Running a private dental practice can be a tricky concept for marketing. It is an industry that has traditionally thrived on the good word of the locals, but if you are new to the area there is more you should do, and more you can do, to get your name on the tongue of the people around you.
There is a lot you can do to become the number one go-to for dentistry in your area, and we break it down here.
Expand your social media presence
The great thing about the digital age is that online marketing is cheaper, more accessible and more effective than traditional means. This means that you can handle the marketing of your practice yourself for the most part.
Customers, clients, and yes, even patients are now doing their research on who they are buying from. Sometimes it’s to make sure that a brand’s priorities align with theirs, sometimes it’s to check reviews of a product or service, but in terms of dentistry it is more likely to be a matter of checking credentials and professionalism. Keep your social media accounts up to date with as much information as you can to keep patients feeling safe.
You can also create content and engage with other social media accounts to attract patients. Videos on easing dentist anxiety, for example, or behind the scenes content will keep people interested. Across the world – a dentist near Langley in Canada to one in Kyoto – all engage in content creation of some kind so that their practice is more visible online.
Make sure your website is up to par
Patients will judge your professionalism by the state of your website. They will need to get all the information they can about you from your website, and if they find they can’t find something, or they are met with long loading times they will assume you are unprofessional.
Unprofessionalism is particularly harsh when we’re talking about health, or anything concerning the body, like beauty treatments and tattooing. There are too many stories out there of botched “simple” treatments for a patient to ignore nowadays and the first red flag they have of your abilities is whether the website is any good.
So, make sure every path in your website leads to a clear conclusion, doesn’t take too long to load and has no glitches. Once that is handled look at the graphics and layout of your website. Is all the available information clearly labelled and easy to get to?
Get those referrals
Dentistry is an industry that thrives off of referrals. Referrals from a friend who uses the practice, referrals from schools who are asked by parents, referrals from other healthcare professionals. Make sure your name is out there and has a gold star next to it.
Hand out fliers to all the local schools and GP practices for them to recommend your services to visitors. And encourage reviews in your customers and on social media so that new customers know you are a reliable choice.
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