Dental marketing is a must for any local dentist’s office. Not only can it help you gain new customers, but it can solidify your relationship with current customers as well. Enhancing the dental experience for your customers improves the likelihood of referrals, while also retaining your current customers.
Here are eight tips you can try today to improve your dental marketing, helping you grow your clientele and expand your business:
Easy-to-navigate website
Before customers enter your office, they will likely visit your website or Google Business Profile and read online reviews about your practice. Make sure your website is easy to navigate and user-friendly. If your practice specializes in any specific type of dentistry, highlight that information. Include your address, phone number, and hours of operation. If you have customer reviews, include a positive one on your landing page. Make sure to include key search words to optimize your SEO to make your page highly visible when potential customers search for local dentist offices. Include visual content like images and videos, if possible, making sure to tag each image and video with SEO keywords. Search engines are better able to index your website when you have informative text on visual content, which means your site is more likely to be ranked higher in search results. Many health offices now offer the ability to book appointments directly through their websites. Consider working with a web designer to create an online appointment feature so customers can book appointments virtually.
Sponsor a community event
A great way to get your name out in the community is to sponsor a community event or a local sports team. Many city leagues request local sponsors to offset the cost of jerseys and equipment, in exchange for putting the company name on the back of the jersey. Call your local parks and recreation department to see if there are sponsorship opportunities. Consider hosting other community events as well. Following Halloween, offer a cash-for-candy program, trading patient (and non-patient) candy for cash, or a popsicle hour to beat the summer heat. Post event information on your social pages to attract a wider audience. A community event is a good opportunity to leverage demographic targeting, serving ads to potential customers by certain characteristics, like location, age, gender, and more. Make sure to target an audience in your key demographic for the best results. Serving ads in the right location is the first step in successful targeting for local businesses. If your office is in Oregon, showing ads to customers in Florida isn’t going to help.
Capitalize on referral programs
When it comes to dental marketing efforts, the importance of word-of-mouth referrals cannot be understated. 84% of patients surveyed solicit personal recommendations from family, friends, and co-workers when searching for a new dentist. Offer incentives to both your current patient and their recommendation. Offer a discounted service, a complimentary dental exam, or a free teeth whitening session to those who refer, and their referral.
Utilize your employee referrals as well. Employees already have insider information on how your practice works and can tout your practice’s praises. Make sure to extend the incentives to your employees as well. This might include things like cash, gift cards, and free lunch.
Build a virtual reminder program
Maintaining and enhancing your current clientele is an equally important aspect of dental marketing. Build a virtual reminder program to remind your clients of upcoming appointments. Dental offices now offer email reminders and text reminders, with an option to reply for confirmation. Be sure to include your office number if customers need to reschedule or have any questions. Many customers don’t want their dentist spamming their inbox daily, but having an email list on hand can be useful for reminders, information about your referral program, or any other business updates.
Utilize video marketing
Video marketing is a strong way to market your dental practice. Not only does video marketing improve SEO and increase your audience reach, but it also incentivizes customers to stay on your page longer. Include a behind-the-scenes look at your practice, showing your staff members and the practice’s personality. You could also take your customers on an office tour. Potential customers will appreciate knowing what they’re signing up for when booking an appointment, and office tours are an easy way to engage the viewer and boost your SEO. Video reviews from your patients are another way to utilize videos to improve your dental marketing. Consider videos showing patients proper flossing techniques or other hygiene tips. You could have customers submit questions and have a Q&A with a dentist. Connect your social platforms to your website so content can be shared seamlessly.
Strong social presence
Dental professionals are taking to social media to improve their dental marketing and demonstrate their expertise, and personality. This study found that 64% of patients’ dental decisions were highly influenced by a practice’s social presence. Your practice doesn’t need to make social media its main focus, but your office should have a strong social presence. Make sure your social pages are up to date with your correct location, hours, and forms of contact. With patient approval, include before and after photos, hygiene tips, or behind-the-scenes looks at your practice. Highlight a staff member or patient of the month, or incentivize patients with a raffle or drawing. Dentists and orthodontists are using social media creatively to share viral videos of hygiene hacks, educational information, and behind-the-scenes look at the office and staff.
Direct mail
In a digital world, it may seem like direct mailers are a thing of the past, but not when it comes to dental marketing. Direct mail is still an effective way to reach customers in addition to your digital dental marketing efforts. Studies show that combined with other marketing efforts, direct mail campaigns increased the response rate by 63%. Bridge the gap between hard-copy advertisements and digital dental marketing by including a QR code on your mailer directing your audience to your social pages or your website. Offer a mail-only coupon or discount code for those potential customers to use.
Optimize your Google Business Profile
A Google Business Profile is a quick, online snapshot of what your business is all about. It includes details about your practice and the services you offer: hours, location, logo, website, reviews, and even pictures. More than ever, customers are entering and exiting Google without going to any website. Why? Because if a business has an optimized Google Business Profile, all of the information is right there. Make sure all of the business information on your profile is accurate and up-to-date. It might be the only snapshot a customer gets of your practice. Google’s algorithm for business profiles focuses not just on proximity and relevance, but also on activity and accuracy of information. Take time to fill out as much information as possible about your Google Business Profile so customers can clearly see what your practice has to offer at a glance. An optimized Google Business Profile can lead to higher visibility on Google searches and more potential customers for your practice.