When a dental practice hires a marketing agency, they usually have great expectations, and that’s what I love to see! Working with a practice that is enthusiastic about marketing makes my job even more satisfying than it already is. So, to keep those expectations high and make sure your practice is always getting the most out of its marketing investment, I want to offer some friendly advice. Here are 3 simple things you can do at your practice to support your marketing agency and get even better results:
1 Provide content for the marketing agency to use
When you hire a marketing agency, you might expect them to do 100% of the work. But, that cannot always be the case. Sure, the agency will do quite a lot to market your practice without asking anything from you, but there are times when you will need to provide some content for them to work with. Stock images and old photos can only go so far. Once you start marketing your practice across multiple channels, you’re going to need fresh images and content to prevent your marketing from becoming stale and repetitive. If you can provide updated staff and facility photos, new candid images, before and after shots, short videos — even if they are unpolished — your marketing agency will be able to put that content to good use. And it doesn’t have to cost you even one extra dime.
2 Learn how to handle all the leads that come in
Your marketing agency could be generating 50 times the leads you were getting before, but if your team is not managing them properly, then it won’t matter much. The first two things you must be on top of is following up on all form submissions and answering calls the right way. If these two areas are being neglected, it’s like throwing money out the window. The marketing agency can get you the quality leads you’ve been looking for and even train your staff on how to handle the leads properly. But they cannot actually do the follow up or answer the phones on a daily basis.Your team needs to take on that responsibility. Consider scheduling regular trainings and refresher meetings with your team (and your marketing partner) to help keep skills sharp and keep new patient leads top of mind.
3 Be an engaged partner
Your marketing agency will do a lot of heavy lifting for your practice, but they still need you to work with them to give you the best chance at success. If your marketing agency asks you for something, it’s really in your best interest to provide it. If they give you an idea for a campaign or a contest, it will only help your practice to implement it. If they schedule a strategy call, it’s important to be on it. Everything your marketing agency asks of you is for the benefit of your practice and usually does not require much of your time, so it is worthwhile for you to go with the flow. When you remain an active participant in marketing your practice, you will only see better results.
Your marketing investment is an important part of your practice’s spending, and no one, especially your marketing partner, wants to feel like it’s being wasted in any way. As a practice owner, you have the opportunity and the ability to make the best use of your investment by providing content and becoming an engaged partner to your marketing agency. You also have the power and ability to ensure that the leads coming into your practice are handled effectively so that no potential new patient falls through the cracks. If you can handle those three easy things, your marketing agency will take care of the rest, and your practice will be on the road to better results.
