The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was created to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.
HIPAA was created many years before social platforms became the omnipresent media giant it is today. As a result, there are no specific rules outlining social media use. Rather, you can apply the general rules around the protection of PHI (patient health information).
Healthcare organizations must implement a HIPAA social media policy to reduce the risk of violations. The HIPAA Privacy Rule prohibits the disclosure of PHI on social media networks without the express consent of patients.
So if you want to utilize social media in your marketing, that’s what you need to worry about – acquiring consent.
The easiest way to gain consent is by including a ‘Media Consent Form’ with your patient onboarding paperwork – either printed or as a digital file. Patients and their families are already mentally prepped to fill out paperwork when dealing with health and dental visits, so this won’t be an inconvenience to them at all.
Why worry about getting consent to post photos of your patients?
One of the best ways to show off your dental practice is by posting patient results on your website, office bulletin board, and social platforms (both photos of teeth and photos of patients having a good experience in your care) so having a media consent form is critical to marketing your practice. And it’s just good practice. Some parents are sensitive about sharing their children online, and some encourage it!
The time for a consent form is when your business wants to share photos as well, such as celebrating a cavity-free prize winner, sharing funny photos of a family posing with your photo op character, or showing off the successful results of a dental treatment plan on a young patient.
A consent form should include:
your organization’s name to show who is using the photos and videos
the name and signature of the parent or guardian
the date to show when consent was granted – a timeline of when the use of photos and videos begins
purpose of the authorization – description of how the media will be used – social media, website, promo videos
the ability of the parent to revoke consent at a future date
This signed agreement, with clear indications of how the information will be used, must remain on file.
Here is a sample of what a consent form will look like:
We have included all this information in a media consent form for children and one for adults:
This blog is not legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by using our contract template. If you have a specific problem and need legal advice, contact a licensed attorney. Consult your legal team or HIPAA Privacy Officerabout HIPAA and your social media policies.
Other tips to help you stay HIPAA compliant when using social media include:
Have a dedicated social media coordinator who is educated in HIPAA compliance. There are numerous educational programs to help your staff get HIPAA compliant. It is better to have someone who is aware of the rule surrounding HIPAA and who is able to check the consent form before posting or commenting on social. Having control over content is the first step to avoiding violations.
Consult your legal or compliance team to verify that your content does not violate HIPAA and aligns with your brand’s social media use policy. Additionally, work with them to establish a communication protocol for corresponding with patients and their families over social media.
Make sure your staff keeps PHI off their personal social media accounts. It is a good idea to train your entire staff in HIPAA compliance to make sure they do not make a mistake in their personal use of social platforms.
Review environmental photographs and videos to ensure there is no PHI in the background such as a patient’s name on an x-ray, charts, or computer screens.
Ask permission to share photos and testimonials posted on a patient’s own social media page, just to be safe.
More HIPAA resources that will help keep you informed:
Dental Support Organizations (DSO) and Dental Group Practices are built by hard-working professionals who have established reliable partnerships to grow their business nationwide. They own and operate anywhere from 10 to 1000 dental practices.
Resourcefulness and efficiency are at the core of these organizations’ models – providing management and marketing support so location staff can focus on doing what they do best – providing quality care for their patients. With the combined knowledge and skills of everyone involved, this creates a well-oiled, efficient business.
Is this you? If so, it’s time to ask “What can I do to ensure success?”
Read along to uncover the added benefits of running a DSO or Group Practice, plus the new opportunities for the future of your operations with a secret ingredient that has proven to increase the success of dental offices – themed office decor.
What is IDS Theming?
IDS theming is the transformation of a mundane space into a magical place.
We specialize in the conceptualization, design, and creation of playful murals, engaging 3D decor, and interactive gaming for pediatric medical environments.
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Many young patients experience high anxiety and stress when faced with dental and medical procedures. Themed healthcare offices can prevent and reduce patient anxiety, help create client satisfaction, secure returning clientele, and grow your business.
DSO locations and Group Practices reap the rewards of these benefits at a heightened level. Because they have multiple locations at once working under the same mentality of communicating dependable brand values and the promise of providing an exceptional patient experience through the deployment of consistent decor across the board. When people like what they see, their trust in your business is reinforced.
While you are noodling about your wildest theming dreams, continue reading to unveil in greater detail just how it can work for an organization.
Create Consistent Brand Recognition Amongst Your Locations
Your brand is your “thing”. To have a strong brand you need to establish that “thing” you are known for and create a consistent experience for your clients location-wide. By eliminating the mundane and clinical stereotype of what a medical environment should look like, you are creating a stand-out brand for your business. That “thing” patients and parents will know you for is being fun & welcoming plus your endeavor to go above and beyond for their patient experience.
Before you came here, you already knew what you wanted your patients to think about you – that you care about providing them with the best of the best – the best care, treatment, and experience. Theming can help you create a consistent experience across your organization’s landscape.
Dr. Joe Yale, owner of an IDS themed office says it best,
“I believe that our theme provides a visual manifestation of how committed we are to giving the best level of customer service and the best experience a child could have. It’s all about the people, the patients, and parents that we take care of.“
Take this multi-location dental and ortho office as an example. The same reception desk, murals, and welcoming whale are found at each location. These familiar features make a friendly environment for patients, no matter which location they go to.
