Why Investing in a Solid Marketing Strategy is Critical Before Advertising Your Dental Practice

Having a well-thought-out marketing strategy is essential for any business, but it's especially important when it comes to advertising your dental practice. Gone are the days of advertising in the Yellow Pages, and you were done. Today, the marketing options are literally endless and depend entirely on what you are trying to achieve.

A strategic marketing plan will allow you to identify your ideal patients, target them more effectively, develop content that aligns with their interests and needs, and stand out from other local practices and dental providers, becoming the obvious choice.

In this blog post, I'll discuss what a marketing strategy is and why it's critical to have one before advertising your dental practice.

What is a marketing strategy?

Marketing strategy can sound like a complex topic, but in reality, it's simply a plan to reach your business goals through specific tactics, or actions. A well-crafted marketing strategy can help to build brand awareness, increase patient retention, and ultimately drive sales. When putting together your plan, consider the patients you want to attract and what will resonate with them most. Whether it's social media advertising, email campaigns, or traditional advertising methods, a strategic approach can help to ensure your message is heard loud and clear, in a place where your ideal patients can discover you.

Why invest in marketing strategy before promoting your dental business?

It's not enough to have a great practice or service, you need to package and present it in a way that resonates with patients, naturally generating more enquiries. No matter the size of your dental practice, developing a comprehensive marketing strategy that aligns with your dental business goals is crucial for long-term success.

With the rise of digital marketing and the explosion of social media over the past 10+ years, patients are more informed and educated on their options, more cautious before handing over their hard-earned cash, and also most importantly, more distracted with the constant bombarding of ads and their busy lives in general.

Social media is a great way to reach potential customers, especially since so many people rely on it for their dental information. Creating content that resonates with your target audience and sharing it across multiple platforms will help spread the word about your practice. But where do you start? Which social media platform do you choose? Do you need to be on all of them? What do you post? What do you say? What do you do when you receive negative comments? All very valid questions and concerns.

Even as a seasoned marketer, it can be really hard to keep up with trends, new features and algorithm changes - on all of the platforms, all of the time. People are employed full-time to solely 'do marketing' in some businesses. Know that you are not alone and it's not unusual to feel overwhelmed. I get it.

Without a strategy, it can be tempting to post any ol' thing on your social media profiles, maybe diluting your efforts and posting on all the social media platforms under the sun. A bit here, a bit there. It's not very effective and it can become a chore if you don't have systems to help you generate ideas or post consistently (I too am guilty of this!) You're so busy with patients (or clients in my case) and running your practice, posting on social media is yet another thing to do. It's really easy to 'just post something', every now and then, when you have time. Sporadically. I feel your pain.

However, if you don't have a concrete 'why' you are posting on your social media, then you are missing the point. Posting on your accounts is a hobby if you're not using these platforms for what you should be - as effective business tools. This is when people throw in the towel and state that social media doesn't work for them. It does, they're just using it incorrectly - they don't understand what it is for, how to use it properly and more often than not, they don't have a decent (or any) strategy.

I always use this analogy when explaining strategy to my clients... you wouldn't go on holiday without a strategy.

Let me explain.

Normally, before you jet off, you know the dates you have booked off work, the destination you are flying to, how to pack appropriate clothes for the climate, you've worked out what time the flight is, how long it takes to get through security, the fact you need to limit liquids in your hand luggage, what time to leave for the airport, and most importantly, which flight you are getting on! You don't just rock up to the airport and get on the first flight out of Blighty, then complain you haven't packed accordingly or moan about where in the world you ended up.

A marketing strategy for your practice should be no different.

Decide on what you want to achieve (your destination) and work back from there. So if you can get to your holibobs in one piece, relatively unscathed, then you aren't as bad at strategy as you think and you can piece together a marketing strategy for your business. It just takes some time engaging the ol' grey matter, time that you don't have a lot of, I appreciate.

It's important to remember that marketing isn't a one-size-fits-all approach, and your strategy should be tailored to fit yourunique business needs. No template found on the internet, or the latest hack is going to do that for you, and what works for the practice down the road is not necessarily going to work for you. Other factors at play may not be obvious from the outside looking in.

By taking the time to develop a thoughtful marketing strategy, you can set your business up for success by maximising your marketing budget and creating lasting relationships with your patients, which will help with word-of-mouth referrals. Not bad outcomes eh?

Conclusion (TL;DR)

Having a well-thought-out marketing strategy is essential for any business, but especially for dental practices, as time and resources are under pressure. It's important to consider your unique needs and create a plan that works specifically for you, as no template found online will be able to do this for you. What works for one practice, may not work for you and if you can organise a holiday, then you can draft a marketing strategy for your dental business.

Taking the time to develop an effective strategy can help prevent wasted time on the wrong things, maximise the ROI for your budget, generate more enquiries and nurture lasting relationships with your patients. In short, having a tailored marketing strategy is key to the long-term success of your dental business.

So what about you? Do you have a strategy for your dental business or are you winging it?