7 Successful Tips to Better Dentist Practice Marketing

One of the biggest advancements in dentistry is dental implants. Click here for seven successful tips to better dentist practice marketing.

Marketing isn’t just something for tech startups and big businesses. It plays a role in all sorts of businesses.

Dentist practice marketing also offers a unique position to implement a marketing plan. Unlike tech startups, dental practices are a strong part of their communities. They can advertise themselves in ways that traditional companies can’t.

At the same time though, few dentists market themselves. And that’s understandable. It’s a lot of work to set up a marketing strategy. There’s a lot of reading to do beforehand to tailor a marketing strategy for your practice, and that’s on top of your daily work.

Plus, there’s the work all businesses need to do start marketing themselves. Before you make content, you need to structure how you’re going to do it.

But if you’re just looking for a few quick tips on how to successfully market yourself, keep reading below.

1. Don’t Just Be Social When Patients Are in the Chair: Use Social Media

As with any business, you can’t just open a storefront and hope they come. You need to go where your patients are. And in today’s world, they gather online on Facebook and Twitter.

By being a part of your patient’s daily newsfeeds, they will never forget about you. Most people scroll through Facebook and Twitter to come across occasional pictures from distant family members. You should be that family member.

Plus, you can offer discounts and sales through social media to drive growth. Running a campaign such as, “10 percent off if you prove you follow us” can help drive massive growth for your accounts. And the more people that follow you, the more likely it is that you will grow your clientele.

2. Your Patients are Family: Let Them Know It

You should strive to occasionally post to social media like a distant family member. And just like distant family members, you should post wholesome, family-related things.

On holidays, you should get into the fun by posting themed pictures. Decorate the office and then show it off online and in-person. You should ask about people’s days as they walk through the door, and wish them well as they leave. It’s just what families do.

You can also run a monthly series covering interesting patients. Maybe you have a patient who has an interesting job or hobby. Maybe you’ve treated a prominent member of the community. Don’t be afraid to share those stories with everyone around you. It helps you build a sense of community.

3. Don’t Just Work With Your Community: Be A Part of It

While building a sense of community inside your practice’s doors is important, so is being a part of your actual one. As a dentist, you play an important role in it. People come to you for medical care and to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle. Patients want to know they can trust you with these things.

That makes it very advantageous to take out advertisements in a local newspaper. Helping sponsor local events are also perfect opportunities to get your name out there.

But nothing is better than just being a part of the community. You could throw money at events and people will appreciate it, but they will appreciate it more if you participate.

If there’s a parade, don’t be afraid to look into getting on a float. Get to know your patients–learn what they do for work or how their families are. That way they see you as more than just a dentist and are more likely to return for their next filling.

4. Money Speaks Louder Than Your Patients

Even if your patients decide to share what a great member of the community you are, there is a better way to attract new people. It’s the oldest, simplest business strategy ever made–charge less than the other guy.

People will notice if they leave your office with more cash left in their wallets. And that is the strongest incentive you can ever give anyone to return.

You could also run sales and discounts for different services. There is almost always somebody who will need a filling near you. If you advertise that the first filling is 10 percent off, people will look to you for their dental needs. Let people know a typical dental implant cost, and then tell them your price. Naturally, yours should be less.

5. Run a Dentist’s Blog About Everything From Dentist Practice Marketing to Fillings

You need a platform to post those advertisements other than at your office’s front door. The best way to advertise yourself is to set up shop online.

By creating a webpage for your dental practice, patients will have an easy avenue to get any information they may need about you. A simple layout including your hours, address, and a contact form is sufficient.

It’s better if you start a blog, though. If you write about what it’s like to be a dentist, people may be interested to read what you post. When they come for a filling, they’ll also know who is working on them a lot more. You could also take advantage of some search optimization strategies to rise in the ranks of Google searches.

6. Practice in Person, but Communicate Online

Your webpage should also have an easy way for people to reach you if they need to. Many of your patients may actually avoid using the phone, so just posting a phone number doesn’t cut it.

Instead, you could post a way for people to reach you digitally. An email is better than a phone number, but even better would be a chat room with your receptionist. Through it, people could answer complex questions about anything from billings to appointments. You could even post your availability online and have people schedule appointments themselves through a web application.

7. Know Who You Are: Have a Coherent Practice Identity

Most importantly, your marketing needs to be consistent. If you want to be seen as modern, make sure all your advertising is in that same theme. It doesn’t matter if it’s being posted on Instagram or out front, your advertising needs to look modern.

Without a consistent marketing strategy and a coherent brand identity, people may avoid your practice. They may come to your office expecting one thing, but getting another. And that will drive people away.

Marketing Is Important for Any Business

Even if your profession is dentistry, you still need to market yourself. Without a clear marketing strategy, you’re indistinguishable from everyone else. That means fewer patients and less money.

Dentist practice marketing fills waiting rooms and dentist chairs. It gives your practice meaning for the people to your office beyond just a place to get a filling. It helps create a community, and lets people know you care about them.

That is hard when you’re just starting out. You will make mistakes along the way. Speaking with people who are also in the industry will help you learn from them. Most of all, our forums will let you know you’re not alone in this.

So start reading them, and take a look at our blog for more tips on how to market your business!