When Is the Right Time to Start Marketing Your Practice?

Narrator: Are you looking to grow your dental practice and attract top-tier new patients? Discover the potential of digital marketing with a personalized strategy session. Join Lila Stone, the Marketing Director at Ekwa, for an exclusive 90-minute consultation. Lila and her team will dedicate six hours before your meeting to create a customized marketing plan specifically for your practice. This valuable opportunity is free of charge and comes with no commitments. Visit www.insuranceuntangled.org/msm to schedule your meeting with Lila today. You’ll also receive a free analysis report so you can start transforming your practice through the power of digital marketing.

Narrator: You are now listening to another episode of the Insurance Untangled podcast, where we explore the various challenges faced by dental practices due to their reliance on insurance. Join us in this podcast as we dive deep into the issues surrounding dental insurance dependence, and offer practical solutions and strategies to help you take control of your practice’s financial future.

Ben Tuinei: Welcome to another exciting episode of the Insurance Untangled podcast. My name is Ben Tuinei, and I’m one of the co-hosts on this podcast. And as y’all know, we developed this for you to help you untangle yourselves from the mess of insurance that’s, uh, sort of taking over the industry. Today, I have my good friend and co-host Naren with me. I’m gonna be interviewing Naren on some marketing concepts. Naren, how are you?

Naren Arulrajah: I’m doing great, Ben. Um, looking forward to our conversation today. Yeah, let’s have some fun today. And, um, you know, I’m enjoying my day and, uh, how are you doing?

Ben Tuinei: I’m doing wonderful. Thank you. Just enjoying the, uh, the constant rain here in Georgia, which is nice. The rain, rain out here I hear during the summertime gets warm, so I’m, I’m really looking forward to playing in warm rain, warm rain, warm rain.

Naren Arulrajah: Warm rain. That’s a tongue twister for sure. Yeah.

Ben Tuinei: Well, very good, Naren. Uh, so, so the topic that we’re gonna talk about today is this whole concept of timing and marketing, right? So, you know, when is the right time to start marketing your practice? And I think that’s a great topic because we all have questions about that, including right now where I’m fielding a lot of requests from doctors that are wanting to join PPOs because their practices are getting slower, you know? And so if—call this time a recession, right? Naren, I, I, I mean, I think we’ve been in it for a while now despite government definitions on it, ’cause people are just not spending as much these days.

So when you think about marketing concepts, Naren, first question I have for you is, when should a dentist start thinking about marketing—before opening, after, now—what?

Naren Arulrajah: Great, that’s a great, great question. Uh, I really think the best time to do your marketing is before you open. The second best time is right now. And the reason is, it’s kind of like the same thing with planting a tree, right? You know, best time is 10 years ago, but the second best time is right now. Yeah. Because, you know, unless you’re planning to die in three weeks or a year or something, you know, this is a long game. And the sooner you start marketing, the sooner you strengthen that muscle of your practice, the better off you’re gonna be.

And today, marketing is not equal. Some things cost a lot, lot, lot more than other things. So, um, you know, so you have to be mindful. You can get the same patient with search engine optimization, let’s say, for 50, 60 dollars. That patient—and the other, the same patient through Google Ads—might be 300 dollars for that patient. So it can make a massive difference in how much money you spend as well. So you have to be mindful of not only results, but also the cost of acquiring that new patient.

Ben Tuinei: Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s really good, wise advice. Um, you know, they often talk about the ebbs and flows of running a business, right? Or even running a dental practice. And it’s interesting—when I talk to my clientele, it’s—I didn’t know that September was actually a name in dentistry, right?

It’s, it’s the month right after school starts here in the United States from the summer break. And a lot of practices claim to be slow, but more of our clients are busier. Right? And I think it’s because of what you said. You know, it’s just this whole concept of figuring out the timing of marketing and the frequency.

So second question I have for you, Naren, is how should a dentist think about marketing in general? Is it just ads and social media, or is it more than that?

