Episode 744: Best Practices for Marketing

Transcript:

Tiffanie (00:01.567)

Denae, you're back with me for more marketing. I'm so excited. Denae, I just adore having you on our team. I hope you know that. I know we do like shout outs weekly and whatever, and I just don't get enough time with you, I feel like during the week, but you're such a value to our company. And I'm so excited to be podcasting with you and to have you out there with so many clients already, changing lives and just building these incredible empires all across the country. Denae, I-

I'm just so proud of you and so proud to have you on our team. So thank you for being here with us today.

Denae Black (00:34.822)

Of course, I love being on our team.

Tiffanie (00:37.695)

Good. I hope so. Cause you're stuck with us girl. You ain't going nowhere. We got a closet and we're not letting you go. Um, awesome. Well, Denae I've said it before, you've got a wealth of knowledge and all kinds of different areas and avenues. And I think that things keep popping up on us. We're like, dang, she is just like, she's got it. She's got this information. We didn't even realize. And today I really wanted to pick your brain on some more marketing stuff, some types of marketing I thought would be really cool.

Denae Black (00:45.202)

Yep.

Tiffanie (01:06.995)

There's so many different avenues that a practice can take for marketing. I think it can get confusing and overwhelming for people to try to choose. And then you call a marketing company. You're like, I don't know what any of this means half the time. Um, so I thought it would be smart to kind of just dial in and talk about some of the types of marketing, internal and external. Um, what do you think? Do you think that's a smart idea? You think that's valuable?

Denae Black (01:29.27)

that's super valuable. Marketing can be so confusing because there's so many different pieces to it. So yeah, I love it.

Tiffanie (01:37.719)

Awesome. What are you in your experience? I know you've worked with a lot of practices and then you help build this monster, monster situation, we'll call it this whole thing and what kind of marketing types of marketing in your experience have you seen work really well and also you guys just a little tidbit of information on Denae, she has worked both coasts. So I know a lot of my practices are like, you don't understand what it's like in DC, you don't understand what it's like here. I'm like, no, I.

do but guess what, Danae actually has like worked all over the country and she's got a slew of knowledge. She started in Arizona, you've done what, North Carolina, you've done, where else, Tennessee, yeah, all over the place. Yeah, there you go. So this wealth of knowledge is coming from like really just picking the pieces from all over the place so I'm excited for this. So what kind of types of marketing have you used in the past do you feel like are really great?

Denae Black (02:17.938)

Ohio, St. Louis. Yep.

Tiffanie (02:33.875)

for practices to look into.

Denae Black (02:36.354)

So when it comes to marketing and the different types of marketing, I think starting with your vision, starting with what are you trying to create and how fast do you want to build it is going to help you figure out what direction are you going to go. I like to view insurance, going in network with insurance companies, as a form of marketing. It's a great way to build up your patient base. But when you're looking at going in network with insurance,

and you eventually have the plan of going completely fee for service, you want to go into that partnership knowing that it's going to be a five-year commitment because you really want to build a relationship with those patients. So insurance is a great form of marketing, although a lot of us don't view insurance as marketing, it truly is, because it can help you go from zero to a hundred really quick with patients that are in network with that plan. Other forms of marketing.

are gonna be your big picture marketing. So your website, your SEO, or your search engine optimization stuff. So those are your big picture and you typically do hire out. So you hire somebody to help build your website, that kind of stuff. Then there's other things that you can do that is considered more small marketing or like smaller marketing, that's more tangible that you and your team can do. And that's gonna be things like getting involved with your community. So,

Tiffanie (03:46.089)

Yeah.

Denae Black (04:04.19)

sponsorships, going to different local events, showing a presence and letting your community know you're here and what value can you bring to them and to their community. So charitable events, you know, giving back to the community, donating to the local high schools, showing a booth or putting up a booth at one of the local 5ks. You want to really get out if you're trying to grow your patient base and let your community know that you're there.

You want to show up for those events.

But if you're gonna sponsor those events, you wanna show up for them. I see a lot where you sponsor, you've got a banner at the high school, but you never actually have a presence. So you can make it a really fun event, maybe sponsor a high school, and then have your team show up. You guys can wear your hat, you can wear one of your shirts, and you don't have to be pushy about it, but just show a presence. It goes a long way.

Tiffanie (04:42.694)

Agreed.

Tiffanie (04:48.869)

Mm-hmm.

Tiffanie (05:03.627)

for sure.

