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The Dental Marketing X-Files with Xaña Winans
The Dental Marketing X-Files with Xaña Winans
Dental marketing can be filled with confusing, conflicting advice that leads to frustration. In The Dental Marketing X-Files with Xaña Winans, we'll reveal what works and why, and what you can ignore. In dental marketing, "the truth is out there."
Blog By:
Xana Winans
Xana Winans

Does Your Dental Marketing Have a Cavity? Don't Wait Till It Hurts.

Does Your Dental Marketing Have a Cavity? Don't Wait Till It Hurts.

11/5/2018 6:35:14 AM   |   Comments: 0   |   Views: 54
It doesn't hurt, so why do I need to have this cavity filled?
I'm willing to bet that as a dentist, you hear this feedback on a near weekly basis. Patients come in for a routine checkup and a cleaning, thinking everything is fine (because after all, if it doesn't hurt it must be okay as is), and dig their heels in when you diagnose a cavity and recommend a filling. Even though you know that early intervention will save more tooth structure and cost less than the eventual crown or implant they'll need, why spend good money on repairing something that doesn't look or feel "broken"? 

The same can be said of your dental marketing. You've been doing the same old thing for years, and it seems fine. You've got new dental patients, your schedule is full more weeks than not, and nothing hurts too much. Okay, maybe you feel a little twinge when you hear your front office flub a new patient call. And sure, last month new patients were slower than usual, but they call it "Suck-tember" for a reason, right? Wrong. In reality, those little things add up to a big future pain point for you. 

This time of year you're probably swamped. There's end of year employee reviews, budgeting, holiday parties and more. Don't put your dental marketing in auto-pilot just because it's doing "okay" and there's a lot on your plate. Instead, this is the time to really review what's working and what needs some love.

Who is your perfect marketing partner?

The ROI tells the story
To really understand what's working in your dental marketing and what needs to go, you need to accurately measure the ROI of each strategy. If you're not using call tracking numbers, or making sure that your team is documenting new patient referral sources every single time, you're only taking a guess. We use Smart Market Dental, software that tells the full story of the impact of your marketing. With only a few clicks, we can tell exactly how many leads were generated, how many converted, how much treatment was diagnosed and how much was produced and collected. It makes it very simple to learn where dollars are being wasted and pinpoints what to fix to improve results.

What marketing to change in 2019
Once you know the ROI of your 2018 investment, you can make smart decisions that will drive your plans for 2019. Anything with less than a 2:1 ROI is up for immediate removal. If a strategy has been in place for at least a year, it should be paying for itself by now. Anything with a 5:1 ROI or above should get a larger share of your marketing dollars. Really, if you knew you would get $5000 for every $1000 you put in the stock market, you'd give it all your money, right? The same goes for your dental marketing.

Who is your perfect marketing partner?
Are you getting enough attention?
Besides measuring just the marketing, you may want to evaluate the impact of your dental marketing company relationship. Are you getting everything you need and deserve? Do they serve as a true strategic partner with regular review calls and guidance, or are they phoning it in with emailed reports once a month (or worse, once a quarter?). Decide what you want from your investment, and demand better. 

A little effort now will save a lot of pain later
Making time for thoughtful marketing planning now is going to prevent you a lot of headaches in the future. Schedule an hour a week into your calendar to review your marketing KPI's, ensure you are hitting your new patient and practice metric targets, and to decide if you need to course-correct before it's too late. Regular maintenance of your marketing is just like a cleaning and exam on a patient. It will catch problems early and keep it healthy and improving. Supervised neglect however, is sure to turn into an emergency root canal later on.

If you're looking for an objective review of your 2018 results, schedule with a Golden Proportions Marketing representative today at 570-742-5656 or email us at info@goldenproportions.com. 

who is your perfect marketing partner?

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