Treating the teeth of your patients is not an easy job, especially when you don’t have patients knocking at your clinic. Given the competitive state of the healthcare industry, where every dentist wants to make huge bucks, it has become tough for others to create an impact, let alone drive in more clients.
The true benefit, as a dental practitioner, lies when you possess the coveted knowledge of how to market your services, which is why a brainstorming session on dental marketing ideas can help you and your practice immensely. In the end, it all drops down to how well you manage multiple dental marketing strategies using traditional as well as online methods.
Encouraging a Relationship Based Practice
By building a good relationship with current patients, you are increasing the chances of positive word of mouth advertising. That will happen only when you provide the best treatment and care. Satisfied patients, in return will refer your services to their friends, colleagues and relations. To foster this kind of marketing, you need to give 100% to every patient and take care of his/her needs.
Right People for the Right Job
In marketing sense, this is one of the unique ideas since your staff has the ability to make or break your practice. If you hire the right personnel in terms of dental technicians, secretaries and receptionists, these individuals can provide a great level of customer satisfaction, which is essential in a build up to a successful dental practice. Their attitude, work ethics and communication skills matter a lot.
Drop an Email
Direct mail marketing has been the preferred strategy by dentists for a while now. Send emails to existing and potential patients informing them about your latest innovations. You can also send out newsletters and catalogues to make the most of direct mail. Make sure you have a proper “call to action” that should encourage clients to visit your clinic.
Patient Referral Program
Reward patients who refer their friends and colleagues to your practice. To commence with, offer them discounts along with an occasional free dental checkup. That way they will feel valued and continue referring. Combine this marketing strategy with promotional brochures to exiting patients.
Advertisements in Local Newspapers
For some people, especially older ones, newspaper still provides vital information on many things. Place advertisements in the local newspaper to inform them about your practice’s existence. A professional designer should creatively design the ad. Briefly write about what your practice offers along with contact information.
A Meritorious Website
In this competitive era, a web page is mandatory to keep a dental practice up and running. A strong online presence helps establish the practice. When potential patients visit your website, first thing they notice is the design and content. Ensure the content is readable and user-friendly. Same thing applies to the design. Use appropriate color palette to make the design attractive. Have a gallery highlighting patients’ ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos.
Informative Articles
Writing educational articles and blogs and submitting them to various article directories are great ways to generate leads to your dental website. In addition, it gives the readers an insight of your practice and knowledge base. Articles and blogs provide much-required back links that have a positive effect on the website’s ranking in search engine listings.
Not using Social media?
We can’t leave social media when it comes to creating awareness, can we? Time and time again social media has proved to be a trustworthy and powerful dental marketing tool. Websites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are fast becoming influential avenues to create awareness among potential patients. Dental practitioners and patients are now able to communicate round the clock.
It all depends how you nurture your marketing strategies according to existing competitive scenario. The more you get out of them, the better results will be.
