are already engaging in online marketing while other dental practices have an intuitive hunch that there is something to online word-of-mouth marketing, but they’re just not sure yet what it is.
This talk covers the most common forms of online marketing and why and when you should use them. From this talk you will discover the 9 steps to online dental marketing success; know what online strategies are right for your practice; learn the secrets to a great website; understand how to structure your online presence for maximum conversion; know what social media platforms you should be using and why; hear why you need to use Google My Business; understand why you need to start blogging; identify which Search Engine Marketing strategy is right for your practice; hear why it is critical to watch your online reputation; evaluate if video marketing is right for your practice; and learn to reactivate existing clients with the use of email marketing.
All About Dental Health & Dental Optionstianabeckman
Are you always confused with the terms that Dentist use and you cant understand? Know waht are the dental treatments available and also know the health benefits for dental. Find more information here at www.ddperio.com.
How to do effective Dental Practice Marketing - 4 Case Studies on Dental Practice Marketing & How important is a Dentist's Reputation.
Dental Practice Marketing strategies courtesy of Healthcare Marketing Center: http://www.healthcaremarketingcoe.com/dental-practice-marketing/
A slideshow that details the branding design update and marketing proposals. (2011) This physician's group had never had a true branding marketing or brand strategy up to this point.
Harvee Health is providing top-notch services of digital marketing in healthcare industry.
Many doctors build online reputations with our medical branding.
A new dental patient will generate a minimum of $4500 in their lifetime at a practice. That doesn't include referrals. Since all practices incur attrition, every Dental Practice needs to generate between 24-50 new patients per month. This presentation will give dental marketers the tools to achieve this goal.
A strong dental practice needs to generate 24-50 new patients each month. It's no secret that word of mouth referrals can't keep up, consumers are shopping online and there is more competition than ever before.
The fact is that people prefer to do business with businesses that they trust.
This presentation gives you the tools to enhance your marketing program to built trust and generate business.
Read our story on how to write a brand plan:
https://beloved-brands.com/2012/06/24/brand-plan/
Help for the Brand Manager with tips on how to write a brand plan, including vision, mission, strategies, tactics, execution, and the overall writing and flow of the plan.
In this presentation, Danny Leibrandt explains the impact of AI on SEO and what Google has been doing about it. Learn how to take your SEO game to the next level and win over Google with his new strategy anyone can use. Get actionable steps to rank your name, your business, and your clients on Google - the right way.
Key Takeaways:
1. Real content is king
2. Find ways to show EEAT
3. Repurpose across all platforms
A.I. (artificial intelligence) platforms are popping up all the time, and many of them can and should be used to help grow your brand, increase your sales and decrease your marketing costs.In this presentation:We will review some of the best AI platforms that are available for you to use.We will interact with some of the platforms in real-time, so attendees can see how they work.We will also look at some current brands that are using AI to help them create marketing messages, saving them time and money in the process. Lastly, we will discuss the pros and cons of using AI in marketing & branding and have a lively conversation that includes comments from the audience.
Key Takeaways:
Attendees will learn about LLM platforms, like ChatGPT, and how they work, with preset examples and real time interactions with the platform. Attendees will learn about other AI platforms that are creating graphic design elements at the push of a button...pre-set examples and real-time interactions.Attendees will discuss the pros & cons of AI in marketing + branding and share their perspectives with one another. Attendees will learn about the cost savings and the time savings associated with using AI, should they choose to.
The session includes a brief history of the evolution of search before diving into the roles technology, content, and links play in developing a powerful SEO strategy in a world of Generative AI and social search. Discover how to optimize for TikTok searches, Google's Gemini, and Search Generative Experience while developing a powerful arsenal of tools and templates to help maximize the effectiveness of your SEO initiatives.
Key Takeaways:
Understand how search engines work
Be able to find out where your users search
Know what is required for each discipline of SEO
Feel confident creating an SEO Plan
Confidently measure SEO performance
AI-Powered Personalization: Principles, Use Cases, and Its Impact on CROVWO
In today’s era of AI, personalization is more than just a trend—it’s a fundamental strategy that unlocks numerous opportunities.