Naren Arulrajah: That’s a great question as well. I think if you really want to be successful in marketing, you understand—you need to understand human, uh, psychology and, more specifically, the buying process that people go through in making a decision.

So typically today—uh, you know, we are recording this in 2025—people start researching. Sometimes they know exactly what they want, like Invisalign, and they’re just looking for the best Invisalign dentist. Other times, they’re also learning about what are their options. Maybe it’s Invisalign, maybe it’s a different type of braces, maybe it’s colorless, et cetera, et cetera. So they usually start by researching, right? They want to get information to make a good decision. So they start by researching. They go to Google, they type things in. Ninety, ninety-five percent of the people—that’s kind of how they make a decision on a brand new dentist, on a high-value service like Invisalign or NIE.

That’s how they pretty much pick a dentist. So when they’re researching, you better show up. And you can show up through ads, and you can show up for free. So through ads is called Google Ads. For free, it’s called SEO. Now, that’s typically how 95% of the people buy in.

And there are those who love celebrities—they typically gravitate to social media. So I would say 5% of the people will go to the same trainer that Oprah goes to, will buy the same dress that, you know, uh, Trump’s daughter just wore, you know, in the inauguration. Like, there are those people who love celebrities and who will do what the celebrities are doing. I’m not saying that’s me. I’m not saying that’s you. I’m not saying that’s 95% of our dentists, but they do exist. So you can attract those kind of patients through social media.

Naren Arulrajah: Uh, and the way you do that is you become a celebrity, you become an influencer. So the way you become an influencer—how do you know you’re an influencer? You will have 30,000 to 40,000 people following you on that particular platform. Ideally, 100,000, but minimum 30,000 to 40,000. And anything you post typically will get thousands of views within a day.

And why do you need thousands of views on social media? Because social media is not, you know, optimized for local traffic. It’s optimized for getting as many people’s eyeballs as possible all over the world. So you’ll be posting something, somebody in the Philippines will be watching it. Are they gonna get on a plane and come and see you as their dentist? Probably not. So you can’t really make any money from them.

So out of the thousand people or 10,000 people who saw you, maybe a couple of hundred are in your neighborhood. And they, of course, love the fact that you’re famous and you’re popular, and they’ll come to you. So if you are in that celebrity bucket—in my experience, one percent of dentists that I work with, out of the 500, are in that bucket. They’re celebrity dentists. They’re influencer dentists. They have 100,000+ followers. They have been at it for years. They spend 15 to 20 hours a week creating a lot of video content.

Today, it’s all about videos. They put themselves out there, they document what they’re doing, they document their trips. They’re like literally, you know, the 2025 version of an Oprah—but of course, on Instagram, on TikTok.

So those are the choices. You know, ads—I kind of alluded to it—it works, it’s quick, but it is the least effective. You are looking at, you know, instead of spending $1,000 with SEO, $5,000 to $10,000 with Google Ads, and even double that with social media ads. So they are available, but I would use it as a top-up strategy because, you know, why would I spend $5,000 or $10,000 when I can spend $1,000 and get the same or better results?

Ben Tuinei: Mm-hmm.

Naren Arulrajah: And the other complaint I get with ads is a lot of no-shows because, you know, when they’re clicking, they didn’t trust you. When they booked it, they didn’t trust you because of the fact that they were introduced to you through an ad. So they’re like, "Oh, who cares? I’m not gonna go," right?

So as long as you have built a practice that is okay with 30%, 40%, 50% no-shows, then great. And you have the budget—usually like PE-driven or private equity-driven businesses may lean into more of that. Even those guys are cutting back, with money being tight.

But that’s typically what I see. Like if you’re a smart, you know, private practice—that’s who I have the experience of working with—more than likely, you wouldn’t be spending too much money on ads.