By taking the anxiety out of appointments with whimsical distractions, you’ll get parents talking – on social media, at family gatherings, and with their friends over coffee.
From Dr. Alexandra Jensen,
“We live in an age where the big thing online is the review it’s the facebook ads it, it’s the facebook mommy’s and just hearing word of mouth. That being said, I think the theme of the office gives parents something to talk about.”
And here’s how the process went for themed multi-office owner and CEO, Jennifer Kreidler-Moss,
“IDS delivered exactly what we wanted. They took our grand ideas and turned them into cohesive themes suitable for our spaces and our budget. We loved customizing the small details and they walked us through the process every step of the way.“
Each of her 11 locations has a different child-friendly sitting corner with fun seating and a branded photo op character.
Supercharge Your Marketing Plan and Make Your Building Your Biggest Advertising Asset
Speaking of photo ops, theming is a great way to add extra flair to your marketing materials and social media feeds.
Dentist and owner, Dr. Michael Lateiner has seen it with his own eyes,
“Patients come into the office and are immediately comfortable and the parents can’t stop taking pictures. They made my office the talk of the town!!!“
Photo ops, from characters to head holes to surfing waves, are a great way to get organic advertising for your business. Sharing photo ops with happy clients increase social media engagement. It also adds the benefit of ‘social proof’, the idea that consumers will adapt their behavior according to what other people are doing, and potential clients will see your business as trustworthy.
The most successful photo op is a mascot that represents your business. The dental market is now more competitive than ever, and you need to use all resources available to stand out from the crowd. Mascots are memorable, helping your brand become more recognizable. A branded mascot can increase a company’s profit and emotional connection with customers by up to 40.9%.
One of our most successful partners has created an entire magical world surrounding their mascots. Every location has a familiar face to greet visitors.
Exterior Landmarkcharacters make a business’s exterior stand out visually to people passing by. They draw attention, stir conversation, and become a part of the community’s vernacular. “Turn right at the giant octopus” will become a common phrase heard around town.
Landmark characters completely changed the way owner Sheryl Wright saw her building,
“As a result of the theming, marketing has definitely improved. Even if patients cannot remember the name of the clinic, they know where we are and that our clinic is the fun place for kids to come play while they are waiting for their appointment.Telling patients it is the clinic with the octopus is an easy visual landmark to help them find us. This has helped get new patients through the doors.”
Themed interior decor is a game-changer for creating marketing campaigns that stand out amongst the mass of dental reminder postcards and facebook ads. Featuring photos of your interiors with all the amenities you have to offer will get you noticed amongst the noise.
For Dr. Scott Savel, owner of 3 themed IDS offices, the horizon for future success is endless,
“We found that theming has been instrumental in our success. By making the investment, it sets us apart. Especially in pediatrics, we walk into an area and we’re a category-killer in that area. We’re definitely planning on opening multiple offices and using theming for all of them.“
Ultimately, when you have successfully established brand recognition within your clientele, they know who you are, what you do, and the level of service you provide – all the things they need to know to trust your organization which will help you grow your business.
Sensitivity to Ownership Changes
When you acquire an established practice, there are going to be existing patients and families that are connected and loyal to the previous provider.
With this in mind, as the buyer, you must be mindful of these existing clients’ feelings and find ways to communicate that the change in ownership will only make the place they know and love even better.
Change Can be Good
By joining up with a DSO, dental offices become infused with the latest in staff training, more efficient billing & insurance management, and access to modern technology. But those beneficial improvements might not be obvious to the average customer.
Decor upgrades to your space can be visual cues for patients to recognize this promise to improve their experience and help build their trust in your brand and services. By signaling your willingness to go above and beyond for the comfort of your young patients in ways the previous owners did not, you can help build those new relationships and create loyal customers.
Repeatability Makes Adding Unique Decor Easy
What we do over here at IDS is create original environments for our clients. With our team, you can develop a custom package of repeatable and on-brand decor for all of your locations.
From the initial design concepts, a Group Practice or DSO corporation is making an original, customized investment in their business. This investment is one that is unique to their brand but can be flexible in its conceptualization and execution so core design elements can be re-deployed across multiple locations.
We’ll be candid, there is a cost to the theming process. However, savings on economies can be amplified by theming all offices with the same foundational essentials – a mascot, desk cladding, repeatable wall murals, and more. Once design, brand, and execution are established, there is no starting from scratch when expanding to new locations.
For example, this carnival themed DSO has the same balloon-riding monkey photo op in each location.
Once the design is complete, we can adjust for size, position, and ceiling height in each location. We have installed 6 locations already, with 3 more locations getting themed this year, and more planned for the future.
The ROI From IDS Theming
Like we said, theming is a big investment, but it is an investment in your future success. The payback is unbeatable and our clients have experienced the difference themed decor makes in their businesses.
Even the independent dentists we work with have achieved so much success after theming they are able to open a 2nd, 3rd, or even a 7th or 8th office with the profits achieved from their first themed office.
From Dr. Bill Martin,
“At first when I got into this I said to myself wow, this is a lot of money. But when I look at the benefits of it, it really is a marketing tool because you don’t have to put up a billboard when you have an office like this. I think undeniably this is the best marketing tool you can possibly use.“
Check out the video below to hear what they had to say:
What’s Next for Your Business?
