One of the vertical markets that I have always thought is perfect for digital marketing is the dental market.
Interested? You can also find out 10 ways to market your dental practice in my other post here.
A dental patient has a very high LVC (Lifetime Value of Client) and acquiring them can be expensive using traditional marketing methods. However, by employing digital marketing in a smart way, you can grow your client base for a much lower cost than using other means such as radio or press advertising.
So, if you are a dentist who is looking to acquire new clients, then you should take some time to read this post.
Here are some marketing methods that are not only very popular but also quite creative that you can use to grow your dental practice:
Implement a referral program – This is and should be the number one approach to employ, particularly in the healthcare industry, because it is estimated that 92 percent of people trust personal referrals more than all other types of marketing. It is straightforward yet incredibly effective, and it has the ability to greatly increase the number of new patients that come into your dental business. I’ve included some suggestions for how you can get this initiative off the ground:
Launch a Patient Loyalty Program – A loyalty program can be built in such a way that you will be able to collect email addresses and cell phone numbers for the purpose of future marketing tactics such as email marketing, social media campaigns, and mobile marketing campaigns. This also serves to communicate to your patients that you appreciate their business.
Launch a Patient Review Program – This type of program is intended to improve your internet reputation by soliciting patient feedback. It is possible to selectively distribute cards to patients in order for them to submit reviews on your social networking sites or other websites such as Yelp, your Google business page, or your website in order for them to be eligible to claim their rewards.
Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to ask for a reference in a light-hearted manner:
Asking selectively – just those with whom you are familiar and who you like; for example, a long-term patient with whom you have formed a solid working relationship. A patient who has had an exceptional experience – and who is gracious in informing you of their positive experience – might react in an informal manner, such as,
“I had a lovely experience. Thank you for your time.”
You could reply with
I’m so glad to hear that you had such a positive experience. If your friends or family members tell you about a negative experience with their dentist or if they are looking for a new dentist would you please direct them to this page?
Thanks for your feedback!
Or, here’s a quick script you can use.
As a team, we are extremely proud of what we have accomplished, and it is a major part of our mission to provide a great experience for people like you who value what we do. We are well aware that not everyone has a great encounter with their dentist on the same level. If you have any family or friends who you think will enjoy the same experience you did, we would greatly appreciate it if you could forward our information along to them.
Create a challenge around your product or service.
For example, what problem does your service solve? Do not follow the crowd when it comes to explaining the services that you provide. Instead, make your product the focal point of the assignment and make it a challenge to complete. If you want to ask people dental-related questions, you could create a quiz to see who they think is practicing good dental hygiene, which would be even better.
It compels them to participate, and your company will become distinctive and prominent in their minds.
On social media, you can improve the number of people who see your business by using popular hashtags such as #FlashbackFriday or #ThrowbackThursday. This is especially true if your target audience is under the age of 35. You could also use this to target people who are seeking a specific topic or service; you never know what you might find because it can also be a good source of new patients who are interested in your service.
Other Dental Marketing Concepts
Another set of tips for promoting your dental practice is provided below. Take a look and see what you think would work best for your clinic.
SEO can help you become more visible in your community.
Do you appear on the search engine results pages (SERPS) for patients in your target market who are looking for a dentist? You can quickly check by pulling out your phone and typing in “dentist near me” to see what results are returned.
If you are not at the forefront of the pack, you are missing out on a significant number of new patients and leads.
It should be a primary aim of your dental marketing efforts to appear high in local search results, such as when you type “Dentist near me,” and to be discovered by people in your target market.
Market To Your Existing Patient Base
A great option is to utilize what your dental practice already has, such as existing patients, which is a fantastic place to begin. For example, earlier in this article, we talked about the possibility of establishing a patient loyalty program. Not only does this increase the number of existing patients, but it is also good business that can (and will) drive referrals to your office.
It is not rocket science to market a dental practice.
Marketing a dentistry business can seem like rocket science at times, but it isn’t; a little imagination and common sense can go a long way in achieving success. One strategy to increase the number of patients you have is to think about how to make them happy.
To Social Media or Not to Social Media? That is the question.
Taking some time to consider your options if you intend to use social media to market your dental business is highly recommended.
Social media is an excellent dental marketing tool, but it takes time, effort, and sensitivity to use effectively. Consistent effort and high-quality content are required for social media marketing to be effective in the dental industry. If you or your employees do not have the time to market your practice on social media in the proper manner, it may be wise to consider alternative marketing methods. Other methods for engaging social media users include employing a marketing agency, training someone in your company, or running sponsored advertisements to reach social media users in your area.
Use of social media in other contexts
While using sponsored advertisements to recruit new patients for your office, be certain that you are only targeting patients inside your practice’s geographic region. People in Los Angeles are hardly the target audience for a company based in New York City, are they? This is a simple and costly error to make and one that I see many people making.
Create a contest and watch it go viral.
Using contests to grow your dental practice is an excellent strategy. Isn’t it true that everyone wants whiter teeth? As an example, create a huge prize, such as free teeth whitening for life, (or whatever you want to offer), and watch it go viral.
When your reward is something that everyone wants, you will have no issue persuading people to participate in your contest or giveaway. Digital contests can increase the visibility of your dental practice’s marketing efforts for pennies on the dollar. Another method to extract a little more value out of your content is to include additional actions that boost the chances of winning for entrants.
There are literally hundreds of different strategies to market your dental business, and the majority of them are eminently doable even if you have little experience. Of course, it’s often preferable to employ an expert to have the job done right the first time but why to give it a try yourself – you might be amazed at the results.