Ben Tuinei: Yeah, no, I like that. I, I think that’s really wise advice. I can think about from my experience—when I do advertisements, um, there’s less trust, right? People are interviewing you to try to find ways to trust you with what you’re trying to pitch to them. Yeah. Compared to being referred by another dentist, the trust is instant, right? And they, you know, you sort of have a different experience with, um, people that come to you with an already, um, little bit of trust in who you are, right? Familiarity.

Naren Arulrajah: Exactly. I mean, it’s like they’re going to Google asking, "Who does Google refer?" And Google is referring them to you. And that’s the SEO part. Like, in other words, they went to Google—they, you know, Google didn’t just, you know, knock on their door. They knocked on Google’s door and said, “Can you help me? Dentist near me?” Or, you know, “60616.”

Ben Tuinei: Yeah. Yeah. That’s awesome. So I have another question for you, but before I get into that, Naren, um, I remember years ago you had mentioned to me on a pod—I think it was either a conversation or a podcast—that a lot of times you have to have multiple [touchpoints] with people before they buy, right?

Yeah. Um, familiarity with who you are, your brand, and all that, and what you’re about. And from time to time, I’ll get people that will call me because they saw a new promotion or a new advertisement that I put out, but they’ve known about me for over 10 years, or our company for over 10 years. But they never used us. Yeah. And it just so happened that the marketing came out to them at the right time where they were ready to buy.

So that leads me to the third question here, Naren, which is: why is it so important to have both a short-term and a long-term strategy for marketing?

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah, I think that’s a great question. You know, I’ve been helping practices for 18 years now. Um, you know, still, my clients from 18 years ago—doctors from 18 years ago—are clients of mine today. Both our kids are grown up now and we’re all, like, empty nesters. But, you know, I’ve been through the journey with them. I’ve seen them go from nobodies and startups to, you know, massive practices. Some are semi-retired, multiple-location—anyways, all kinds of success. People define success in different ways.

And if I were to kind of talk to a young doctor coming up today, I would advise him or her to buy a practice versus build something from scratch. And that’s because of this question you’re asking me—marketing. Whether we like it or not, especially getting customers, patients in, is a long-term game. Remember, humans don’t just see something and, you know, decide to do something with you overnight.

It takes months. It takes years. The example you shared was 10 years, right? Why? Because, yeah, humans are different, and their needs are different, and the way they think is different. And the more—the longer they hear you, the longer you are in their purview, and the longer you are active—the more likely they’re going to do business with you. But the thing is, it might be today, or it might be two years from today.

So if you’re in a bit of a hurry—which is what startups are in, because you have bills to pay and, you know, fixed expenses and everything else—it’s just, it’s challenging. So the only way startups can really make it is if they are well-financed. In other words, they have a, you know, a finance degree person, an MBA, or somebody who works with them, builds a business plan, says you’re going to keep $200,000 for the first two years as you grow your business.

Meaning, you’re going to lose money every month, and this money in the bank is going to pay for those losses. And you go to a bank, and you get that loan, and you plan it all out. If you don’t do that, the chance of you succeeding is very remote.

So I, I really am a huge fan of long-term marketing.

So what is long-term marketing? You know, how do people buy? They do research on Google. They find you. Then they have to like you. Then they have to trust you. And then—and only then—they call your office. Now, the phone experience has to be amazing because, you know, either it’s a make or break. Either they book and show up, or they don’t.

So there’s all these pieces that have to work before you start getting new patients. 

Naren Arulrajah: It’s not like a magic wand, and you paid $100 into a slot, and a brand-new patient sits in your chair. That’s not how life works, right? Remember, we live in a free country. We don’t live in a communist country or a, you know, dictatorial country where people have to go to any dentist—or not even go to a dentist, right?

So they have choices. So we have to influence them. We have to get them to want to do it.

So, on the long-term perspective: Google reviews. Keep getting 10 or more reviews every month. It’s like a must-have, must-do. And ideally, these should be paragraph reviews—five stars—minimum 10 a month.

