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Group & DSO Marketing & Technology Services You Can Count On

A powerhouse agency to increase productivity & group value

Overseeing multiple dental practices, whether rapidly expanding or simply dealing with many moving parts of your existing group with multiple projects, multiple stakeholders, and multiple goals can be a daunting challenge.


If you’re looking for ways to better manage your practice locations and various marketing campaigns, want to improve marketing effectiveness, increase profitability, and group valuation, Patient NEWS and Practice ZEBRA can help.

Our enterprise dental marketing services and ZEBRA Enterprise software provide you with the expert assistance you want for centralized group and DSO marketing services.

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We can assist whether you have a single brand image or are managing multiple brands with differing demographic targets. Everything we do is customized per location because we know that dental practice success (and ultimately group success) happens at the local level.

Our full-service agency gives you:


  • dental marketing experts who understand the needs of group managers


  • flexible, a la carte or packaged, solutions to support all phases of the patient journey.


  • practice intelligence with ZEBRA Enterprise – the dental software that provides maximum efficiency for practice production management DSO/Group-wide


  • marketing automation to elevate online reputation & increase patient loyalty


  • research, tracking, analysis & optimization for maximum ROI.

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“Working with Patient NEWS has been the best investment for our group.”

– Premier Dental Center

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A reputable dental marketing agency that gets dentistry


Since 1993, our team at Patient NEWS has helped thousands of dental practices stand out and grow. We’re familiar with the challenges practices face when it comes to patient acquisition, retention, and differentiating themselves from the competition. We know that it all starts at the local level – by connecting with the community in which the practice is located, addressing their specific oral health needs, and maintaining effective communication with patients to build long-lasting relationships.


From us, you can expect anything and everything. Flexible group and DSO marketing services, packaged plans or a la carte, to help you achieve your group’s specific goals. You’ll have dedicated account management and full clarity of marketing and practice performance with proper campaign attribution. Our team will work with you to improve results based on data, with key performance reporting at the practice, region, and group levels. With Patient NEWS, you’ll be able to generate consistent results across multiple locations!

One partner with solutions to improve the patient journey


With the continued rise of group dental practices and DSOs in North America, it takes a cohesive, overarching strategy to capture patients and remain competitive.


Dental patients experience a journey comprised of various stages. It starts with awareness (before they become a patient) and goes through to advocacy and growth (when they become loyal, top-value patients who refer).


At the core of the patient journey lies Practice ZEBRA Enterprise, which will help you enhance the patient experience and increase profit at each location.


With ZEBRA Enterprise you can benchmark each practice with easy to use group reports, and monitor ongoing progress for multi-location success and profitability.


Raise awareness & achieve rapid growth


To drive more patients to individual dental offices, you have to take a targeted approach to raise practice awareness. And that means identifying key demographics of those who will want and need your practices’ services as well as pinpointing the competition. We carry that out with our expert team and industry-leading technology from Esri ArcGIS Business Analyst. There is no additional fee for this service – we believe that your business, just like dental patients, needs to be informed before making a decision.


In addition, we’ll conduct an online audit to measure the strength of your current online presence (website, online listings, social channels, etc.) and identify areas in need of improvement and enhancement.


We’ll also connect your practices to Practice ZEBRA, the #1 dental software solution, to help determine which marketing tactics are the best to employ.

DSO & group marketing services that work


Imagine being able to track the ebbs and flows of each location and zero in on areas that need work. You'll know who's knocking it out of the park so you can replicate their success at all locations.


Practice ZEBRA Enterprise


Practice owners can choose to take a high-level look at the performance of each office and make comparisons with easy enterprise views and roll-up reports. At a glance, you can see which offices are on track in terms of patients, production, and scheduling, to name a few. Office managers, on the other hand, can get granular by looking at individual metrics and trends, like call conversion and scoring, and provide call coaching at the office level to help book more patients and effectively fill schedules.

It takes a full marketing mix to connect with prospects and patients at each of these critical touchpoints – and that is key to becoming more profitable and successful. When you put the patient first – in everything you do – your business will be rewarded financially.

