Managing Your Own Digital Marketing Accounts

By now, almost all doctors understand the importance of social media, data tracking programs like Google Analytics, and other marketing accounts. However, setting up, managing, maintaining, and understanding the nuances of these accounts takes significant time and effort. Most medical and dental professionals prefer to leave tracking, posting, and managing digital marketing resources to marketing professionals. Doctors, medical specialists, and dentists can then focus on more important things like family, leisure, and hobbies. But should you consider access to your digital account regardless?

Digital Marketing Accounts

In today’s digital age, the number of digital accounts used in medical marketing is beginning to stack up. Below is a list of a few required accounts necessary for digital healthcare marketing success:

• Google My Business (GMB)
• Google Search Console
• Google Ad Words
• Google Analytics
• Google Tag Manager
• YouTube Channel
• Bing Places For Business
• Facebook Business Manager
• Meta For Business
• Twitter (X)
• Instagram
• Tiktok
• Yelp For Business
• Healthgrades
• Web MD
• Rate MDs
• EzDoctor

The list above is just scratching the surface. There are an additional 50-70 business listings to manage that various groups and potential patients use. Tapping into as many online digital resources as possible benefits your success. 

Outsourcing Marketing to a Healthcare Marketing Agency

The question remains whether you should outsource marketing or do it alone. Some consider do-it-yourself (DIY) saves resources. However, the trade-off within the learning curve to obtain a deeper understanding of search engine optimization (SEO), digital marketing trends, and social media algorithms leads to loss of time and, effectively, money. Most medical and dental practices that rely on marketing professionals and the up-front costs arrive much sooner to their financial goals than any DIY.

Hiring a dental marketing agency or medical marketing professionals proves to be more effective because they know how to successfully create and implement healthcare marketing strategies without losing funds due to mistakes. 

Account Access

Outsourcing marketing to healthcare marketing professionals means someone else manages and maintains your digital accounts. Naturally, marketing professionals will require admin access to your digital accounts to manage your marketing if these sytems are already in place. While having full access to your own Analytics, Facebook, or GMB accounts may seem reasonable, the only danger comes when a doctor doesn't know how to navigate these systems and makes mistakes, delete the accounts, or upset settings that prove harmful to a marketing campaign.

There are only two reasons doctors need access to their digital accounts:

1. Trust. Do you trust the Healthcare marketing agency?
2. Is the doctor managing their marketing or is there a significant amount of hands-on access the doctor desires to make adjustments?

A doctor otherwise does not need access to their digital marketing accounts. And in some cases, digital account are owned by the marketing entity and access is not granted. In the last 15 years of business, over 90% of our doctors prefer to remain hands-off or do not understand Analytics, Google Ads, or even how to manage Facebook Business Page. Out of 100's of accounts we manage, only a select few have opted for admin access.

However, not all marketing companies are alike. Some marketing agencies are enduring growing pains or have poor policies or procedures, keep their policies private, etc. Trust is an issue. However, trust is required to maintain any business relationship and is true in every industry. We trust our financial institutions with our money, doctors with our health, and contractors, builders, and mechanics with our homes, cars, etc. This should hold as well for your marketing company. If trust is not present, it may be time to move on.

Signs To Look For When Vetting a Medical or Dental Marketing Agency

Some so-called "Marketing Companies" may hold data or information for ransom, abuse trust, or simply have poor policies. If a medical professional wishes to remain hands-off, we recommend vetting your marketing company. Here are some questions a dentist or doctor should ask a marketing company when evaluating a marketing company:

Portfolio and Experience:   

• Can you show me examples of websites, projects, or reports you've managed in the past?   
• Can you provide references or testimonials from past clients?   
• Do you have any online reviews or ratings that I can check?   
• Do you have experience working on projects similar to mine?   
• How long have you been building websites, managing marketing campaigns, etc.?   

*note: some great start-ups may not have the portfolio you are looking for, but if they are up-front and honest about entering the marketplace - they may be a fine choice. Everyone starts somewhere. But, like choosing an experienced doctor vs. a new doctor, this becomes a personal choice. 

Design Process:   

• What is your typical design process or set-up process like, from concept to completion?   
• How do you gather requirements and understand the vision for the project?   
• Will I be involved in the design or set-up process and have an opportunity to provide feedback?

Timeframe and Availability:

• How long do you estimate it will take to complete or set up my project?

Communication and Collaboration:

• Who is my point of contact for my project or account and moving forward with edits, changes, etc.?
• What methods of communication do you use during the project (email, phone, project management tools)?
• How do you handle feedback and revisions?
• Are you open to collaborating with other members of my team (e.g., developers, marketers)?

Cost and Payment:

• What is your pricing structure? Is it a fixed fee or hourly rate?  
• Are there any additional costs I should be aware of (e.g., stock images, premium plugins, transferring)?
• What is your payment schedule?

Accessibility: 

• How do you ensure the website, project, or design is accessible to users with disabilities?

Maintenance and Support:

• Do you offer maintenance or support services after the project is completed? Or what does reporting look like?
• What is your policy on fixing any post-launch issues or bugs?
• What is the turnaround time for future edits, and how is this communicated?

Ownership and Rights:

• Who will own the rights to the design, code, project, and/or accounts when the project is completed?
• What level of access am I granted, and help me understand why?
• Are there any licensing or copyright issues that need to be addressed?
• If leaving, what access am I offered, and what can I take with me?

During the first few weeks of a relationship, if the marketing company is not holding up to its end on promises, this may be a Red Flag. Some companies may be experiencing growing pains, and that may be okay as long as they reimburse or correct the issues. Other companies may simply have poor policies or procedures that can affect your future marketing.

Having access to your Analytics, Google Ads, GMB, Yelp, etc., is entirely personal. It's good to be warned of what has happened and what can occur to your accounts if you are not managing it. If you are an Admin of your account, ensure your marketing company doesn't create additional accounts. And if you don't know what you are doing - ask, reach out, or simply leave it alone and find someone to trust. Maintaining your marketing data is important for future decision-making. Losing data is not the end of the world, but it can complicate future marketing decisions.

When making the final decision between these options, it’s essential to consider your dental practice’s resources and specific needs. The latter approach proves to be more effective as it allows you to stay competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Discuss your dental marketing needs with Medical Marketing Guru. We are experts in dental website marketing, healthcare marketing, etc., and have helped hundreds of practices reach their success goals. To request a consultation, call (877) 570-9880.