When done effectively, personalization builds trust, loyalty, and satisfaction among your users—key factors for business success. However, relying solely on AI capabilities isn’t enough. You need to anchor your approach in solid principles, understand your users’ context, and master the art of persuasion.
Join us as Sarjak Patel and Naitry Saggu from 3rd Eye Consulting unveil a transformative framework. This approach seamlessly integrates your unique context, consumer insights, and conversion goals, paving the way for unparalleled success in personalization.
Top 3 Ways to Align Sales and Marketing Teams for Rapid GrowthDemandbase
In this session, Demandbase’s Stephanie Quinn, Sr. Director of Integrated and Digital Marketing, Devin Rosenberg, Director of Sales, and Kevin Rooney, Senior Director of Sales Development will share how sales and marketing shapes their day-to-day and what key areas are needed for true alignment.
10 Video Ideas Any Business Can Make RIGHT NOW!
You'll never draw a blank again on what kind of video to make for your business. Go beyond the basic categories and truly reimagine a brand new advanced way to brainstorm video content creation. During this masterclass you'll be challenged to think creatively and outside of the box and view your videos through lenses you may have never thought of previously. It's guaranteed that you'll leave with more than 10 video ideas, but I like to under-promise and over-deliver. Don't miss this session.
Key Takeaways:
How to use the Video Matrix
How to use additional "Lenses"
Where to source original video ideas
Core Web Vitals SEO Workshop - improve your performance [pdf]Peter Mead
Core Web Vitals to improve your website performance for better SEO results with CWV.
CWV Topics include:
- Understanding the latest Core Web Vitals including the significance of LCP, INP and CLS + their impact on SEO
- Optimisation techniques from our experts on how to improve your CWV on platforms like WordPress and WP Engine
- The impact of user experience and SEO
The What, Why & How of 3D and AR in Digital CommercePushON Ltd
Vladimir Mulhem has over 20 years of experience in commercialising cutting edge creative technology across construction, marketing and retail.
Previously the founder and Tech and Innovation Director of Creative Content Works working with the likes of Next, John Lewis and JD Sport, he now helps retailers, brands and agencies solve challenges of applying the emerging technologies 3D, AR, VR and Gen AI to real-world problems.
In this webinar, Vladimir will be covering the following topics:
Applications of 3D and AR in Digital Commerce,
Benefits of 3D and AR,
Tools to create, manage and publish 3D and AR in Digital Commerce.
Short video marketing has sweeped the nation and is the fastest way to build an online brand on social media in 2024. In this session you will learn:- What is short video marketing- Which platforms work best for your business- Content strategies that are on brand for your business- How to sell organically without paying for ads.
First Things First: Building and Effective Marketing Strategy
Too many companies (and marketers) jump straight into activation planning without formalizing a marketing strategy. It may seem tedious, but analyzing the mindset of your targeted audiences and identifying the messaging points most likely to resonate with them is time well spent. That process is also a great opportunity for marketers to collaborate with sales leaders and account managers on a galvanized go-to-market approach. I’ll walk you through the methods and tools we use with our clients to ensure campaign success.
Key Takeaways:
-Recognize the critical role of strategy in marketing
-Learn our approach for building an actionable, effective marketing strategy
-Receive templates and guides for developing a marketing strategy
Videos are more engaging, more memorable, and more popular than any other type of content out there. That’s why it’s estimated that 82% of consumer traffic will come from videos by 2025.
And with videos evolving from landscape to portrait and experts promoting shorter clips, one thing remains constant – our brains LOVE videos.
So is there science behind what makes people absolutely irresistible on camera?
The answer: definitely yes.
In this jam-packed session with Stephanie Garcia, you’ll get your hands on a steal-worthy guide that uncovers the art and science to being irresistible on camera. From body language to words that convert, she’ll show you how to captivate on command so that viewers are excited and ready to take action.
SEO as the Backbone of Digital MarketingFelipe Bazon
In this talk Felipe Bazon will share how him and his team at Hedgehog Digital share our journey of making C-Levels alike, specially CMOS realize that SEO is the backbone of digital marketing by showing how SEO can contribute to brand awareness, reputation and authority and above all how to use SEO to create more robust global marketing strategies.
