With more than a decade of experience in corporate dental laboratory marketing and brand development, Jackie Ulasewich Cullen decided to take her passion for the dental business and marketing to the next level by founding My Dental Agency with co-founder Shawn Berg. Since starting her company, she and her team have helped a wide variety of practices all over the nation focus their message, reach their target audience, and increase their sales through effective marketing campaigns.

Asking patients for a review puts you in a vulnerable position. You hope they will leave positive feedback, but what if they don’t and their not so flattering review is online for everyone to read. In the past, this hesitancy to ask any and all customers to leave a review led businesses to filter candidates, a process known as “review-gating”. It was a common practice and in fact, we did this for our clients years ago, too. Not long ago, however, Google and other credible review sites put a stop to it and for good reason. Like Google, we noticed it wasn’t helping our clients, but actually hurting them in the long run.

To Gate Or Not To Gate

As a newly minted dental school graduate, you’re probably eager to get your practice up and running. While you are trained in providing dental care, you may find that getting new patients requires another set of skills. Growing your dental practice isn’t necessarily an “if you build it, they will come” endeavor. Taking marketing shortcuts in the beginning may cost even more money in a few years if you need to fix components like your website or online ads. Marketing can be overwhelming, but there are foundational elements that will help set you on the right track.

Do It Right the First Time

When you write a book that becomes a #1 best seller on Amazon, your first reaction might be to pop the champagne corks and start celebrating. That’s not quite what’s happening here at the My Dental Agency offices. While our book, Dental Disruption: The Decade That Changed Dentistry, is now a #1 best seller on Amazon, we are feeling grateful and humbled more than anything.

Dental Disruption: The Decade That Changed Dentistry

Video is one of the most effective ways to quickly engage with patients and tell them about you and your practice. It personalizes the information on your website and social media pages, giving people a sneak-peak into you as a person. Whether you’ve used video as part of your marketing before or would like to start, there are 2 great ways to use it on your website and in your marketing.

2 Great Ways To Use Video On Your Website and In Your Marketing

Instagram is the next big thing! Does social media advertising even work? Twitter. Get on Twitter ASAP! Emails, does anyone read them?

Does marketing confuse you? We don’t blame you if it does. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with a deluge of conflicting information about what works and doesn’t work when it comes to marketing your practice. While everyone is looking for a silver bullet, focus on these 4 tried and true dental marketing strategies that actually work.

4 Dental Marketing Strategies That Actually Work

Google My Business has added some exciting new updates that will enhance your business listing and help your practice stand out online. The features give you more control over your listing and allow you to be more strategic with marketing your practice. With Google putting more emphasis on them, it also means that it’s more important than ever to keep your listing current and complete.

New Features for Google Listings

This article originally appeared in the July/2019 issue of the Academy of General Dentistry’s AGD Impact magazine.

You take great pride in offering the highest quality dentistry available. You invest in the best equipment, attend training sessions to grow professionally and hold memberships in the most renowned organizations. Therefore, you don’t feel obligated to offer discounted treatments. Aren’t patients willing to pay for quality treatment?

The short answer is yes, but competing in a market that is saturated with businesses offering specials and discounts can be tricky. To resonate with the right patients, you have to appeal to their appreciation of excellence.

How to Compete With Discount Dental Practices