Best Dental Marketing Ideas for Dentists

Marketing strategies for dentists

1. Build strong relationships and rapport with your patients to ensure the highest possible customer satisfaction and loyalty

2. Recommend relevant dental products and services to your existing patients

3. Get as many referrals as possible from patients and professional colleagues

4. Intersect people when they are seeking dental care

5. Protect and enhance your professional reputation

6. Be known for something
   
   

1.  Collect the names and contact information of your patients, especially their email address and cell phone number. With their permission, you'll be able to contact them using the least expensive methods (email, text messages and phone calls).  

Keep this up-to-date by confirming you have the correct contact information whenever you meet with someone and making it easy for people to update their information when you send them emails.

Take a digital photo of each patient to keep with their patient record. This will help you and your staff when someone calls or emails. And it also allows you to send really personalized reminder emails and post cards with the patients' photo. Instead of sending a generic message "It's been six months since your last cleaning," print and send personalized letters or postcards with the patient's photo. Or, insert their photo into an email reminder.

• See more on Collecting Names and Contact Information.

2.  Create a patient/customer database to organize, save and update your patient information. This is one of your most valuable assets.  Treat it that way! Track what services and products each patient purchases, with dates of service. This will help you track when to contact patients to come in again and to identify what services someone doesn't use that might be appropriate to recommend next time. You also want to note if they give you referrals, and to whom, so you can thank them.

• Learn how to Create a Customer Database.

3.  Get your existing patients to return on a regular schedule for teeth cleaning and other recommended procedures. 

• Here are specific tips for how to do this: Get Your Existing Patients to Schedule Appointments.

Pay attention to the competitive landscape!

ZocDoc (zocdoc.com) is the online website where patients can find a doctor and book an appointment online instantly for free.  Patients can search by insurance and read peer reviews by verified ZocDoc users.   ZocDoc also recently launched an iPhone app that allows users to instantly book an appointment from their cell phone.  This is a game-changing move that will impact all health care providers.  Why?  It raises the bar for what patients expect when scheduling an appointment.

ZoomCare, a regional medical group is doing something similar.  Look at the benefits they offer.  Lots of other patient-pay health care companies are offering these type of benefits to attract new patients.  They’re attracting profitable new patients with health care coverage who want good, fast service. 

Think of when Nordstrom started offering no questions asked returns and when online sites started offering free shipping,  That raised customer expectations for how they should be treated by other businesses.

These medical health care companies are using technology to create better patient experiences.  They are allowing people to schedule appointments online, on their phone and by calling.  They’re probably saving money and creating a better customer experience by doing this!  This may be the equivalent of the ATM for scheduling health care appointments. Many people prefer to use the ATM than to go into the bank and talk to a teller.