For dentists ยท Marketing planning
A marketing plan for a dental practice.
Dentists tend to market for new patients when the bigger opening is already on the books. The plan sorts out recall, new patients and cosmetic growth in the right order.
Or text (508) 546-9942
Slide it
You vs. Doe Family Dental.
Left is your website today. Right is the one Doe Family Dental has. Drag the line, then hit the button.
Crickets on the left. That is the problem.
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Illustration. Joe is made up. Your competitor is not.
The dental practice version
Why it matters.
Picture the monthly meeting. The schedule has gaps, so someone suggests a new patient special. Meanwhile the recall list is full of overdue patients and recommended treatment that was never scheduled. A plan starts there, with your own numbers: where patients come from, how many are overdue, how much treatment sits unscheduled, and which services you want more of.
Then it makes the harder calls. Whether to stay in a network or leave it, whether to grow cosmetic work or implants, whether to offer a membership plan for uninsured patients. Those choices change who your marketing should speak to, so they come before anything gets designed.
What I would build
For a dental practice.
A written position: what you sell, to whom, and why you over the practice down the street. Family convenience, cosmetic skill, anxious-patient comfort, or a specific service. One clear lead message, not five.
The offer, defined tightly enough to put a price on. A new patient exam and cleaning, a membership plan for uninsured patients, a cosmetic consultation. Checked against your network contracts and board rules before it goes public.
Which channels get effort and which get ignored. Recall and referrals for family patients, search for emergencies, a longer content and consultation path for cosmetic. Each with a weekly rhythm somebody can keep.
What gets measured, and the threshold that triggers a decision. New patients by source, recall rebooking, unscheduled treatment, cosmetic consults that convert. When one crosses the line, the plan says what changes.
The mistake I see
Running specials to fill the hygiene schedule
A new patient special can fill chairs, but it also attracts patients who leave when the special ends or whose plans do not match yours. If the hygiene schedule has gaps, the faster fix is working the recall list and confirming appointments so fewer go empty. Specials are a tool for growth, not a patch for a recall problem.
What you get
Marketing planning.
Before anybody designs anything, I figure out what you are selling, to whom, and what has to happen every week.
- A written position: what you sell, to whom, and why you over the alternative
- The offer, defined tightly enough to put a price on
- Which channels get effort and which get ignored
- A weekly rhythm somebody can actually keep
- What gets measured, and the threshold that triggers a decision
How it goes
For a dental practice, step by step.
→ Keep scrolling. It moves sideways.
One long conversation
Your numbers, your best customers, the jobs you wish you had more of.
Narrow it
Most plans fail from doing six things badly. I pick two.
Write it down
One page. If it needs ten, it will not survive a busy month.
Set the review
A date to look at it honestly and change it.
Step five is you.
The free Receipt shows what your dental practice should fix first. About half a minute, no card.
Print my Receipt →
Questions
What dentists ask.
Should we drop an insurance network?
That is a business decision with real consequences, and it depends on your numbers, your area and your patient base. The plan does not make it for you, but it covers the marketing side: how to communicate the change, how to keep patients who might leave, and how to attract patients who fit the new model.
Is a membership plan worth marketing?
For practices with a meaningful share of uninsured patients, often yes. It gives those patients a predictable cost and gives the practice recurring revenue. The plan defines what it includes and how it is priced, then makes sure the website, the front desk and the recall messages all describe it the same way.
How do we grow cosmetic work without losing family patients?
Treat them as two audiences under one brand. The family side keeps its convenience and insurance messaging. Cosmetic gets its own page, its own offer, and a consultation path. Your existing family patients are a strong source of cosmetic interest, so the plan covers how to mention it at hygiene visits without pressure.
What comes after
Pairs well with.
The overdue recall list and unscheduled treatment are a quiet leak in every dental practice.
Usually nextDental websites that book new patients.Three visitors land on a dental site: a family checking insurance, a patient in pain, and someone researching cosmetic work.
Same service
Marketing planning for other businesses.
Where I work
Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Start here
See what your customers see.
The Receipt looks your dental practice up the way a customer would and itemizes what is costing you calls. It is free. Or skip it and book fifteen minutes with me.
Or text (508) 546-9942