This dental marketing article, which I wrote in 2004 and posted on NicheAgency.com - now NicheDental.com – was originally titled, “Marketing To Every Potential Dental Patient Cheaply: Is that Right for You?”

Part One of my two part Rant Redux after...

I have updated my commentary somewhat - but mostly am interested in showing you how little has changed. Communication is communication is communication. Technology and the Internet - for the most part - just add another route to make it happen. They do little to 'change us' unless the heat is actually turned up in a specific area. Whiz bang does not magically make concepts like dentistry more understood and valued by the consumer without diligent, focused attention. While similar to a previous rant – I had not looked at this article for a few years.

PART ONE

Market 2 ALL Potential Patients Cheaply: Right 4 You? 

Niche Dental marketing consulting stands out because most other dental marketing is centered on contacting every possible dentistry patient.

While there are a number of dental practices that can benefit from this shotgun approach, Niche Dental sees your image as specific to a target group of consumers. Our communication approach is to hit a bull's eye not pepper everyone with a generic "dentistry" message.

Most one-dentist, dental practices only need about 5 to 10 MORE new patients each month then they are getting right now. The higher value they want from their dentistry the fewer patients required. If you could trade 9 emergency patients for 3 smile makeover clients, your need for "increasing numbers" is lessened.

You could try to upgrade the emergency patients to smile makeovers patients, but why? Why not just get more smile makeover patients to come in the door initially? This dental marketing article will explain why is does not occur now and how it can be done more frequently.

PART ONE Elements 

• What's Going On With Dental Marketing?
• It There A Dental Expertise Coupon?
• Yellow Pages Value Dilution
• Bunch O'Mailers
• Solution Hammering Consumers With Mailers Creates Results

What's Going On With Dental Marketing?

I don't even like the word "patient" when it comes to the type of dental marketing we do. Few people categorize themselves in dental terms. They want comfort not their tooth pulled. They want to look good not close a diastema. They want to be able to bite an apple not get a dental implant.

There are a number of dental marketing techniques that utilize this shotgun approach such as the Yellow Pages, Valpak (Valpak.com) and other groups that send out a huge numbers of mailings to a whole spectrum of consumer leads.

While advertising to a lot of people is not inherently bad, it is the message that usually accompanies these advertisements or their distribution "partners" that aggravates this image-confusing dilemma.

Is There A Dental Expertise Coupon?

Consider Valpak, which is basically a group of coupons sent to homeowners in a specific geographic area. Dentist coupons accompany various other products and services including oil changes and pizza places (these are your distribution partners). This obvious association with commonly discounted services provided by "low-skilled" workers is my first concern. Your expertise is then equated with someone delivering pizzas.

Even dentists who serve lower income patients should be concerned about starting a relationship with a patient by first discounting their expertise. How does the person who is used to paying the minimum amount for your dentistry ever upgrade to the services that will help them for the long-term?

Note: the discount is implied when you advertise in Valpak even if you do not offer an actual discount. If you do offer a discount on your dental services (half off on whitening), then the patient has a graphic example of your lower value to them. Then imagine every person within a three-mile radius having that same example of your lower value dentistry.

A lot of dentists say they don't mind attracting all kinds of patients because they will make them aware of higher value services and get "some good patients" from the group. Now if you are NOT really excited about doing more than one tooth at a time, the Valpak channel might work well enough for your dental practice.

However, once you have set your image in this discounted cement, it will be difficult to extricate yourself.

Yellow Pages Value Dilution

The Yellow Pages (YP) is a different dental marketing animal, but has many of the same characteristics. It is sent to every household and your expertise is jammed in between all kinds of other services. In most communities it still is viable for some practices depending on cost and competitors (other Yellow Page books and dentists). Yet, it suffers from a number of dilemmas.

1) Dilution: It is dwindling in its usage. Like network TV has the cable TV dilution problem, YP in its print form has many more direct competitors, which includes every online YP and Google.com, Yahoo.com, and other search sites.

