Dental Marketing | Why are you still unable to find new patients?

Saffron Edge

Aug 12, 2019

6 min read

Dental marketing services are a form of Digital Marketing that focuses solely on strategies and tactics that are customized to maximize results for dental practices. They comprise of:

Email marketing
Developing a website/app and strategizing ways to drive traffic to it
Social media marketing (SMM)
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Pay-per-click advertising (PPC)

Digital marketing is an organism that is fast evolving. Each year new ways of marketing content are being developed. Marketing automation, influencer marketing, and conversion-focused marketing are only a few of the handful of marketing strategies that are being used. Why do you need a website? In this rapidly digitizing world, any business, even medical practitioners, has made it a necessity to develop a website of their own. The Healthcare industry, especially dentistry, is aggressively competitive and to sustain in a cut-throat competition, having a digital presence is an essential requirement. The online web has a greater reach when it comes to advertising Through social networking sites, display advertising, affiliate marketing, etc., any business can advertise itself, but first, it is essential to have a well functioning and efficient website. Having a website increases the visibility of your practice, which has to be one of the most important reasons to have one. It is the most comfortable and convenient way through which an individual can get to know more information about your company. By developing a website and publishing your work, you earn credibility. With a well-planned website and an online marketing strategy, your business will grow due to the cost-effective nature of digital marketing. Social media is the new form of advertising. In this era of marketing, one of the best ways to advertise yourself is through the help of social networking sites, a.k.a. Social media.

Some of the leading platforms to market your content is:

Facebook
Pinterest
Instagram
Linkedin
Snapchat
Twitter
Youtube

Social media marketing can help you achieve a lot of your business goals, such as:

It increases the traffic on your website, as more and more people get to know it.
It helps in building conversions.
It helps in raising your brand awareness.
It helps in creating a positive brand identity and increases brand credibility.
It creates a platform for one-on-one interaction with the customers.

Difficulties faced while acquiring new patients. As per American Dental Association," The number of people in the US having private dental benefits has declined steadily from 2000 through 2012. While dental care utilization is at its highest level ever among children, the same among adults is in steady decline, with only 35.4 percent of working-age adults visiting the dentist in 2012." Also," There are various reasons why adults do not visit a dentist. The most apparent reason is financial barriers, with one study finding that one out of five individuals is unable to afford needed dental care. At the same time, "supply-side" barriers are falling, with fewer individuals reported problems with dentist office hours or the distance to a dental office being too far."

Source

ADA Health Policy Institute analysis of Harris Poll survey data collected in April 2014. Notes: Results based on 965 observations. Four major reasons as to why you are unable to attract more patients:

- Content marketing strategy is old and ineffective: In this modern world, the youth and their parents are on the internet. The mindset of the target audience has undergone a change, and they now have to be advertised to an audience, with a different content strategy, content that is engaging and relatable to them. Better and unique ad campaigns have to be implemented. Different age groups are to be targeted, and unique content has to be pushed out to them, such that they are kept engaged and entertained.
- No brand awareness: According to the American Dental Association, as of 2018, there were 199,486 practicing dentists in the United States. This translates to 61.0 dentists per 100,000 population. With the help of digital marketing, many of your competitors have years of exposure to the potential of the dental audience in your area. Which is where you lag behind. Without a digital presence, your brand awareness is close to nil.
- Ineffective content: The quality of the content that your post on your website has to be of high standards. It is a fact that the quality of your content and the traffic your website gets are both interconnected. It is not always possible that a website pushes out great content, also not everyone can afford to hire a content developer for the job. In these circumstances, the traffic that is on the website, views this unengaging content, thus forcing them to bounce from the site.
- High dental patient acquisition cost: Dental Marketing is very strategic in nature and requires a lot of planned execution and strategizing. One way to increase traffic and reach your target audience is through Pay Per Click Advertising. Essentially, it is a way through which you can buy your visitors, rather than earning them ‘organically’. But this process requires significant expertise to have a high-performing ROI(rate of interest). If processed incorrectly, your customer acquisition cost will sky-rocket due to the high spending on the PPC advertisement. This causes your budget and your business to go unstable, without getting any results from the PPC investment.

Dental marketing trends and how to brand yourself. Active social media presence Having a social media presence will be profitable for your practice. Research states that almost 75% of patients research a medical facility online before scheduling a visit which means that the time and money you invest in social media marketing automatically generates positive results because patients are actively seeking better dental options. The content that you post helps you gain quality traffic and trust from your visitors.

Online booking and scheduling With the advancements in digital marketing, businesses can now advertise and sell their services online. With the help of dental marketing, you can set up a website/app, which the patients can access to schedule appointments. Also, having a digital presence helps build credibility, and by posting your content online, you enhance your trust levels.

Video content Videos are always better than images, that is the unspoken truth. What better way to advertise and showcase your work than a video? Social media marketing has opened a truckload of opportunities for you to share your work, in such a way that is both entertaining and informative. The best way through which people learn technical stuff is through video content. When you post your work online in the form of videos, the trust you gain from doing a good job is tremendous. Social media is ever-expanding, and you can use it to your advantage in various ways. Patient reviews One of the most significant aspects through which the dental marketing businesses benefit is patient reviews. Once satisfied with your work, the patient is asked for feedback, which gets uploaded straight to your website in the form of reviews. This could be a “star rating” or “comments.” The viewers visiting your site read the reviews, which in turn helps build trust and credibility. Patient reviews hold significant importance for online business because the majority of the population creates a perception about a brand/company based on its positive and negative reviews. For more information or expert consultation, give us a call today.

Dental Marketing | Why are you still unable to find new patients?

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