Come learn how YOU can Animate and Illuminate the World with Generative AI's Explosive Power. Come sit in the driver's seat and learn to harness this great technology.
How to Use AI to Write a High-Quality Article that Ranksminatamang0021
In the world of content creation, many AI bloggers have drifted away from their original vision, resulting in low-quality articles that search engines overlook. Don't let that happen to you! Join us to discover how to leverage AI tools effectively to craft high-quality content that not only captures your audience's attention but also ranks well on search engines.
Disclaimer: Some of the prompts mentioned here are the examples of Matt Diggity. Please use it as reference and make your own custom prompts.
Most small businesses struggle to see marketing results. In this session, we will eliminate any confusion about what to do next, solving your marketing problems so your business can thrive. You’ll learn how to create a foundational marketing OS (operating system) based on neuroscience and backed by real-world results. You’ll be taught how to develop deep customer connections, and how to have your CRM dynamically segment and sell at any stage in the customer’s journey. By the end of the session, you’ll remove confusion and chaos and replace it with clarity and confidence for long-term marketing success.
Key Takeaways:
• Uncover the power of a foundational marketing system that dynamically communicates with prospects and customers on autopilot.
• Harness neuroscience and Tribal Alignment to transform your communication strategies, turning potential clients into fans and those fans into loyal customers.
• Discover the art of automated segmentation, pinpointing your most lucrative customers and identifying the optimal moments for successful conversions.
• Streamline your business with a content production plan that eliminates guesswork, wasted time, and money.
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. Today’s presentation
1. Marketing basics
– Your ‘why’
– Your ideal patient
– Your numbers
2. Marketing is everything
– Internal vs. external marketing
3. Existing patient retention
– Techniques
– Best practice
4. Time for questions
9. 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
10. Carolyn S Dean
• Managing Director - My Dental
Marketing
• Over 20 years marketing & sales
• 10 years in dental, health and
medical
11. 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
12. Dental Marketing Book
• Fully Booked - Dental marketing
secrets for a full appointment
book.
Your gift from
– Have a full appointment schedule
– Easily attract new patients
– Retain existing patients and grow
referrals
13. My Dental Marketing
• My Dental Marketing (est.2009)
Rebranded from Wellsites 2015
• Dental and Medical marketing
specialists
• 75% Dental / 25% Health & Medical
• 13 people – all in Australia
• Worked with over 300 practices
14.
15. 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
16. About You
• Owners / Managers / Team
• Are you responsible for marketing?
• How do you feel about your practice’s
online presence?
– Happy/neutral/unhappy
22. The Basics
Before any marketing can begin you need to know:
• Who you are
• Who your ideal patient is
• Your numbers
• Your goals
• A plan
23. Where do want your practice to be in 5 / 10 / 15 years time?
What do you hate doing?
What lifestyle do you want to have?
What do you love doing?
What to you believe in?
Why did you choose dentistry as your career?
Why are you different?
25. 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
27. 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?
28. 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?
29. 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.
30. 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
32. Know your numbers
• Average lifetime value patient
• Marketing spend
• Marketing return
• Marketing return of investment (ROI)
33. 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?
35. 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?
36. 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
37. Growth Goals & Marketing Budgets
• Your marketing budget depends on
growth goals.
• Growth – Rapid, Sustained or
Retention
• Expect to budget 2% – 10%
38. 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
39. Start with a plan
If you don’t plan then:
• You are very likely courting failure.
• You don’t know where you’re heading.
• You can’t evaluate whether your marketing
attempts have been successful.
40. Summary
• Plan – what are you trying to achieve?
• Know your numbers
• Track constantly
• Review regularly
43. External marketing
• What you do to attract new patients into
your practice and entice a patient to
contact you.
44. External marketing
• Print advertising
• Digital advertising
• Website content
• Blogging
• Social media marketing
• Direct marketing
• Practice marketing materials e.g. logo, business cards, letterhead, and
brochures
• Radio & TV commercials
• Yellow Pages advertisements
45. Internal marketing
• Everything you do to make certain that the
patient remains with your practice.
