Dental practices around the US have spent considerable time and money searching for profitable dental implant marketing campaigns. Some of those practices have achieved success, attracting a steady flow of new, ideal patients. Others have achieved mixed results at best. Some have never been able to find consistently profitable marketing campaigns.
We’ve helped hundreds of practices generate a steady stream of dental implant patients over the past several years. Throughout that time, we’ve helped practices maximize the return on investment in dental marketing. And we’ve observed several mistakes that practices have made that make campaigns unprofitable.
When dental marketing campaigns turn unprofitable, one of these three mistakes is often the issue.
1. The dental marketing campaign is targeting the wrong patients.
To attract a steady flow of dental implant patients, practices must talk with their marketing partner about the type of patient they’re looking to attract. That’s because not all dental patients are created equal.
General care patients choose practices differently than more complex care patients. They might search Google for “dentist near me” and review online reviews. They might ask family and friends for recommendations. But they often don’t need a long time to make a decision.
Dental implant patients follow a different buying pattern than general care patients. Their care is more complex. It costs more money. It is more invasive. They need to have more trust in their provider. And they often need to be able to afford their dental implants. Dental implant patients are a broad category, as well. Some patients suffer trauma and need a single implant. Others need multiple teeth or a bridge replaced. Still, others need dentures replaced. Finally, another category needs half or a full-mouth of teeth pulled and replaced.
When a practice attracts the wrong types of patients, their campaign likely generates leads who are poor fits for their goals.
2. Dental practices fail to prequalify leads before scheduling them.
If the leads generated by a marketing campaign are the right type but low quality, the problem is often that the practice isn’t prequalifying patients before scheduling them.
The best dental marketing companies understand what it takes to prequalify patients. That’s important. It’s critical that a practice understands exactly how to prequalify leads.
The best lead prequalification identifies fit, financing, and urgency. Is the patient a good fit for the care? If not, both the lead’s time and practice’s time are wasted bringing them to the office. If they’re a good fit, can they afford the care? Can the practice help prequalify them for financing? If so, how ready are they to move forward? If they’re a good fit, with financing, and ready to move forward, all that’s left is for them to meet the team. Then it’s wise to schedule them.
3. The campaigns are not adjusted based on feedback.
One of the biggest mistakes dental practices make with their marketing campaigns is following a “set-it-and-forget-it” strategy. They start with a cookie-cutter marketing campaign that has worked for others in the past and then let it run. Cookie-cutter marketing strategies don’t work. Every practice is different. Every market is different. Thus, every campaign must be different in order to work.
Even if you start with proven dental marketing strategies, you must adjust your campaigns to maximize profits. Is it attracting enough leads? Is it attracting the right leads? Are the leads it attracts far from being ready to move forward? The answers to these questions will tell you how to adjust your campaign.
If you’re working with a marketing partner, make sure they know how to evaluate implant-specific performance. This is important because marketing companies that don’t have dental implant experience will not be able to properly evaluate performance and make necessary adjustments to implant marketing campaigns. Be sure to work with a partner you can trust that has a proven track record of success attracting dental implant patients who are ready to move forward.
At Driven Dental Implant Marketing, we know how to generate a consistent flow of prequalified dental implant leads. That’s why we hired and trained a team of industry veterans, called Virtual Patient Advocates, or VPAs. Or VPAs prescreen and prequalify leads for our clients. They’re professional, empathetic, and educated about dental implants. They learn everything about our clients’ practices to become an extension of the team. They are located across the country so they can be available at all hours of the day and over the weekend.
To learn more about how our VPA program can help deliver a steady flow of prequalified implant patients for your practice, book a strategy call today.