Sending postcards is a classic and personable way of reaching your patients, but you need to make your dental practice stand out. Follow these steps to ensure that you get more client conversions in 2019.
Determine who your patients are.
In order to market and advertise your practice effectively, you need to know what type of patient you are trying to reach. When determining who your patients are, remember that your patients are largely determined by the location of your practice. If you are located in a suburban area, you should direct your advertisements to families. If you are located in an industrial area, you should direct your advertisements to busy professionals. Your dental marketing should reflect who your patients are.
Connect with patients digitally.
Along with postcards, send text messages or emails to your patients, encouraging them to book their next teeth cleaning or remind them of their upcoming appointment. You can even get creative. Maybe send some helpful oral hygiene how-tos or dos-and-don’ts.
Or, expand your practice with Teledentistry.
Teledentistry is starting to take off as new insurance codes are coming online. If you want to get your foot in the door and start taking appointments over HIPAA compliant messaging, take a look at Denteractive.com. Sign up and make yourself available for appointments from new patients. They just launched a crowdfunding offering on StartEngine.com if you want to take a it a step farther and invest in Teledentistry.
Share on social media.
Adults spend up to two hours a day on social media. So, why not take advantage of that? Define your practice with creative content across all platforms. Share before-and-after photos of your patients on instagram and encourage your patients to do the same. Share helpful tips and tricks for keeping your patients’ teeth clean in between check ups on Facebook. Engage in ongoing conversations with others in your industry on Twitter.
Need some social media inspiration? Check out these pages:
Publish expert content.
Create a blog for your practice and share content written by you! Publishing your own opinions and reviews will bolster your credibility as a medical expert. The more credible you are, the more comfortable potential patients will feel about booking their first appointment with your practice.
Need some ideas? Check out these Dentists’ blogs:
Incentivize referrals.
Referrals are powerful, especially when you receive a referral from a friend. Incentivize your patients to refer your practice to a friend by offering them a reward in return. If your patient convinces one of their friends to book an appointment, offer them a chance to win a raffle prize. If your patient convinces three of their friends to book an appointment, reward them with a gift card.
Encourage reviews.
Just like referrals, online reviews play a huge role in the decision process for a potential patient. Encourage your patients to share their honest reviews on your Facebook page and Yelp page. If you receive a negative review, never fear. It will give you the opportunity to respond in a professional, personable manner and might even reveal how you can improve your practice.
Read Cassie H.‘s review of Katherine Tsap – Westlake Village Family Dentistry on Yelp
Share discounts and deals.
Everyone wants to save money. So, sharing coupons is an effective way of capturing the attention of potential patients. By using a coupon maker, you can create and share coupons across all of your social media platforms. You can even track how many people viewed, shared, and printed your coupon with metrics. Here is an example of how Waterway Dental Care is using the coupon maker from Couponler to convince potential clients:
Get involved with your local community.
This step can require more time and resources than the others, but it is undoubtedly the most rewarding. Donate to a local charity, volunteer at a local school to educate children on dental health, or purchase uniforms for a local sports team.
See how these practices got involved with their local community!
For more information about dental marketing, visit buzzboxmedia.com.