• To keep your existing patients and
reactivate dormant patients.
46. Internal marketing
• The reception area
• Practice brochures
• Phone communication
• Recalls
• Email newsletters
• On-hold marketing
• Patient satisfaction surveys
• Patient ‘thank you’s
• Rewards and referral programs
47. Which is right for you?
• What are you trying to achieve?
• Most likely you will need both internal and
external marketing strategies
49. Existing patient relationships
• Attracting patients is only the beginning.
• Build on the relationships with your existing
patients.
• Use the correct marketing techniques to
turn them into long-term patients.
50. Patient retention
• Existing patient base is a practice’s most
valuable marketing asset.
• Acquiring new patients 5 - 10 x the cost
of retaining an existing one.
51. Patient retention
• One main reason patients
leave a practice is that they
do not stay in touch.
• Regular communication
with your existing patients
is critical.
53. Email Newsletters Benefits
• Cost effective.
• Increase the lifetime value of
your clients.
• Use to reactivate clients.
• Instant measurement.
• They enhance your reputation
and increase lead generation.
• Use with clients and referring
practitioners.
56. Why get social?
• People buy from people
• They want to know you / who you are
• People want to know you care
• People want to know you are human and
feel relaxed when they see you
57.
58.
59. Social Summary
• Have fun
• Be real
• Share your passions
• Educate and inform
• Remember to ask for referrals / appointments /
ideas
• Increase your Google ranking!
61. Recalls
• One of the most important systems
• Best practice - multiple forms of
communication, e.g. SMS, post, and phone
call.
• Use to also market your practice with news
and patient education.
63. Incentive-based marketing
• People are procrastinators
• 81% of Australian consumers
purchased because of a
promotion
• Retain existing patients, attract
new patients, and sell a wider
array and services
64. Promotion Steps
• Plan – What are you trying to
achieve? What services?
Timing - When?
• Promote – Many touch
points
• Track – Which worked? What
was the ROI?
66. Practice open day
• Show the human side of your practice
• Say thank you to your existing patients
• Hello to your future patients.
• Opportunity to reach unlimited members of your
community.
• Make connections in a casual and relaxed
atmosphere
67. Open day planning
• Plan well – make the most of the opportunity
• Be approachable
• Offer freebies
• Gather details
• Take pictures
68. After your open day
What you do after the event is critical.
• Follow up!
• Send thank you’s
• Send a follow-up article to local paper.
• Post pictures on social media.
• Include the story in your newsletters.
70. On hold messaging
• Cost effective way to market.
• 70% of all callers are placed on hold.
• Average on-hold time is one minute.
• 90% of callers prefer informative messages
to silence or the radio.
71. On-hold messaging tips
• Your message must attract.
• It should be informative.
• It should always include a call to action.
72. On-hold messaging ideas
• Talk about your products and services.
• Promote specials and events.
• Reinforce your branding and positioning statements.
• Address your patient’s concerns or fears.
• Promote your online presence & social media.
• Introduce them to team members.
• Help them prepare for your appointment.
74. Patient referrals
• Long-term patients will always refer people to
you.
• 70 to 80% of new patients in a typical dental
practice are referred by current patients
• Referral programs maximises the benefits of
word of mouth.
75.
76. Referral program
• Formalised program
• Promoted program
• Need to be front of mind with patients
• To motivate your existing patients to refer your
practice.
• Top of mind when patients are talking to
people.
77. Referral program
• Needs to be front of mind when patients
are:
– in your practice
– when they leave your practice
– when they receive any communication from
you.
78.
79. Summary
• Pick your marketing carefully.
• Take your time.
• Market to the best of your ability and budget.
• Be consistent.
• Tracking your results.
• Set goals and review on a regular basis.
• Getting advice from trusted experts.
87. Email Newsletters
• Cost-effective.
• Enhance practice reputation.
• Educate patients.
• Increase the lifetime value of a
patient.
• Leverage marketing efforts.
