You became a dentist to help patients maintain and improve their oral health. Ideally, your day would be spent filling cavities, whitening teeth, and treating gum disease, but you also dedicate a lot of time to dental marketing activities.
Attracting new patients is the key to a successful dental practice, but most marketing tasks shouldn’t be completed by you. Here’s a look at a few dental marketing responsibilities you need to assign someone else, so you can spend more time treating patients.
4 dental marketing tasks to delegate
1. Building a dental website
Only 64 percent of small businesses have a website, according to a 2018 survey conducted by Clutch. If your practice is among the 36 percent without a website, you’re missing out on patients.
Just 8 percent of people have not used the internet to find a local business in the past year, according to BrightLocal. The need for a dental website is clear, but you don’t have the time or expertise to create and maintain it yourself.
Allowing an expert to handle your dental website offers the best of both worlds: a quality marketing tool, with minimal effort from you.
Check out: 5 tips to get the most out of your medical website design
2. Social media for dentists
Some 72 percent of American adults use social media, according to the Pew Research Center. The most popular platforms among U.S. adults include YouTube (73 percent), Facebook (69 percent), and Instagram (37 percent).
Considering these numbers, it’s basically a given that much of your target patient base uses social media. When done properly, social media for dentists can help you attract and retain patients.
As with any social media campaign, the key to success is posting relevant content on a regular basis. Since social media for dentists requires a significant time investment, it’s best to assign this responsibility to someone who has the bandwidth.
3. Managing dentist ads
There are 199,486 dentists working in the dentistry field as of 2018, according to the American Dental Association. Clearly, there’s a strong need for dentist ads because they help your practice stand out.
Managing an ad campaign is hard work. Your dentist ads need to be constantly monitored to make sure they’re driving traffic, making adjustments as needed.
You should be spending little time in front of a computer, so this task doesn’t make sense for you to handle.
4. Dental reputation management
Most (86 percent) consumers read reviews for local businesses, according to BrightLocal. Furthermore, 57 percent will only use a business with four or more stars.
Clearly, dental reputation management matters. Patients are checking up on you, and if they can’t find anything about your practice — or what they find isn’t good — they’re going to make an appointment with a competitor.
You don’t have time to handle your dental reputation management, but you can’t afford to ignore it. Taking this task off your plate will likely improve your standing because you’ll be able to spend more time with patients.
Who can complete these dental marketing tasks?
1. Dental marketing consultant
Generally an independent contractor, a dental marketing consultant works with your practice to create and execute marketing campaigns. They carefully monitor results and make any necessary adjustments to ensure your message gets in front of and resonates with the right audience.
A dental marketing consultant often specializes in one area — such as social media marketing or copywriting — so you might need to hire a few different professionals. This can be a good idea if you have an employee who can take on some marketing duties, but need to outsource a few tasks.
2. Dental marketing agency
If you’re ready to delegate all your marketing tasks, partnering with a full-service dental marketing agency can be a wise move. From building a polished website to handling all your SEO and social media, you’ll get everything you need under one roof.
Working with a dental marketing agency is an investment, but you get what you pay for. This option will allow you to enjoy professional marketing services, while barely lifting a finger.
Read: How to find the best healthcare marketing solution for your practice
3. Medical marketing software
If you’d still like to handle at least some of your dental marketing efforts, medical marketing software can help you wear multiple hats. For example, platforms like Hootsuite allow you to schedule social media posts in advance, making it possible for your account to publish content while you’re with patients.
Medical marketing software can make your life easier, but it still requires some time investment. The difference is you’re more in control of when you put in the time.
Being there for your patients is the best thing you can do for your dental practice. However, both your patients and dental marketing activities require full-time attention, so delegate the latter, and focus on what you do best.
Is medical marketing software right for your practice? Check out the blog post “How dental marketing software can improve your dentistry marketing” to find your answer.