As previously mentioned, resourcefulness and efficiency are at the core of these organizations’ models. What’s next is asking if your offices are currently working for you in the best way possible to amplify your marketing and business success.
Theming helps add another level of resourcefulness and efficiency to your current business model by working to magnify and engage the added benefits you hold from running a DSO. Are you ready to take the leap?
Interested in learning more? Check out these related resources on themed environments and their benefits:
Convincing new patients to choose you for their care is a journey – a journey that starts with the patient’s first appointment and develops through a series of good experiences with your clinic. Those positive results will typically point back to how well your office is optimized for patient acquisition.
That’s no small feat. These days patient interaction is skewed by your staff demeanor, your standard of care, the services you provide, insurance acceptance, and more. That also includes the design of your office which enhances or diminishes a patient’s impression of you, your team, and your skills.
Conscious Effort is Required to Attract New Patients
The cost of acquiring one new patient can total hundreds of dollars or more. Your total investment can vary from patient to patient depending on their responsiveness to either your office culture or future targeted marketing initiatives.
There’s also the competitive environment that hospitals and clinics exist in. Advertising campaigns can cross the line of sight of potential patients via direct mail pieces or online advertisements. Healthcare providers spend upwards of $10 billion on advertising a year in the US – that’s a lot of effort being poured into attracting new clients.
The conclusion that can be drawn from this is clear – the choice is in the hands of the patients!
And that is the problem you have to solve with your acquisition efforts – occupying a prominent place in their mind when they are making a choice about their health or their family’s care. You must be intentional in your actions to secure their attention and keep it.
Be Aware of the Environment You Have Created for Your Patients
Your physical space, clinic atmosphere, vibe, and overall culture can have a substantial impact on patient acquisition. New patients especially are discerning about specific things relative to your office environment.
Does the space mitigate their anxieties?
Does it feel like a safe and sterile environment?
Will satisfaction be consistent across satellite locations?
These factors align with what’s referred to as evidence-based design strategy. That’s the theory that you can create an office environment that helps you achieve the best possible healthcare outcomes.
And of course, this would strongly influence the acquisition of new patients.
The power of first impressions relies on how each patient feels the moment they encounter your practice. It could be the tone of a direct mailout, the glowing referral of a friend or online review, or the atmosphere of the office when they first walk in.
”Design choices matter. Approximately 24 to 35% of a patient’s overall satisfaction with a health care experience is influenced by the design and decor of the facility.” [1]
Maximizing your office design extends from curb to exam room. Remember that one scheduled appointment doesn’t guarantee a second. Make a first impression that sticks like glue.
Apply conscientious design from the entrance to the reception to the exam & treatment areas.
Maintain and routinely upgrade your exterior and interior spaces.
Create a Mood with Details in Your Front Office and Reception Area
The attention to detail you bring to establish the vibe of your entry areas will help your patients connect with your space. A pleasant and comfortable tone invites guests in and makes them feel at home. This feeling will have patients willing to begin establishing a long-term relationship with your practice.
It has been amazing to see the overwhelmingly positive reaction of patients as they come in for treatment. Providing exceptional care and comfort are foundational to my practice. Since the installation, I have watched their joy increase immensely.
– Dr. Clyde Maxwell
When creating a patient welcome area, there are a few things you should try to accomplish.
Welcome your patients to your office with a smile. Your receptionists are the first people your clients interact with, and as such, are the face of your company. Use your reception desk or check-in desk as a beacon to welcome them inside your space.
Include natural features such as plants, nature art, outdoor views, soft lighting, and skylights that utilize natural lighting effects. Provide patients with a comfortable place to relax their minds.
Village Family Dental Surgery
Include elements like reading materials, free wi-fi, and especially in the case of pediatric areas, themed decor, etc.
An important part of your reception area is entertainment. Turning the wait time into a relaxing or even a fun time with amenities like free wifi, snacks, or games for kids is a great we to turn your office into a welcoming space.
A separate play corner or room for children in waiting areas creates a special space just for them (and a space where adults can relax without the noise of children). A welcoming space for children will reduce their anxiety, but also put their parents at ease knowing they are entertained and occupied, and in the end have them both looking forward to their appointments!
Pikeville Medical Center Children’s Hospital
Gunderson Health System
Andalusia Clinic for Kids Wellness
Ultimately, the intentions are to create a space that your clients enjoy visiting and are motivated to return to when a future need arises. Patients, whether children or adults, will acknowledge and appreciate that you put effort into their comfort and entertainment by paying attention to the spaces they will be using.
Extend Friendly Decor into Your Examination Spaces
Bring the journey beyond your waiting room and into the rest of your space with themed decor. Bright colors and landscape imagery promise your guests a distraction from their ailments if they choose your services. After time spent in your space, patients will know your priorities are giving top not services and a positive experience.
Pediatric wards can especially benefit from transformative decor in exam and recovery areas. Young patients will feel at ease and parents will have a great distraction for their children. Here are some great examples of how themed office decor has transformed office spaces to create a positive pediatric patient experience.
Surf’s up in this exam room mural.
Jungle murals brighten up a sterile treatment room.
