The world has changed immensely in the digital age when it comes to marketing. Traditional marketing techniques still provide ROI but a digital marketing strategy also needs to be created. There are so many factors that impact whether a patient will pick a dental practice for their needs or find another practice to take their business to. Location is usually one of the most important as you do not want to travel long distances to the dentist. For people living in more secluded areas, there only might be a few local dentists in the area. For areas that are saturated with dentists, the best marketing strategy can drive patient numbers up. Below are tips to handle digital marketing for a dental practice.
Search Engine Rankings Matter
Showing up at the top of search results can work wonders for a dental practice. This is going to take hard work as so many factors impact search engine rankings. Even the practice’s website loading times can impact rankings as Google puts a focus on user experience. Content marketing is a great way to drive rankings when a piece of content is published on a popular local online publication. The practice has to do keyword research to make sure they are targeting phrases that are commonly used in the local area. Searching Fuquay family dentist, for example, will bring up local results for the main demographic of people looking for dentists in Fuquay Varina. Getting a top web designer with SEO experience can be the perfect place to start.
Market New Policies During COVID-19
Marketing new policies that have been created during COVID-19 is important. There is so much uncertainty throughout the country that people are scared to go into dental practices. Studies have been done that have shown drops in spending on dental care. This is expected to continue into 2021 even with a vaccine showing promise on the horizon. Calling patients from their cars into the office is a great example of a proactive policy. Not all patients will be happy about the changes but stress that the practice takes the health of their patients and staff seriously. Noting the different tests employees have to undergo can provide that peace of mind that brings patients back into the practice. Sending out newsletters with updated policies to current patients and those on the marketing email list is important. Not all patients will look at a practice’s blog so it is important to inform them in some manner.
Monitor Online Reviews
Online reviews are important to monitor as it could salvage a broken relationship with a patient. Long waiting times can anger a patient that will flock to an online review platform to voice their displeasure. Even if the response doesn’t save the relationship, others viewing the reviews will see the practice made an effort to make things right. You can turn on notifications for Google reviews which will make it easy to know when a review has been left.
Digital marketing continues to grow in importance for businesses of all kinds. Do not let your dental practice fall behind the competition due to refusal to adopt these new marketing strategies.