8 Ways to Bring New Patients to Your Dental Practice

If you own a dental practice, keeping your appointment book filled is one of your top priorities. Whether you’re a newer practice or an established office trying to offset patient churn, it helps to keep these strategies in mind when you’re trying to attract new dental patients.

Determine Who You’re Targeting

Before you lay out a dental marketing plan for your practice, it’s important to know what kind of patient you’re trying to attract. A good way to start is to calculate the lifetime value (LTV) of your patients to ensure you’re maximizing your marketing ROI. There are many factors that can affect this value, including added business from referrals and costs of treatment. Making these calculations can help you get the most out of your marketing efforts by targeting prospective patients who can increase your average LTV over time.

Figure Out What Sets You Apart

Does your practice offer aesthetic procedures like a med spa? Do you offer patient-friendly treatment options like sedation dentistry or same-day crowns? Do you pride yourself on offering flexible financing and payment options so everyone in your community can enjoy better dental health? These are all great selling points, particularly for individuals who may have been putting off their dental visits due to anxiety or finances. Think of something your practice offers that stands out from the competition and capitalize on it.

Enhance Your Web Presence

When you need to find a local healthcare provider, where do you turn first? If you’re like most consumers, you’re going online. That means you not only need a website, but it needs to be attractive and responsive if you want to get attention. Another major online draw is convenience — one example of this would be offering online appointment booking, which is preferred by 67% of patients. Remember that your website is going to be the point of entry for the majority of prospective new patients, so it’s vital to make their online experience a positive one.

Invest in SEO

Put simply, SEO entails a number of strategies to increase your ranking on Google and other search engines, which can boost your visibility immensely. Here’s a stat to underline the importance of dental SEO: 28.5% of Google searchers click on the top organic (non-paid) link that comes up. While there are some steps you can take to improve your dental SEO, you may also want to consider providers who offer SEO services, as it can be difficult to keep up with the rapidly changing online search environment.

Don’t Underestimate the Power of Blogs

One effective way to climb the dental SEO ladder is by hosting informative, relevant content on your site in the form of blog posts. Not only are websites with blogs favored by search engines, but they allow patients to become more familiar with your services and expertise. If you need help incorporating blogging into your dental marketing plan, consider finding an experienced content partner who can assist.

Be Social

You don’t have to be an influencer to understand the impact of social media advertising. A solid social media presence is a must-have for any dental marketing strategy. However, if you try to manage social media advertising with the same approach you use for your own personal profile, you may find yourself needing help to keep up with your competitors. Many dental practices find they’re more successful when they work with an agency that specializes in optimizing the timing and content of their posts.

Cultivate Reviews and Referrals

Thanks to the power of the internet, your online reputation is crucial when it comes to marketing for dentists. Review websites like Yelp or Healthgrades allow your patients to share their experiences with the world — and you can be sure that prospective clients are going to be taking these reviews into account when looking for a new dentist. Encourage your patients to leave a testimonial with friendly reminders or raffles. And if you receive a not-so-glowing review, make it a point to respond sincerely and work to correct the problem. Statistics show that prospective customers are more likely to choose a provider who responds to reviews, particularly negative ones.

Expand Your Dental Marketing Toolkit

One more way to attract new patients to your dental practice is to take advantage of marketing tools like pay-per-click (PPC) ads and retargeting. PPC advertising refers to paying for ad spots on search engines or social media sites. Retargeting is a different kind of PPC strategy that specifically targets people who have visited your website, which can be effective for those who were curious about your practice but haven’t converted.

In Conclusion

There’s a lot to consider when you’re trying to put together a marketing plan to attract new patients. Alternatively, DoctorLogic specializes in digital marketing for dentists and other healthcare providers so you can focus on providing the best experience for your patients.