Nobody gets involved in a game of chess, bridge, or Scrabble without a strategy in mind. These games and more require players to anticipate their opponents’ every move, sometimes two, three, or four steps ahead. If you’d put that much effort into a no-stakes game, then why wouldn’t you do the same for your practice?
All too often, marketing efforts are completed indiscriminately. You know you need to post content to your social media pages multiple times a week, so you do, with zero thought to the long-term implications. The same could be said about your blog posts and emails.
You post to get it out of the way. Who could blame you? You studied to become a dentist, not a business owner. Still, blindly marketing your practice will only yield a fraction of the results you would experience if you marketed with a strategy in mind.
Set a Goal
Sounds easy, right? You tell yourself that you will post to Facebook more frequently, or you will email patients several times a year. The problem is that those goals aren’t SMART:
S = Specific (I will post to Facebook at least twice a week.)
M = Measurable (If I don’t post to Facebook twice a week, I will not have met my goal.)
A = Action-oriented (Each Sunday, I will prepare my post content by 5:00 pm.)
R = Realistic (Two posts a week are achievable. Expecting more of myself may be unrealistic.)
T = Time-bound (I will complete this goal four times in the next month.)
SMART goals aren’t open-ended or vague. They hold you accountable by turning the qualitative into the quantitative.
Consider Your Opponents
Who are your opponents? They’re the practices down the street and across town, with fancier signage, in better locations—anyone who competes for your patients’ business. You may not be able to predict their every move, but you can at least keep tabs on them.
That doesn’t mean that you should hire someone to monitor the sites of your competitors 24/7, but it does mean that you should be aware of what they’re doing to appeal to their audience. You don’t need to match them play for play. You just need to anticipate how their minds work and how you can focus your efforts in a similar way. Are they promoting the next Pink concert? Then you go Taylor Swift and you do it before them!
It’s Not Rocket Science
You’re smart. You were accepted to and graduated from dental school and have since opened your own practice. You clearly know how to play the game. The problem is that, once you’re a business owner, you spread yourself too thin. If you involve your team in your marketing strategy, you can still effectively promote your practice while leaving plenty of time for those who matter most—your patients.
With more than a decade of experience in corporate dental laboratory marketing and brand development, Ms. Ulasewich decided to take her passion for the dental business and marketing to the next level by founding My Dental Agency. Since starting her company, she and her team have helped a wide variety of business owners all over the nation focus their message, reach their target audience, and increase their sales through effective marketing campaigns. She can be reached at (800) 689-6434 or via email at jackie@mydentalagency.com.
Related Articles
Add Video to Your Marketing Strategy
How to Handle Negative Reviews
Email Marketing Isn’t Dead Yet
