Every dental practice focuses on different procedures, and needs to market these to patients. If you’re an orthodontist, maybe you focus on early intervention treatment, accelerated orthodontics, or clear aligner therapy. If you’re a general dentist, there’s a wide array of services and products you may offer – perhaps same day crowns with Cerac technology, drill-free fillings with Solea, Invisalign clear aligners, sleep apnea treatments, or implant therapy.
Your areas of focus in your dental practice come from a combination of your interest and expertise, combined with what you see as the potential of the market for patients to need your services. Many products and services require a significant investment as a dentist, such as a large capital equipment purchase or extensive training. In order to return on that investment, and grow your dental business, you need to effectively market these services to new and existing patients.
Marketing Your Dental Services
A critical part of marketing your dental services is a strong online presence so patients can find you when they search online for services that you offer. You may also market internally to patients through conversations, pamphlets, window signs and other conventional methods. However, in the modern age, you’ll also need to have a solid online strategy so patients can find the services you’ve chosen to offer in your practice.
An important place to start is making sure your services are clearly listed on your website for patients to find. Keep this information clear, brief and relevant. Also, make sure to promote your skill level with these services, so patients know they are getting an experienced provider.
If you are active on social media, make sure to post regularly about the specific dental services you offer. Cross-link your posts to any brand names that you use and that patients may be searching for a wider reach. A blog is also a great place to go into more depth on your dental services, and answer common questions patients have about them. Often patients will search with typical questions, so including these can help your search engine optimization so patients can find you.
Connecting with Prospective Patients
Today marketing is all about connecting with prospective patients. People love to feel like you understand their needs when they search for a service or product. Here are a few tips to engage potential patients with your online marketing:
- Whether you’re blogging, posting on social media, or discussing services on your website, write in terms that are easy for regular people to understand. Avoid writing in technical or clinical terms – these don’t connect with patients, and they often find them confusing and unhelpful.
- Avoid listing features of a particular product or service. Instead, focus on describing to patients how they will feel after receiving your specialized dental service. Will they have pain relief? Better self esteem? Optimum health? Listing the technical aspects of your product or services doesn’t convey this. Patients want to understand how their lives will be better from this dental service.
- Ask happy patients with good outcomes from your services for testimonials. You could ask them to write a Yelp, Google or Facebook review on the dental service, and how they felt afterwards. Another great way to capture testimonial is a short video testimonial that you can post to social media and your website. This is a great way for prospective patients to hear from real patients who have had a great experience in your dental office with your services.
As a dentist, you spend significant time and money investing in new products and services to meet your patients’ needs better. Make sure to get a return on that investment, and spend the time and resources to effectively market your dental practice services to your patients. We’re here to help! Contact us today to find out how we can build a strategy for you to market your specialized dental services to more patients today.
