How Multiple Touchpoints Convert Prospective Dental Patients
Build Trust and Stay Top of Mind
Effective marketing is about getting your brand in front of ideal customers in many different ways. This concept is often referred to as “staying top of mind.” For dentists, it means working through all available mediums to connect with your surrounding area and to build brand recognition and brand trust. Purchasing decisions are often driven by feelings and emotions, which are heavily influenced by trust, and trust is best established when consumers see a lot of your brand in many different places and in many different ways.
The Importance of Multiple Touchpoints
Simply put, a touchpoint is any time a customer encounters your brand. It includes such things as your website and advertising but also includes staff interactions and even the appearance of your building. Touchpoints shape the way people feel about your brand, so it’s important to understand them and shape them to reflect your company’s mission.
In the realm of dental marketing, touchpoints focus on the many ways that dentists can reach out to prospective new patients. Some of the most popular touchpoints are Google/social media/YouTube, email marketing, direct mail, local advertising, and external signage; each of these connections helps to establish your dental practice in the local population.
Retargeting
Retargeting is a term that means reconnecting with a prospective customer (often through another touchpoint). For example, you might be searching on Google for vacation rentals and suddenly start seeing Verbo ads on your social media. In this case, Verbo put a cookie on your browser that triggers certain social media ads. If you enter personal information on a website, you might receive an email, postcard, or call. So basically, retargeting grows dental practices by maximizing customer interest and keeping your practice top of mind as they make buying decisions.
How Dentists Can Retarget
Of course, the first step to successfully retarget prospective patients is information, and, for general/family dentists, the most valuable information details new local residents. The majority of practices offer a full range of dental services, and people moving into an area are looking to find a dental home, a place for the entire family. Understanding the demographics of these new residents and acquiring their contact information can be marketing gold.
There are a number of companies that sell consumer leads. Prices can range from 500 to 1500 per month depending on the number of credits and options, which is a substantial investment for most dental offices. That said, one good lead can usually pay for the service, so what you’re looking for is quality. There are a lot of companies selling information, but it’s best to do your research and go with a reputable company that updates its database regularly.
Using Every Medium to Retarget Prospective New Patients
The concept of retargeting is about becoming top of mind, so your dental practice is first in line when local residents need dental services. In this way, marketing campaigns are a lot like planting seeds; it takes some time for them to germinate and yield results. Most consumers will interact with a brand several times before they make a decision, so showing up in their lives is a critical part of dental practice growth—retargeting grows dental practices because it leverages many different mediums and establishes a broad presence, authority, and trust.
Social Media: The most effective social media platform to promote your dental practice is Facebook, which also owns Instagram. When you advertise on Facebook and Instagram, your brand also shows up in all the affiliated services like Marketplace, videos/stories/reels, and jobs. Take a look around, and you’ll see that people today spend a lot of time looking down at phones, scrolling through social media. When you advertise on Facebook, you can adjust the demographics to target specific groups, and you can also create custom lists using email addresses. YouTube is also gaining popularity with dentists. Creating a professional video for your dental practice and advertising on YouTube is a great way to demonstrate your authority in town.
Email Marketing: With effective data, email marketing can be a helpful tool. The key to successful email marketing is contrast. Currently, the majority of email campaigns are sensational and even deceptive; clearly, such tactics are aimed at attracting attention: “Read this—your health is in danger!” or “Returning the files you asked for….” As a result, many people are skeptical of email and delete anything that strikes the above tone. Knowing this, if your dental practice, creates straightforward and honest email campaigns, you will contrast the hype and experience a good deal of traffic. The key is honesty, in both the body of your email and the subject heading. Avoid anything that sounds too “salesy.”
Postcards: Despite the overwhelming move to digital platforms, there’s still a way to use printed postcards to retarget prospective dental patients. In fact, it’s even easier these days because printers don’t charge extra for short runs, and many of them will upload and print addresses right on the postcards. Targeting new homeowners in town is a great way to introduce your practice. Moreover, if you include a QR code, residents can easily visit your website. The key to remember with postcards is simplicity—keep your message focused and brief. Also, take plenty of time to select your visual. The image on the front of your postcard will do most of the heavy lifting and motivate people to read the back.
Local Publications: In many towns, there are online publications that detail local events and businesses. If you have room in your marketing budget, it’s a good idea to consider these platforms. The public is naturally drawn to news happening in their community, so your dental team is certain to connect with prospective new patients.
Signage/Building: Signage on your dental practice is often overlooked—so is the general appearance of your building. Today, people judge heavily by appearances, and they correlate that assessment with products and services. For example, if your sign is weather-worn and your building looks outdated, the public will assume your dental services are obsolete and substandard. For this reason, clear eye-catching signage and consistent maintenance are critical.
Branding Your Dental Practice
How to Stand Out in a Saturated Dental Market What Is a Brand? We hear a lot about brands in our modern world. Marketing experts tell us that every business needs a strong, unique brand to succeed online. But how can a dental team build and maintain an effective dental
Keep Being Everywhere—All the Time
Reaching out to prospective patients across all available mediums is the way to achieve dominance online; it’s also the way to increase new patient calls. Connect with prospective new patients across many mediums, and they will begin trusting your brand. Retargeting grows dental practices by keeping your dental practice top of mind and first in line.