88. Email Newsletters
• 12 x monthly email newsletters.
• We research, write, create and send.
• Your brand, your client database.
• 3 options:
– General dentistry / family
– General / cosmetic
– General / implant
• All we need are your patients emails
and your branding information
89. Email Newsletters
• 12 x monthly email newsletters.
• We research, write, create and send.
• Your brand, your client database.
• 3 options:
– General dentistry / family
– General / cosmetic
– General / implant
• All we need are your patients emails
and your branding information
Contact me
Carolyn Dean
02 9410 1507
carolyn@mydentalmarketing.com.au
www.mydentalmarketing.com.au
www.fullybookeddentists.com
“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
“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.
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.
Be Authentic
Ensure your online presence reflects the real world experience of
You
Your practice
Your patient’s experience
‘Fish where the fish are’
I was once given a most memorable piece of marketing advice, which has stuck with me to this day: ‘If you want to catch a fish, you need to fish where the fish are.’
This is a way of testing the suitability of any particular type of marketing. It starts with identifying your ideal patient, their behaviour patterns, and what media types they use. You can then test the suitably of any particular advertising against this knowledge.
For example, if your ideal patient is a young, child-free executive who wants cosmetic dentistry, then advertising in the Yellow Pages is a waste of money.
Depending on your practice, you’ll have a preference for where to focus your efforts, but most businesses will embrace both an online and print presence, albeit to different extents.
Getting to your ‘why’
In his book Start With Why, Simon Sinek says, ‘People don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it.’
Your friends don’t like you for what you do. They like you for who you are. The same is true for patients and employees. Many businesses have lost perspective. They know what they do, but have forgotten the reason.
Do you know why you are in business? Why did you set up and continue to run your practice? Why do you get up everyday to work in your practice? I mean, really, truly, and honestly, do you know your 'why'?
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
What does success mean to me?
What am I most passionate about?
In what way is my practice an extension of my passion?
If I could make a difference for anyone or anything, what would it be?
What are some small steps I can take to begin to make that difference?
How can I support or contribute to a cause, organisation, individual, or group that stands for something that is important to me?
Is my passion represented in my practice culture, mission, and vision?
Spend time answering these questions and you will likely find your 'why'. Knowing your purpose may compel you to take on challenges that will stretch you as much as they inspire you.
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
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.
External marketing
External marketing is what you do to attract new patients into your practice and entice a patient to contact you.
Examples of external marketing include:
Print advertising
Digital advertising
Website content
Blogging
Social media marketing
Direct marketing
Practice marketing materials, including logo, business cards, letterhead, and brochures
Radio & TV commercials
Yellow Pages advertisements
External marketing
External marketing is what you do to attract new patients into your practice and entice a patient to contact you.
Examples of external marketing include:
Print advertising
Digital advertising
Website content
Blogging
Social media marketing
Direct marketing
Practice marketing materials, including logo, business cards, letterhead, and brochures
Radio & TV commercials
Yellow Pages advertisements
Internal marketing
This is the marketing that you do to keep your existing patients and reactivate dormant patients. Internal marketing is how you communicate with your existing patients on every front; it is what you and your staff do after a patient calls you.
Internal marketing is critical as it is everything you do to make certain that the patient remains with your practice.
Examples of internal marketing include:
The reception area
Referral brochures
Wall art
Phone communication
Recalls
Email newsletters
Patient satisfaction surveys
Patient ‘thank you’s
Rewards programs for loyal patients
On-hold marketing
Internal marketing
This is the marketing that you do to keep your existing patients and reactivate dormant patients. Internal marketing is how you communicate with your existing patients on every front; it is what you and your staff do after a patient calls you.
Internal marketing is critical as it is everything you do to make certain that the patient remains with your practice.
Examples of internal marketing include:
The reception area
Referral brochures
Wall art
Phone communication
Recalls
Email newsletters
Patient satisfaction surveys
Patient ‘thank you’s
Rewards programs for loyal patients
On-hold marketing
So where do you start? Which type of marketing is best for you and your practice? Which is more important, internal marketing or external marketing?