So why is it important? It’ll help you with SEO. But more importantly, it’ll also get people to trust you. Today, 85–90% of patients will look at your Google reviews.

Naren Arulrajah: The more you have, the more recent reviews you have, the higher your rating, the better off you are. So that’s a long game—10 a month, love letter reviews. Number one.

Number two is SEO. Again, it takes time. We tell our clients it’ll take one year for you to rank 400 keywords. Why did we pick 400 keywords? Because if you’re ranking 400 keywords, now you get into this exclusive club where 95% of the free referrals, free traffic, free exposure from Google is going to come to you. In other words, you are in the 5% club that’s going to get 95% of the benefit.

So compared to the average dentist, you will get 19 times the free traffic. Why? Because remember, Google makes so much money from ads, so they want to keep the number of people who get all the free traffic as little as possible. The other 95%—they’re the ones who give Google hundreds of billions of dollars.

So I would do all the things long term for Google. I would dig in. I would do NAP, Lighthouse, GMB—Google My Business—all these things. So that’s kind of what we do for our clients. We have nine teams focused on SEO. Each team is doing their piece week after week, month after month—long term—for the clients.

So I think I’m a huge fan of long-term.

So what’s my take on short term? Short term is like—you know—I would use it for top-up. So let’s say you’re getting four Invisalign cases and you want it to be five. Then yeah, you’re going to spend five to ten times more money for that fifth patient through ads. But maybe you can, you know, top it up.

I wouldn’t rely on ads because I hate wasting money. If I have to spend $10,000 versus $1,000 and I have to do it month after month, I wouldn’t do it. Because to me, this is like burning dollar notes, right? And it’s not, you know, $10 notes—it’s $10,000 notes. Which is huge. And that’s month after month.

So I’m more of a “top it up if needed” guy. Like I said—startups—if I have a choice, I would buy a practice. Because on day one, you have patients. On day one, you’re cashflow positive. Of course, you better buy a good practice. Don’t buy a crappy practice that you think is good. That still is a slippery slope. You’ve got to do your due diligence and really, you know, dot your i’s and cross your t’s.

Ben Tuinei: Yeah, yeah. No, I really like that. You know, it’s like, um, it reminds me of certain analogies or phrases—such as “slow and steady wins the race,” you know?

And the interesting thing Naren, is that among the practices that are consistently busy during recessions are practices that have that long-term play, right? The long-term strategy. I think it’s the consistency, right? Of doing something that works, building that momentum, and then all of a sudden, you know, the floodgates never close.

So I have another question which might sound elementary to a lot of listeners—but this is actually, in my mind, thinking about what you’re going to say, a very important question surrounding:

What should your marketing actually do for you? You know, most people think marketing should just bring in patients—but that’s not the right answer. Right? Or is it?

Naren Arulrajah: That’s a great question. So I think marketing, bringing in new patient is kind of like the, you know, the, the obvious answer that most people will say. Like, for example, I remember the book, um, How to, uh, sorry, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And there’s a story in the original book by Stephen Covey, and he talks about this kid, and he says, I need to go to this tennis class. And he is like, why do you need to go? Well, if I don’t go, the teacher will punish me and he’ll kick me outta the team. And he was giving me all these, you know, extrinsic reasons. And then he kind of kept probing and kept probing, and why do you really need to go? It’s because I love tennis and I wanna be good at it. That’s why I really want to go, right?

Not because of the teacher, not because of the punishment, not because of like, I wanna do this, right? If that’s what’s motivating you, lean in, do more of it. So marketing, you know, is a very powerful tool to make you successful in business, right? Let’s be honest, there are patients who will pay you, you know, like where you’ll be losing money, let’s call them PPO patients. Like the PPO reimbursement is a hundred dollars, but after you pay your hygienist and your team and everything else, you know, it’s costing you $150. Are you making any profit? No. Literally you are taking $50 note and giving it to that patient.

