Step 1: Develop a Strategy
Your dental marketing plan starts with a strategy. Your strategy outlines the long-term goal (or goals) that will help you grow your dental practice. Examples of dental marketing strategies include the following:
- Add new patients
- Open new locations
- Expand dental services offered
- Build loyalty among current patients
With your strategy identified, set a specific, measurable, realistic goal. For example, if adding new patients is a strategy, your goal might be: increase new patients by 5%. If you decide to build loyalty among current patients, your goal could be: get 25% of current patients to schedule a second check-up.
To help you solidify your dental marketing strategy or strategies for 2019, answer the following questions:
- What is your vision for your practice? To answer this, describe your current patient base and the services you provide. Are you family-focused with affordable services? Do you specialize in premium services for and target adults? After you describe your current practice, think about where you want to go next. Do you want to continue with your current vision, or do you want to expand? You can achieve growth with your current framework, but if you’re going to expand, it’s important to define your new path.
- What resources do you have available to achieve your goals? Confirm the time, personnel, and money you can allocate to your dental patient marketing strategies. You may need to prioritize if you have more than one strategy and limited resources.
- What are your current dental marketing activities and how well are they working? An honest appraisal of your outreach efforts includes measuring the return you’re getting on your existing investment. How many patients did you get in the last year? How many return visits were scheduled? Did the increase in business come from your advertising, word-of-mouth, or physician referrals?