There are many things you can do to increase your patient numbers. Potential patients will find your practice through many different avenues and they will be looking for a variety of features or conveniences. Read on to explore how you can attract them to your business and meet their expectations and needs.
Build A Website Optimized to Meet Your Patient’s Needs
Your website is not only your digital front door, but it is also a source of information and a powerful tool. Your online presence will represent your business and should be attractive and inviting. The information presented should always be well-organized and clearly written.
Design Mobile-Friendly Website
As of May 2022, 52.79% of all web visits are mobile, compared to the 47.21% that are desktop visits; your site should be optimized for mobile and allow the same sort of navigation and use as the desktop version.
It’s important that any forms are easy to use and allow for autofill on both platforms. People are increasingly using their mobile devices to conduct searches, do research, and communicate with service providers, so it is important that all of the features of your site work exceptionally well on mobile.
Consider Online Appointment Booking & Chat
Usability and purpose will drive patients and prospective patients to your site. Allowing patients to request or confirm appointments, view or pay bills, or contact the practice via chat or message will encourage patients to continue to engage with your practice. In today’s tech-driven society, these are all small yet crucial details for the average individual.
Live Chat Apps We Recommend
Optimize Your Content for Search
SEO is the best way to understand how your target audience searches for your services. By creating content using keywords your audience searches for, you are more likely to show up in the search results.
Publishing blog posts or articles about various dental-related topics will ensure that you appear in the search results for informational searches. Blog posts help improve your brand awareness and attract traffic to your site that may not be searching for a dentist however, blog posts will encourage readers to see you as an expert in the field. They instill confidence in your dental practice and build trust with your audience.
Be sure to promote your business hours, maps, address, phone number, and email contact information throughout your site. Google uses this information to determine when it should display your practice for local searches.
Differentiate Yourself From The Crowd
There are a lot of choices when it comes to dentists. Making your practice stand out to potential patients in your local community is the key to growth.
Ask yourself these questions:
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- What makes your office different?
- Is there something that you offer that others don’t?
- Why would someone choose your practice over another?
Here are some ways you can differentiate yourself from other local dentists.
Find Your Niche
If your office has a specialization that is not offered at other practices in your local community, be sure to capitalize on that.
Becoming friendly with nearby dental practices that don’t offer that particular service will create goodwill and referrals.
Post informative blog posts about your specializations to generate traffic and inform prospective new patients.
Focus on Customer Service
Customer service and a positive patient experience go a long way. You’ll find that if your team places a focus on patient satisfaction and experience, patients are likely to write positive reviews and refer friends or family.
If you take the time with your patients to ask about what makes them comfortable and reduces their anxiety while in the chair, such as earphones and video, warm blankets, or even pre-procedure medication or sedatives, this is likely to make a lasting impression. Making your patients feel as if they are treated as individuals can only improve your patient numbers and reputation as a whole.
Work With the Latest Technology
Staying current and using cutting-edge technology will attract new patients. Patients will feel more confident in your services if they know that you are staying up on the latest tools and techniques.
In order to ensure that you are staying ahead of the curve, you will need the best supplies you can get. Safco Dental Supply can provide you with all of the latest tools and materials that you will need to keep current with the latest innovation.
Offer New Patient Specials
New patient specials are among the best ways to encourage prospective new dental patients to choose your practice.
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- Discounts / Coupons: Offering a discount or coupon for in-office services such as teeth whitening or sealants could inspire new patients to book appointments. Offering discounts around certain times of the year – such as back-to-school or school breaks – could increase your patient numbers among college-age patients who are more likely to be home during these times.
- Free Consultations: Offering a free consultation for patients who may be seeking another opinion or are looking for a new provider for a needed procedure will encourage patients to book with you.
- Monthly Service Specials: Running monthly specials can also increase traffic; for instance, establishing a “sealant month” where the price of dental sealants is discounted could bring in new patients who are in need of this service. Offering free athletic mouthguard fittings for student-athletes as a complement to their first cleaning appointment could encourage parents to book their children’s treatment with you.
- Gift Cards: Offering gift cards for coffee, gas, or Amazon with the scheduling of a new patient appointment is another incentive that patients may respond to; be sure to keep the value to less than $15 each to stay within the CMP guidelines.
Create a Referral Program
Happy patients will be your best advertising tool! Asking new patients if they were referred will remind them to refer others.
There are two ways we’ve seen referral programs be successful:
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- Discounts on Services: Offering patients discounts on elective services such as whitening treatments for referring others will increase the likelihood of a referral, as well.
- Rewards & Gift Cards: You may also want to consider entering patients who refer others into random drawings for gifts, gift cards, or services.
Hire Friendly, Talented Staff
Who you hire is very important to the success of your practice. Having friendly and approachable staff who are eager to help and treat the patients with respect will help to ensure positive patient engagement.
If your techs and hygienists check in with patients’ comfort regularly during the visit, the patients will appreciate the attention and could allay any fears or anxieties they may have.
Training staff and having standard practices and procedures for them to follow when booking appointments or following up on contacts will ensure a consistent experience.
If your front desk staff takes the time to ask patients how their visit was and offers to help if there are any issues at check out, it will make patients feel heard. Offering post-procedure information on paper or through text or email will show your efforts in meeting your patient’s needs – even after they have left your office.
Ask For Reviews
Studies show that at least 77% of people always or regularly read reviews before selecting a business to engage with.
Reviews can be carried out on Google, Yelp, Facebook, or even Healthgrades. They will also affect how visible your business is in searches.
Ensuring that patients are asked to fill out a review at checkout will increase the likelihood of them taking the time to write one. You may want to provide a card with your website and social media contacts, as well as your physical address and the names of your staff members.
Once you have reviews published, be sure to publicly respond to them. Engaging with your patients or potential patients on social media platforms and in reviews will make you more visible, make you appear approachable, and will encourage others to visit your practice.
Create a Dental Marketing Strategy
A holistic digital marketing strategy will help to boost local awareness of your dental practice. This strategy will help to make all parts of your practice and services more visible and will operate on many platforms for patient engagement.
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- Search Engine Optimization (SEO), will help you be more prominent in local search results.
- Pay Per Click (PPC) will ensure that you show at the top of search results for more competitive queries, but it is important to keep in mind that this approach is pay-to-play. PPC can also place your clickable ads in front of local people who search for related topics.
- Social Media Marketing (SMM) can be used to introduce your business, staff, and providers on a more personal level, and can also educate and foster relationships with patients and prospective patients.
- E-mail Marketing can be used to stay in touch with patients or those who may have simply expressed interest in your practice. It can also be used for appointment reminders.
Bringing Patients To Your Door
Attracting new patients to your dental practice is not something that is “one and done”; it is an ever-evolving process that will need to be well thought-out, altered, and adjusted to meet the needs of your practice – as well as to keep up with the services you offer.
Not every strategy will work with every patient base or within every community, but you can pick and choose how you approach marketing your practice while also ensuring a positive customer experience. It’s all about finding what works best for you.
A large part of ensuring a positive patient experience is making use of excellent products and materials from a company that can keep up with your growing business.