Flushing $23,000 down the drain

I was recently listening in on a sales pitch for a $25,000 website from a marketing agency to a dentist.

Yes, $25,000 for a dental website!

This website had everything you could imagine. I mean everything!

But, here’s the thing. Dentists don’t need $25,000 websites!

In fact, I don’t believe most dentists even need a $10,000 website.

I bet you’ve never heard a marketing person tell you that before!

Why is that?

Well, marketing agencies (which I am proudly not!) make money by selling expensive marketing products. The more expensive the products they sell, the more profit they make. You’re welcome for the advanced economics lesson. 🙂

Okay, but think about this for a second and dig one level deeper with me.

Are marketing agencies proposing elaborate (read: expensive!) websites because it’s what is truly best for growing your dental practice? Or because it’s what is best for their bottom line?

Well, obviously the latter. Look, you just got a psychology lesson from reading this blog as well! 🙂

All jokes aside, there’s a serious issue here!

Marketing agencies are so busy trying to maximize THEIR PROFITS (and thus maximize your spend with them) that they completely lose sight of what’s actually best for YOUR PRACTICE.

They certainly could offer you a less complex (and thus less expensive) website, that actually performs just as well (if not better), in terms of new patient conversion. And they could provide this for literally a fraction of the cost! But they choose not to because it’s not in their best financial interest.

It’s important you understand this. But even more important that you understand you have other options.

That statement goes well beyond websites (though they are a great example). It applies to all of your marketing. Gone are the days of necessarily having to go through a traditional marketing agency that costs way more, and often fails to deliver results. There are better options out there.

For example, here’s a website (www.gracedental.com) that was custom designed and built by an independent web developer. The total cost was only $2,000 (yes, a fraction of the cost of most dental websites).

The site is simple. Really simple in fact. And that is by design. Let me explain why:

First, the site is designed primarily for prospective NEW patients. After all, EXISTING patients don’t need to use your site all that often. And if they do, you can easily point them to where they need to go via a non-invasive, minimalist menu and/or direct links (like on this example site). The lesson here – your website (particularly the home page) should be designed primarily with new patient conversion in mind.

Second, the site is designed to keep those prospective new patients on the home page… and ONLY the home page! And, to provide ONLY the absolutely necessary information to quickly convert them to take action (to call / contact the office). Your website’s home page does not need to be flashy and complicated. In fact, flashy and complicated often times make sites less effective in terms of conversion.

Third, the home page of the site is designed to take no more than 60 seconds to efficiently address the 6 key questions of a prospective new patient. 1) Who are you? 2) Can I trust you? 3) Can you do what I need? 4) Can I afford it? 5) Are you convenient for me? and 6) How do I move forward?

Okay, so what about all of the other pages that are “needed” on a dental website? (you might say)

Marketing agencies want you to believe that more is better. And they’ll work awfully hard to convince you of this. After all, they say, a 10-page website is just to get you started. But what you really need is our 25-page website. Or better, our 50-page website! That’s what all the cool dentists have! The 50-page website. You want that one, don’t you? You want to be one of the cool dentists, right?

Well, it’s all nonsense!

A 50-page website is not necessarily better than a 25-page website, or even a 10-page website. In fact, it’s often worse! Because prospective new patients get overwhelmed on larger sites. They get lost. They get distracted. Or frustrated. And, then guess what they do? They leave your site.

So, then why do marketing agencies work so hard to convince you that Bigger = Better?

Well, let’s go back to our advanced psychology and economics lessons from earlier. A Bigger Website = A More Expensive Website, which = More Profit for the Marketing Agency.

Oh… now it all makes sense!  😉

Hey… if you prefer to pay $10,000 (or even $25,000) for a website that nets the same results (or even less) than a $2,000 website, then by all means, please go ahead. I’m not trying to convince you to do anything you don’t want to.

I’m not a marketing agency. I don’t design or sell websites. I have no financial interest in what marketing products you spend your hard-earned money on.

But I have consulted with dental practices from all around the United States, Canada, and the rest of the world. And I’ve learned first-hand what really works in the world of new patient marketing, and how to effectively grow dental practices with an optimal return on investment.

My goal is to help private practice dentists, like you, get better results from their marketing, grow their businesses, and achieve their professional and personal goals.

If you’re looking to spend the most money you possibly can on your marketing (like $25,000 for a website) because spending more makes you feel better, then I’m probably not your guy.

If, however, you’re looking to get the best growth results possible from your marketing investment, chances are I can leverage my experience to get you to exactly where you want to be.

Looking for better results from your marketing?

Grab some time and let’s discuss your growth goals and what success looks like to you. I’ll walk you through what’s needed to get there, and we can determine if it’s a good fit for us to partner together in making that happen.

Simply reply to this email, or click on the link below, and sign up for a complimentary consultation:

https://calendly.com/kentsearsconsulting/complimentary-consultation

I look forward to talking with you soon!

Sincerely,

Kent