Patients will feel like they’re going on a walk through the wilderness in this treatment area hallway.
At the end of the day, it is the vibe you create in your business space that helps patients feel more engaged and in control of their relationship with you as their care provider.
Theming on the Building’s Exterior to Grab Attention
Visibility, parking availability, ease of access, and exterior aesthetic are all factors that set the tone for patient acquisition success.
At IDS we are all about making the best first impressions for pediatric healthcare environments. We work with family-friendly businesses to design both big and small themed elements for the exterior of their locations. Whether it is a giant blue whale perched on top of a building, a pirate ship busting through the wall, or a quirky photo op, people will begin to associate your business with your theming choices… “They promise a friendly experience!” or “These people go above and beyond for their clients.”
And here’s the thing with exterior theming, suddenly your building is advertising for you 24/7. Exterior theming will not only attract new clientele but spread the word around town about who you are and what you do.
“As a result of the theming, marketing has definitely improved. Even if patients cannot remember the name of the clinic, they know where we are and that our clinic is the fun place for kids to come play while they are waiting for their appointment.Telling patients it is the clinic with the giraffe and alligator is an easy visual landmark to help them find us. This has helped get new patients through the doors.”
– Sheryl Wright, Family Nurse Practitioner and Owner of Reelfoot Pediatrics
Relationship Development Details that Affect Patient Acquisition
Not all relationships start at a good place. In fact, for many healthcare appointments, there might already be a strike against you.
It’s nothing personal, it’s just that individual health is well, personal. Put in the work of creating the right environment and match that with good relational skills to help dissolve your patients’ natural existing anxieties.
Pay Personal Attention to Your Patients
It’s easy for patients to feel like a number in a long line of appointments you have throughout the day. Every patient interaction or conversation provides you an opportunity to deepen your relationship with them.
Your top relational skill is listening!
It helps to rely on your office design flow for enhanced listening. Meaning, that it’s a good idea to have patient conversations in a designated, comfortable consult area.
Patients will feel more at ease and you and your team members will be better equipped to truly listen to what your patients share with you.
This consult area is designed to put kids at ease as they sit with their parents.
You can also offer additional points of contact beyond an in-person exam and consultation. Making yourself or resources available to your patients beyond office hours will help them feel valued and connected.
Leverage Your Knowledge to Build Trust with Your Patients
Patients know it’s a good idea to take care of their physical health. But they’re often lacking the “why” behind it.
Trust is a defining element in any relationship, but is particularly central to the patient-physician relationship. Trust is built through knowledge and being able to convey that knowledge to your patients in a way they will understand. Patients who feel informed are more likely to have a positive experience. And that positive experience leads to an increase in your patient acquisition success.
Listen to their specific questions, and find a solution that is unique to them and their situation.
Encourage them to ask questions about your standard of care, technology, treatment outcomes, financials, and more. Freedom to inquire (without judgement) enhances the doctor-patient relationship.
Have resources available that they can take home or look up online beyond the appointment to help them feel empowered.
Patients who trust their healthcare providers are more likely to have longer relationships with their physicians.
Schedule the Next Appointment
Relationships require consistency. The same applies to maintaining health. Your intentional efforts to set a patient’s next follow-up appointment confirms that you consider their healthcare as a priority.
Staying connected to you and your office and their health maintains consistency that is essential. Those levels of consistency confirm that you’re on the path to increasing your patient acquisition percentages.
Keep in mind that acquiring patients is fundamentally a two-fold process. It is one part environment and one part relational.
Optimize your clinics around each and you’ll increase your successful patient acquisition.
Check out these related resources on these strategies that lead to an increase in patient acquisition:
It’s a new year, so there’s new business and marketing trends for you to check out to keep up-to-date with your competitors.
The last 2 years have really driven home the need (and desire) for convenience. The at-home, on-demand world of Skip the Dishes, Amazon, and Netflix has changed the way consumers view obtaining products and services. Dental patients are a type of consumer, and with multiple options for patients to choose from when it comes to their healthcare and dental providers, prioritizing convenience for patients will help you stand out.
But how do you align yourself with the convenience of streaming and online delivery services?
To start off you need to recognize that consumers go online to find the care they desire. They also expect to be able to access services 24/7 in addition to being able to communicate directly with their dentist or doctor.
You’re probably thinking that creating more convenience for patients is going to be inconvenient to you, but it doesn’t have to be, not with the right tools.
Here are Our Recommendations for Creating Convenience for Your Clients to Help You Stand Out in 2022
Make Communication More Convenient by Adding a Chatbot to Your Website
Chatbots are a convenient way of opening dialogue with a patient via your website. You’ve seen those little boxes pop up in the corner of the website, asking if you need help with anything. Sometimes they are monitored by staff, but more often than not, they are simply bots. These chatbots can be automated to provide answers to common questions, helped along with some basic AI, with an additional prompt that directs users to leave their contact info if the conversation does require a human touch.
This technology can help your practice grow by generating more appointments (by prompting patients to book online – see below for more) and increasing patient satisfaction (by answering questions immediately, at all times of the day). Yes, chatbots are available 24/7, which is the convenience patients are looking for. The chatbot market for healthcare is expected to triple by 2025 in the US alone. That’s a trend worth paying attention to.
