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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?”.

— Marketing Strategies — Tags: dental marketing campaign, dental marketing strategies, dental practice marketing

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