If you just opened up a new practice, you may wonder how to increase patient volume in a dental office. We’re going to discuss the different methods of growing your practice using a variety of marketing techniques. Keep in mind to set a budget for marketing for your dental practice.
Fewer patients are visiting the dentists; however, new dentists are opening up offices every year. However, it may sound daunting to try to attract more patients while facing more competition. This is unless you implement some of the proven dental patient marketing strategies to acquire new patients.
Without further adieu, let’s get started on the practical guide on how to increase patient volume in a dental office.
1. Build an Attractive Website
An attractive and engaging website helps to build a lasting first impression for new dental patients. Do not make the mistake of creating a cookie-cutter website by copying content from another dental office. In the medical field, practices tend to overlook an interactive and engaging website. When you receive new traffic visitors, you need to have all the right materials on a website to convert traffic visitors into dentists patients.
The objective of your website is to find and convert prospects into new dental patients. Imagine your website as a full-time salesperson who can work for you 24 hours 7 days a week. Unfortunately, you will need to spend good money to build a highly converting website. Trying to build a homemade website for a couple of hundred bucks won’t nearly be as effective as a professionally-built site.
Having a professional website designed specifically for a dental practice by an agency can yield many benefits. An agency will better understand the user experience, design concepts, and the SEO of the dental industry. Make sure that your website has the following components:
● On-page SEO
● Simple navigation
● Onsite blog
● Uncluttered, mobile-friendly web design
● Reviews and testimonials
● Pictures of dentist and offices
● Prominent contact info
Although you might be hesitant to pay the upfront cost of a website, remember that this will be your salesperson who works for you 24×7. If you have the right components to your website and marketing it effectively, you should make your investment back.
Your dental website should funnel prospective patients towards taking action and setting an appointment. Make sure that your contact info is easy to find and provide them with several contact options. You can also add diet advice, like talking about dried fruit and discussing vegan and vegetarian diets.
Fill your website with testimonials by asking some of your trusted long-term patients to write one for you. If you have video testimonials, that would be even better! Since reviews are the new word of mouth, it’s advantageous for you to build a marketing strategy around getting online reviews. If you have reviews on Google Listing, you can incorporate those reviews onto your website. Keep in mind that the website isn’t made for you. Instead it’s made to inform and persuade existing and prospective patients. Put yourself in the shoes of your prospects and that will help you build a website that converts better.
2. Be Different From Your Competitors
If you can’t stand out from the crowd and be different from your competitors, you won’t stand a chance of attracting new patients. Depending on the location, each neighborhood usually has a couple of dental offices to choose from. The issue is that most residents typically already have their preferred choice of dentist that they visit routinely. This makes it more difficult for them to switch. So why would they change dental practices?
You can do so by creating a unique selling proposition specifically tailored for your brand. One of the most common USP is the “luxurious dentistry route, which helps them stand out. However, you can specialize with other services like invisalign, implants, oral sleep appliances, dentures, and veneers. Focus on your key differentiators like “after hours” dentistry and make it prominent. This means to plaster it all over your marketing materials like your website, social media, and other marketing mediums. You can also take extra care of your patients by asking whether they’re seeing a cardiologist or other professionals as often as they should.
Always maintain and upgrade your office technologies to help keep current patients and attract new ones! You can brag about your state-of-the-art technologies on your website to differentiate yourself and show your patients that you provide them with a better experience.
Some practices specialize by adding a spa-like experience to their office. Other practices will add a plethora of dental amenities. It’s a great tactic if you’re trying to persuade existing patients who are on the fence about returning, but you can offer an array of amenities.
3. Host Local Events
If you want to know how to increase patient volume in a dental office, then you should get the community involved by sponsoring local events. Becoming a sponsor for community or charity events helps others in your community to become aware of your brand. If you’re starting out, having the logo and name will help to build brand awareness. In the event, there's a race or event, then you can send one of your team members to pass out coupons and fliers to engage prospective patients. During these events, you can raise awareness about the best fruits for digestion, as well as how dangerous a lack of fruit and vegetables can be.
You can host your own events in your local neighborhood and it doesn’t have to be dental related. The Collins Dentistry for Children, a practice in New Hampshire sponsored and hosted events dedicated to children such as Annual Child Safety Fair or the Promote Good Oral Hygiene event.