3 things dental offices can do to upgrade their marketing

There seems to be a pattern in the dental marketing industry: The fundamentals of marketing are getting lost in the everyday hustle, overlooked in favor of activities such as organizational strategy and sales. To break this pattern, a few ideas come to mind that apply to the industry as a whole. They aren't necessarily easy, but they can generate big returns.

3 ideas to upgrade your marketing

1. Consolidate your digital marketing.

The typical digital management model is to have one person managing the website, one group handling search engine optimization (SEO), one group managing social media, and so on. This model usually breeds chaos, because you have competing voices battling for budget and attention. It makes sense to consolidate all digital marketing with qualified professionals, either with an in-house team or a dental marketing agency.

Regardless of your approach, your digital assets must work in tandem without subjectivity. Consolidating digital marketing can be easier to manage, providing a greater return on investment and lower agency fees if services are bundled together.

2. Maximize your digital marketing with a dashboard.

Rob Medina.

Digital media is the fundamental building block for all marketing. The advantage of digital media is that it can be measured. However, getting your arms around the data and making smart decisions is sometimes not easy.

A single dental office will have dozens of various analytics for SEO, website traffic, patient reviews, and social media. If you're part of a dental service organization, multiply this figure by several offices in several states. That's a mound of data.

A digital marketing dashboard is a perfect solution for those who need data in real time -- it provides information that is relevant and actionable. The best solution is to build a single digital dashboard that has all of your relevant analytics in one place. There are several platforms one can use, including Google Data Studio.

3. Press palms.

Guerilla marketing is an effective tactic, yet in most cases, it is not used in the dental industry. There are 100 ways to execute an impactful, in-the-trenches marketing campaign. For example, passing out fliers to the businesses near your office, soccer league sponsorships, internal promotions, and sponsoring community events can generate great results.

However, I won't lie. Pressing palms is a lot of work. There are a lot of moving parts to coordinate, and it's a real-time investment.

For brands that are looking to gain a competitive edge, guerilla marketing is one way to outhustle the competition. It might involve hiring staff to work extra hours or seeking out talent agencies that provide campaign support. But if you're willing to go the extra mile with your marketing, personal sales is a near surefire way to build awareness of your brand directly with the people who matter most.

Rob Medina is a 20-year dental marketing executive and principal at Medina Communications. Established in 1996, the full-service agency specializes in dental and retail marketing. Medina's previous career experience was with CBS, NBC, and iHeart. He has a Master of Business Administration degree from Regis University.

The comments and observations expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of DrBicuspid.com, nor should they be construed as an endorsement or admonishment of any particular idea, vendor, or organization.