Direct mail program to acquire more new patients


Reach 100% of new patients with a monthly customized neighborhood newsletter or postcard campaign. Build trust, drive higher new-patient response, and elevate your practice reputation as the dental authority in every community in which you have an office.


We also recommend sending newsletters to existing patients to maintain relationships and improve loyalty. It’s a proven solution to reduce attrition, increase patient lifetime value, improve the patient experience, and a superior way to smoother transitions.


Digital services to increase visibility and strengthen reputation


Whether prospects find you through a search or are directed to one of your offices by way of a direct mail campaign, it’s crucial to have a robust online presence. We can help with that.

  • WebLift & SEO – Get a consistent look and feel for all of your practices’ websites, each of which will be responsive, provide patients valuable information, and increase conversion. This solution is backed with a solid SEO strategy to increase search rankings and get more traffic.
  • Paid media (PPC for dentists) – We’ll help your dental offices appear on search sites and drive calls to them with PPC for dentists. You’ll get customized ads, weekly ad optimization, dynamic number insertion to track results, and support from a digital dental marketing expert.
  • Social marketing – For patients to stick around, they need to know your practice truly cares about them. We help practices keep patients engaged and remain top of mind with content they’ll love.
  • Reputation management – Are all online listings for your practice locations up to date? Business listings, particularly Google My Business pages, must be current so patients know where the office is and how to get in touch. Our team makes it easy and looks after this for you.

Analyze your business & make data-driven decisions


Practice ZEBRA Enterprise is the dental software solution that will provide you, key stakeholders, practices, and team members, the related key performance metrics that matter to each: roll-up analytics and trends, patient and production information, and marketing results.

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Plus, Practice ZEBRA offers marketing automation for seamless patient communication. Some of its powerful features include:


  • eNewsletters & Email Anytime – Send out office updates, promote a dental membership plan, educate patients about their oral health, and more.


  • Appointment Reminders – An easy-to-use communication system that reduces patient no-shows, increase production, and ensure practices operate efficiently.


  • Dental Membership Plan Booster – Membership plan members are worth 2X more than non-insured patients. Boost practice production with automated email and text cadences.


  • Call tracking & scoring – As many as 50% of new-patient opportunities are lost at the front desk. With call tracking and scoring, you’ll see how each marketing campaign is performing and be able to monitor how teams are handling calls and how many are missed or end up in voicemail. We offer Phone Power telephone training to practices that need to increase their conversion rate and create a better customer service experience.


At Patient NEWS, we love working with multi-office organizations and helping with the unique challenges associated with managing multiple projects, people, locations, and stakeholders. Contact our team today for group or DSO marketing services to become more profitable and productive with a plan tailored to your goals.

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Your Questions Answered

Open FAQs To Read Frequently Asked Questions About DSO & Dental Goups

Or better yet, call us at 888-377-2404 & talk to a real person!


Frequently Asked Question

  • What are the benefits of getting all practice and marketing results from one source for our group dental business?

    By having all your data in one convenient spot, it will save you and your teams time. With a cloud-based software solution like Practice ZEBRA Enterprise, you’re able to get instant access to key performance indicators and more. With a quick and easy connection to the practices’ PMS, team members can make rapid data-driven decisions for business growth. No longer do team members have to sort through and make sense of complicated reports to see where the business is thriving and where it needs attention.

  • What are the pitfalls of working with multiple marketing providers on our DSO’s marketing campaign?

    What you might find is that your marketing strategy is misaligned, fragmented, and fractured. With multiple marketing agencies in the mix, it can be a challenge to get the desired outcomes, and it may even cause frustration. The companies you work with may not see eye-to-eye on strategies, best practices, and the implementation of campaigns. Other problems that may arise include: lack of campaign leadership, duplication of effort, miscommunication, additional costs, no overall plan, clear understanding of ROI, and insufficient reporting.

  • What are the essential qualities every dental entrepreneur should possess?

    In working with many dental entrepreneurs over the years, we know they possess several key qualities and characteristics which are integral to their success. They include passion, fearlessness, risk tolerance, adaptability, motivation, responsibility, and vision.

  • We’ve added many new patients year over year, but our group dental business still isn’t growing. Why might that be?

