Three steps dentists should take to improve their marketing plan in 2013

Now that we’ve made it through the Mayan apocalypse and have celebrated the coming of the New Year, we should start looking at a marketing plan for 2013.

These are the three most important things dentists need to consider when they build their dental marketing plans for 2013.

1. Have a plan
This seems simple enough, but nearly 50% of dentists forget how to form complete sentences when I ask about their marketing goals. Before you start throwing your marketing dollars all over the place, sit down and write down these three questions:

1. How do I get new patients?
2. How do I increase re-scheduled patients?
   
3. How do I increase revenues?

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How to build a perfect dental marketing plan
Using Internet marketing to grow your practice
The growing importance of social media for dentists

Every dentist hits roadblocks when trying to accomplish these things, but with good implementation of marketing tactics you can overcome those challenges.

Remember to focus on what you are trying to accomplish when you build your marketing plan. Check in next week and I will address these questions head on.

2. Focus on measuring the results
Marketing is not a one-and-done thing. You must continually evaluate your marketing campaigns to see which are resulting in booked appointments. Patient Pursuitis a great tool that helps dentists measure their marketing pieces, in-network insurance providers, and website. You will be able to see how many callers came from each marketing piece, how many calls had the potential to book an appointment, and how many times the appointment was actually booked. You will even be able to distinguish which calls were from current patients or new patients. Patient Pursuit answers those four dentist marketing plan questions.

3. Check your measurements, adjust, and re-measure
Now that you are measuring your marketing tactics, be encouraged! Edison’s words should come to mind: “I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is often a step forward.” If you find out that you spent hundreds of dollars on marketing that didn’t book any appointments, you know to invest those marketing dollars elsewhere in the future. Check your results on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Adjust your marketing, then check the results again.