Switching Dental Marketing Agencies: A Practice Handover Checklist

Changing dental marketing agencies involves more than approving a new proposal. The practice needs to know who will manage each campaign, where appointment requests will arrive and which accounts the incoming team can actually use. A website can remain online while a disconnected form or an unattended campaign creates problems elsewhere.

This checklist is for practice owners, managers and dental groups planning a supplier transition. It covers marketing operations across providers. A website rebuild is a separate project; changing the agency does not automatically require a new domain, website or analytics property.

1. Assign a practice owner for the transition

Name one person who can coordinate the outgoing agency, incoming agency and reception or central booking team. Record the agreed end date, incoming responsibilities and any unresolved items from the current agreement. Confirm notice, licensing and handover terms before assuming that an account, design file or third-party subscription can transfer.

Separate the handover from the improvement plan. The first establishes what exists and who can operate it. The second decides what to change. Our dental marketing agency services page explains the broader scope to discuss with a prospective provider.

2. Build an access register for each location

Record the system, account identifier, practice contact, current provider’s role, incoming access required and confirmation date. Include the domain and hosting, website administration, Business Profiles, advertising accounts, Search Console, analytics, tag management and any call or form-routing tools.

A dashboard link does not establish administration rights. Ask an authorized practice representative to verify the relevant account and access level. Use platform invitations where available; a handover checklist should not contain passwords.

For Google Business Profiles, distinguish the primary owner from other owners and managers. Google documents a seven-day limitation on some actions for newly added owners or managers. Check the current ownership-transfer instructions when setting the sequence. For Analytics, access may be granted at account or property level; confirm that the incoming team can reach the intended property, following Google’s user-access guidance.

3. Map the appointment-request route, not just the landing page

List the main routes separately: general new-patient requests, implant consultations, cosmetic enquiries and any other service the practice actually offers. Identify which office or central team receives each route, including after-hours handling and the person responsible for checking delivery.

For each route, record the starting page, contact method, destination, acknowledgement and follow-up owner. A booking-system link, an email form and a tracked telephone number can have different dependencies. Confirm who controls those dependencies and what happens when the existing subscription or supplier relationship ends.

With practice approval, use a clearly labelled, non-sensitive test to verify the intended route before and after the handover. Confirm receipt with the responsible team. Keep tests separate from real enquiries and acquisition reporting; do not use a real patient booking as a marketing test.

4. Identify live workflows that should continue or stop

Ask for a list of active campaigns, scheduled posts, review requests and any reminder or reactivation workflows managed by the outgoing supplier. Record who approves their next action and which system runs them. Do not start a replacement sequence simply because the old one is no longer visible in the new agency’s dashboard.

Existing-patient reminders and administrative requests should remain distinct from acquisition campaigns. The practice decides the appropriate handling of its communications and records. The incoming marketer needs an approved operating brief, not an unrestricted export of patient information.

5. Preserve the approved public-information source

Collect the current approved service descriptions, clinician biographies, location details, photographs and any published offer or availability information. Record the practice reviewer and the source files available for reuse, including any licensing restrictions.

Check that active ads and their landing pages still agree with that information. A treatment offered by one clinician at one location should not become a group-wide promise during a template change. The practice supplies and approves clinical facts; changing marketing providers does not replace that approval.

If a website move is proposed, request a separate URL and testing plan. Google’s site-move guidance covers mapping changed URLs, redirects and monitoring. Do not treat a new agency appointment as a reason to replace working URLs.

6. Carry forward definitions as well as reports

Save an agreed reporting baseline with date ranges, locations, channel definitions and known gaps. Ask what each reported conversion means: a phone-button click, a received form, an accepted enquiry or a confirmed appointment are different events.

The incoming provider should explain any change to those definitions before presenting a new result. Otherwise, a higher lead count may reflect counting changes rather than additional enquiries. Use the dental marketing KPI guide to define the reporting questions independently of the supplier’s dashboard.

7. Sign off a small handover register

• Access: intended practice and incoming users verified; unresolved permissions assigned to an owner.
• Enquiry routes: priority service and location paths checked; receipt and follow-up responsibility recorded.
• Live work: campaigns and scheduled communications have an agreed operator and status.
• Content: current approved information and permitted files identified.
• Reporting: baseline and conversion definitions retained; gaps documented.

Record the evidence, responsible person and next action for each incomplete item. Agree when outgoing access can be removed, after the relevant replacement responsibilities and recovery routes are confirmed. Mark the transition date in reporting so later comparisons can be interpreted accurately.

Discuss a dental marketing handover scope

Bring your website, location list and the work your current provider handles to a dental marketing consultation. We can discuss a defined review of the handover and the work needed afterwards. The proposal should state which accounts, routes and deliverables are included, along with the practice’s approval responsibilities.