Many people believe that one size fits all when it comes to marketing. A common perception is that your practice should be doing what their competitors are doing and that all types of marketing are suitable for all types of practices.
You need to think about what you are trying to achieve, who you are trying to market to, and what you want people to do when they see / hear a particular piece of marketing. Once again, this comes down to knowing your goals:
• Are you trying to attract new patients to your practice?
• Are you trying to reactivate your existing patients?
• Are you trying to get referrals?
Most likely, you need to have a combination of both types of marketing within your practice. A common mistake that we see when talking to dentists is that they are focused solely on external marketing and trying to get new patients, overlooking the huge value that can be achieved in utilising internal marketing.
The value of patient retention
Many practices make the mistake of focusing only on gaining new patients. They fail to effectively address the need to retain those they already have.
Did you know that the most valuable asset that a practice has is its existing patient base? Every practice wants and needs new patients, but your surest and most predictable source of new revenue is right under your nose. It comes from the loyal patients who already know your practice.
It’s also far easier (about 50% easier according to Marketing Metrics) to sell to existing patients than to brand new prospects. Acquiring new patients is expensive (five to ten times the cost of retaining an existing one), but the average spend of a repeat patient is a whopping 67% more.
There are further staggering statistics on the value of existing patient reactivation versus new patient acquisition:
The probability of selling to an existing patient is 60 to 70%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5 to 20% – Marketing Metrics.
A 2% increase in patient retention has the same effect as decreasing costs by 10% – Emmet Murphy & Mark Murphy.
Attracting new patients will cost your company five times more than keeping an existing patient – Lee Resource Inc.
A 5% reduction in the patient defection rate can increase profits by 5 to 95% – Bain & Company.
The value of patient retention
Many practices make the mistake of focusing only on gaining new patients. They fail to effectively address the need to retain those they already have.
Did you know that the most valuable asset that a practice has is its existing patient base? Every practice wants and needs new patients, but your surest and most predictable source of new revenue is right under your nose. It comes from the loyal patients who already know your practice.
It’s also far easier (about 50% easier according to Marketing Metrics) to sell to existing patients than to brand new prospects. Acquiring new patients is expensive (five to ten times the cost of retaining an existing one), but the average spend of a repeat patient is a whopping 67% more.
There are further staggering statistics on the value of existing patient reactivation versus new patient acquisition:
The probability of selling to an existing patient is 60 to 70%, while the probability of selling to a new prospect is 5 to 20% – Marketing Metrics.
A 2% increase in patient retention has the same effect as decreasing costs by 10% – Emmet Murphy & Mark Murphy.
Attracting new patients will cost your company five times more than keeping an existing patient – Lee Resource Inc.
A 5% reduction in the patient defection rate can increase profits by 5 to 95% – Bain & Company.
Why you should consider using social media
There is a lot of talk about social media marketing for business. Some dental practices are jumping on the social media bandwagon. Other dental practices have an intuitive hunch that there is something to all of this, but they’re just not yet sure what it is.
I get asked all the time, ‘Do I really need social media for my dental practice?’
The staggering statistics speak for themselves. In May 2015, Facebook had fourteen million Australian users and YouTube had over thirteen million users. A recent survey in the USA found that 92% of orthodontists used Facebook, followed by 72% of general dentists, and 70% of paediatric dentists.
Maximising recalls
An effective recall procedure is the best way to keep patients attending regularly. This obviously needs to run alongside educating your patients on the importance of visiting regularly. Recall is one of the most important systems that you can organise in your practice.
Successful recall systems require your practice to employ the right systems and communication channels with patients, and it will require your whole team to be on board with the same message.
The key to a successful continuing care program is to make sure that it is a routine task, just like putting in payments or making a deposit. It is too easy for patients to fall through the cracks. Most patients do not keep up with their continuing care due dates. However, most treatment is scheduled following a recall appointment. This is why it is crucial to make sure that your recall system is rock solid.
Recall best practice
An effective recall system is critical to running any successful practice and yet surprisingly few practices have any type of effective process in place and many allow patients to fall down the ‘recall hole’. The more effectively you remind your patients, the less they will put off their care.