Patient with questions about a toothache in the middle of the night? A chatbot has you covered.
In addition, by using a chatbot you are able to captured useful data and contact information you can use to better target your patients and potential clients with marketing campaigns. If everyone is asking about teeth whitening, it’s time to a promotion to drive up interest.
There are plenty of chatbot programs on the market, including some that have been created specifically with dental and medical businesses in mind.
Here’s a roundup of the best reviewed chatbots we found on the web:
Dental Attendant is a virtual staff member who lives on your dental office website. He works in the bottom corner of your homepage to help visitors get the information they need to become patients at your dental practice.
ChatBots are an innovative way to automate frequent processes. They can provide critical information to your patients, such as procedures, prices and treatment. They can also book and confirm appointments in your name.
It can make the difference between a patient scheduling with your office or with your competitor.
There are many options out there with lots of different features that will suit your business needs, so shop around and see what works best for you.
Make Paying More Convenient by Offering Online Payment Options
From banks to utility providers to car insurance, businesses are going paperless, both for convenience and for the environment. According to the Trends in Healthcare Payments annual report, 79 percent of patients prefer to pay online. Patients expect the latest technology in the treatment room. To boost confidence in your business, you should have the latest technology in your front office as well. Allowing patients to pay online or from their mobile devices is the next natural step in modernizing the way you do business.
Online payment allows for:
Receiving instant payments, keeping your books balanced
More options for payments, from credit cards to PayPal to Apple Pay
Sending payment reminders without harassing phone calls
Simplifying reporting and reconciliation, making accounting easier
Reducing labor when it comes to filing, printing, and organizing paper billing
And yes, it is good for the environment, which may be an added bonus to potential patients
All are great ways to add more convenience to your patient’s experience with your front office, as well as great benefits for you and your team.
Including a more convenient way to interact with your business that your competition does not, such as “Now accepting online payments!” is a great tidbit of information to improve any advertising you do.
Make Booking an Appointment More Convenient by Including an Online Portal to Schedule Appointments
Consider adding an online portal that allows patients to schedule appointments using a digital calendar.
The aforementioned streaming and delivery services are all accessible online, so consumers now expect to be able to go online to acquire all of their needed services. Allowing people to book online is a great option for busy parents trying to wrangle kids or a 9 to 5 worker who just can’t squeeze enough time into their lunch break to make a call. You can help draw in those patients who may have just continually put off an appointment indefinitely out of inconvenience (I know I’m guilty of that). It also makes a great tagline to say booking an appointment with your office is as easy as ordering in dinner.
Including options to download and fill out required paperwork during booking is a big bonus as well to many online booking systems. The ability for clients to fill out paperwork at their leisure before an appointment will also save your staff time during the check-in process.
There are dozens of online booking apps available, with many aimed at dentists and healthcare.
We found a list of the most popular online portal apps according to Google:
Picktime is a free web based appointment scheduling software for dentists and healthcare businesses in which clinics can book their patient’s appointments and also let their patients book their own appointments online. Picktime offers a comprehensive suite of appointment services for practices of all sizes.
Design a professional and customized look for your booking website. You can even choose the most convenient way for your clients to see your booking availability such as by class, time or staff.
Appointment-setting shouldn’t feel like pulling teeth. List your availability online and allow patients to book when it’s convenient for them.
Thanks to growing popularity, there are many options available for online booking. So do you research and find one that works best for you.
Make Bringing Kids to an Appointment More Convenient by Using a Fun Environment
While you can add many online conveniences for your patients, at some point they will have to come to you in person.
Patients, as consumers, want to feel special. Like the fitting room experience in a luxury clothing store or the sales experience in a high-end car dealership, a great patient experience is friendly staff + a welcoming space with amenities + a stress-free transaction.
IDS designers are experts on creating the welcoming space part of the equation, especially when it comes to businesses aimed at children and families. Games, theaters, and play areas create fun activities that turn required tasks like going to the dentist or doctor for a checkup into an enjoyable experience. Patients won’t mind coming in if they know they’re going to have a good time.
Themed decor for kids is not just for pediatric spaces. A special room or a corner devoted to kids in a general clinic shows parents that you care about their needs. Plus a separate play area for children will keep them occupied and entertained while parents relax in a space designed around their needs, with wifi, hot drinks, and comfy seating.
To wrap up, remember that this year is about creating convenience in every aspect of you business to help boost your edge on patient acquisition and patient experience. What other ways are you improving your business in 2022 that will help you stand out from the competition?
There was a time when ‘word of mouth’ had a very literal meaning – one human speaking to another in person. And for centuries, it’s been the preferred way to grow a business, brand, or idea.
One human speaking to another… not anymore!
Nowadays, social media has hijacked what it means to grow by “word of mouth.” This should come as no surprise, but when we unpack what this means for your brand, you might be shocked at what you find.
Social Media Has Changed Communication
In recent years, social media has become more and more about visually stimulating content and less about the written word. Emojis have replaced sentences and punctuation is seemingly optional
Examples of this shift away from written text are all around us – consider the popularity of Pinterest, or look back to Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram, or Twitter’s evolution to support streaming video on what was originally a text-only platform.
Why read a product review when you can watch a video?