    When examining the data for many practices, we often see the rate of patients they are losing is surpassing the number of new patients they’re gaining. In Practice ZEBRA, each office can quickly see what’s happening – at any time – with a New & Lost Patients graph. It provides data on new patients, reactivated patients, total of new patients, lost patients, and the overall net gain (or loss). It makes it easy to see if the practice needs to work on strategies to improve patient retention and/or improve patient acquisition.

Top Blogs From Our Dental Marketing Agency

By Joanne Bishop December 16, 2024
Dental offices have a lot in common. Most want better community awareness, more quality new patients, and stronger patient loyalty and trust. According to Precedence Research, the North American dental market is set to grow by 12% in 2025. This growth is being fueled by the rising prevalence of oral illness, increasing demand for cosmetic treatments and clear aligners, and complex procedures like dental implants. In addition, less than 40% of working adults visited a dentist last year, and 75% of adults “plan” to visit a dentist inthe coming year. Considering this data, timing couldn’t be better for dental offices to invest in brand awareness and growth to gain market share, build momentum and increase practice production. Plan for growth The modern dental patient journey is complex. Awareness. Consideration & Research. Buying Decision & Conversion. Experience. Advocacy. Successful dental clinics have discovered that brand awareness doesn’t start at search. Businesses must be proactive in making their audiences aware of them. It’s the first and most important step in the patient journey – especially when you consider that consumers will not generally consider purchasing from a brand they’re not familiar with. Without brand awareness, local businesses, like dental offices, remain invisible to the vast majority of their target audience. Brand awareness is considered the foundation for overall success. Tactics winning dentists employ to build visibility include strong branding, signage, targeted direct mail, Google and Meta ads, community participation, and more. When effectively executed, these tactics will work in tandem, helping dental offices become and stay top-of-mind with potential patients when they begin to consider purchase decisions. More importantly, a well-run dental brand awareness campaign can educate the audience on the benefits of dental treatment and the solutions that solve their problems or pain points, proactively gaining visibility and driving activity to the phone, website, and door. The dental landscape is constantly evolving. From advancements in technology to changes in competitive levels, shifts in consumer behavior, and the emergence of new platforms and tools, there's never a dull moment in dental marketing. At Patient NEWS, we are dedicated to staying ahead of the curve by continuously monitoring the latest advancements and emerging trends. This commitment ensures we can help our clients maintain a competitive edge and achieve long-term success in an ever-changing landscape. Getting your practice in front of your primary target audience will not only capture those already considering a dental service, but also prompt consumers to act sooner rather than later. Dentistry has always been resilient. You know that people need dental care. You know that the market is projected to grow , and you know that the majority of adults are planning to see a dentist . But who will they choose in your neighborhood? The average practice will also lose around 20% of their active patient base in 2025, and they have another 25% that’s already lapsing. That’s not a bad thing. It gives you the opportunity to pick up market share and new treatment. Some attrition gives you space in your schedule so that you can onboard more high-value new patients in their place. Remember, new patients are often 2X more valuable than existing ones. Plan for growth With shifting patient expectations, the demand for more convenience, better customer service, fast responsiveness, and knowing that consumers are looking for more cosmetic and complex procedures, you have an opportunity to shape your awareness and new-patient acquisition campaigns to hit the target right where they need it. Addressing their needs and wants in your communication strategies. One thing is in your back pocket, and that’s how you look at marketing to women. While women remain key decision-makers in over 85% of all spending decisions, studies show that the healthcare industry flops in connecting with them. We find that dentists get this, and that makes a significant variance in results. When looking at the marketing strategies you have in place now, could you do something more to attract these important eyeballs, these super consumers who have the balance of purchasing power and very strong influence? The answer is yes. And it lies in content marketing. Relationship marketing. Women want credible information to make good decisions for their families. Today, consumers are aware that looking up information online can lead to misinformation, so hearing from the healthcare professional directly is preferred. Awareness campaigns do just this. When your practice lands in mailboxes with quality information, in prospects' Facebook feeds with quality content, you become recognized as an authority in your field – a provider that is trusted in your community. You can share more details on oral health, details on the cosmetic solutions you offer, and the amazing