Whether you’re new to marketing or you’ve been at it for a while, there is always something to learn. Dr. Pearce is one of our esteemed Clinical Advisory Board members and a retired practitioner who now coaches dentists on how to successfully build the type of practice they want. He kindly shared some of his expert marketing advice in a video. You may have heard a similar message before, but perhaps Dr. Pearce’s perspective is slightly different. Plus, it never hurts to be reminded of good practices.
3 Fundamentals of Marketing
Regardless of market, size, or time in business, every dental practice needs marketing to survive. The type of marketing each practice chooses to focus on may vary, but there are fundamental marketing principles that do not change, no matter what
Marketing Takes Time
As Dr. Pearce explains, marketing is not usually successful immediately. It takes time for a message to get out to the target audience. Expecting a single marketing campaign to bring in dozens of patients on day one, for example, is unrealistic. More likely, the response will start slowly and build over time as more people see the message. Increasing the intensity or aggressiveness of the marketing strategy will allow the message to reach more people and produce quicker results for the practice.
Targeted Marketing Works Best
Once a dentist decides to pursue marketing as a way to attract more patients, they must first decide what they stand for. What’s the practice’s personality? What types of patients do they want to attract most? Answering these questions is important to establishing a brand. After the dentist has an idea of what their brand is, they need to align their message to it.
Under the category of targeted messaging, Dr. Pearce brings up an excellent point about finding people’s emotional disability or, as we like to call it, their pain point. A pain point causes emotional (and possibly physical) discomfort and represents a problem that needs to be solved. For instance, missing teeth are a source of social anxiety for many people. Dentists have the skills and expertise to replace missing teeth. A successful marketing campaign might focus on replacing missing teeth to restore a patient’s self-esteem and give them the confidence to participate in all the social activities they’ve been missing out on.
Consistency is King
Establishing and building a brand requires consistency so that patients can easily recognize the brand and immediately understand what it stands for without having to think about it. In the video, Dr. Pearce mentions this as his second point. I would like to conclude with the principle of consistency in marketing because it ties everything together. Consistent branding and targeted marketing are crucial to success. Patients need to know they can depend on their dentist. If they do not see consistency, they will sense something is wrong. Inconsistent messaging will not resonate with the patients the practice wants to attract. Likewise, inconsistent branding will confuse people. Consistency conveys stability and authority and inspires confidence in patients seeking care.
Adhering to the three fundamental principles of patience, targeted messaging, and consistency will lead to greater success in the long term. It may not be the “sexiest” way to approach marketing, but tried-and-true principles rarely are. Dr. Pearce built a highly successful dental practice using this approach. We also find it to be a solid and effective long-term strategy that works for dental practices everywhere.
