5 Ways to Change How Your Dental Practice Does Business

As a dentist, your patients' well-being is at the core of everything you do. You spend hours perfecting your profession because it enables you to provide outstanding care to your patients. You ask your patients to keep up with their dental health and even send reminders of the same. Perhaps a long-overdue question you need to ask yourself is, are you keeping up with your dental practice's health? If not, how can you turn things around and ensure you're running a sustainable and robust business?

Let's begin by exploring several critical questions.

As a dental practice, what do you consider to be the start of a new patient's journey? Is it when you introduce yourself to the patient for their first dental exam or x-ray or is it when they walk through the door and meet your staff for the first time? The correct answer is, surprisingly, none of the above!

By the time a new and hopeful patient shows up at your dental practice, they have made several crucial decisions based on your dental practice's online presence. That patient has had to wade through a vast sea of competitor dental offices and has chosen you out of the pack. That's not a coincidence.

Now, let's consider the end of the patient journey. When exactly does this happen—is it after the patient leaves your office? No, it's not! Once the patient steps back into the real world after an appointment at your dental practice, they are bombarded with even more dental marketing campaigns. Every day, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of dental marketing agencies working round the clock to ensure your new patient doesn't make a subsequent booking at your office. You must fight fire with fire to ensure you attract new patients and retain existing ones.

I have compiled five useful dental practice marketing ideas that will help you guide your patient through their journey.

Make Sure Your Website Utilizes a Mobile-First Design

Most new patients are searching for you on their cellphones. By adopting a mobile-first design, you make it easier for your patients to view your website, interact with it, and request appointments. In a world where convenience is non-negotiable, and bounce rates from mobile-unfriendly websites are staggeringly high, you cannot afford to ignore the mobile user.

Use Google Maps

When a new patient searches for dental terms in your area, the Google search results page shows different types of results, including organic search results and Google Ads. Physical proximity plays a large role in determining which dental practice shows up in organic search results. If physical proximity doesn't favor you, there are still ways to ensure that you're seen by new patients searching for your services. Optimizing your Google My Business page and running ads to advertise your excellent reviews are two ways to gain exposure on Google.

Use Retargeting Ads

Have you ever voiced a craving out loud or even thought about something you were desiring, and then suddenly, you start seeing ads about that food or item everywhere? It sounds very creepy, but it is all thanks to an effective marketing concept known as ad retargeting. Ad retargeting involves sending reminders to potential clients (in your case, patients) who visited your website but didn't take any action, such as booking an appointment or buying a product. Retargeting provides additional points of contact, thus increasing the chances of conversion.

As a dental practice, you can use retargeting Facebook and Instagram ads to increase contact with new patients searching in your areas.

Allow Patients to Book Online Without Calling In

Your new patients are busy and most likely constrained for time. They may not always have the opportunity to call during your business hours. Give your patients the freedom to make a booking when it's most convenient for them. An efficient, tried-and-tested way to accomplish this is by allowing patients to make online bookings without needing to call in.

Digitize Your Intake Forms

COVID-19 is yet to go away. Some patients are still anxious about visiting the dentist amid an ongoing pandemic. A great way to ease your patients' concerns is to adopt paperless and touchless patient intake processes. Paperless patient registration ensures increased safety for your patients and staff and is also less time-consuming. Thanks to digital intake forms, your patients and staff don't have to deal with bulky, messy, and inconvenient paper forms. Your printing costs are likely to go down, and you don't have to worry about document storage costs either.

When digitizing your intake forms, you must ensure that these are seamlessly integrated with your practice management software to ensure smooth operations.

Gone are the days when dental practices could get away with doing one thing well and expecting spectacular results. As a modern dental practice operating in today's environment, an All-In-One Marketing Service is essential.

If you're ready to elevate your dental practice marketing to the next level, get in touch with Adit today for a consultation.