experience you and your team provide with conveniences that resonate with your target audience. Dentists who implemented strategic, content-rich marketing programs like neighborhood newsletters, SEO, and paid media with our company have experienced 37% practice production growth over the past three years. These clients attracted 25% more new patients than industry average. You can leverage this market opportunity by leveraging your existing reputation and current success in a strategic, data-driven marketing plan. You’ll want to make sure that your plan is proactive and designed to have patients looking you up by name – not waiting for someone to search ‘dentist-near-me.' You’ll want to ensure that your plan is precisely targeted to the core areas and demographics of your ideal patients. You want your plan to build such strong awareness and desire with your audience that they prioritize a buying decision with you over the other purchases on their wish list. Is the dental implant more important than the all-inclusive vacation? Clear aligners or new car? Wait. Where do they find clear aligner treatments in your area? Who will they choose? How do you stand out and win when the opportunity is there, but other dentists are out there competing for the market? We want to help you STAND OUT and GROW production. We can help you win. Start a conversation with our team today. Learn more about the extensive preparation we invest in your success before you invest in us. This free session will outline how our solutions can propel your practice forward, and you can also find out how rich insights in our Reveal Report will empower you to make great decisions for your practice. Regularly $795, this incredible report is provided at no charge, with data a practice owner could only dream of seeing in full color. Schedule your initial call here! P.S. Get exclusive use of your neighborhood for our direct mail system. No other dentist can use this program when you have it secured for your practice. NOTE: There may be some juggling of available meeting times over the holiday season, so book as soon as possible to get into the queue.
By Joanne Bishop December 4, 2024
“Carrie, I don’t think I ever passed along the number of [positive] messages we received from our patients for the last newsletter. The “thanks” focused on what we’re doing to provide a high level of dental care and for the staff introductions. Of course, the messaging would fall flat if the presentation and quality weren’t also top-notch, so it’s obviously the whole package. I hope you pass along the pat on the back from all of us.” Do your patients know your value proposition? Ask yourself: have we done everything we can to show our patients how important they are to us in a tangible way? Now is the perfect time to send a holiday newsletter to remind patients why they chose your practice, that they made the right decision, and that they should stay with you for 2025. Let’s discuss content for your New Year’s special edition! A major misconception that causes dental offices to experience attrition, miss out on attracting new patients, and lose out on elective service sales is thinking people just don’t read their mail anymore. The fact is, direct mail is statistically proven to improve repeat business. Given the competitive dental advertising ecosystem, how do you keep your patients connected to your practice – outside of transactional exchanges? With a holiday patient newsletter that hits doorsteps , that’s how! Wouldn’t you love to hear accolades from your patients like Carrie’s client did? With a 90% open rate, consumers of all ages actually prefer direct mail, and 70% feel it’s more personal than a digital transaction. It is the most trusted advertising format at decision-making. It is the only way to reach 100% of your audience. It is tactile and sparks curiosity and interest. It’s proven to drive more action than any other marketing medium. You may be amazed at how a little thing like a New Year’s newsletter can help you stand out from the crowd in your own patient households. Some dental clinics give lip service on how much they value their patients but then rarely take any measurable action. With little effort, you can reinforce the value your patients get from your dental practice. Stand out while highlighting: Key initiatives and achievements in a Letter from the Dentist. Your industry leadership and technology. Innovations you’re providing to offer more convenience and comfort. Enhanced patient services and special offers. Your commitment to supporting and empowering patients into 2025! This one small step will remind patients that you’re their trusted partner. It will also show patients that they’re important and that you care. Worth the investment? Another yes! Here’s why: An active patient contributes $1,200 per year on average. The average practice has 1.6 patients per household – room for growth. A household represents a minimum of $2,000 per year (we only mail one newsletter per household). The cost of one newsletter is usually less than or around $2 per household, including envelopes AND postage ... and we’ll give you a no-obligation quote. The average practice has around 2,000 active patients, but … On average, 25% of active patients haven’t had a visit in 9 months. This also gives insight into OPPORTUNITY! To reactivate lapsing and inactive patients To increase referrals of family and friends To introduce and generate more elective service sales To improve retention and support practice security To improve patient satisfaction and loyalty! For most dentists, sending educational content to patients aligns with the core values of the practice. Plus, you can include a special recipe or a holiday game for kids – you name it, and we’ll do it! This small initiative is a good thing on so many levels. You’ll be giving something back to your patients and investing in the future of your practice. Have ideas for content you’d like to include in your holiday New Year’s special edition ? We’re here to make it come alive! If you haven’t mailed a patient newsletter in some time, just think of the surprise and delight patients will feel and the wonderful appreciation you’ll receive. Mailings available for January 15 th and 31 st are booking now. Don’t miss out – contact us today!
