Dental practice marketing can be overwhelming. There’s internal marketing, external marketing, online marketing—it can easily begin to feel like there are too many areas to cover, too many new skills to learn, and too many tasks to manage. But the reality is that dental practice owners don’t have to go it alone.
Solo practitioners usually don’t have the budget to hire a full-time marketing director, but someone needs to devise a marketing plan, make budget-conscious marketing decisions, determine a timeline, and follow through on implementation.
If there is not a full-time marketer on the dental team, many dentists benefit from having a dental marketing expert available in a consulting capacity, enabling the practice to get professional, executive-level advice without adding to payroll expenses.
Also, tech-oriented marketing projects such as website development, search engine optimization, or electronic patient communications are typically outsourced to a highly specialized vendor such as an online marketing or software development firm.
For more insight into the leveraging the power of outsourcing, click here for my Inside Dentistry article on Marketing Strategies that Work: What Every Solo Practitioner Needs to Know.
Delegation can be difficult, and many small business owners suffer from the “do-it-yourself” mentality. But continually adding to the dental team’s marketing to-do list without crossing anything off can be discouraging, and knowing when to seek outside help is an important skill to cultivate. A marketing consultant, together with qualified vendors, can get the practice’s marketing plan off the ground, ease the learning curve, and ultimately pass the baton back to the dental team to maintain.
Thanks to Pinfex for the mention on their latest blog “Most Compelling Dental Articles of Summer 2013 – Did You Miss Them?“. One of my recent Inside Dentistry articles was included in the Pinfex list, where I touch on the importance of creating and maintaining a dental practice marketing budget. The blog is a terrific resource for dentists, compiling informative articles on all facets of dental practice management. It is an honor to be included amongst other renowned dental industry professionals.