Dentists can obtain finance for Marketing

With many dental practices having spent considerable sums of money upgrading their premises for CQC annd HTM purposes, the pot may be largely empty for other vital areas of investment.  Marketing falls into that category.

With the banks applying stringent criteria for capital expentiture loans, it’s safe to say that practice Principals may not be aware that that finance can be made available for working capital, which can be used for essential marketing investment.  Whether a new or upgraded website that will deliver patient enquiries and appointments, proven advertising tactics that have worked or other forms of marketing where a significant ROI can be confidently predicted, it is possible to raise funds.  

Sure, the sums involved need to be of reasonable size, say £5 – £10k or more, but it’s an option for dentists looking to launch a practice, build awareness quickly, promote new treatments or clinicians, increase their patient numbers significantly or attract highvalue cases.

So, who can provide the finance? LDF specialise in finance and unsecured loans for dentists and other professions. Go to www.ldf.co.uk/professions  

To find out more on how to invest the money wisely, contact us.

Outdoor media can work really well for dentists

Just to demonstrate that marketing in the “new economy” isn’t just about on-line, text, instant messaging and social media, in a recent campaign for a dental practice promoting implants it achieved a three fold return on investment within one week in a 6 sheet bus shelter poster campaign. 

As well as building awareness, the real acid test is response and new cases, in this instance, high value cases. The keys to success are well positioned sites where heavy traffic is always slow moving, simple stand-out creative and BIG call-to-action (telephone number and web address).

Of course, mentioning when the posters are going up in a Tweet won’t do any harm!

For advice on outdoor media contact us

Dental Business Growth Workshop

Steve Davey and  Pree Panchmatia, renowned dental business and marketing specialists, are hosting a FREE half day practical workshop (worth £395) on 17th May in London’s West End.  

Yes, it is free, but this valuable session is likely to appeal only to ambitious and entrepreneurial practice owners who are committed to substantial business  growth.

Entitled ‘What is the real ‘hidden wealth’ in your practice, and how can you release it?’, it enables dental practice owners to address the following questions: -

  1. How can I best maximise my profitability?
  2. What are the best and safest ways to slash my business and personal taxes?
  3. Why patients should beat a path to my practice rather than another?
  4. What are the best ways of getting a steady stream of my ideal patients?
  5. How can I get revitalised to enjoy my dentistry again, make more and work less?

The Workshop is designed specifically for and will appeal to principals and associates who know they can and should be enjoying significantly more profit and enjoyment from their businesses.  It offers very practical solutions and strategies to deal with the increasing demands of rising costs, staff turnover, CQC etc and will be an invaluable investment of your time.

Pree Panchmatia specialises in business growth and financial planning and advises dental practices on how to maximize the effectiveness of the team to engage patients and improve revenue.  Steve Davey specialises in all aspects of marketing the practice to achieve best ROI – to include new patient acquisition, maximizing your patient list and helping you introduce additional treatments. 

 Their combined approach ensures dental practices and other sector businesses receive a unique mix of skills and over 45 years experience in helping businesses improve their profitability.  

To reserve your place or more information, call 0845 287 3051 or email steve@smiledentalmarketing.co.uk

Smile Marketing opens office overseas!

Dental marketing specialists, Smile Marketing, are proud to announce a new office in Guernsey.  As part of its expansion plan, the agency recently opened the office to serve its clients on the Channel Islands.

 The agency feels that it can help dentists in the Channel Islands to increase patient numbers and improve fee revenues. The new office is located in St Sampson and enables Smile Marketing to support private practices as they develop their businesses within a competitive market.

 The move is part of the agency’s strategy to make dental marketing a recognised specialised service across the country. It recognises that the dentistry profession presents marketing challenges such as trying to communicate clinical information to patients. As dental marketing specialists, dental practices can feel assured that this is done in an accurate yet accessible way.

Steve Davey, MD, says:

As part of our UK growth strategy, we wanted to ensure all parts of the UK have access to specialist marketing skills and experience. Supporting the Channel Islands’ dental community is a natural extension of our services”.