These are big companies placing huge bets that people want to engage with photos and video, more than read text. And if you look at some of the more recent entries into the social sphere, such as TikTok, it reinforces this point even more.
Word of Mouth Marketing
Back to ‘word of mouth’ – let’s agree that when it comes to nurturing referrals, it’s really social endorsement we’re talking about here.
The expression ‘word of mouth’ has evolved to become less about the words, and more about the action of consumers helping tell your story by sharing their experience. And when we enable them to do so in a way that’s in alignment with our brand, expedited growth is the result.
Through this evolution, the key ingredient has remained steadfast which is how storytelling is the foundation of building a strong brand. And, as always, the very best way for your story to be told is through customers who have had positive experiences – ideally with a healthy dose of surprise and delight. In fact, a consistent flow of positive content shared voluntarily by your customers (or fans of your brand) is the holy grail of social endorsement.
So, put this all together and what does it mean?
The brands that are going to win at growing through “word of mouth” are the ones who enable their customers/followers/users/evangelists to tell their stories using engaging visual content.
People want to show off where they have been, what they have eaten, and what they are doing.
So instead of obsessing over what customers will SAY about their experience with your brand, shift your focus to how they will SHOW the world that experience in a visual way.
Become a Share-worthy Business
If you welcome customers into your place of business then, more than ever before, the design of your environment plays a critical role in the success of your marketing. You must be intentional about creating ‘share-worthy’ moments along the way. Beautiful spaces, photo opportunities, and giving people the time to take a second without rushing them through your business will encourage them to share. When done right, your brand benefits from being shared (endorsed) by customers on a daily basis.
Think about the last time you booked an Airbnb or VRBO – what did you do first, read the reviews or scan the photos? (My bet is photos first.) Or, have you ever considered purchasing a piece for furniture or home decor online and explored the customer photos, so you could see how the item looks in a real-life setting? There’s no doubt, as humans we are wired to give preference to visual content to gain the insights we’re seeking.
Whether you operate a healthcare facility, hospitality venue, or a tourism destination, it’s critical to offer your customers a variety of visually interesting moments that capture their experience and are primed for sharing on social media – either as photos or video.
When you’ve done it just right, the photo will showcase how the experience made them feel – no caption needed. That’s the real power of visual content and why social endorsement remains the most powerful way to influence business results.
Ready to make your business THE stand-out choice for families? Get in touch to learn more about how our design solutions will make a huge difference for your brand through evolved word-of-mouth marketing.
This guide will review our top tips to maximize your vehicle wrapping so you can take your practice on the road in style!
Studies from 2016 reported that approximately 15.9 million Canadians[1] and 128 million people in the United States[2] commuted daily to work in a personally owned vehicle. According to the AAA, it is estimated that one car advertisement can reach up to 70,000 impressions a day[3]. Wow! With those kinds of numbers and a sizable portion of those commuters spending an hour or more in their car, marketing on the road might just be your best chance at reaching a large audience without spending exorbitant amounts of money on marketing.
But how do you best catch the eye of the average driver? What info do you want to get across to a potential patient in that brief moment? How do you communicate that info effectively when you only have a captive audience for mere seconds?
Be Clear and Concise with The Contact Info Displayed on Your Vehicle
Choosing what info you want to get across in that short time is pivotal. Make sure your logo, phone number, and URL are visible to drivers on all sides so no matter where in traffic you are drivers know where to reach you.
Make Your Vehicle Stand Out from the Crowd (and Traffic)
While there’s nothing wrong with a simple sticker printed of your logo and stuck on your rear-view window, there’s a high chance you may drive past a potential patient before they have time to notice it. Simple stickers are as forgettable as they are understated.
To really maximize the potential effectiveness of vehicle wrapping, you need to think bold! Bright colors from sunroof to wheel well, roof-mounted sculptures, and both URL and phone contact methods all contribute to a far more memorable traveling billboard experience. With such a small window of impact, you gotta go all the way!
Tell a Story with Your Vehicle Wrap Design
You may only have a few seconds in the eyes of a fellow driver unless you’re stuck in a traffic jam, so you want to get noticed and be memorable.
Utilize bold colors and whimsical characters that set a scene. Include a silly joke to really stand out, like this poor octopus and his frightened crab friend, trying to drive with a broken steering wheel.
Match Your Vehicle Graphics and 3D to Your Office Theme
We might be biased, but when you incorporate your practice theme into your wrapped vehicle, it’s a home run – especially if you have external decor already!
If your community is already driving by the curious safari-themed building everyday, when they see a smaller version cruising down the highway, they know exactly where you’re going. It might even remind them that oh yeah, they’ve been wanting to book an appointment for a while!
Take advantage of what you already have and continue to encourage brand awareness by theming your vehicles with just a taste of what they’ll see if they visit in person.
Take Your Wrapped Vehicle to Trade Shows and School Events
Use your vehicle to grab attention at events. Community fairs and markets are a great place to set up a booth and offer advice for parents or brushing demonstrations for kids. Your vehicle can be used as an eye-catching sign or as a fun photo op for families to draw them to your booth.
Drive Your Themed Vehicle in Local Parades
A colorful and fun vehicle is an instant parade float.
Blast some tunes on your radio, find some volunteers to wave enthusiastically from the windows, and have branded toothbrushes or goodie bags to hand out to the crowds as you pass by.
