• Dental Marketing ,
• 15 Nov

Acquiring new patients is always a choir regardless in which industry you’re working.

This is especially true for the dental profession. Unlike inanimate objects, we can’t buy a new set of natural teeth. In fact, lots of people will never change them during their lifetime.

The problem, of course, lies in trust. We simply cannot trust anyone with something as important as our teeth. It is really hard to create that initial relationship with an unknown person. Ideally, we will ask our friends and family for a recommendation but that doesn’t always work.

Regardless of all the obstacles, there are ways to attract new dental patients. Here are seven of the best tips that will help you succeed with this important task.

1. Create an engaging website

In the modern world, your dental site is your digital business card.

Most people searching for a dentist will browse the internet looking for a professional assistance. Needless to say, the first impression will have a big impact on a patient’s decision. This is why your website needs to look good, to be fast and easy to navigate and to instill trust.

This is especially true in the dental field. As you well know, cleanliness has a big impact on our subconscious when it comes to our oral health. Strangely enough, the same rules apply to dental sites.

You need to look professional in every sense so that you can get a chance of gaining new clients online.

2. Invest in Facebook ads

Facebook ads are probably the best way of promoting your online brand.

A great thing about them is the fact you can easily find target demographics. Furthermore, these people are likely to be interested in your services.

Besides the fact that everybody’s using Facebook nowadays, these ads are becoming increasingly popular. Companies have started to notice the enormous potential of Facebook ads especially compared to other forms of internet advertising.

If you’re serious about your dental business, you should definitely consider this option.

3. Focus on patient reviews

When looking for a health care service your potential patients will invest a lot of time in research.

This can give you a great advantage but can also present a threat. It all depends on the way you’re managing your online customer reviews.

No matter how hard you try, you are likely to receive some negative feedback over time. Even the best dentists get them. However, in most cases, you’re able to control these reviews. Ask for feedback after the oral treatment, talk with your patients, ask if they feel satisfied with the service and so on.

Having a hands-on approach will improve your odds of getting good feedback.

In case a patient was satisfied with your services, ask them to leave a positive online review. It will go a long way in boosting your business.

4. Get testimonials

Another good way of building trust with new patients is through testimonials.

Having several positive testimonials on your site will help you establish trust. This is especially true if you have a local celebrity as a dental patient. People relate with people they know (even if they only know them through media) and are more likely to trust their opinion.

Make sure to place some great reviews on your homepage and feature prominent guests. However, don’t take testimonials from people who didn’t like your service and never pay for fake reviews.

5. Give a discount to new customers

Like in every business, giving a discount can be a good way to incentivize people to give your oral service a try. That doesn’t mean they will become your loyal patients just because of a discount; however, it might sway them in the right direction.

Discounts are not as important in the dental field as in some other industries. As mentioned before, when it comes to teeth, people are always prepared to pay an extra dollar to get a proper treatment. Dental discount is just something that is there to help them make a decision.

When providing it, make sure not to look desperate. Giving a big reduction of price can serve as a red flag to your potential clients and cause a reverse effect making them question your expertize as a dentist.

A good way to approach this is by giving a free minor service, after purchasing a bigger service (such as teeth whitening).

6. Be active within the community

All dentists focus on the local populace.

Like all similar health services, you will try to get clients who are living in the same city as you do. Because of its local nature, you also have to act locally.

One of the best ways to increase your visibility is to be an active part of the dental community. This is something that quickly builds goodwill also allowing you to increase your reach. Whether we’re talking about charities or similar events, there are different ways to make your name known.

Try to be proactive, appear in numerous places and in front of different audiences and you will easily increase your reach.

7. Be proactive with current patients

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, oral services become popular in smaller groups of people. Clients tend to recommend their dentist if they were satisfied with their service. So, why don’t you speed things up?

When searching for new customers, try to have a protective approach. Ask people to promote you among their friends and help grow your business. You would be surprised but most of them will actually do it. This way, you can easily and quickly increase the number of clients through direct referrals. A good idea would be to offer them a discount or a free dental exam for each patient they bring to your clinic.

However, be very careful! Like other referrals, this only works if a client was satisfied. So you need to make sure to “feel” a patient and see whether they had a good experience during their visit.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are numerous ways to promote your dental practice.

Online businesses work similarly to normal businesses although certain things are a bit different. In most cases, it comes down to your expertize, the way you communicate with people and whether or not they were actually satisfied with your service.

Make sure to look professional and tidy your website as well. It will help you bring you a lot of customers in the future.

In case you need a professional help, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us via our contact form. We’ll get in touch shortly!