Joel Harris, President ADA Intelligent Dental Marketing, Inc. Printer Friendly Version

Create A Marketing Plan For 2009

There’s a saying in marketing that goes like this: There are two good times to create a marketing plan—yesterday and now. If you’re like many dentists, you’ve never created a marketing plan and don’t even know where to begin. However, dental practices that are successful in marketing invariably start with a marketing plan. Do yourself a favor and create a marketing plan for 2009. Let it begin with this article.

Every how-to book on the market has different advice on the essential elements of a marketing plan, but the words you use are much less important than how seriously you approach the task. No matter how it's ultimately organized, your marketing plan should be a straightforward, easily understood document.

Starting from a blank white sheet of paper can be intimidating, so I’ve created the following list of planning questions to help you get your writing juices flowing. Answer these questions as clearly as possible and be willing to put some real effort into the process.

Marketing Planning Questions

1. What marketing tactics worked well in 2008?
2. What marketing tactics didn’t work at all in 2008?
3. Are there any obvious reasons for #1 or #2?
4. Did your new patients in 2008 match your objectives?
5. What dental products/services do you provide?
6. Describe your market population, demographics, income levels, etc.
7. How large is the area that most of your patients come from?
8. What competitors exist in your marketplace?
9. What are the best message components (headlines, benefits, offers) for your target market?
10.  What message components need to be enhanced or revised?
11.  What marketing tactics will you use in 2009 (direct mail, radio, television, signage, Yellow Pages, etc.)?
12.  What will your referral generating program be?
13.  What is your overall marketing budget and how will it be divided among the tactics?

Get Your Plan On Paper
Like most practices, much of this information for a marketing plan exists in the heads of the management team. But now is when you write it down. A marketing plan gives you a chance to pull all this relevant information together in one place, to spur ideas and justify actions.

Compare your dental products or services to those of your competitors. How well do you stack up? Is there any significant marketing opportunity for you that neither you nor your competitors are currently exploiting?

Setting Goals
If you're new to dental marketing, how do you set reasonable goals? Start with your past. Review your past production numbers, your growth over past years, the value of new patients and how the introduction of new dental products or procedures has fared. If over the last five years you've grown a cumulative 80 percent in annual revenue, projecting a 15 percent to 20 percent increase in the next year is reasonable; 45 percent is not. Set modest goals for what you'll be able to accomplish, especially if you don’t have at least a few years of marketing experience.

Your budget will probably force you to limit the number of marketing tactics you use in a given year. Too many objectives can also bring stress, disorient staff and sometimes even confuse your target market. Keep your goals challenging but achievable. It’s always better to set ambitious but reachable goals than to depress yourself by failing at too many enthusiastic goals.

Tracking Effectiveness
To track the progress of your marketing plan throughout the year, establish a regular schedule of meetings and spell this out in writing. How will you make adjustments to your plan midstream if you need to? How will you monitor progress in income/costs to make changes during the year? You can't leave yourself without this capability.

The reason you must pick measurable marketing tactics is to be able to track your progress as your plan unfolds. Some marketing tactics aren't quantifiable or are difficult to track. Make sure you don’t let your marketing budget get lost in this process by not giving credit where credit is due.

Lastly, remember that your dental marketing plan is best managed through the classic feedback loop: Act, Observe, Adjust, Act Again. Nothing is more important than personal experience when executing a properly developed marketing plan.

Joel Harris is CEO and Co-Founder of Intelligent Dental Marketing, one of the nation's leading dental marketing companies focused exclusively on dental practices. Intelligent Dental Marketing provides powerful marketing tools to help dentists grow their patient base, increase their profit and improve their image. Joel can be reached directly at 877.942.8855.

Interested in speaking to Joel about your marketing concerns? Email him at joel@thedentistsnetwork.net.

Interested in having Joel speak to your dental society or study club? Click here.

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