Many national advertisers have fled network TV because of this dilution issue and found the "right" channels to target their message.

2) Saturation: Many Yellow Pages are over saturated with dentist ads: four or five full-page ads and then many others ads before the reader ever gets to the listings. Most of the large YP ads promote a very low value image (i.e. Free Exams).

3) Passive: This medium does not enter your life to enlighten you: it sits there. No one ever relaxes in their easy chair and peruses the Yellow Pages and then comes across your ad.

It sits under a phone and waits for a toothache. YP ads never suggest higher-level services or introduce your brand (your smile makeover expertise) in the way a magazine does.

4) Cost: Is the value rising as quickly as the cost is going up? Does the YP fee obligation limit you from doing other advertising? Even if the cost is leveling off (because YP is no longer the only dentist marketing game in town) can its value still play out for dentist that is still marketing in it?

5) Choice Overload: The number of YP books in your area can reduce the other's value (and price does not go down accordingly). That begs the questions: which is most viable or are any?

6) Suspicion: I have wondered recently if their print ads (that I believe are now overpriced) are paying for their online strategy transition, which probably will never bring in the same margins but are the future of the YP industry. Not their only future, because print will always have a place, but it will be the growth area for many years.

Bunch O'Mailers Solution

There are a bunch of dental marketing companies that can put together tens of thousands of dental postcards, newsletters, flyers/fliers or mailers to carpet your community for pennies each (plus postage). Many dentists love this kind of marketing. It is inexpensive and simple to get going. These marketing groups provide some text and a few design suggestions and thousands of fliers (or flyers) go out every few weeks or so.

One of the biggest dental marketing groups that provide this type of service is ChrisAd. Many dentists have found these to be successful dental promotions.

The three biggest elements of this style of dental marketing are usually discounted prices (or free exams), thousands of households contacted, and a low price to develop. Some of these are very appealing characteristics. But everything has its negative effects.

Dental marketing can be divided into two basic strategies: developing a clientele to utilize your entire expertise & getting dental patients in the door. Many dental practices would be satisfied with getting more patients, period. ChrisAd and other dental marketing companies often like to mine this group of consumers.

One of the reasons dental marketers focus on this kind of marketing is because it is an easier sell to dentists. Why is this method of dental marketing an easier sell? There are three basic reasons: results, low cost and easy implementation.

1) Results: By hammering people with many thousands of direct mail pieces, results will occur. Then the dental marketer has a "great" marketing statistic to promote to their dentist prospects: 1,000 new patients a month per dentist or something similar.

2) Low Cost: They, the dental marketers, can produce these mailers or fliers cheaply because the basic design is often pre-designed. Maybe you get to choose colors and pictures, but no deep thought or real branding is done. Plus multiple printings of the same design or a slightly altered design are sent multiple times to the same households.

3) Easy implementation: he dentist does not need to think about it. The popular easy implementation term is a "turnkey system". Many dental website vendors are set up this way. The dentist does little (or thinks little) and magically, things happen.

What is not said is that the dentist gets what they pay for: a simple system that at its best produces activity. This ‘activity’ can have short-term or long-term positive or negative results.

Hammering Consumers With Mailers Creates Results

Sending out a ton of mailings does work to bring in patients. I repeat this works. But I don't agree with how they are implemented or how these pieces are developed. The promotions noted above are the major reason these dental fliers or postcards are something I would not recommend, but the numbers sent out compound this and other issues.

Unfortunately, once you send out 10,000 dental brochures, fliers, or postcards discounting your expertise every few weeks for a few months to the same consumers (and they usually get the same one multiple times), their impression of your dentistry is solidly implanted in their minds. -

Dental Marketing Commentary by Dick Chwalek, Dental Marketing Consultant.

Coming soon… 

PART TWO Will Cover… 

• Your Image After Discounts & Free STUFF!
• Dumbed Down Dental Design & Message Value
• Where Are The High Value Dental Consumers?
• Selling The New Smile Line or Continue Servicing Used Smiles
• Conclusion: Value-Added Dental Marketing