THE ADA PRACTICAL GUIDE TO INTERNET MARKETING 3 Marketing is just one of hundreds of practice management tasks that dental practice owners are expected to manage, and unfortunately it’s a subject matter that is rarely covered in any detail in dental school. Dental practice marketing ultimately requires strategic expertise, creativity, analytical skills and a lot of tenacity on the part of the practice owner. The beauty of marketing is that it can be incredibly successful when customized for the individual dental practice dental practice to maximize effectiveness and return on investment (ROI). The difficulty lies in determining which initiatives will work best for your practice — and following through with implementation rather than moving on to the next business priority after some initial progress is made. For many dental practices, marketing has historically been tactical or sporadic in nature — and comprised mostly of internal marketing, yellow pages advertising and perhaps a practice website. Some end up constantly weighing the merits of marketing proposals from vendors at dental tradeshows and the never-ending stream of salespeople calling the practice without knowing how to prioritize the universe of options available. And many have neither a designated marketing point person in the practice responsible for ongoing implementation and vendor relations, nor a formal annual marketing budget. If any of this sounds familiar, then this chapter is for you. Marketing should be results-oriented and easy to manage, and it doesn’t have to break the bank. So let’s get started. Learning Objectives • Discover what you must do before ever spending another marketing dollar • Identify the four-step process for building a solid marketing foundation • Outline three strategies you can implement today for immediate change • Learn the three universal marketing truths every practice needs for ongoing future success Chapter 1: Building a Solid Foundation for Your Dental Practice Marketing By Naomi Cooper