Orthodontic marketing and medicine marketing, in general, can be very tricky. That’s because you can’t be too flashy or too in-your-face, or you’ll lose your professional image. However, you still need your marketing to stand out from the competition and capture people’s attention.
With over 200,000 practicing dentists in the US, when you start a dental practice, you’re never short of the competition. How well you market your practice will determine how popular it will be and where you’ll stand among your rivals.
Most dental practices only attract a local customer base, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. The positive side is that you don’t have to spend a lot on marketing to reach a wider audience. The downside is that you’ll probably have tons of competition to keep up with.
If you own dental practice and need to ramp up your marketing to attract more clients, then read on as we explore brilliant marketing ideas for orthodontics.
1. Work on Your Website
Your website is usually your potential clients’ first impression of your practice. A sloppy, cheap website is a huge turn off for potential clients, even if your services are exemplary. As such you need to give your website the attention it deserves, and you do so by:-
- Paying attention to web design, graphics, etc
- Structuring your website correctly
- Having clear CTAs
- Including contact and customer care information
Remember, you can always get professional assistance if you need help with your website.
2. Put It on the Gram
A strong social media presence can do wonders for your dental practice. Dental visits aren’t always about cavities. Some people visit dentists for a great smile, and that’s where you can build from.
Use Instagram to showcase the best smiles from your clients to attract more people to your services. Apart from sharing your clients’ smiles, you can make announcements, hold photo contests, and do much more with the photo social. Besides Instagram, you should also consider Snapchat for your social media strategy.
3. Create a Dental Blog
Quality and relevant content is one way to increase your brand’s customer engagement. Your dental blogs must be relevant, informative, insightful, and flowing. Make sure your blogs aren’t too long that they become tiresome to read, but they also shouldn’t be so short that they don’t deliver the intended message.
Most importantly, your dental posts should never be boring. Your blog posts should have a unique edge, with a bit of fun or an entire heap of it.
4. Clamp Down on Email Marketing
Because dental practices attract a local audience, a solid email marketing campaign could work wonders for you. For your email marketing, you need to be as specific as possible and let your emails have a personal feel. Avoid broadcasting cut out emails that just sound the same for everybody.
Drafting individual emails for each type of patient may be tiresome, but it definitely pays off. The more personal your emails are, the easier it will be for you to win over your customers. Proper email marketing is among the essentials of orthodontic marketing.
5. Offer Financing to Hook Your Clients
Competitive prices could give you an edge over your rivals, but flexible financing will get you the win. A dentist visit can be expensive, and slashing your prices also means slashing your profit. So the only way you can make it easier for your clients to pay for your services is by offering flexible financing.
Make sure you let your customers know about these payment plans on social media, your website, or PPCs. If you do so, you’ll attract customers that would have otherwise been put off by the prices.
6. Make Braces Fun
Most kids and even teenagers are horrified by dentists and their clinics. Unfortunately, in any dental practice, the majority of patients are kids, and most visit to get their braces done. To make the dentist visit a bit more bearable for the kids, do your best to make the dentist visit fun.
You can do so by:-
- Including funny props for social media photos
- Including a gift certificate for a restaurant or comic book store
These are just a few ideas to make getting braces and dentist visits fun. Try to be as creative as you can to clamp down on a large customer demographic.
7. Show Them Your Practice
Seeing is believing, and the best way you can show your target audience what you have to offer is through video. You can later upload the videos on YouTube to give potential clients a glimpse of your services.
You can start with videos that give your viewers a look at your office, maybe show some equipment and how they work. Next, you can share actual dental procedures and how you diagnose and treat various dental conditions. Lastly, you can make videos where you give general information about dental hygiene and the likes.
8. Track Online Listings
Tracking your online listings is a great way to gauge the effectiveness of your online marketing campaign. Doing so is as easy as downloading an app. Many companies use Yext to track their online listings.
You can also identify issues with your marketing campaign and address them. It ends up saving you a lot of money in the long run.
9. Share Fun Facts
Break your website or social media monotony by sharing fun dental facts. Share these fun facts on Facebook or Twitter to get the conversation going. Don’t forget to add links to your website where they can get some services related to the facts.
Orthodontic Marketing Should Be a Breeze
Now that you’re well-equipped with orthodontic marketing ideas, all that’s left is to incorporate them into your marketing strategy. It might take a while before your marketing starts yielding significant results, but just be patient, and the clients will start streaming in. It’s never a bad idea to seek professional help for your marketing, but it isn’t a must.
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