Dental Marketing Blog
Free dental marketing tips and strategies for dentists from internet dental marketing experts. Feel free to participate. All dental marketing related questions and comments are encouraged.
Dentists don't forget to add your dental practice to our free online dentist directory and subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter with free tips and dental marketing strategies for local dentists.
Dental Marketing Push or Pull?
February 27, 2009 by Erik Cunningham
In our last post, Dental Marketing Strategies, Back to Basics, we discussed the two basic types of dental marketing, “push” and “pull” and posed the question, “Which type of dental marketing strategy is right for your practice?”.
The answer to that question depends on the type of dentistry you practice and the current state of your local economy.
General Dentists
If you’re a general dentist, you can benefit from both push and pull marketing strategies because your services include preventative, elective and compulsory dental treatments. Push marketing techniques like direct mail marketing are great for promoting preventative and elective dental treatments like regular checkups and teeth cleanings.
Pull strategies like dental website marketing, search engine marketing and yellow pages advertising are good for promoting compulsory dental procedures like filling cavities because they help to ensure that your patients can find your practice easily when they’re looking for your services.
Dental Specialists
Push marketing strategies aren’t nearly as effective for dental specialists as they are for general dentists because the majority of treatments and procedures offered by dental specialists are compulsory and not elective. Patients aren’t likely to respond to a postcard in their mailbox that reads, “We had a great time with your last root canal. How about we do another just for fun?”
As a dental specialist, you should focus most, if not all, of your dental marketing budget on pull marketing strategies. Advertising your practice in online dental directories and in print and internet yellow pages directories will make your contact information readily available to patients seeking emergency dental health services and general dentists looking for candidates for patient referrals.
Economic Conditions
In addition to the type of dentistry you practice, the current state of your local economy should also affect your dental marketing decisions.
When times are tough, many patients in your community may decide to put off elective treatments like cleanings, checkups and cosmetic procedures until their finances improve. As a result, push marketing strategies in a rough economy are likely to fall upon deaf ears.
The best thing to do during tough economic times is to focus your dental marketing budget on pull strategies. That way you’ll attract patients actively looking for your services and not waste money targeting people who can’t afford it.
In Summary
- General dentists can benefit from both push and pull marketing strategies in a good economy
- Dental specialists should focus their budget on pull marketing strategies
- All dentists should utilize pull marketing strategies in a bad economy
Next week’s question: “Why didn’t you read the summary first?”.
Comments (0) — Marketing Strategies — Tags: dental marketing campaign, dental marketing strategies, dental practice marketing
Dental Marketing Strategies, Back to Basics
February 17, 2009 by Erik Cunningham
There are two basic types of dental marketing strategies you can employ to promote your local dental practice - “push” and “pull”. And while the most effective dental marketing campaigns often include a combination of the two, factors like the current state of your local economy and the type of dental treatments and procedures your practice offers should dictate how much of your marketing budget you devote to each one.
Push Dental Marketing
The term “push marketing” is used to describe dental marketing strategies that deliver unsolicited information about your dental practice to prospective or existing dental patients in your community. The most common types of push marketing in dentistry include direct mail, TV, newspaper and radio advertising and internet banner advertising.
In the past, some dentists have misinterpreted the strategy of push marketing in dentistry as “pushy”. These dentists haven’t considered however that push marketing performs a valuable service to both you and your patients by reminding them to schedule regular dental checkups and cleanings for improved long term oral health. Push marketing also brings information about your practice right to your patients’ doorsteps which saves them time and effort if a visit to the dentist is already on their to-do list.
Pull Dental Marketing
“Pull marketing” refers to dentist marketing techniques that make your dental practice information readily available to prospective dental patients actively looking for your services. Common pull marketing strategies for promoting dental practices include print and internet yellow pages advertising, website marketing, search engine marketing, pay-per-click advertising and dental directory advertising.
Pull marketing gives your dental practice an edge over your competitors and helps both you and your dental patients by simplifying the question, answer and appointment scheduling processes.
Some dentist marketing strategies qualify as both push and pull marketing. Word of mouth and dental office signage are good examples.
If a patient sees your dentistry office sign on their way home from work and it reminds them to schedule an appointment with you, then your sign serves as a push marketing strategy. If a dental patient has a toothache and decides to drive around the neighborhood looking for dentist and sees your office, then your sign serves as a pull strategy.
So which type of dental marketing strategy is right for your practice? Find your answer in next week’s blog post, Dental Marketing Push or Pull?.
Comments (1) — Marketing Strategies — Tags: dental marketing ideas, dental marketing strategies, dental office marketing, dental practice marketing