So why are you dependent on PPO? The reason is, you’re not getting new patients, right? So you would depend on PPO and in many cases, lose money and in a few cases make a little bit of money, and then somehow pedal, pedal, pedal faster and faster and have back pain and, you know, making only like, less than what an associate would make with all the headaches of running a practice.

So what does marketing do? It lets you drop PPO plans. Why? Because now you have the option of saying, hey, I’m getting patients who wanna pay a full fee. Let me drop the worst PPO plan, let me drop the second worst PPO plan. So it allows you to create the life that you’re looking for in terms of, you know, not working harder and harder and having health issues and creating a team that also is at the bottom of the bottom, because they have to work harder for half the money in order to make all the numbers work, which they won’t. They’ll quit—a lot of turnover. So you’re having a lot of, you know, inexperienced people who are not very passionate, and it just like spinning, spinning, spinning, um, mm-hmm.

The other thing you can also do is, many of the clients that I have, they don’t get into dentistry just to do cleanings and fillings and the basic, you know, uh, bread and butter dentistry. They get in there because they have some passion. Some go into implants, others go into veneers, some go into, you know, comprehensive periodical therapy. Some do a combination.

Now, those things people have to pay out of pocket. It’s not paid for by insurance. So you need marketing to attract those patients. You need marketing to influence those patients, like I talked about. So really, marketing to me is a strategic tool to, you know, change your life, increase your profits, and really create the business you want, attract the team you want, see the patients you want.

Like I became an entrepreneur 18 years ago for one word. It’s freedom—the freedom to do what I want to do with whoever I wanna do it with, and serve whoever I wanna serve, right? I get to pick, which is what you did by going into business for yourself. But unfortunately, when you’re in a PPO, you know, straight jacket, you don’t have that choice.

You know, you are just doing the, you know, the, the low-end dentistry and spinning faster and faster. So start creating choice. So step one is build a strong marketing, effective, low-cost marketing, and then as it gets stronger, then your choices get stronger, your life gets bigger.

Now, we always have, you know, curve balls, right? The economy, the recession, consumer sentiment, blah, blah, blah. So those things will happen. Keep in mind, it’s not just happening to you or your town. It’s not like, you know, when it, you know, when there’s a tornado, it’s affecting everyone in the whole area, right? So you have to kind of keep that in mind. So when those things happen, also just realize what is causing this? Is it, is it your business not having a strong marketing? Or is it, you know, just the world in general? And then, you know, of course, don’t, don’t panic, don’t overreact.

Ben Tuinei: Yeah. Yeah. No, I love it. I love it, Naren. You know, in, um, affiliating with doctors over, uh, the last couple decades, um, I, it is very clear to me that not many dental practices actually have a real marketing strategy put together, right? Um, somewhere I read it was like, 9 out of 10 practices really don’t have a structured marketing strategy.

Why, why do you think that is?

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah, I think that’s a great question. You know, the reason they don’t have a real marketing strategy is we as humans live on autopilot. We keep doing what we did yesterday without thinking if what we did yesterday is gonna work, and we just go around in circles. And once in a while somebody shakes us and says, stop. Think. And the ones who stop and think, you know, understand how patients buy—like we talked about, right?

You know, they start by researching, and then they go to your website. They love what they see, they like you, they trust you through the reviews, through the cases, and then the phone rings and you do a good job in, you know, answering the phone. And then finally, you have that patient, right? So they understand it, and then they focus on making it happen, right? That’s the secret.

Like to success—first, you need a map that’s gonna get you from the right, you know, wherever you are, to wherever you need to get to. And then you need to follow the map. That’s it. So I think if you’re listening and you’re kind of just doing what everybody else is doing or just jumping from this to, to that, then just going around in circles—stop. Understand how patients buy, and then figure out where do you stand in that journey that the patients go through.

If you are not good at Google reviews, work on it. If you’re not good at SEO, work on it. If your landing pages suck, work on it. If your phone experience sucks, work on it. Measure these things. See where you are. See where you want to be. Look at the benchmarks, and then set a plan on achieving it.

