After years of dental school, pre-dentistry program, and perhaps even studying further for specialisations, you’ve finally started your dental practice and set up your clinic. After all those examinations and requirements for licensing, you think you’d be over the hard part, but the business side of your practice may be just as challenging. Even if you’re quite skilled, updated with all the latest methods and technology, and have your clinic fully equipped with dental and medical equipment, there’s still the issue of marketing your dental practice to attract patients.
Patients are the lifeblood of your dental practice, after all, and you’ll need clients to earn and continue to operate. So if you’re having issues attracting patients and your appointment schedule’s looking less filled, here are tips for you to help promote and market your dental practice online:
Build Your Online Presence
Most of your potential patients are online, and they’d be looking up for dentists through the internet, as well. So it’s best to have your website, have your own social media account, and register your clinic on online maps (such as Google Maps), and perhaps even online review sites such as Yelp. Your website should be user-friendly, as well as mobile-compatible, and should be free of advertisements and clutter. It should be straightforward, aesthetically pleasing and looks professional, and should showcase your clinic’s name, services (and perhaps even equipment), address, and contact details. Your social media should be active, and you should expect that the majority of your potential customers might be inquiring or booking through social media.
Encourage Reviews and Feedback
Feedback and reviews of previous customers influence the majority of online window shoppers of products and services. So it’s essential for you to ask your satisfied patients to review your clinic either through yelp, your website (if it has its own feedback/review page, as it should) or through social media. But don’t “bribe” your customers into posting good reviews and giving out discounts, as it may defeat the purpose of “honest” feedback, and it could backfire.
Hire a Specialist
If you’re still having trouble trying to get your name and clinic out there, then perhaps it’s time to bring in the professionals. Although many dental patients are relatives and friends of other patients, more and more people look up medical services online, through search engines and social media. They check for reviews and often choose clinics and dental professionals that show up immediately on their search engine query. As such, you’d want to hire a digital marketing agency to help you market your services online through social media, creating your website and online presence, as well as contacting customers via email. You can also take advantage of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services which optimise your website and use methods that help increase your “ranking” when people look up dental professionals and clinics in their area through Google and other search engines. Or, better yet, hire a digital marketing agency that also offers SEO services to increase your likelihood of getting new clients.
Conclusion
The amount of effort you put into your patients should also be as much as when you’re marketing your clinic online, especially if you’re relatively new and just starting your practice. Once you’ve made a name for yourself, eventually, referrals through word of mouth would have your appointment schedule filled up for the weeks to come. So it’s a must for you to market your dental practice competitively and properly to not put your skills to waste and, more importantly, give everyone a healthy, happy, and beautiful smile.