 Smile Marketing now has offices in Devon, London and the Channel Islands, with other branches scheduled for the Midlands, the North West, the North East, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Telephone: 0845 287 3051

Smile Marketing Ltd., Transport House, Commercial Road, St. Sampsons, Guernsey, GY2 4QP

Lifetime Of Smiles!


In addition to the services already offered, Smile Marketing is now also providing educational literature for dental practices.

Our aim is to give you the tools for you to provide your patients with practical advice to maintain their oral health between visits to your practice.

Our Lifetime of Smiles brochures guide patients through dental care and target each age group individually. The set comprises of four different booklets:

  • Caring for your first teeth
  • Oral health for teenagers
  • Caring for adult teeth
  • Tooth and gum care for the over 50’s

Click each image to access a larger picture.

The brochures are an opportunity for you to extend your professional service- supporting patients after they have left your practice and communicating with them in the comfort of their own homes.

Keeping a step ahead…

Smile Marketing are always looking out for new information about services offered by dentists and changes and advances in dentistry- keeping aware of what we may encounter via our clients is all part of our service!

On a recent foray into the Dental News section of a UK-based website, I found an article about progress in tooth-reattachment. I won’t pretend to understand the complexities of it (it is Friday!), but in summary:

the University of Illinois in Chicago have used stem cells from molars to form new ligament fibres and cementum- both of which are the basis of healthy tooth attachment

It never ceases to amaze me what the combination of dentists’ knowledge and technology can achieve. This makes our job even more rewarding, as we are able to share both established and newly-acquired skills held by practising dentists with potential and existing patients. After all of the hard work put into learning and updating the art of dentistry, opportunities to exercise them should be maximised!

Starry eyes and sparkly smiles!

Exciting times ahead for Smile Marketing! We have teamed up with the media professionals at JSP Media Group and can now offer you the chance to show off your practice using the latest video technology. Jem and his team have an impressive background, including experience at the BBC and Sky, so be assured that you are in capable hands.

So what can you expect? Well, we’re thinking atmospheric music, a professional Voice-Over, a show-and-tell about your practice using interviews with staff, patients, yourself… tadaa! Caught on camera? Pah! Give visitors to your website a real insight… let’s catch you on video camera!

For more information about our media partners, visit www.jspmediagroup.com

Smile Marketing wants every age group to have gleaming teeth!

We’d like to help dentist’s to reach even more people to help create healthy smiles across the country!

We are now offering a pack of 4 brochures which give guidelines to dental care according to life stages:

Caring for your first teeth

Oral health for teenagers

Caring for adult teeth

Tooth and gum care for the over 50′s

Fear not! We aren’t offering the type of leaflet that does little to catch the eye. Oh no! We can even personalise the brochures to the image of your company. Your very own Lifetime of Smiles handy-pack. Somehow I don’t think that it’ll only be your patients that are wearing grins!

Interested? Want to know a little bit more? Either way, a quick e-mail should help to answer any questions. Unless this piece of information has already got your business-branding-imagination whirling! In which case, contact us to secure 500 packs of these little treasures (2000 in total) and to get your order in!

Call now on 0845 287 3051 to find out more!

Smile Marketing enters new growth phase

In recognition of its rapidly growing client base in the dental sector, Smile Marketing is looking for marketing professionals to work as associates in the business. Both experienced and junior project managers are welcome to approach the agency.

The agency offers a full range of marketing services to include marketing planning, practice branding, clinician and practice PR, patient recruitment campaigns as well as dental websites. Smile Marketing also delivers marketing workshops for practice managers and staff and a weekly marketing clinic. Offering either retainer-based or project-based packages, the company’s flexible approach to helping practices is proving to be very popular.

Founder Steve Davey commented: “Since the launch of Smile Marketing, interest from dentists has been fantastic and is very encouraging. The dental field has become increasingly competitive and guiding Principals and Practice Managers to become more self-sufficient and targeted with their marketing is proving to be a real ‘win win’.

He added “With almost certain changes within NHS dentistry afoot, the need for professional support from dedicated dental marketers can only increase”.

For more information, contact 0845 287 3051 or email steve@smiledentalmarketing.co.uk.

Welcome to the smile marketing blog!

Come back soon for our latest dental marketing tips and advice.