The best way is to use multiple forms of communication, e.g. SMS, post, and phone call. Studies show that, historically, a recall system based on one communication with patients would be likely to result in 50% effectiveness whereas sending three recall messages each using different media can result in recall effectiveness as high as 85%.
Paper-based recalls is the commonly used method, yet text messaging is an incredibly effective way to communicate with your patients concerning recalls. Think about it – most people who receive a text read it pretty much instantly.
Practice management software and recalls
There are some great practice management software packages that can fully automate your recall and reminder systems. By using software automation, you can achieve high success rates as the automation removes the reliance on your team, leaving them to spend more time communicating personally with your patients.
It is important for your practice management software to include a recall system that your staff can understand and use. If your software is too complicated, look into getting a new software system or offer training to your staff.
Contact your practice management software supplier and see if you can arrange some time with a consultant to learn and set up your software to maximise its recall functionality.
Monitor your recalls
Examining your recall rate and hygiene recall rates are really important measures for your dental business.
Use recalls to market your practice
Recalls are another opportunity for you to market to your patients. Don’t just send the recall – add in a marketing message. Include some collateral in the envelope with your recall reminder, or on the card, or in the text message.
Incentive-based marketing
People are procrastinators; particularly when it comes to dentistry, they need a reason to come back in to see you. Incentive-based marketing is a great way to get your patients to come back in.
Promotions work. The statistics show this, with more than 81% of Australian consumers having purchased a product because of a promotional offer, and almost 40% having done so in the past thirty days.
By using the right promotions, retain existing patients, attract new patients, and sell a wider array of products and services to patients who have traditionally participated in a very small segment of what you offer. Incentives can help you leverage the power of referral-based marketing, too. More practices than ever are using this strategy to drive growth.
IMI International Research Australia
Planning your promotions
When thinking about what promotions and incentives you are going to have, think about:
What you are trying to achieve.
What your goals are for the promotion.
What your budget is to run the promotion.
What systems you have in place to track the conversion and ROI of the promotion.
Promoting your incentives
The key to making your incentives as successful as possible is to publicise them as widely as possible. You may have the most amazing promotions in place but if nobody knows about them, what is the point? You need to publicise them and market them across as many of your patient touch points as possible:
On social media.
On your website.
In your email newsletters.
In your practice (have posters and postcards in your practice).
In a letter or postcard.
In a phone call to patients telling them about a promotion and what it means to them.
Most importantly, all of your staff need to know and understand the promotions that you are running and they need to be talking about them to all of the patients they come into contact with.
Tracking your promotions
As with all marketing campaigns, it is critical to track your promotions. Did they convert? What was the ROI of each campaign? Did people understand the campaign clearly or did they ask lots of questions that you had to answer?
I guarantee that some of the promotions will not covert and also some of them will. You need to know which promotions to run again, which ones you need to tweak, and which ones to kill off. Without tracking, how will you ever know?
As part of judging the success or failure of a promotion, you need to analyse the people that your promotion attracts. Did the patient that was attracted by the promotion stay or just come in for that one procedure, never to be seen again? All promotions need to be focused on attracting and retaining your ideal patient.
Holding a dental open house event
In my opinion, there is really no more friendly way to say thank you to your existing patients and hello to your future patients than to open your doors up wide and invite them in. This is a wonderful opportunity to reach unlimited members of the community.
Your open house gives you the opportunity to make connections in a casual and relaxed atmosphere, when you and your staff are not on the job.
When you might hold an open house:
Annually.
To show off a new premises or refurbishment.
During the school holidays, as a children’s event.
When the practice is under new management or has a significant change in new practitioners.
For a special anniversary (e.g. eighteen years in business).
Exhibiting at an event
There are many opportunities for you and your practice to showcase your business at local events. These may be local trade shows, community street fairs, or special events that allow for stalls and stands. These can be an ideal way for you to go out and meet the people in your community.
