Why does a patient choose one dental practice over another? Does it have to do with location, insurance or state-of-the-art equipment? Perhaps that’s how the search starts. However, once a prospective patient has narrowed down his or her choices and fills out online appointment requests, more often than not their choice will depend on which practice responds the fastest.
New year, new you, as the saying goes. Everyone is making their New Year’s resolutions, vowing to eat better, exercise more, volunteer at shelter, and begin composting in the backyard. And while those are all great things on a personal level, they won’t do much to help your dental practice. So, let’s think about making some New Year’s Marketing Resolutions to start the year off with a bang and hopefully avoid some costly mistakes.
Marketing agencies are everywhere, but not all are created equal when it comes to dental practices. If you want the best chance at success, your marketing agency shouldn’t just be a company that you do business with occasionally. It should be a strategic partner and an asset to your practice. That is why it’s important to find an agency you can really work with closely, one that shares your values, and one you can see yourself working with over the long term. Otherwise, you’re likely to end up spending hard-earned money to get little benefit. How can you know if you’ve chosen the right marketing agency for your practice? Look at three things: approach, philosophy, and the quality of new-patient leads.
A popular marketing adage states: “When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise.” This is a fitting attitude given the COVID-19 pandemic, but of course you would expect a marketing agency to say that.
What is the single most important resource for a dental practice? Most dentists would say time. There just never seems to be enough of it. When we talk to practices about investing in a marketing campaign, invariably one of the first questions is, “How much extra time will it take me or my team each day?” And our response is, none. We’ve got it all worked out.
This time of year many practices are embracing the holidays with decorations in the office, holiday music in the waiting area, and gift exchanges among the staff. But this year, you could be the best Santa ever. You could give your entire practice a gift – one that lasts well beyond the holiday season and extends into the new year!
MDA co-founder Jackie Cullen and podcast host Dr. Wes Blakeslee discuss what to do in the October edition of the AGD Podcast
There’s no doubt about it—MDA has the most amazing clients (who also happen to recognize the power of marketing even when the market gets tough) and of course, an incredible team. So, I wanted to dedicate some time to thanking everyone who makes MDA possible and everyone who has helped us grow this year.
Using the same marketing strategies year after year is a grave mistake, but many dental practices have yet to embrace the bone-efits of digital marketing. Digital marketing doesn’t have to be frightening. In fact, it can be a real treat for your bottom line. In this special Halloween edition of our blog, we want to demystify digital marketing to show you why most practices are dying to get on board.
Today, more and more businesses are turning to text messaging as an important value-added tool in their marketing and customer retention arsenal. From contacting new patients to treatment promotions and appointment reminders, text messaging patients is the wave of the future. No one wants their new patient leads to go to the practice down the street because they weren’t as fast or as targeted in the way they responded. With text messaging as part of a practice’s lead response protocol, that won’t happen anymore.
