Marketing is one of the departments in your practice that can either function in-house or be outsourced to an independent marketing agency. While marketing can be time consuming and complex, it is an integral part of maintaining relationships with your patients and attracting new ones, and it shouldn’t be left to chance.
Dentists make one of two choices when it comes to managing their marketing. They may pick a team member to be in charge of various marketing activities, or they may hire an outside agency to manage their marketing strategy. Here, we take a look at the pros and cons of both approaches to help shed light on the optimal choice for your practice.
In-House Pro
The biggest advantage of having a dedicated marketing person in your office is that they can capture real-time content quickly. They are in the office to ask a patient to do a video testimonial or take a fun photo of events involving team members that can be challenging to orchestrate from the outside.
Your practice marketing content relies on these interactions with patients and staff because it tells a story about your unique benefits and is personalized to your practice. The more of these interactions you can get and add to your marketing, the better.
In-House Con
The downside of having marketing done in house, however, is that oftentimes the person doing the marketing is not at this position full time and takes care of other tasks as well. Practices don’t often have a need for a full-time marketing person, so they ask a team member to post to social media or send out a newsletter.
This person probably does not have a background in marketing or the many skills that go into the field, such as copywriting, graphic design, social media marketing, online ad experience, website development, and marketing strategy. You’ll be limited as to how you can market.
As a result, you won’t have a consistent and comprehensive marketing strategy. While your team member may be able to post to Facebook, all the other marketing channels are left out, leaving practices wondering why their marketing isn’t working.
Oursource Pro
Marketing is made up of a variety of specializations, and outsourcing to a marketing agency gives you access to the expertise and talents of a team of professionals skilled in social media marketing, website development, copywriting, graphic design, and more.
Working together, they create a cohesive marketing strategy and execute it on a consistent basis, adjusting and optimizing the strategy to give you the best results. What’s more, you can hire an agency that specializes in dentistry, which will cut down on the time it takes to get them up to speed with your practice.
Outsource Cons
The challenge with outsourcing your marketing is that these marketers aren’t able to get those real-time photos or videos or ask questions for an immediate response like an in-house team member would. That’s where communication is important, and having a dedicated person on your team to be the go-between the agency and your office can be a key to executing a smooth and successful marketing strategy.
Your Choice
Great marketing takes a mix of creativity, analytics, technology, and consistency to run well and grow your practice. Depending on your goals, it’s worth the time to consider which one is the best for you.
With more than a decade of experience in corporate dental laboratory marketing and brand development, Ms. Ulasewich–Cullen 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 practices 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.
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