Over the last few weeks the team at Dental Media has collated data from numerous accounts to investigate which dentists are actually winning the marketing wars \u2013 so who is doing what and at what cost, to secure new patient enquiries.<\/p>\n
The analysis is ongoing and the results will be the subject of future blogs; however there are three general conclusions which are already apparent – 1) In general UK dentists don\u2019t spend enough on marketing, many nothing at all, 2) those who start early and budget appropriately win the marketing wars and 3) those who do it right, quickly extend their lead over their competitors. That probably seems quite predictable, but given the general reluctance to budget and plan marketing appropriately within the UK dental sector, it’s well worth reiterating.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s take a closer look at each of these elements and how the information can be used to inform the business strategy for your own dental practice.<\/p>\n
This is particularly the case when you compare to other countries such as the US or indeed general businesses in the UK. Very often we see that dentists have a website and then do little else, perhaps some ad hoc social media marketing or some DIY Google Ads. There may also be some website SEO happening, but even this is far from the norm.<\/p>\n
This is somewhat peculiar given that it\u2019s very easy to show that websites which are prominent on Google are excellent for attracting new dental patients<\/a> and payback on SEO is fast. It\u2019s also easy to demonstrate that social media, done well and consistently, can deliver excellent return on investment.<\/p>\n Despite the data and evidence to show just how well professional marketing contributes to a dental business, there still seems to be a disconnect for many dentists in the UK. There is often a focus on the sum of money needed to introduce and maintain marketing, rather than the payback which it can deliver. This failure to invest leads to business growth stagnating unnecessarily.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We know from our work with a number of long-standing marketing \u201csavvy\u201d dentists that those who start their initiatives early and remain consistent, win out. Typically there are 2 or 3 dentists in every area who \u201cget it\u201d and know what they need to do ensure that the web and other promotional channels deliver a consistent flow of new patients.<\/p>\n The teams that are successful typically run holistic marketing\/advertising campaigns and understand that they need to exploit most or all of the available channels including:<\/p>\n Those practices that understand the need for holistic marketing will budget for it appropriately, assess the return on investment and be prepared to adjust and innovate depending on results.<\/p>\nStart marketing early to build momentum<\/h3>\n
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