Marketing is a critical component of your business. It helps you gain new patients and build relationships with existing ones. But what exactly is marketing for dentists? The answer to that question can be different for every dental practice because every practice has different goals, strengths, and weaknesses. However, there are six strategies that all dentists should consider when it comes to increasing their marketing efforts. If you're looking to improve your own marketing strategy, these tactics will help.
Create a Social Media Presence
Social media is an effective way to connect with potential patients and grow your business. You can use social media to:
- Find new patients by promoting your services and sharing information that’s relevant to their needs.
- Develop a following of people who trust you as a resource, want to learn more about what you do, and are inspired by your work.
- Engage with those followers regularly, providing them with relevant updates or tips on dental care and treatments.
To get started, identify the platforms where your target audience spends time so that you can engage with them directly on a daily basis. For example, if most of the people you’re hoping will visit your practice are millennial (age 18-34), then Facebook may be the best place for this type of engagement; however, if most of these potential patients are seniors (ages 55+), then Twitter might be better suited for reaching out socially online since it isn't as popular among younger generations but has a high concentration of older users.
Create and Manage a Google My Business Listing
Google My Business is the hub for all things local on Google. It’s where users go to find businesses in their area, and it helps them with everything from driving directions to contact information.
In order to appear in the search results, you need to create a Google My Business listing that includes the following:
- A photo of your practice (make sure it looks good!)
- Your business name, address, and phone number
- Your hours of operation
You can also add additional details like an address history and photos of the interior/exterior of your facility. This will help people know better before visiting your clinic.
Get As Many Reviews as Possible
Online reviews are a critical component of your marketing strategy, as they can help you build trust with new patients and show them that you’re a reliable business. From the moment someone finds your practice online through a search engine like Google or Bing, there’s something called “the conversion funnel”—whereby they go from just seeing your website to actually clicking on it and making an appointment. This is where reviews come into play: if people see positive reviews on top of your site (and no negative ones), it will significantly increase their chance of converting into actual patients.
Utilize Text and Email
You can use text and email to boost your practice's marketing efforts. While it's best to offer incentives and discounts, you can also advertise your new patient specials in these media channels as well. Just make sure that you're getting the most out of what you're doing with each campaign so that people don't get tired of seeing the same thing over and over again.
And never get your message across too many times. This will lead to potential clients thinking that the practice is a scam, which is certainly not a good thing.
Build a Referral Program
If you’re looking to attract new patients, there are a number of ways to go about it. The most effective way is by offering a referral program that offers incentives for your existing customers to refer their friends and family.
You can offer discounts on services or products, cash rewards, gift cards, or even just provide a little bit of recognition for the person who sends them in so that they feel appreciated.
A referral program gives you the opportunity to build relationships with your current patients and also create brand awareness for yourself in the community by encouraging people to share their stories about how great their experience was at your practice.
As you’ve seen in some of our latest news, Fred Joyal is now CEO of TruBlu Social Smiles, a perfect way to implement viral video testimonials for your practice! Learn more at www.trublusocialsmiles.com
Start a Blog
Starting a blog can be a great way to increase new patients. Blogs are an excellent way to keep your current patients up to date on what’s happening at the office and give them valuable information they can use at home.
You can also use it as a way of getting in front of potential new patients by offering tips and advice that will help them get healthier smiles. By sharing helpful content, you’ll build trust and credibility with your audience, which is important when trying to sell services or products.
You should make sure to update your blog regularly, as this will attract more traffic. Blogs have dates attached on top. Blogs that have been written a few months ago will not only be lost in a sea of already similar content but will also lead the reader to assume that the dental service is either not good or discontinued. In layman's terms, you need to continue updating your online image nonstop.
If you make your content SEO optimized, then this means it will be on the top of Google search results. This is another way to boost traffic even further and hence attracting new clients. Your blog should have your address on top, so the people close to you can come in when needed. They will remember the location, which is better than searching for it specifically, which most people don’t do.
Conclusion
Now that you’re aware of the different marketing strategies dentists can use to increase new patients, it’s time to get started! We hope this article has given you some inspiration and ideas on how to tackle your dental marketing. It may seem daunting at first, but once you have a plan in place, it won’t take long before your efforts are paying off with increased profits and patient referrals. Good luck!