Episode #296: The Acronyms for Success in Marketing with Xaña Winans

Marketing isn't just about the pretty images — it’s all about the numbers! And without knowing your numbers, you can't improve your practice. So, today, Kirk Behrendt brings back Xaña Winans to teach you which numbers to keep track of so you can market more effectively. Don't just guess how your marketing is performing — measure and know! To learn about KPIs and all of the acronyms for success in marketing, listen to Episode 296 of The Best Practices Show!

Main Takeaways:

Image is important, but knowing your numbers is even more important.

Numbers are everything for marketing success.

If you don't measure, you don't know how any given piece of marketing is performing.

CPL (Cost Per Lead) should be lower than your cost of acquisition.

CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) helps determine what in your practice needs improvement.

If you're not measuring ROI, it’s just a guessing game.

Marketing needs time before you see any potential returns.

Measure the critical few. Choose two key KPIs to measure and focus on.

Know your ideal patient!

Quotes:

“Doctors, I think, get really excited about the beautiful pictures that they see, the gorgeous new website that a friend of theirs has, or somebody’s incredible postcard, or whatever they’re seeing in terms of other people’s marketing, and they think it’s all about the image. And the image is [only] this much of it.” (05:30—05:52)

“Marketing, 50% of it is the pretty stuff. But the other 50% is knowing the hard data, the acronyms, as I call them, of success: your KPIs and your CPLs and your CPAs. If you don't know your numbers, you can’t improve them. You have no idea if you are spending your money efficiently or just throwing it down a hole. And the numbers are literally everything for marketing success.” (06:01—06:23)

“There is a huge amount of money that is wasted when I see practices do marketing where they're just getting a ton of leads and a ton of people in the door, and they think it’s incredibly successful. But they're only shoppers. They're coming for a special, and they disappear. They don't come back for that second appointment. And while your cost per lead might be small, your cost of acquiring that patient all of a sudden got really, really expensive because they're not staying in the practice.” (07:54—08:20)

“If you do not get that new patient to reappoint — to come back to your practice — often, the cost of their first visit could be more expensive than the cost to acquire the patient. So, if you don't get them to come back, you're literally going to have a negative return on investment for that particular patient, which is crazy.” (09:37—09:58)

“The average patient stays in a practice a good 10 years. If you can just do that one thing that very first appointment to get them to come back so that you can start to build a relationship and build value, that is where your ROI comes from, because it is the patient continually adding more revenue to the practice every single year.” (10:06—10:26)

“[Dentists] get all caught up like their success only exists in how many times the phone rang and how many new patient appointments they got. But if you are not reappointing them, they're not quality leads. Or there might be something else going on in the practice that is an indication of something you need to adjust.” (12:34—12:49)

“A lead does not equal a patient. A lead is anything that gets somebody to respond. So, they filled out a form on your website. They picked up the phone and made a call. They had a chat with you online. They walked in your door because they happened to be walking past your practice and they had a question. That is a lead. That is not a qualified patient.” (13:05—13:27)

“I count a lead as any time that the phone rang and it was a new patient opportunity. For example, if your phone isn't getting answered and the call goes to voicemail, it’s still a new patient opportunity so it’s still a lead. Unfortunately, we know that 75%, sometimes up to 80%, of people who get your voicemail are hanging up and not leaving a message. So, your cost per lead can be really, really high if you're not taking advantage of all the leads that you're getting in there.” (15:23—15:58)

“It’s not about looking at every number and saying, ‘Am I doing this perfectly?’ It’s a matter of measuring the number, because one of my favorite phrases is, ‘What you measure, you improve.’” (18:53—19:05)

“Once you start to know those numbers and you can compare your cost per lead to your cost of acquisition, you're going to start to see, ‘Is my marketing just generating a lot of unqualified people?’ It’s typically either that, or there's a problem with the front desk not knowing how to convert the leads.” (25:49—26:08)

“If you are not measuring your ROI, your return on investment, and you don't have a really good handle on it, it’s just a guessing game. That's a crazy way to spend a lot of money for marketing.” (28:21—28:33)

“[People] think of marketing as pretty pictures. But it’s about what happens on the other end, and marketing is a math game. If you can figure out your cost of acquisition, and you know how many new patients you want, and you know what it costs you to get those leads and what your conversion percentage is, you could figure out what your marketing budget needs to be.” (29:09—29:31)

“Somebody has to see your brand or your ad or your message nine times before their brain even recognizes that they’ve seen it the first time . . . It doesn't sink in, so you've got to give marketing time to see the ROI.” (33:00—33:26)

“The average patient is worth $800 to $1,000 a year. We also know the average patient stays in a practice for 10 years. Let's say your cost of acquisition for this patient was $300. That patient is worth $8,000, $10,000 because they’ve stayed in the practice for 10 years. When you look at the ROI of that single patient, all of a sudden, you have like 2,600% ROI if you've kept them in the practice, which is why the new patient reappointment rate is everything.” (36:04—36:44)

“Numbers create trust. It also creates complete transparency. If your agency is not showing you numbers like this, it doesn't hold them accountable any more than it holds you accountable.” (44:59—45:14)

Snippets:

Xaña Winans’ background. (04:09—04:56)

Why this is an important topic in dentistry. (05:29—06:28)

Acronym for marketing success: KPI (Key Performance Indicator). (07:18—10:32)

What your new patient reappointment percentage should be. (10:46—12:49)

Acronym for marketing success: CPL (Cost Per Lead). (12:57—14:06)

How to determine your CPL. (14:42—17:12)

The goal should be about progress, not being perfect. (18:28—19:31)

You need accountability. (21:14—24:32)

Acronym for marketing success: CPA (Cost Per Acquisition). (25:16—26:20)

Acronym for marketing success: ROI (Return on Investment). (27:22—29:49)

Measuring ROI on things besides marketing. (30:02—31:39)

Rule of thumb for measuring ROI. (32:04—33:31)

Acronym for marketing success: CPM (Cost Per Mille). (34:23—35:10)

Acronym for marketing success: CLV (Customer Lifetime Value). (35:43—37:46)

Know your ideal patient. (39:03—40:11)

Choose the critical few KPIs to monitor. (41:02—42:11)

Last thoughts on acronyms for success. (43:00—43:33)

What Xaña’s company and software does. (44:00—45:14)

Reach Out to Xaña:

Xaña’s company website: www.goldenproportions.com

Xaña’s company software: https://smartmarketdental.com/features/practice-analytics/

Xaña’s email: [email protected] 

Xaña’s Instagram: @xanaathena https://www.instagram.com/xanaathena/?hl=en

Xaña Winans Bio:

Xaña Winans is Golden Proportions Marketing’s CEO, founder, resident visionary, and lead strategist. As one of the industry’s most sought-after dental marketing consultants, she collaborates with our team on a diverse group of clients to create strategic marketing solutions with measurable results. Her passion for dentistry is evident in the work that she does and in the award-winning products GPM produces to help your practice thrive.

Around the office, we all know that Xaña’s knowledge and drive extend well beyond GPM’s walls. You’ll often find her lecturing at some of dentistry’s biggest conventions and study groups as a recognized expert and international speaker on dental marketing. Couple that with over 20 years’ experience of marketing dentistry, and it’s easy to say that she’s pretty much seen it all.

Xaña’s been married to an accomplished cosmetic and restorative dentist, Dr. Larry Winans, for over 25 years. Their two incredible children, Ryder and Savannah, regularly remind their parents that they are successful adults, so now all parenting attention is delivered to two furry companions. She may also turn up courtside with Jen Bernstein at any number of Bucknell basketball games, helping cheer the Bison on to victory.