How to shortlist dental marketing agencies: a five-stage method
A practical method for getting from a longlist of dental marketing agencies to one decision: desk checks, a one-page brief, scored pitches and references you choose yourself.
Most practices choose an agency from whoever got in touch first. A short, fair process takes a few weeks and protects you from the most expensive mistakes: signing with a supplier who keeps your accounts, quotes in a way you cannot compare, or never looks past the ads. This is the method I would use.
| Stage | Left at the end |
|---|---|
| 1. Build a longlist of six to ten | Six to ten names |
| 2. Desk check, without speaking to anyone | Four or five |
| 3. Send every agency the same short brief | Three to pitch |
| 4. Meet three, and score them the same way | One or two |
| 5. Call references you choose | Your choice |
1. Build a longlist of six to ten
- Ask two or three practice owners you trust who they use and whether they would hire them again.
- Search for the treatment or channel you need in your own area, and note which agencies run the ads and which practices rank well. Ask those practices who does their marketing.
- Add any agency already pitching you, but do not let the order you heard from them set the order you assess them.
2. Desk check, without speaking to anyone
- Look up the company on the Companies House register: how long it has traded, who the directors are and whether accounts are filed on time.
- Search the ASA rulings for the agency's name and for practices it says it works with.
- Check the ICO public register for the company name, since it will handle your patients' enquiries.
- Read what they publish: do they state prices, contract terms and who owns the accounts? Silence is not disqualifying, but it is a question for later.
- Remove anyone whose website promises guaranteed results or patient numbers.
Where to look: Companies House company information [1], ASA rulings [2] and the ICO register [3]. A ruling or a gap is a reason to ask, not automatically a reason to rule someone out.
3. Send every agency the same short brief
- One page is enough: the treatments you want to grow, your capacity for new patients, your current monthly marketing spend, how enquiries are answered today, and what you want to see in twelve months.
- Ask for a written reply that covers approach, team, price lines (ad spend, fee, setup, VAT), minimum term and account ownership.
- Drop anyone who replies with a generic deck that ignores your brief.
4. Meet three, and score them the same way
- Use the same questions for each meeting and score the answers straight afterwards, while they are fresh.
- Ask to see live account data for a comparable practice, with that client's permission.
- Notice who asks you about enquiry handling and capacity. An agency that only talks about ads has not understood the brief.
Use the agency scorecard during or straight after each pitch, and take the questions before signing with you.
5. Call references you choose
- Ask for a list of current UK dental clients and pick two yourself, including one that has been with them for over a year.
- Ask each reference what changed in their enquiries and started treatments, what went wrong, and how the agency handled it.
How long it takes
Allow about a week for the longlist and desk check, a week for written replies to the brief, and a week or two for meetings and reference calls. If an agency pressures you to sign before you have finished, that tells you something useful too. The criteria behind every stage are explained in the guide to choosing an agency.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Get information about a company. Accessed 1 November 2026.
- ASA and CAP, Rulings. Accessed 1 November 2026.
- Information Commissioner's Office, Search the register. Accessed 1 November 2026.