We are in more of an attention-driven economy than ever before, and the expectation has to be that just building a website and posting boilerplate content is not enough. Even adding a layer of advertising on top of the basics that worked even five years ago will only be somewhat effective. People (and the large language models that power their answer engine agents on ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, etc) want to know what makes you the best dentist for them. They want to know who you are and what you’ve been up to. Getting your name out there in the news, in print, podcasts, and other media is more critical than ever, but even then, you need to be the one who curates that content and helps the LLMs understand, “Yep, that was a bit about me there, and here’s why it matters.”

The problem is that marketing companies often aren’t straight with you about this.

They either want to sell you the lie that this is all bogus and that you don’t really need anything other than a basic website. For a hundred bucks a month or so, you can check Marketing off your to-do list.

Or…

They want you to believe they’ve cracked the code to the engine du jour and that they have a secret marketing formula or new app that does it all. Just sign on the dotted line and you can check Marketing off your to-do list.

I wrote my book, The Marketing Mix That Works: A Comprehensive Marketing Manual Designed to Help Dental Offices Grow, because I knew that:

A. Neither of the above marketing company promises is true. Period.

B. Pro Impressions Marketing is never going to be a fit for a direct vendor/customer relationship with every dental practice, but I still want to help as many dentists as possible.

C. A book gave me the opportunity to speak honestly to the doctor who wanted to understand why their marketing never seemed to work…or why it worked for a little while then crashed and burned… why they had to keep starting over with their marketing… and what truth they were missing that they couldn’t get from any other unbiased source.

Because I wrote it without sales in mind, I was free to speak bluntly, and it felt incredible.

I shared a little bit about this and the struggles I’ve heard voiced by dentists when I was a guest on e-Coffee with Experts:

Sales reps at marketing companies need to be bold about the capabilities of their products and services. They need to believe in what they’re selling or why would we buy from them? But they need to be honest as well. If they’re not dental experts, they need to be up front about the leadership role the dentist will be expected to play.

They also need to be honest about what the dentist should expect in results and time required. Dentists are busy, and an “easy” marketing solution is so attractive, but marketing reps must admit that there’s no set-it-an-forget it dental marketing tactic that actually works. Real marketing works by generating repeat exposure, meaning it takes time. Donald Miller, author and CEO of StoryBrand, popularized the phrase, “Marketing is an exercise in memorization.” Getting prospective patients to memorize your name when they think of dental problems will not happen overnight.

At Pro Impressions Marketing, we are careful not to over-promise on anything. We err on the side of being conservative where lead volumes and timelines are concerned. We know we can get results or we don’t take on the customer, but when we partner with a dental practice, we are transparent that they shouldn’t expect an instant response, nor do we promise specific numbers.

In the book, and when my team speaks with potential customers, we are careful to point out the things that can sabotage any marketing effort as well. As I mention in the book, in articles I’ve written for major dental industry publications, and recently in a LinkedIn post, answering the phone is chief among those self-sabotaging components that are all too common for dentists. It’s not always your team’s fault either.

Resources, whether it’s time, money, or space in the schedule—all of that can send the best-laid marketing plans crashing down. The answer is for everyone involved—dentist, front desk, and marketing team—to be transparent about expectations and capabilities. When you’ve got the full marketing mix running with a dentist and team that are ready to rock, there is no stopping you.

Are You Ready For A Marketing Strategy That Works?

Contact Pro Impressions Marketing today at (970) 672-1212 or click the button below to get started.