Contents

Why Planning Matters
Comprehensive Marketing Planning
Comprehensive Media Planning

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Why Planning Matters

Succeeding in the field of Dentistry is challenging. Issues such as insurance reliance, advertising confusion, and health-value misunderstanding influence how well your marketing message is accepted. Your competition plays a role in the perception of the practice and your local options for developing an image need to be used effectively to overcome these challenges.

What kind of marketing is right for your image? Who is your competition? What will make you stand out from the crowd? How can you position yourself around your competition? Is radio better than television in your area? Are the Yellow Pages a worthwhile investment for your practice? If you don't have complete answers to these questions and many others, much of your marketing dollars could be bringing in the wrong patients.

Contents

Comprehensive Marketing Planning

A comprehensive marketing plan will explain how you should approach every aspect of your image, presentation, and communication. Reviewing your image and environment and compiling a comprehensive written report covering the following marketing components is necessary to successfully grow a practice:

• Web site
• Current marketing position
• Direct marketing options
• Practice décor, external/internal signage
• Staff personalities, strengths/challenges
• Consultation and new patient procedures
• Area demographics
• Case presentation
• Patient communication materials
• Location

In addition to reviewing the marketing components, the plan should detail what your competition is doing and how their positioning strategy affects yours. One way to accomplish this is to rate you and your competitors in the following categories.

• Extent of image development
• Cohesive image (connective branding)
• Logo design
• Internet presence
• Advertisement(s) design
• Overall message
• Current market position
• Quality of services perception
• Expertise (as perceived by public)

Contents

Comprehensive Media Planning

Understanding what media has the most value in your area is key to developing a viable campaign. What message should be in what publication? If your image and service strategy is almost purely esthetic, where do you promote it? If you live in a small to medium size community within a large metro, what is the most efficient and cost-effective strategy for getting your message out? If all you have is the local paper, maybe cable television and/or small town radio, how can you best approach your target patients?

In order to answer these questions the following must be understood and discussed.

• Local area media (Newspaper, Magazine, Radio, etc…)
• Marketing rationale
• Creation of a six-month marketing/media calendar
• Recommendations of future marketing opportunities
• Budget development

If developed correctly, a comprehensive marketing and media plan will determine a strategy for achieving a high-quality patient base that will value your brand and take advantage of your highest level services. Have questions or need assistance developing a plan? Contact us today!

Contents

Dental Marketing Report vol. 1.2 Home

•• welcome •• galleries • packages • awards • library • albums • efiles • contact •