When you went to your last dental visit did you sit in the chair and wonder what kind of marketing the doctor was doing to drive business? I bet you didn’t. And neither did many of the dentists.
A severe recession will change all that and many dentists are now stepping up their marketing efforts to include traditional marketing, public relations, online marketing, email marketing and even social media marketing via Twitter.
According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, some dentists estimate that between 20 to 30 percent of their patients have put off dental visits because of the economic conditions. Because of this many are stepping up their efforts to create more visibility and promote specials to current patients as well as new ones. The article also points out there are more than 120,000 dental practices in the U.S., according to the American Dental Association.
Dentists are just like your typical small business. They’re smart business people who would much rather focus on their skill instead of deal with things like marketing or business development. Unfortunately in this current economy, the ones that survive are the ones that know how to raise visibility, promote specials, create an atmosphere that breeds word of mouth excitement and reward customers to come back for more. In a word, integrated marketing.
Here are a few ideas to help dentists (and other small businesses out there) get started with their own marketing:
–Start by creating a blog. WordPress makes it easy to get started on a limited budget. Select a domain. And begin offering all kinds of health tips that inform people of great dental care for their teeth. Encourage people to participate in your blog community by letting them share their own information and ideas, as well as ask questions about their teeth (since, you know, it’s supposed to be about teeth).
–Once your blog is established you now have a base to direct people via your marketing efforts. Understanding marketing will be very key here. Design attractive brochures, post cards, direct mail and email campaigns that direct people to a special landing page attached to your blog. On this landing page include a special offer they just can’t pass up – like 50 percent off their first dental visit. Also, create incentives for them to bring in friends or other family members and reward them for doing so (an additional 20 percent off for each friend or family member signed up).
–Also consider promoting your blog and blog posts through Twitter
–Once you start getting people in the door via your blog and promotions, think about developing a PR story for the local news. Maybe a local business reporter will find it interesting that a local dentist is using Twitter to promote the business. Maybe you want to comment on how your business has been coping with a slowing economy. Or perhaps you want to develop a feature story and showcase how each week you offer your services to provide free dental care for women and children who find shelter from abusive situations (just an idea, of course). For more PR ideas check out the PR Toolkit.
Want to add an idea to this list? Please share a comment below.
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