A comprehensive dental marketing strategy can help you quickly fill your appointment book, so it’s important to sit down and evaluate your different options. By making sure you have a strong foundation in place, testing new ideas, and delighting your existing patients, you can put marketing to work for your practice!
Build Out Your Practice’s Website
When it comes to attracting new patients, the only thing that’s more important than your physical dental office is your online presence. While patients might drive by your location and decide to book an appointment, having a well-developed website expands your opportunities and allows you to reach patients all around your city.
In the modern age, just having a website isn’t enough. It has to present a professional image and provide a user-friendly interface so potential patients will feel confident in your services. Take the time to build a website that is mobile-responsive, modern, and contains helpful information for patients and prospects alike.
Since your website acts as the centerpiece of your dental marketing strategy, this is the one thing you may want to leave to the experts. ProSites can design your website, provide excellent dental care content, and drive users to convert using our 20 years of dental marketing experience!
Encourage Reviews
The second step of your dental marketing strategy is to provide what’s called “social proof.” When patients are looking for a new dentist, they’ll research local practices on sites like Google My Business, Yelp, and Angie’s List. Take a look at what review services your competition is using, and then encourage your existing patients to submit reviews there after each appointment. If you use an automated communications service like ProSites’ PracticeMojo, you can automate your review emails and easily select the website you’d like to focus on. To help give a rounded view of your practice, you may want to switch reviews services every quarter. For example, you can use a link to Yelp from January-March, then switch to Google My Business from April-June, then Angie’s List from July-September, and then back to Yelp for the rest of the year.
As you gather a huge list of reviews, you’ll also want to highlight the best ones on your website! This provides social proof so new patients feel confident booking their first appointment with you.
Establish a Referral Program
Like reviews, a referral program taps into the market you’ve already developed: your devoted patients. When a friend or family member mentions their search for a new dentist, you want your patients to eagerly recommend your practice. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to offer some sort of referral program by providing a discount, gift card, or other incentive for every new patient referred to your practice. In addition to mentioning this program to your patients, you can include it on your business cards, website, and emails to keep the program top-of-mind after every appointment!
Consider Advertising Locally
If you’re looking to aggressively grow your practice, your dental marketing strategy should include some paid advertising. For dental practices, it’s essential to perfect your targeting so you’re only reaching local audiences, as patients likely won’t drive far for care.
There are a number of avenues for paid dental advertising, but the two most popular are Facebook Advertisements and Pay-Per-Click. Both allow you to customize your messaging, audience targeting, and focus on your city. When deciding which dental marketing strategy is best for your practice, look at your budget and competition. What are your competitors doing to bring in new leads? What can your practice do better? If you’d like personalized guidance on where to start, reach out to ProSites today!
Automate Your Cosmetic Leads
Patients who need a series of treatments can quickly fill your appointment book, so cosmetic leads are an excellent demographic to target in your dental marketing strategy. However, patients who need extensive cosmetic work can be understandably nervous to get started. An easy way to start the conversation with potential patients is to offer a virtual consultation right from your website. Patients will be able to select between emergency and cosmetic consultations, then submit a series of photos and comments on their problem. You’ll be able to evaluate their case, come up with a treatment plan, and respond right from your dashboard. This feature can be implemented directly on your ProSites website, and you can direct leads to your consultation page to streamline conversion.
Delight Existing Patients
While bringing in new leads should be a priority, delighting your existing patients needs to remain your primary goal. It takes less effort to retain an existing patient than attract a new one, so keeping a loyal patient base is essential to the overall health of your practice. In addition to excellent customer service, high-tech features will help you remind patients why they choose you over the competition. Consider implementing online forms so patients don’t have to complete paperwork before each appointment, as well as automating your appointment reminders so patients stay organized. Overall, your goal is to simplify each step for your patients and help them prioritize their oral health!
Conclusion
The digital age provides a myriad of tools to assist with your dental marketing strategy, so take the time to evaluate what will benefit your practice the most. If you need a marketing expert to review your options—and take a look at your competition—reach out to ProSites today!
