Now that orthodontic practices face increased competition for patients, old marketing habits need to change. A small number of “tired” referral strategies—implemented haphazardly on a catch-as-catch-can basis by staff members who have other priorities—will no longer suffice.

Reaching your growth potential depends on your ability to bring in new patients, and the key to doing this is to create a staff position for a part-time marketing coordinator (MC).

The Best Marketing Investment You’ll Ever Make

Rather than adding marketing to your personal list of duties or that of another staff member, you’ll get far better results, cost-effectively, if you hire an MC on a part-time basis. Most orthodontic practices commit initially to an MC schedule of 8 to 10 hours per week. In return for the modest impact on overhead that this represents, you will reap ample rewards in terms of new patients and resulting production. At least as important as the excellent ROI are these other benefits to your practice:

  • By giving primary marketing responsibility to an individual staff member—the MC—this all-important business function will get the attention it deserves.
  • By hiring an MC who’s innovative and enthusiastic about promoting your practice, you’ll be able to deploy a multi-strategy marketing program designed to appeal to diverse referral sources—both patients and doctors.
  • You can task your MC with tracking the results generated by different strategies, enabling your practice to replace low-yield approaches with new promotions likely to perform better.
  • With an MC on board, your practice can pay more attention to upgrading your practice’s presence—both online and in the community.

You’ll be able to devote a greater proportion of your time to production, treating the increased number of new patients generated by your MC-driven marketing activities.

As the importance of marketing grows for orthodontic practices, the value of employing a part-time marketing coordinator becomes clearer. There’s simply no better way to increase referrals from parents and adult patients, as well as from both the virtual and real communities you serve.

2017 Ortho Seminars: Attend Dr Levin’s latest seminar, “Building the Ultimate Practice.” Make plans now to see him in one of the following cities: Tampa, Chicago, Austin, or Columbia, Md. Click here for more details.

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