San Francisco Lvi Dentist

Marketing Aesthetic Dentistry | Dentistry

Doctors often wonder when and how to start incorporating marketing into their long-range business plan. There’s no argument that it’s a necessity – the questions are more about the process.

Ideally, a practice should start marketing from its inception. Whether general, cosmetic or another type of specialist, the sooner you market, the easier it’s to develop your brand as a quality dentist in your market. Additionally, as more and more doctors are transitioning from a general practice to one with a greater aesthetic focus, the need to create a source of pre-qualified patients with an interest in aesthetics grows.

The next fascinating point with regards to this study. Getting Started Far too often, doctors turn to marketing once they realize their practice is in trouble. Perhaps they’ve dropped insurance too quickly, or the competition has landed in their neighborhood. The number of new patients each month has declined, and panic mode sets in. It must be time to stop stalling and start marketing.

In reality, successful marketing efforts are built over a period of time. The practice needs a plan. The practice needs a brand identity (ie – logo, tag line/positioning statement and consistent “look”). The practice and associated brand need several months of consistent advertising before they can even start to grab hold of a position in the mind of a prospective patient. Using marketing to turn a practice around within a month is like trying to stop a flood with a single sandbag.

So when is the best time for the non-advertising practice to start incorporating marketing into their practice? From the moment you take your first course at LVI. Start with the internal projects first – developing a long range plan, a logo, determining your position in the market, a stationary package, new patient welcome package, etc. Make sure you are your case presentation and case closing skills are well practiced. Then, as you continue to take more courses and further develop your skills and confidence, you will be ready to jump into external marketing without waiting.

Patience = Patients When asked how long the process takes, I often refer to the history of my husband Larry’s practice. Before he even opened his doors, we had created a logo and communicated his opening with print advertising and direct mail. As his interest in aesthetic dentistry grew, print ads about aesthetics began appearing in our advertising schedule.

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