Dental marketing is important for making sure that you have a successful dental practice. There are many different techniques and strategies which are involved in dental marketing and these are changing on a regular basis. With digital transformation it is important to focus on creating a strong online presence rather than traditional forms of dental marketing, such as creating paper marketing materials and posting them through letter boxes. Not only are these traditional methods no longer effective, they are expensive and wasteful. Most paper marketing is classed as junk mail and ends up in people’s recycling bins. With good digital marketing you will be able to find a target audience and get your message across to large groups of people with the click of a button, using digital mailing lists such as email and SMS, as well as through social media and other online platforms.
Google My Business
As a dental practice, to create a strong online presence you need to begin with a Google My Business page. This is very important because Google is the world’s busiest and most popular search engine. The majority of potential patients will search for a local dental practice online and if your details are unavailable on Google then it is most likely that you will be missing out on potential customers to your local competitors. A Google My Business page is necessary for all business types and consists of information with regard to your name, address, contact details such as telephone numbers and email addresses, opening times and all other important information that a patient may need if they want to contact you or visit you in person. You may wish to include your USP is and a short summary of what makes you different from the other dental practices in your area, to give potential patients a quick insight into why they should choose your dental practice from amongst the other practices in your area. Once you have created a page for Google My Business, your dental practice will be placed on a virtual map, which will be presented to potential patients when they are searching for a dental practice in your area. It is important to maintain this page regularly, ensuring that all details are correct, so that you do not lose any patients who may have tried to contact you.
Google reviews
Word-of-mouth referrals are also a thing of the past so along with Google My Business, Google reviews are also very important for successful marketing. Rather than relying on a word-of-mouth referral, most patients will want to read about your dental practice from existing patients or previous patients, to help encourage them to visit you to address their dental needs. It is important that when potential patients are searching for reviews they find comments which are highly complimentary about the quality of your dental treatment, as well as your customer service. This is so that not only are patients encouraged to choose your treatments and procedures, but when nervous patients are searching for a dental practice, it can help ease their nerves and encourage them to address their dental needs, even if they have avoided the dentist for a long period of time.