Finally, Don’t be Afraid to Just Park
If you have a quick commute to and from the office or put your gorgeously wrapped vehicle in a covered garage, you may not be utilizing your traveling billboard to its full potential!
We highly recommend choosing a populous community or main city road to park your vehicle during the day. Think of it like a bus bench or lawn sign – but you don’t have to pay for the space!
If your city releases census data, try and find communities with your target demographic to park your car. Not only is it a constant reminder of your practice, but it also reminds them that you’re local and trustworthy.
Bonus items to add include brochure holders which are cheap, easy, and can hang out your windows with info for curious passersby to take.
Pro tip: Run social media contests around your vehicle. Park your traveling billboard, take a photo, and ask people to guess where you are for a chance to win a prize and drum up more social media engagement, likes, and shares!
The ultimate investment in both marketing and office appeal, a photo op is the perfect way to make a huge impact in your community awareness.
Unique and fun, a photo op combines form and function by injecting instant playfulness into your space while also working 24/7 to market your brand. But what type works best for your practice? And what more can you do with your photo op once you have it? We’ll explore the answers to these questions and more by examining one of IDS’s favorite additions to any office.
But first and most importantly…
What is a photo op?
A photo op is anything that is eye-catching and lends itself to selfies and sharing with friends or family. At IDS, a photo op is a sculpture or wall mural that is designed to encourage photos. Think posing animals, hole cutouts for guests to put their faces through, or murals with signage that advertise a clinic name or logo.
Why should you add a photo op to your office decor?
The first and most obvious reason is the undeniable fun that a photo op brings to an office. If you want your practice to be known for its friendly atmosphere, nothing says ‘playful’ quite like a smiling turtle greeting guests as they approach your front door.
Second, the marketing value found in photo ops is second to none.
Picture this: A young child just finished she dental checkup, and she has no cavities! Smiling and excited, her mom asks to get a picture of her with the surfboarding pug photo op in the reception area. The pug is holding a sign with your practice logo on it – and when that mom proudly posts the picture of her happy daughter all over social media, her network of parents take note.
The stress of doctor or dentist appointments is top of mind for all parents, and suddenly they see a solution posted by their trusted friend or family member. Your brand is instantly catapulted in front of an entire audience of potential patients, and they already have the ultimate stamp of approval. A photo of a smiling child post-checkup shared to a network of other parents is the holy grail of social media marketing.
This is the true value of your photo op in action. They are the perfect marketing employee – they never stop working for you, and they work for free!
There’s no one way to do a photo op, so we’ll explore everything from giant sculptures to friendly cartoon animals that’ll have parents begging their kids for just one more picture. Our photo ops are specifically designed to be irresistibly fun to kids, and equally irresistible to parents who can’t wait to snap a photo and share it with the family.
Explore Different Types of Themed Photo Ops
Bench Photo Ops
Casual and comfortable, bench photo ops are a great way to really get your patients shoulder to shoulder with your office mascot.
They can be placed indoors or outdoors, and are a great option for guests with mobility challenges who may not be able to pose beside a free-standing sculpture. Put your arm around a friendly fox and her baby, or read along with a safari flamingo.
“Sit-in” Photo Ops
Photo ops don’t always have to be animals or mascots that you stand with – they can also be interactive play pieces!
“Sit-in” photo ops are created specifically for kids to… you guessed it! Sit inside! Children won’t be able to resist crawling in the driver’s seat of a jeep mid-safari expedition or explore a colorful fair-ground snack stand. These photo ops play right into the imagination of a young child and make both great pictures and play places to pass the time pre-appointment.
Large Scale Photo Ops
Patients will say OMG the moment they see your gigantic (and very photogenic) sculpture!
These are the photo ops that patients and even passersby won’t be able to resist posting on social media. The playfulness is simply unforgettable, and the gargantuan size will be easily communicated through photographs with a smiling child standing beside it for comparison.
Posing Photo Ops
These interactive photo ops bring patients right into the action with immersive environments parents and kids can’t resist!
These sculptures feel more like part of a theme park than a photo feature in a dental office – and what a great shot for the social media feed!
Face Cut-out Photo Ops
Another great and playful photo op option to bring your patients on board with your branding is head hole sculptures or wall cutouts.
Any child (or parent) can proudly announce what an amazing experience they had at your practice while also creating a hilarious memory. Who would’ve thought you could have so much fun at the dentist?
Tip: Use accessories, signs, and social promos to make the most of your photo op.
So, you’ve got the photo op installed. People are loving it and it’s brought new life into your practice. How do you take advantage of it? The possibilities are endless, but here are our top 3 ideas.
1. Create a social media campaign with prizes. For example, when people take photos with your photo op and tag you on the social media channel of your choice, a random winner is chosen and given a free checkup, or perhaps another gift. It’s a free promo all over social media!
2. Include signage with different phrases that suit your practice. Allow kids to proudly advertise Cavity-Free Today!,Had a Great Appointment!, or I was Brave Today!.
For an optometry office, try a sign that says New Glasses Day! or My First Pair of Glasses!.
If you own a medical clinic try, I Was Vaccinated Today!,I Got a Shot Today!, or I’m Feeling Better! for children to pose with.
