Barely Getting By vs. Skyrocketing Success
Like a weight loss program, parenting, and playing piano, dental marketing success is based on what you put into it. If you spend a few hours creating a template website, then pay $10 a month for hosting, chances are, you won’t see many new patients from your investment. If you blog, you will probably see your Internet traffic increase, but if you blog more, you’ll see more traffic.
The Going Rate for Marketing
Most experts recommend that a business invest 9% of their profits into marketing if they want the company to flourish. Studies show, nearly half of businesses spend 6%, and a third spend 3-5%. That said, a lot of companies that sell over $100 million annually (which is not a statistic that includes most dentists) invest more like 14% in marketing. Producers of packaged goods set 4-10% aside for advertising. But wait, there’s more! The discount retailer Wal-Mart spends just .4% (that’s point-four percent) on marketing, while the Target spends 2% (a full two percent), and upscale stores, like Macy’s, spend more like 5%. Liquor manufacturers throw 5.5-7.5% toward marketing, while car makers invest 2.5-3.5%. (Source)
Dentists Need More than a Shingle
In the olden days, when barbers and physicians handled dentistry, posting a shingle outside the office was sufficient marketing. Back then, though, you might get a chicken and a few turnips as payment for pulling a tooth. Today, dentists need more than a shingle, but they don’t have to sell the farm!
Generally, dental practices are small businesses, and this often means that funds are limited. Add to this a lagging economy and 2012 being an election year. These factors negatively influence profits. If your revenue has decreased, your marketing budget should also decrease, but the percentage you invest in marketing should remain the same — or increase. This may be hard to swallow, but it’s a fact, nonetheless.
Best Bets for Dental Marketing
If you’ve seen little return from your dental marketing investment, we can help. Modern Dental Practice Marketing can work with you to determine a realistic strategy to bring you new patients. Our clients who have a website and a blog, with weekly blog posts, do quite well. Those who blog 3-5 times a week have awesome success. How do we know? Unlike direct mail or Yellow Pages advertising, Internet marketing allows you to track results. We know that our clients’ websites and blogs attract new, human visitors, not just search engine spiders. We also know that more original, well-optimized content on a website and blog directly relates to more new patients. Best of all, the investment you make in Internet content will be yours forever. Adwords, Yellow Pages, and Facebook can’t make this promise. We can.
Call 972-781-8861 today for your complimentary Internet marketing analysis, including review of your website, blogs, microsites, Google Analytics (if available), and local listings.
Related posts:
- Dental Websites: More SEO Tips for Content Dental Marketing
- Be a Smart Dentist! Don’t Get Suckered Into Marketing Tricks
- Is Adwords a Good, Long-Term Investment for Dental Marketing?
Source: http://moderndentalmarketing.com/2012/09/content-a-smart-dental-marketing-investment/
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