Have your marketing efforts gone stagnant? Are you afraid of marketing altogether? Are you interested in marketing your practice, but don’t know where to begin? Today, there are more ways than ever for you to let your community know about what you do in dentistry, and you are remiss if you are ignoring these opportunities. It’s time to take positive steps toward impactful marketing for your dental practice.

When it comes to attracting patients who are the right fit for your practice, nothing beats the results you can get from personalized, purpose-driven marketing communications. More than ever, people are seeking out services that are in alignment with their values, goals and expectations. If you keep struggling to determine what makes you different from the practice down the street, the answer is simple: It’s you! That means it may be time to look inward, and spend some time clarifying for yourself what exactly it is that you provide to your patients, and why you do what you do. Those answers are the beginning of an impactful marketing message for your practice.

What is your vision for your practice? What primary services and procedures would you like to do more often? What type of care do you want your patients to experience? What types of values do you want your facility to reflect? Your ideal vision of your practice is important here, because the way you present your marketing to the world is going to play a key role in who chooses to schedule an appointment with you.

Your ideal vision of your practice is important here, because the way you present your marketing to the world is going to play a key role in who chooses to schedule an appointment with you.

After establishing your “why” and your “what,” you are now ready to determine your “who.” Who is the ideal patient you are trying to reach? Think about your current patients — they may all be very different, but what are their common denominators?

Thanks to digital marketing, you can establish a highly targeted audience based on everything from their ZIP codes, to their age groups, to their interests — even the magazines and musical genres they enjoy. As marketing guru Seth Godin says, gone are the days of “macro-marketing,” where you send a message to the masses and get great results. We have entered the world of “micro-marketing,” in which we identify small niches and reach out to those super-targeted groups to achieve the results we need.¹

As you create your campaign, keep the marketing “rule of seven” in mind. The gist of the rule is this: People need to experience your message seven times before they take action. This may change everything for you, from the number of times you send an email to the number of postcards you mail. The good news is that the online world has created pathways to reach a potential patient multiple times with very little effort or investment. Opportunities abound as you build your “rule of seven” plan.

Let’s work through an example. You have recently invested in CAD/CAM technology that allows you to provide single-appointment crowns. This is a major “what” in your ideal practice vision. Who in your existing patient base is already a prime candidate for this? How might you be able to tout the benefits of same-visit restorations to attract more of your ideal patients? What’s in it for your patients? Fewer appointments, less time in the dental office, and care that is both more sophisticated and less intrusive thanks to your scanner. In essence, you are an advanced practice providing the best possible care to your community. How do these benefits connect to your “why”? Does the artistry of creating restorations inspire you? Is it your compassion for people that matters most? Maybe it’s a passion for excellence. Find those key reasons and use them as the inspiration for your marketing message.

Next, determine seven ways to send out this message, and build your approach for the coming weeks or months with an action plan. This is your marketing matrix. Here are some outlets that can help you reach more patients:

• Emails
• Website and Facebook pages for your practice
• Facebook ads
• Google ads
• Online videos
• Cards for your patients to give friends seeking referrals
• Signage in your office
• Attending health fairs
• Writing articles for local newspapers and blogs
• Print ads
• Direct mail

As you begin the process of creating your marketing campaign, keep the following important points in mind:

1. Find out from your state’s dental board what regulations are in place regarding marketing for your practice. All materials you create and distribute must align with these regulations.
2. Make sure you track your efforts and results. Are you recording where new patients are coming from? Are you tracking your website analytics and Facebook insights? Tracking the results of your campaigns is the only way to know what elements of your marketing are working — and what elements are not.

A personalized marketing plan can be a fantastic ambassador and driver of opportunity for your practice — but remember, it takes thought, planning, effort and a variety of approaches to get the results you’re hoping to see. Turn that hope into a solid plan, and transform your sense of purpose into proactive progress, with a personalized marketing matrix and a “rule of seven” campaign plan. Remember: The best way to bring in those ideal patients is to show them why your services are uniquely right for them, and impactful marketing can help you do just that.

Turn that hope into a solid plan, and transform your sense of purpose into proactive progress, with a personalized marketing matrix and a ‘rule of seven’ campaign plan.