Why Marketing Matters in Acquisitions
When you acquire a dental practice, you are not just buying equipment, a lease, and a patient roster. You are buying a business with brand equity, patient relationships, and marketing infrastructure. A practice that has invested in Google Ads, built an SEO presence, and earned 200 five-star reviews is worth more than a practice with the same number of operatories but no marketing foundation. The marketing due diligence determines whether you are buying a business that will retain and grow patients, or whether you are inheriting a stagnant practice where you will have to rebuild everything from scratch.
Many acquirers focus on clinical assets and patient lists and skip marketing evaluation. This is a mistake. The question is not just "how many patients does this practice have," but "will those patients stay, and will they refer their friends?" That depends on the practice's marketing health. A poorly marketed practice loses patients to competitors even if you keep the same doctors. A well-marketed practice attracts new patients even if there is some transition disruption. Marketing assets are real assets, and they affect the deal's success.
Google Business Profile Audit
Google Business Profile (GBP) is your first line of patient acquisition. When someone searches "dentist near me," GBP results appear first. Start by checking whether the practice GBP is claimed and verified. If it is not claimed, this is a major red flag. An unclaimed GBP is leaving new patient search visibility on the table. Check the basic information: is the practice name, address, phone, hours, and services information accurate and complete? Is the practice category correct (should be "Dental Office" or specialty like "Orthodontist")? Are photos present and professional?
Review the review count and average rating. A practice with 30 reviews averaging 4.2 stars is in better shape than one with 5 reviews at 4.8 stars. Higher volume of reviews signals more business and patient activity. Check review date distribution; are reviews recent (within 30 days) or all from years ago? Practices that get regular new reviews are actively attracting and impressing patients. Practices with no recent reviews may be losing patient loyalty. Look for negative reviews and the practice's responses. Do they respond to reviews? Do they respond professionally and solve problems? Responses show engagement; silence suggests the practice does not manage its reputation actively.
Check the GBP post activity (if the practice has been using GBP's post feature). Posts are a cheap way to stay visible in local search. If there are no posts or posts from more than 6 months ago, the GBP is not being actively managed. This is fixable, but it signals that marketing has not been a priority. Finally, check who has access to the GBP account. You need to verify ownership and access before closing so you can transition management smoothly after acquisition.
Website and SEO Assessment
The practice website is your owned media. Every patient who finds you online likely visits the website. Audit it thoroughly. Is it mobile-responsive? (Most patients search on phones; a non-mobile site loses conversions.) Is it fast? (Page load speed affects both SEO and conversion rates.) Is the design professional and current, or does it look like it was built in 2008? Can patients easily find information about services, hours, insurance, and how to book an appointment? Do you see clear calls-to-action for booking, or is the process buried?
Check SEO fundamentals. Run the website through Google's Page Speed Insights and check the Lighthouse score. A score above 80 for performance and accessibility is acceptable. Use Ahrefs or SEMrush to check organic search traffic. How many patients are arriving via Google organic search monthly? Check the practice's ranking for key local keywords ("dentist in [city]," "[city] dental implants," etc.). Are they ranking in the top 3? Top 10? Or are they not ranking at all? Strong SEO means the website attracts patient traffic passively. Weak or nonexistent SEO means you will have to invest heavily in paid ads to replace that channel.
Review the website content. Are pages about services detailed and relevant? Does the website have a blog section with content? Older practices often have minimal content, which hurts SEO. Check the website's technical structure: are there any broken links, missing images, or indexing issues? Use Google Search Console (which you should have access to before acquisition) to check for technical issues.
Review and Reputation Audit
Reviews are social proof. They influence patient decisions more than almost any other factor. Check reviews across all platforms: Google, Yelp, Healthgrades, Zocdoc, Facebook, and any local review sites. Tally the total review count, average rating, and star distribution across platforms. A practice with 150 total reviews across all sites averaging 4.5 stars is healthier than one with 20 reviews at 4.8 stars. More reviews signal more patient volume and activity.
Read recent reviews to understand what patients like and dislike about the practice. Positive reviews mentioning staff friendliness, treatment outcomes, and appointment convenience are good signs. Negative reviews mentioning long waits, unhelpful staff, or poor treatment outcomes indicate problems. Check the practice's response rate: do they respond to all reviews, just positive ones, or none? Good practices respond to all reviews, especially negative ones, professionally and constructively. No responses suggest the practice does not actively manage reputation.
Check for review velocity: is the practice getting new reviews regularly, or are all reviews old? A practice that gets 5-10 new reviews per month is generating more word-of-mouth and organic interest than one that gets one review every few months. Ask the seller for their NPS (Net Promoter Score) if they track it. This is a key metric for patient satisfaction and predicts future growth.
Pro tip
During due diligence, request 2-3 years of historical data from the seller: monthly patient counts, new patient source breakdown, and revenue by service. This shows whether marketing has been driving growth or whether patient volume is stagnant. A practice with flat new patient numbers for 2 years is a red flag, even if they have good reviews.
