Q&A Library

For answers to all your dental marketing questions, click below:

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General Marketing

Advertising

How well do newspaper ads work for attracting new patients?
Is radio an effective way to attract new patients?
What about discounts?
How much time do I give an ad or a direct mail piece before I know whether it’s working or not?
Should I include a photo of myself in my ads?
Who should my target audience be?
Should I do local television advertising?
Isn’t it true that only new dentists need to advertise? If you’re doing a good job, shouldn’t you get enough word-of-mouth referrals to keep you busy?
What’s the most important thing I can do to make my advertising work?
What’s wrong with just advertising in the Yellow Pages?
How do I write and design a good advertisement?
Why do my ads attract no-shows?
I know I need to advertise, but so far nothing has worked. What do I do?

Online Marketing & E-mail

How important is it to collect my patients’ e-mail addresses?
What's the best way to market online?
Yellow Page ads, coupons, Web sites - which type of marketing is worth the investment?
What’s the big deal with e-mail?
Should I create my own practice Web site? And if so, how do I go about it?

Tracking, Budget & ROI

Internal Marketing

How do we promote to consumers how much dentistry has changed in the last 20 years?
How do I get my patients to offer up testimonials that I can use in my marketing pieces without sounding desperate for their praise?
My recall postcards don’t seem to do any good. How do I make my patients come back?
I hear some doctors are using text messaging to contact patients. Is this the next wave of patient communication?
Should I be writing my own practice newsletter?
I just bought a CEREC machine. How do I promote the benefits to my patients?
What is Patient Activator?
Why do I need to do internal marketing?
What is internal marketing and how is different from other advertising?

Attracting New Patients

What should I be willing to pay to get a new patient?
Should I promote whitening as a discount?
I feel like my neighborhood is different from most. How do I figure out what they want to hear?
How do I attract more patients?
What advice do you have for new doctors looking to build a patient base?
Should I discount my services to attract new patients?
I don’t like emergency patients. Am I wrong?
How do I get new patients who want complex care or big ticket treatment?
I’m right in between a middle-class neighborhood and a very upscale neighborhood. What kind of advertising should I do to target high-end patients?
How can I target patients who have a high dental IQ?
My advertising brings in too many shoppers. How do I stop this?
What is aesthetics marketing?

Patient Interaction

How important are my intake forms to patients’ experience?
What’s the difference between a satisfied patient and a loyal patient?
How can you find out over the phone whether a patient will be able to pay for treatment?
I'm uncomfortable with the idea of having to "sell" patients on dentistry. Won't they eventually come around on their own?
How can I convince patients that what I'm charging them is fair?
How do I bring up asking for referrals when my patient is in the chair?
How do we change our patients’ perception of dentistry?
Why do my patients from advertising behave differently than word-of-mouth patients?
My ads bring in patients, but they get scared off the second I start to diagnose. How do I speak to media-generated patients to get them to accept treatment?
Why don’t new patients accept comprehensive treatment?
What are the biggest mistakes dental practices make with new patients?

About 1-800-DENTIST

How can 1-800-DENTIST possibly generate enough calls to satisfy all of their member dentists every month?
Why does 1-800-DENTIST advertise so much?
How does a consumer find a dentist on 1800dentist.com?
I always thought 1-800-DENTIST was some kind of dental insurance company. What exactly do you do?
What exactly happens when a consumer calls 1-800-DENTIST?
What kinds of patients call an 800 number to find a dentist?
I’ve heard anyone can join 1-800-DENTIST. How do you control which doctors are on your service?
Is there anything about 1-800-DENTIST that you think the general dental community doesn’t know or understand?
What is this 1-800-DENTIST program all about?

Office Staff

Should staff praise the dentist to new patients?
How much should I pay my staff?
How do I "market" for a great employee?
How beneficial is it to have staff members who speak another language?
I hear a lot about the benefits of "Scripting." Doesn't this just make the practice staff sound insincere?
How should I incentivize my front office staff to work harder?
How can I bring marketing into my daily or weekly huddle?
How should I incentivize my staff in order to get better marketing results?

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