Denae Black (05:03.754)

And then you also have internal marketing. So your internal marketing is gonna be, ask for those reviews, ask for those referrals. The internal marketing, besides going in network with insurances, is typically gonna be your biggest bang for your buck.

Tiffanie (05:21.08)

For sure. I love that. So the external marketing, the internal marketing, for a startup practice, for somebody who's just getting going, what type of marketing would you suggest for them right off the bat?

Denae Black (05:33.762)

So somebody that's just getting going, if you could go in network, build up a whole bunch of patients through the insurance, or you can make sure that the community knows that you're there. Open up a social media account, post on that regularly, run some sponsored ads. You can put up flyers or banners outside of your office, something that shows, hey, there's a dental practice here, and here are some of the things that we do.

Tiffanie (05:43.435)

Mm-hmm.

Denae Black (06:01.494)

Some of those sandwich boards. So if your location has an area where people are driving by or walking by and you can put out a sandwich board, it sounds old school marketing, but I promise you they work. It draws attention, people see it. So sandwich boards is a great one. If you've ever gone by an ice cream shop or you've driven by a coffee shop and you've seen those flyers that are stuck in the grass,

Tiffanie (06:16.809)

Yeah.

Denae Black (06:30.686)

and it screams ice cream or coffee or latte, you can do those for dental offices as well. You can order those, put them in the grass, and have it say dentist, have it say veneers, have it say implants, the type of patients that you're trying to draw in, have it promote those services.

Tiffanie (06:44.063)

Mm-hmm.

Tiffanie (06:50.951)

Yeah, I love it. Awesome. Okay, guys. So those were great ideas for a startup. And you guys will ask to we'll talk about everyone but I'm going to kind of wrap up or bundle up these though we've got external marketing which is going to be like social media is usually done internally like we do it but it's an external marketing so it's going out in that way to

those people. You can also pay marketing companies to do your social just apply. So you have social, then you have your ads, your Facebook ads, your Google ads. I think you can do Instagram ads. I have no idea. I see those things all the time. You can do ads on just about anything anymore. I do have a lot of practices that do well with Google ads and Facebook ads. So you guys, those are still pretty relevant. And then just making sure your Google page, your Google business page is high ranking, your SEO company, your marketing company can help with that as well.

And then visual, I love that, especially for startup practices, or you guys, if you are moving. So if you've got a practice established and you're moving, maybe you did a new build out. Have that signage up, have it exciting, have it ready to pull people over there. So you've got your visual with your signs. You're, you guys love the sandwich boards, the A-frames. They're, they're fantastic. And my practice personally, when I was in office, we used to do those lawn signs all the time. And they were second to.

our internal referrals. It was people coming in because of the signs. So they really do work. Sponsorships are huge, especially if you're in a smaller community. Everyone supports the high school football team. Like everyone is there watching the team play or the baseball team or the t ball team running around on the field with your name on the back of their shirt. Like everybody loves those things. And again, having your face there, you guys showing up in appreciation of it.

is going to make a huge difference. Flyers, putting out flyers anywhere. I used to have a practice that would put flyers on windows during like big peak times in Arizona, it's the summer. So they would put them on windshields and on cars and then mailers as well, mailers going out. I know that sounds a little old school too, but the mailers really do work if you're in the community that it works for. So that's one of those pieces where you've really got to track it and your marketing team should be able to tell you.

Tiffanie (09:11.431)

And then your internal is going to be reviews. So making sure you're pushing the right reviews. Also, there's a lot of companies out there that will help you get reviews. But they're getting reviews on their platform, and it doesn't transfer to anywhere else. So you've got to make sure that you're getting Google reviews or Yelp reviews. Google is still even better than Yelp for dental practices, at least. But make sure you're getting those Google reviews, as well as a company that we partner with.

and they do really, really well. They get a ton of generations on those Google reviews. And then referrals, asking for referrals in your practice is the best way to get new patients in your door. And Denae even said those internal referrals should far outweigh your external referrals every single time. Your new patient generation should be coming from inside the practice because that means, you guys, that you're doing a really great job. So if your patients are talking about you,

they're recommending you to their friends and family members. That's huge. Now, Denae, how important is it for us to be talking to our patients about the fact that we're taking new patients and we're asking for reviews? Because does it happen just naturally? Like your practices, you had a ton of practices all over the country. Was it just happening naturally that patients were talking about them or did your team have to, were the teams asking for those referrals and asking for them to send friends and family members?