Paid Advertising Audit
Check whether the practice is running Google Ads or other paid advertising. Request access to their ad accounts (Google Ads, Facebook Ads Manager, etc.) so you can review spending, keywords, and performance. Are they bidding on branded keywords (their own name)? If not, competitors are bidding on their brand and capturing their search traffic. Are they bidding on local keywords? Check the cost per click and cost per conversion for their top keywords. Healthy ad accounts have clear ROI; spending per patient should be defined and tracked.
Ask how long they have been running ads and what their monthly budget is. A practice that has been running consistent ads for 2+ years and has optimized campaigns is in better shape than one that started ads 6 months ago or is running unoptimized campaigns. Check the ad accounts for structure and organization. Are campaigns organized by service (implants, ortho, general dentistry)? Are there A/B tests running, or is the account stagnant? Well-managed accounts show signs of active optimization; poorly managed accounts look chaotic.
If the practice does not have ad accounts set up, this is an opportunity but also a sign that new patient acquisition is not automated. You will have to build paid campaigns from scratch post-acquisition. Budget accordingly.
Post-Acquisition Marketing Strategy
Based on your audit findings, develop a post-acquisition marketing plan. If the practice has strong GBP, reviews, and SEO, your strategy is to maintain and optimize. If marketing is weak, you will need to invest heavily in the first 6-12 months post-acquisition. Key priorities post-acquisition include: immediately updating all listings and ads to reflect your branding and ownership, retaining the seller's key staff to maintain patient relationships during transition, investing in SEO and content marketing to build long-term patient search visibility, launching or optimizing Google Ads and PPC campaigns to accelerate new patient flow, and implementing tracking and analytics via SmileTrak so you can measure marketing ROI in real-time.
Set your first-year marketing budget from the practice's own numbers rather than a fixed percentage: the new patients you need each month, the capacity of the team, and what each channel cost per booked patient before the sale. If the practice was under-marketing, plan for more rebuilding work. If it already has strong marketing, you may only need to optimize existing channels. The acquisition price should reflect the marketing health of the practice. A well-marketed practice with strong patient flow is worth a premium over an identical practice with no marketing foundation.
After the asset inventory, group operators can map the brand model on the DSO and multi-location marketing page and compare agencies with how to choose a DSO dental marketing company. The cutover itself, including the name choice, redirects, and account handoff, is in post-acquisition marketing transition. Ongoing profile rules for a larger group are in Google Business Profile governance.
Sources
Pages accessed November 3, 2026. Guidelines change, so check them for current wording.
- •Google Search Central: Do you need an SEO?
- •Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google
- •American Dental Association: National Children's Dental Health Month
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the minimum marketing budget for a new practice?
There is no reliable universal percentage, so build the budget from your own goals. Start with how many new patients you need each month, how many your team can actually see, and what a new patient is worth to you based on your own records. Cover the basics first: a fast, clear website, a complete Google Business Profile (which is free) and accurate directory listings. Then give paid channels a fixed test budget, track the cost per booked patient, and move money toward what books patients.
How do I choose between agencies?
Talk to at least two or three. Ask for examples of their work, references you can call, the full contract terms including length and cancellation, every setup and monthly fee in writing, and whether you will own your website, domain, ad accounts and data if you leave. Ask how they measure results and how often you will see reports. Be wary of guarantees: Google's own advice on hiring an SEO says no one can guarantee a number one ranking on Google.
How do I train my front desk on lead conversion?
Phone calls are where much of your marketing turns into booked visits, so train for them. Write a short call guide: greet the caller, ask how they heard about you, answer their main question, and offer two specific appointment times. Role-play common questions about cost, insurance and availability. Track calls answered, calls booked and the source of each new patient, and review a few calls together each week.
Can one person run marketing for a multi-location practice?
One person can own strategy, brand standards and reporting, but each location needs someone who keeps its Google Business Profile accurate, replies to reviews and shares local news. Google's Business Profile guidelines ask multi-location businesses to keep names and categories consistent across locations, so a shared checklist for hours, photos and categories helps. Use shared ad accounts and one reporting view so you can compare locations fairly.
What happens to my marketing if my top dentist leaves?
Build marketing around the practice name rather than a single provider so it holds up when the team changes. When a dentist leaves, update your website team page, bios, photos and booking options, and your Google Business Profile details, then tell existing patients who will continue their care. When a dentist joins, add a bio and photo, announce it by email and social media, and update the same places.
What should a marketing calendar include?
Plan the year month by month: seasonal reminders (back-to-school checkups, using remaining benefits before year end), health observances such as National Children's Dental Health Month, which the American Dental Association sponsors each February, local events, and your own busy and slow seasons. For each item, add the content deadline, the email and social posting dates and any ad start and end dates, then review the calendar each quarter against what actually booked appointments.