Monday, July 6, 2015

Top 25 Marketing Strategies for Dentists (Vol. 3)

We bring you the final strategies from our three part series: Top 25 Marketing Strategies for Dentists. You already learned how marketing has evolved to offer you a choice of marketing techniques that work best for your practice and your budget.
Missed our previous articles? Read volume 1 here and volume 2 here.




Reactivation Marketing

Do you contact patients after a certain amount of time to remind them of their appointments? If so, you’re already doing a bit of reactivation marketing. Reactivation marketing is communicating, reconnecting and reengaging with patients who have not visited you for a period of time. While it can be challenging to reconnect with inactive patients, it is much more cost effective than acquiring new patients. Since you already have a lot of information on your patients, it allows you to personalize your message.

How to get started:

  • Start by pulling a list of patients who you haven’t seen in the past 12 months.
  • Send these patients a postcard offering an incentive if they respond to your postcard within a certain period of time. Try offering a free electric toothbrush or a whitening kit. 
  • For those who don’t respond, follow up with a letter from the doctor reminding them the importance of dental visits.
  • Finally, assign your team to call inactive patients. Rather than leave a message, make every effort to speak with the patient directly.
  • If none of the above works, put those patients on your archive list and move on. 
Systemize this process and implement into your team’s regular routine.

Local Marketing

Local marketing is a great way to create campaigns that are customized to a certain audience. Rather than taking a broad approach, try reaching out to a group within your community, such as the parents of your child’s soccer team, a nearby country club, the spin studio you attend, or your local Chamber of Commerce. By focusing on a niche area, you will likely see a better return on investment than if you were to do a broader campaign such as traditional ads in radio, TV, newspapers or magazines.

How to get started:

  • Network, network, network! Attend events in your community and hand out business cards. You can also offer to sponsor events, which shows your support for the community and gives your practice exposure.
  • If there aren’t any upcoming events, why not host your own at your office? Make use of social media and invite locals and patients. Ask your network to promote the event. The more the merrier!

Mobile Marketing

In 2013, Harris Interactive conducted a consumer survey showing that 72% of respondents are within five feet of their smartphones the majority of the time. In fact, more people are on their mobile devices than they are on computers or laptops. If you have a website or blog, ensure that it is optimized for mobile devices. Google also ranks sites higher when they are mobile friendly, so if your site is not optimized, your site will be harder to find even if you invest on SEO.

How to get started:

  • Invest in a responsive design for your website. Responsive is when your site will resize automatically no matter the size of the device it is being viewed on, ensuring that it is easy to read and navigate.
  • Use fewer images, minimal scrolling and navigation from page to page. Also use big buttons that are far apart for easier clicking.

Reputation Marketing

This is the combination of reputation management and brand marketing. Today’s consumers want to share their experiences and also learn what other people are saying about services before they commit. Reputations can be built or destroyed on consumer reviews. If you don’t manage your reputation, there can be devastating consequences.

How to get started:

  • Encourage your current patients to post an honest review - whether positive, neutral or negative - on Yelp, Google+ or their social media channels.
  • Monitor regularly what people say about your dental practice using platforms such as Hootsuite or Sproutsocial.  If you get a negative review, respond immediately on the online platform. Be sincere manner and offer to make their experience better.
  • Be sure to respond to positive feedback as well to build stronger relationships.

Brand Marketing

Brand marketing is about creating a positive visual and emotional impression. It is about providing a consistent and unique image that showcases the personality and quality of your practice. Strong brands are memorable, especially if you have an interesting logo or practice name.

How to get started:

  • List all the strengths of your practice. Do you have exceptional customer service? Do you use the latest technologies? Find your core strength and then begin to build your message.
  • Your message should be descriptive, yet short … no longer for than two sentences. This message will guide you throughout your content creation and advertisements.
  • Your logo should match your message, keeping in mind that it should also be welcoming, friendly and professional.
  • Once you’ve set your message and image, spread them throughout your network and in your advertisements.
Keep in mind, your brand is a combination of everything that your patients and potential patients experience – your logo, colours on your website, the tone of your message, your advertisements, staff, etc.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is identifying individuals with influence over potential customers. If an influencer shares your online content, this is one of the best ways to get exposure. A trusted influencer can bring instant credibility to you and your business.

How to get started:

  • Find an influencer. Influencers cannot be determined by the number of followers they have on social media. Influencers are trusted leaders within your industry. A good place to start your search is on dentistry sites like Drbicuspid.com or dentaltown.com, where there are many trusted contributors.
  • Connect with them. Follow them through their social media channels and subscribe to their articles. Establish an online connection by sharing their content, commenting on their work, asking questions and starting conversations. 
  • Once you’ve established a connection and are following them for some time, you’ll begin to see topics in which they are interested. Create content tailored to them and send it along for their feedback. As you continue to build your relationship with them, they may share your content to their following. Keep polishing your content and continue to build relationships with them.

New Marketing

The key to staying on top of the game is adapting to new and ever-evolving strategies and technologies. Even if you’ve been in practice for decades, you should always look for ways to evolve your marketing techniques. Whether there’s a new dental practice in town, new regulatory issues or change in consumer behaviour, resisting change could result in your business declining.

How to get started:

  • Observe the current market. Closely observe your industry and your competitors.
  • React fast. While it may be hard to adjust, procrastinating allows your competitors to get in before you. Earlier adaptation means you’re in a better place to serve your patients.
  • Remember, your customers come first. Be sure to ask for feedback and adjust your process to satisfy them.

Now that we’ve completed our series, Top 25 Marketing Strategies for Dentists, it’s time for you to determine which ones work best for you. You don’t need to implement them all, but the beauty of marketing is being able to try new techniques to reach different types of audiences. Pick and choose a combination from the list that works best for your practice and your budget.

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