Denae Black (10:35.838)

Yeah, you definitely, I mean, yes, you will get some organic referrals, but if you are strategic about it, if you as a team are looking at the schedule the morning before and you're saying or you're targeting very specific patients that are on the schedule for the ask of the referral and you can start with one patient a day and then move into two patients a day, but be very strategic with who are you going to ask and why.

Tiffanie (11:02.622)

Yeah.

Denae Black (11:04.374)

But yeah, you do want to make sure that you're actually making a conscious effort to ask for these reviews and ask for these referrals. Your patients want to help you, right? Your patients are coming to you because they want to see you succeed. And if you ask them, they're going to be so much more likely to go back home and let their family members and their friends know that you're looking rather than us just assuming that they know.

Tiffanie (11:08.779)

I'm going to go ahead and close the video.

Tiffanie (11:12.521)

Yeah.

Tiffanie (11:19.039)

For sure.

Tiffanie (11:30.619)

Yeah, I love that. I love that. Okay, so I think action items that we can pull out of this because I think we went through a slew of types of marketing. So there's a lot of ideas out there for you guys. I think action items I love that you said to start with the visions. I think that's an action item is to make sure that you guys know where you're heading. Because like Zane said, if you don't know what you're going after, if you don't know where your practice is heading, how are you supposed to determine what type of marketing is going to get you there? Is going to get you the type of patients going to get you where you're going?

So know your vision, where do you want to go? And then I would say dial in one to three different types of marketing that we talked about today. Maybe two internal, I would always focus on Google reviews and referrals, so maybe two internal and one external that you're adding or talking to your team or your marketing company about. I would do those two things, you guys. Make sure you've got your vision.

and then pick one to three items that we talked about today to add to your marketing efforts if it is true that you're still looking for new patients. Now, before I wrap up, those are action items, Denae, I promised I would ask, what would you suggest for a practice who's established, who's maybe just still looking for new patients, but they're not a startup, so it's not gonna be 100 new patients a month, it's gonna maybe be...

a little bit less or maybe they need more than that? What do you recommend as a type of marketing or a few for an established practice to add in?

Denae Black (12:56.418)

So for an established practice, I would promote, I would focus on promoting the services that you do. Your community knows that you're there, your community knows that you're active. I would promote as much as possible the actual services that you're doing. So take those before and after photos, post them online, post them on your website, really make sure that they know that you're not only there.

but what you're actually doing for the community.

Tiffanie (13:27.755)

I love that. I love that you said that I have a practice in Kentucky that I've been working with for a long time. And he does some beautiful cosmetic work. And so what they've started doing, I had them do photo albums. So there's albums in the waiting room that they can look at, but then in the walkway and the hallway for all of the different operatories on the walls are there before and after. So they've just got these beautiful maps.

photos that are up there. My Utah office has done the same with his. He actually has a crown milling machine. So he's just got a couple up there too that are like, this is what my machine has been able to do. So I love that idea and really just highlighting what you're able to do for them. I love it. I love it. Awesome. Danae, is there anything else you can think of that would be really valuable and important for them? I feel like you gave us a ton. But is there anything else lingering in your brain?

Denae Black (14:19.522)

So I think the only other thing I would add for existing practices is your schedules are probably busier. They're probably more full than your startup practice. So you do wanna make sure that you're templating your new patient blocks so that as those new patients call, you have spots for them. You're not pushing them two, three, four weeks out. So as an existing practice, if you truly are trying to increase the number of new patients, you wanna make sure that your schedule is supporting that as well.

Tiffanie (14:32.884)

That's smart.

Tiffanie (14:48.571)

I love that. Smart. All right, guys, go get your vision in line. Go look for one to three different types of marketing that you can add in if you're not already doing them and then make sure you've got those new patient blocks in the template. I love that. Even your startup practices start getting used to that. Obviously, everyone's a new patient, but know what your goal is and make sure those blocks are in there. You guys, I hope you found this super valuable. Tons of marketing tips. It's September right now. We like to call it Sucktember. So this is the time to really dial in your marketing.

because this is our slower period. And so let's get that marketing dialed in. Let's see what you can do. Hit us up, let us know what works well for you. Hello at thedental18.com. We always love to hear from you. We'd love to know if you found this valuable and what you're doing. We wanna hear your success stories. Also, if you haven't done so already, feel free to drop us a five-star review. Honestly, guys, we read through them. Our listeners read through them and it helps them see how valuable this information could be for them as well. So.

Drop us a review, tell us how much you loved it. We can't wait to hear from you, and we'll catch you next time.