Dental marketing is seen as an essential component for a successful dental business. For many dental practices, marketing isn’t a natural skill for them, and they need to place trust in marketing teams to deliver an effective strategy.
Just because as a dentist you’re not very knowledgable on dental marketing, it doesn’t mean that you cannot become successful at it. The job of a dentist is to treat patients for their oral health, and one of the myths surrounding dental marketing is that it will only lead to success if a dentist is a marketer themselves.
This, alongside many other misleading myths, has caused dentists to think twice about dental marketing. It is essential in this day and age. If you’re a dentist reading this and are wondering whether the below misleading myths are true, we’re here to squash them entirely to change your perception of dental marketing, and get to work in making your dental practice a true success.
The Four Myths
The Results Are Immediate
If you come across a marketing company or consultant that promotes immediate results, it is likely that you’re being scammed. Of course, quick results are possible, but there are a number of significant factors that come into play to ensure your strategy is as effective as possible. Clean and sustainable results from your strategy takes time, exposure of your brand takes time, building a strong reputation takes time. Results are never guaranteed straight away, so do not fall into this trap if you develop a marketing strategy.
Word Of Mouth Is Enough
Yesteryear, word of mouth was considered very effective to build your patient portfolio and increase awareness. Today, not so much. An actual marketing strategy is now essential in order to showcase your brand, target your patients and leverage your advertising. With the demographic of an online audience now being the driving force for marketers to reach out to, patients will expect to be contacted and attracted through marketing, and not by simply “spreading the word” anymore. You need to expose your brand online to gain the attention of your audience, such as through social media profiles, content marketing and a quality dental website.
Established Practices Trump Marketing
Back in the day, it took a huge amount of effort to even get a dental practice established to local communities with a positive reputation. Online dental marketing has totally changed this. Newly-formed practices won’t need years to build their reputation and brand, because an effective marketing strategy, when done right, can help you build your patient base and reputation within months. The playing field has spread even more, and now it’s not only local communities you need to cater for. Now, prospective patients are anywhere, and they can now be contacted from almost anywhere. Sure, an established practice can be considered successful, but would it be sustainable without a dental marketing strategy?
Cheap Marketing Will Yield Results
Marketing budgets can understandably be difficult to address. One thing is for sure, dentists are likely to be advised by marketing partners, and agreeing on a cheap marketing budget will lead to high expectations, but zero results. You cannot expect to expand your brand to the wider community without spending on the necessary resources to continue to attract new patients. You’re expected to continue to spend on your strategy year on year to keep up with evolving patient demands and competitor spending. A suitable sized budget may be necessary to overtake your competitors whilst yielding a high volume of results. It’s not just about what you spend, it is also how you spend it as well. Hence, leaning on marketing professionals will ensure your budget is used efficiently for maximum results.
To Conclude…
If you pay attention to these myths, you’re likely to be put off from any aspect of online marketing. If you’re reading this as a new dentist or have recently opened a dental practice, hiring marketing professionals is going to be one of the key decisions you’ll ever make. Your practice is simply unsustainable without a dental marketing strategy, and to be highly-competitive, consider hiring a marketing expert as soon as possible to start building your strategy towards success.
Are you a new dental practice ready to set up your marketing strategy to expand your brand and beat the competition? Contact us at Smile and Grow today and we’d be happy to help.