Even if you just make 10% improvement in a quarter, before you know it, you are, you know, you are two times as better in less than, you know, a couple of years. So like, you can set very, very achievable goals and really move far. But just understanding these basics—it’s just 30 minutes to understand.

And one of the things we recommend is what we call a marketing strategy meeting. So you really understand where you are, what’s working, what’s not, how do you get to the top 5%, how do you really change things around, what’s the plan, how long will it take, what do you need to do, what you know, et cetera. And then once you get it, just follow the plan. Just, just, just follow the plan.

Like, it’s kind of like, you know, I’m getting up in age. I’m like 49 this year, and I’m hearing more and more people having cancer—and many of them live, right? They go to a good doctor, the doctor gives them a good plan, they follow it, they’re okay. Yes, they went through a rough period, but you know what? They’re here 20 years later and they’re enjoying their grandkids and life.

So, uh, you know, today I think there are a lot of options. You just have to take the time, figure out what you need to do, and just dig in and do it, you know, um, instead of like jumping in—like you wouldn’t jump and try 17 things if you have cancer, right? You’re gonna pick the best doctor and think it through and follow the plan, right? Do what he’s asking you to do and things will work out. Same thing. Take it seriously, come up with a plan, and then follow it.

Ben Tuinei: Love it. Love it. You had, you had alluded to, um, uh, an offering here, uh, which kinda leads me to the, the final question here, Naren, is, you know, if I’m a dentist and I want to build a smart and clear path to grow my practice, you know, with marketing and sort of gain an unfair advantage over, you know, the fact that not a lot of doctors do marketing, you know, um, where, where do you recommend doctors start with just an assessment on, hey, where should I go with my marketing? Or how should I build, or what should I build for marketing?

Naren Arulrajah: Yeah, I think the place I would go is, you know, um, start doing a marketing strategy meeting, and that’s—the link is insuranceuntangled.com/msm. We’ll put it in the show notes as well. Or just go to the insuranceuntangled.com website, and you can book a strategy meeting.

And then, you know, make sure that, um, uh, you know, you, you ask questions, you, you learn: where are you? How do you get into the top 5%? What are the gaps? What is the plan to get there? And then take notes and then take action.

I mean, it’s all complimentary—gift to you, no questions asked. Whether you work with us or not, we don’t really care. Just—we want to help people. So get the plan and then decide what you wanna do with it, and then take action.

Like, I—I—and the very first question you asked me when we got started is, when is a good time to get started with marketing? And the answer I gave you is, you know, if—if it’s not before you open your practice—it’s today. Because, you remember, you are still gonna be practicing for years and years and years. So the sooner you take care of this, the better your future years are gonna be. The longer you take—you know, the, the longer you take to take care of this, the less effective you’re gonna be.

Ben Tuinei: That’s amazing, Naren. So again, folks, that website is insuranceuntangled.com/msm to take advantage of the marketing strategy meeting that Naren, uh, is offering. I highly recommend it. We have a lot of clients that do it, and not a single one of them walks away with it without feeling a great sense of value, or at least some hope and understanding on what poss—what, what, what the world would look like for them if they did some marketing, right? Or especially the, the program that Naren is recommending.

Uh, Naren, thank you for, uh, an amazing episode. This has been fun to learn from. You always learn something new, and, uh, of course you’re very generous with your offerings on those marketing strategy meetings, and I hope our listeners will take advantage.

Uh, folks, uh, thanks again for joining us today. Another amazing episode of the Insurance Untangled Podcast. If you liked today’s episode, share it. Uh, give us some likes on, on any platform that you’re using. But don’t forget to check out the website for upcoming webinars. The website is insuranceuntangled.com. You’ll find future webinars and all our episodes that we’ve published since we started.

We appreciate you being a listener, and until we meet next time, we wish all of you the very best of success. Take care now.