Here is a guide to help you get your marketing right.

If every practice did everything on this list, then it would level the playing field. However, every practice has a different level of commitment to their marketing. Also, practices are ultimately limited in their abilty to treat because of physical limitations in opening hours, no of practitioners, no of chairs, etc.

• Laying the foundations in your practice
  • Outside your practice
    • Signage
      • Ensure your practice is clearly identifiable as a dental practice. Regardless of the name of your practice, no matter how clever, make sure your signage also says something like Dentist, Dental Practice, Dental Surgery etc. This is what the public understands. The name of your practice may be used in your advertising, for example, which helps to create "brand awareness", however, for anyone passing by who has not seen your advert, they may not realise that you are actually a dental practice. Basically, don't make it hard for people to know what you do.
      • Include secondary signage that explains what you offer. Connecting with a patient's "personal need" may prompt the patient to visit your practice. Patients don't really understand the finer points of dentistry, so it is important that you use "outcomes" patients are looking for rather than explaining dental "processes". Patients, for example, want "A Whiter Smile". When they are in your chair, you can then assess the best way to achieve that. This could simply be teeth whitening or it could require veneers, orthodontics, crowns, etc, etc. It is impossible to explain all of that in a sign, so promote the outcomes patients are looking for. A patient may walk past your practice every day and see the word dentist and never make contact because they only think they need to visit the dentist when they are in pain. However, if you put up signage that says "Straight teeth, no braces" as promoted by Invisalign, then suddenly the patient remembers that they have never been happy with their crooked teeth but also never wanted braces. Suddently you have connected with the patient and they make contact. This may sound really simple, but marketing mostly is.
  • Inside your practice
  • xx
• Internal marketing
  • Daily
  • Leveraging your database
    • x
    • Free exams