If you listen to the buzz around the dental marketing on the Internet, dentists might be inclined to believe that traditional marketing channels such as direct mail, yellow pages and radio are dead.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
While it is true that the rise and popularity of the Internet and dental search has changed the game, it has actually opened up greater ways for you to connect with more dental patients than ever before.
Dental practices should be looking at an integrated marketing approach utilizing a combination of marketing vectors, both new and traditional, for a more effective market saturation over doing one alone.
Here at the Wealthy Dentist we decided to ask dentists which marketing vector has been most successful for their dental practice.
Here are the responses –
- Internet 28%
- Direct mail 21%
- Yellow Pages 17%
- Internal Marketing 21%
- Radio 0%
- TV 7%
- Signage 3%
- Referrals 3%
Here’s what dentists had to say about marketing vectors –
“Internet, direct mail, and internal marketing have been the best marketing vectors for us. The best marketing vector is internal marketing.” (Ohio prosthodontist)
“Patient referrals are first, then even tie between yellow pages and the Internet.” (California dentist)
“98% of our new patients still come from the recommendations of existing patients.” (Illinois dentist)
“We get some insurance referrals – we have one or two PPO’s.” (California dentist)
“Our direct mailer is supposedly still building up momentum…” (General dentist)
“As far as direct mail, Valpak has been surprisingly wonderful for us. I was very hesitant on doing Valpak advertising until I started collecting the data on our return on investment. Our Valpak ad has produced phenomenal results for our office!” (Ohio prosthodontist)
“I think the Yellow Pages are soon to be nonexistent.” (Oklahoma dentist)