Evaluation
The first question for any practice considering exhibiting at any event is: ‘Why are we doing this?’ Answers like ‘because we were there last year’ or ‘because everyone else is there’ aren’t good enough. You need to evaluate:
Who attends this show? Is this your ideal patient?
How many people will be attending?
Is this a good use of your time and money?
If you have exhibited at this event in the past, what was the marketing ROI for this (was it a 3:1 return or higher)?
Pre-planning
Having a stand and exhibiting can take a significant amount of time, money, and effort, so plan it carefully. Questions for your team to answer include:
What will you exhibit?
What will your ideal patients want to know or see when visiting your stand?
What do you specifically want to do at this event? E.g. get leads, increase brand awareness, etc.
The answers to these questions will be the basis for your show strategy. Set realistic goals for each show you attend.
Pre-promotion
An important step that is often missed is to let people know that you will be there before the event. Publish a blog post announcing this, share the information on social media, and add it to your newsletters. You may also wish to put an advert in your local newspaper.
Let your existing clients know that you will be at the event – tell them about any offers or gifts. And ask them to bring along any of their friends that they think could be interested in finding out more about the practice.
On your stand
Think about what you can offer or show to bring people to engage with you and your team and not just walk past. You will get many people who just hover at your stand, so create a list of questions that could be used to open a conversation with people.
Think about what you want to tell people at the event. What are the important messages that you want to get across? Also script the answers to standard questions.
Be friendly, be approachable, and be open. People like to talk to warm, friendly people. Try to stay standing for as much of the time as you can and make a rule that your team cannot use their phones while on the stand. There is nothing less friendly than walking past a stand where people are all sitting and looking at their mobile phones.
Connecting with people
Gathering people’s details is incredibly important. When taking their information, prepare your new contacts for future connection by telling them that you’ll follow up. This also makes you accountable.
There are a variety of ways you can connect with people:
1) Social media
Social media is a good no-pressure platform to slowly nurture your new connections. If you met someone but didn’t make any real plans to follow up, this may be the best place to start.
2) Email
Send an email a day or two after the conference. Remind your contact how you met and mention a highlight or two from your conversation. If you can think of anything that might help them (a brochure, link to an informative video, offer of a free visit to talk about a procedure), make sure to send it to them.
3) Telephone
If someone gave you their contact information, expecting you to call to follow up, make sure you do it. They may actually be waiting for you to call.
Follow-up
Prepare follow-up materials you will use to follow up and facilitate the close. It is important to have everything printed and assembled in advance, thus allowing the follow-up to happen within a day or two of the event. It is inconceivable to spend money to exhibit and not have an effective follow-up system in place.
Equally important is making contact with the prospective patient to confirm receipt of the information, as well as offering any additional materials that might prove helpful.
• Make sure to promptly follow up all contacts.
• Follow through with all planned and promised discounts and special offers.
• Summarise what happened at the event on your social media pages and website.
After the event
What you do after the event is critical. You have spent a significant amount of time, money, and energy, and now it’s time to follow up.
Send thank you notes to all of your guests and any businesses that participated in the event.
Call prize-winners to come in to the office and collect their gift. Make sure that you take their picture to display on social media and in your newsletters (remember to get approval).
Send a follow-up article and pictures to the local paper.
Post pictures of the event on social media sites.
Include the story in your newsletters.
Starting a referral program
A referral program (also known as word-of-mouth marketing) entails having some formal procedure in place to motivate your existing patients to refer their friends, family, and colleagues to your practice. Its aim is to make your practice top of mind when patients are talking to their new neighbour or workmate. You need to have a formalised referral program that rewards and recognises patients for referring business to you. A successful referral program increases your average patient lifetime value.
Many happy patients fail to actively refer others to a practice once they leave their appointment. They just don’t think about it.
For a successful referral program:
It needs to be front of mind when patients are in your practice (envision posters on all the walls talking about your program, or a white board saying thank you to the patients who have referred to you, with a list of their names and what they received as a thanks).
It needs to be front of mind when patients leave your practice (consider giving them referral cards to keep in their pocket or handbag).
It needs to be front of mind when patients receive any form of communication from you (ensure reminders and emails mention the benefits of making referrals).