Do you own or run a dental office and you are seeking ways to get more customers for your business? Then below are ten inexpensive marketing ideas for dental offices; that will help you boost your company growth. There is increasing competition the in dental care niche. And only dental offices that can adopt the most effective marketing techniques will be ahead of the pack.
But ironically, most dentists focus only on improving their services and neglect the marketing aspect, which is more important. No, I am not implying that improving service quality is bad. In fact, it’s key to the success of your business. But marketing is the only way to attract customers to those services. The best services will remain unknown without marketing.
Having explained the reasons why you should focus more on marketing your dental office, I will now share with you 10 effective marketing ideas for dental offices that are easy to implement and are inexpensive.
Top 10 Inexpensive Marketing Ideas for Dental Offices
1. Set up a website
If you don’t already have a website, you need to set up one as soon as possible. Businesses are becoming more aware of the effectiveness of the internet as a lead generation tool, and they are setting up websites and blogs to establish their online presence and attract potential customers. Your dental office shouldn’t be left behind.
Add captivating copy to your primary pages: Home, About Us, About the Doctor, Contact, and Office Tour. These are the top 5 pages on most dental websites. Because customers are used to reading such pages, make your own pages appealing to them by emphasizing the benefits that your dental office can offer.
2. Start a blog
A static website isn’t enough to bring customers to your dental office via the internet. What your website does is to serve as your online “office” where prospects get to know about your business, the services you offer, and your contact details. Nothing more.
In addition to having a website, you need to start a blog, which is a more interactive medium for communicating with potential customers. When you use your blog to consistently share helpful tips on dental health, your prospects will trust you the more and deem you an expert in your field. So, they will be more willing to patronize your services.
3. Utilize social media
Social media is another very effective tool for creating awareness about your dental office. It provides an avenue for reaching out to and interacting with prospects over the internet. Set up profiles for your dental office on the major social media networks, namely Facebook, Google+, and Twitter. Share helpful updates and tips with your followers and send traffic down to your blog and website.
4. Collect comments
You must encourage your patients to leave comments and reviews about your services on Google Maps, Yelp, and other review websites. These reviews will help establish a good reputation for your dental office and improve your online rankings in local directories. You can assist your customers to leave their comments by leaving a smartphone or tablet in the waiting room, which they can use to submit their opinions about your business.
5. Display testimonials
Get testimonials from your past clients and display these testimonials on your blog. Testimonials can go a long way in convincing skeptical prospects that your dental office can really solve their problems. But be sure that the testimonials sound real. You may consider adding the client’s headshot and contact details.
6. Use email marketing
Get potential clients to subscribe to your mailing list by offering an enticing incentive such as a downloadable ebook or a video. Once you have a decent number of subscribers, you can start sending them helpful dental health tips and related information. Use email as a medium to communicate and interact with prospects. This interaction, if done well, will boost your credibility and will convert your prospects into loyal customers.
7. Launch a referral program
Start a program that encourages your clients to send more customers your way. A good idea is to promise them a 50% discount off their next visit if they refer a friend, or promise a 10% commission for each deal completed by customers they refer.
8. Follow up your clients
Don’t forget about your patients after the first deal. Send them greetings at regular intervals via email or text messaging. You can also send them personalized checkup reminders, birthday cards, and holiday greeting cards via traditional mail. This will keep your business on their minds, and they will check back again whenever they need your services and even market your business through word of mouth.
9. Adopt SEO techniques
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the adoption of various tactics for ranking high on the major search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Bing). SEO is the backbone of any internet marketing campaign because it presents high-ranking websites to potential customers.
So, by having your website optimized for keywords that your potential customers use in their search engine queries, your website will be highly ranked and thereby made visible to these prospects.
10. Contests
Contests are a fun way to attract new patients. For example, you can offer prizes for highest spending clients over a 6-month period. This will inspire people to check back regularly, hoping to win the competition.