Being in-network with various dental insurance providers consumes the major portion of a dental practice’s marketing budget. If your practice relies heavily on insurance networks to attract new patients, you are essentially paying for marketing by accepting lower fees for services. Many dentists see this as a fair trade-off. Others, however, wish there was a better way, and that is when they begin to consider transitioning away from dental insurance to a fee-for-service model.
Every dentist and dental practice defines success differently. For many dental practices, success can mean more brand/practice awareness within the community, fewer patients but higher revenue, or an influx of new patients — or some combination of these things. That’s the beauty of success — it can’t be defined in a singular way, and anyone can have it on their own terms as long as they have a clear goal in mind and a plan to achieve it.
Part of marketing your practice is telling your story to the people you are trying to reach so they feel like they know you before they ever come through the doors. One of the best and most powerful ways to do that is through video, and these days, there is a wide variety of video styles to choose from. It is easier than ever for a dental practice to take advantage of the video + social media combination to boost the effectiveness of its marketing.
As a dental practice owner, you are an expert in all things dentistry. But when it comes to the marketing side of things, are there some concepts that perhaps you’re not completely familiar with? There is a lot of terminology in marketing, and sorting it all out can be a little confusing, especially because some terms can have slightly different meanings depending on the context. Let’s break down the most common marketing terms to make them a little less intimidating.
If your marketing seems generic or (heaven forbid) boring, it’s time to wake it up! Customizing content, telling your story, focusing on patient needs, and having a solid strategy in place will make your marketing more interesting without making it “weird”, and you will notice that the quality and quantity of patients coming to your practice will improve.
Business leaders young and old face the same problem — how to form a solid team that will work hard to promote the business’s success. Whether it’s a new business or an established one, the people you recruit will be crucial to your survival.
There are plenty of patients for every dental practice to be successful, which is why we never want our clients to obsess over what others are doing as far as pricing, promotions, or advertising. However, we do actively encourage them to stay aware of what is going on around them in general.
Has your marketing strategy been producing the results you want? Do you feel like your efforts are falling flat? Perhaps it’s time to take a good look at your current marketing strategy and make some changes. Implementing three simple strategies could vastly improve the marketing results for your practice.
When something doesn’t go exactly the way we want it to, it’s easy to point fingers at external factors. We are not usually inclined to admit that we ourselves may be responsible for the undesirable outcome.
Is your practice taking advantage of every sales opportunity that comes its way during the day? Does your staff know what sales leads look like? Surprisingly, while many dental practices believe they are capitalizing on all the opportunities they receive to sell to patients, they are actually not.