By Joanne Bishop November 4, 2024
You’re already a successful business owner, so you know that growing production requires a strategic approach blending prep, implementation, and follow through. Drawing on our 30+ years of helping dental practices increase production and looking at the proven processes that have helped our clients consistently grow production year over year, we’ve drilled it down to these essential elements: Identify current trends & benchmarks. Set realistic goals & expectations. Identify areas for improvement/focus. Utilize a comprehensive & competitive marketing plan. Execute with regular review of results for continuous improvement. If you’re a Practice ZEBRA® subscriber, you can immediately pull your Benchmark Report to capture your current trends and metrics, patient and new patient values, and net gain/loss results. You can also dig into the Predictive Analytics module to see which levers you can quickly focus on to increase production. Better yet, schedule a call with your Account Manager, who will pull this all together for you and ensure you are set for success as we hit the year-end! If you’re not a Practice ZEBRA user yet, find out more with an initial session to discuss your 2025 goals, and get access to our Reveal Report, a custom 24-page document that provides a clear visual on everything you want to know to strategically plan for growth in 2025. Schedule a session now Getting an honest assessment of current results helps us identify the wins, the not-quite-theres, and which areas of focus will deliver the results we want. My CEO always says we can’t continue doing the same thing and expect a different result. So, if you want a different or better result as we head into 2025, the question is, is your practice focusing on the right metrics? Are you onboarding a sufficient flow of new patients while controlling attrition? Do you know what might happen if you added more high-value new patients versus focusing on retaining active patients? Do you know how many new patients get scheduled for subsequent visits? Do you know how many of your active patients are actually lapsing? What is the magic mix that will increase your production to the level you want? Predictive Analytics is an excellent tool for determining this. The following graph is of a real, successful solo practice currently achieving $1.6M in annual production. When you utilize Predictive Analytics, it gives you a clear visual of where to find growth. In this case, you’ll see the practice doesn’t have to move mountains to have a substantial revenue increase. Using the calculator we just looked at, what would happen if they added 10 more new patients per month, increasing from 32 to 42 new patients? That’s 2-3 more new patients a week. Most offices have at least capacity to add this number. In fact, the last ADA HPI survey revealed that 93% of dental offices are accepting new patients. If the office in the graph hits this target, it adds up to $162,240 in additional production in the first year, and by year two, it adds over $500,000 to the topline! Just by prioritizing a couple more new patients each week.
By Joanne Bishop October 28, 2024
Direct mail is the preferred channel of communication for adults of all ages, it’s more persuasive than digital marketing, more trustworthy, easier to understand, and more memorable. It’s also one of the most effective tools available to dental offices that want to stand out and grow. Schedule an initial call today Consumers value something they can see and touch. The proven 4-page newsletter format we recommend provides dental offices a vast opportunity to connect with and educate readers while elevating practice awareness and building and strengthening the practice authority and reputation. At Patient NEWS, direct mail has evolved into a strategic, tech-driven solution that delivers a very strong ROI. On average, our clients achieve a 6x return within year one. Direct mail delivers something that digital marketing just can’t match. It’s precision-targeted and is the only way to reach 100% of your targeted audience, with 95% of consumers checking their mail daily. A large study revealed that recall was 70% higher among participants who were exposed to direct mail versus digital ads. These are just a few reasons direct mail is 10-30x more effective. It’s highly customizable, highly trackable, and highly effective at deepening the connection between a local dental practice and the community it serves, driving an increase in overall monthly new patient flow. Direct mail and digital campaigns work better together than alone. Direct mail is more action-oriented because its physical presentation stimulates the underlying mental processes that direct behavior. The average Patient NEWS practice grows by 20% over two years.
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