THE ADA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO INTERNET MARKETING 7 • Next, it’s time to think about the tactics that will help achieve the goals. For instance, social media might be at the top of the doctor’s wish list, but should it be? For some practices, yes. However, for some dentists, there might be more important things to focus on first. For example, if the practice website hasn’t been updated in several years, and if it’s not properly optimized for search and mobile, the website may need to be a bigger priority. That’s not to say that social media should be ignored it’s simply a more effective strategy to spend one’s time, money and energy building a strong foundation first and adding the bells and whistles later. • Once the practice’s marketing priorities are determined, the budget will help determine how quickly it can all be accomplished. Conversely, some doctors may opt to establish the budget first, and then figure out what can be accomplished from the To Do List within the budget’s constraints. And a strategy isn’t just for a practice with a sizeable marketing budget for practices with very limited budgets, every dollar counts so it is equally critical to develop a strategy up front. It’s all about prioritizing the marketing activities and starting with those that will best help accomplish the doctor’s main objectives. In keeping with the holes in the bucket analogy, not measuring the return on investment (ROI) of the current marketing is a major hole in the bucket. If you don’t know what percentage of your new patients come from the website, existing patient referrals, or from word of mouth, there is absolutely no way of measuring the efficacy of any marketing that is already being done. Evaluating the existing ROI will help determine which existing efforts are worth continuing, and which are not. It can be overwhelming to filter through the marketing possibilities to determine which are best for the practice. Consider outsourcing the marketing responsibilities. Practices often outsource their accounting, their lab work, their IT, so why not outsource marketing to a professional with experience in the healthcare field? A successful marketing plan is partly about having the right mindset it’s also having the right mechanics. Hiring a professional can alleviate the strains of a do-it- yourself plan and can provide the dentist with peace of mind knowing their marketing dollars are being spent in the smartest way and being monitored by someone with the time, the ability and the interest in making it pay off long term. Step 3: Implementation Now that the dentist and team are committed to the idea of marketing, and a plan and budget have been established, it’s time for action. A common misconception in dental marketing is that the dentist is in charge of day-to-day management of practice marketing. The dentist should manage the strategy but a dedicated staff person(s) should manage the tasks. Whether the marketing is executed in-house or it is outsourced, there can be any number of vendors working on the various components of the strategy — the marketing consultant, the website designer, the social media manager. The doctor can still be the main decision maker, but there needs to be another person running point for the doctor on a daily basis. An important part of the implementation phase is the follow through. It is common for people to develop the “stuck in the middle” syndrome. That is, it’s very easy to be motivated at the beginning and at the ending of a task. At the beginning, everything is new and fresh and everyone’s excited about the new idea. At the end, everyone is rallying to cross the finish the line. However, in the middle, it’s easy to lose momentum. The reality is that most dentists don’t have anyone that they answer to when it comes to the marketing plan, so it’s a good idea to have regular status meetings with someone — a spouse, office manager or marketing consultant — who can help create external accountability for the marketing budget and its implementation timeline.