3. Do cross-promotion with other local businesses. Bring the local health food store staff or neighboring orthodontist in to take photos with your sculpture and create a long-lasting connection in your community.
For more inspiring photos of photos ops in dental and medical offices, check out Themed Photo Opportunities
Ready to get a photo op of your own? Connect with one of our amazing Creative Consultants today to learn how you can get your own unforgettable sculpture!
The secret to successful dental practice marketing is more than just the flash and fanfare of one single eye-catching campaign. Yes, bright colors and bold text are vital to grabbing people’s attention, but a truly great dental practice marketing campaign requires more than just a few social media posts.
Common Mistakes
Take a look at most dental practice marketing content and familiarize yourself with the competition. You might notice a few repeated things if you look with a critical eye.
It’s feature-heavy, meaning it suffers from “-est syndrome” (think greatest, latest, best, etc.)
It’s often loaded with dental jargon. Your colleagues will love it, but the public? Not so much!
It’s crowd focused, not individual focused. The text reads like you’re speaking to the masses instead of being too “you” – writing to the reader.
Those three observations alone are the relative norm for dental practice marketing. While this may not be the case for all practices, most could improve their marketing with a focus on:
Benefits over features.
Content that’s conversational.
Speaking to “one” person, making the text feel more personal.
Rethink Your Creativity
What ties together these three fixes? A focus on being yourself! The key is positioning your dental practice marketing in a way that feels unique and personal.
While it may seem like common sense, it takes some major courage to step away from the crowd and try something new and different. Sure, it’s easy to use templated marketing strategies and follow how-to guides line by line but if you want long-lasting results you need to get personal. These are for the offices that want more than one-and-done visits. You want long-term referrals from devoted patients!
There’s so much dental practice marketing “noise” out there, that it is essential to carve out your niche in the industry with personal touches. This need is also incredibly timely.
COVID-19 changed the marketing game for us all over the last year and a half, as well as the way dentistry is done. Stop us if you’ve had these conversations with your team this year.
“We have to start doing dentistry differently.”
“We need to find new ways to engage with our patients.”
Sound familiar? Not only have you had to make major changes over the last few months, but you’ve also had to evaluate the best way to appeal to the public need and desire for dental services. With all these changes in the marketing sphere and our world at large, it’s safe to say we’re in a new era of dentistry.
How do you use that to your advantage? Let’s focus on a few core ideas!
SOME BASIC YET CREATIVE DENTAL PRACTICE MARKETING IDEAS
Idea #1: Add Some SEO Muscle to Your Dental Practice Website
It’s not an over-exaggeration to say that your practice’s website is perhaps the most important tool in your marketing toolbox. Now more than ever, your website is the first thing a potential patient will ever see or know about your team – however, setting up a website is more than just purchasing your domain (as much as we wish it was that easy).
You have to optimize! If you’ve heard the term SEO (search engine optimization) before, then you know the tip of this marketing iceberg. It’s part – but not all of a healthy website.
Optimizing your site requires some serious creative thinking.
See your website as an entire usable platform rather than a simple IP address on the internet.
Maximize your website environment just as much as your office environment. Just like your in-person space, your website is where people and patients connect, interact, and engage with your services. Take the same time and care with your website as you do with your office.
Offer free downloadable content and resources to your website for your existing and potential patients, just as you would have brochures in your office. Name the content after key search words that patients would be searching for online.
Have a FAQ or question and answer area that you can fill with SEO-friendly keywords along with helpful info for your patients.
Write a blog full of useful knowledge and keywords to help your website rank higher in searches.
Idea #2: Constantly Evaluate Your Web Design
Evaluating your site is where your creativity can be applied!
Design your website around visitor appeal. 90% of web based users form their opinion about a website based on design, so this step is critical[1].
Make sure your site is uncluttered and easy to navigate. Is the phone number and address easy to find? Is there a big call to action directing patients to book an appointment? Make the most important info the most obvious and easy to find.
Confirm that your site is up to date with both desktop and mobile capabilities. Google will penalize a website that is not optimized for mobile and you will not rank highly in searches.
Remember! 38% of site visitors will click away if the website design is difficult to navigate or looks unappealing[2].
Idea #3: Engage Your Site Visitors and Current Patients with Patient-relevant Solutions
Before you create and publish content, ask yourself: is this useful to my patients? This will help you answer real questions and solve common problems a regular visitor may have about their oral health.
Add an online scheduling portal. This addition is time-saving and convenient and will make appointment requests easier than ever. Eliminate all the barriers you can!
Give your readers a reason to care about oral health benefits with attractive images and fun video content. Visual media is powerful so be sure to use it to your advantage!
Provide patients the opportunity to securely make payments, request prescriptions, and complete necessary appointment forms online.
Increase visitor and patient communication access with real-time chat and messaging apps built into your site.
Add or update your Google My Business profile to give the public and patients another online access point.
Idea #4: Define Yourself as an Industry Leader with a Dental Blog
Fresh, useful content published on a routine schedule will set your dental practice website and marketing apart from your competition.
Why?
Creating original content takes time that many other practices are unwilling to invest. While it may seem daunting, the long-term payoff is worth your investment! Coming up with topics to write about is the biggest roadblock for many practices. Be creative and leverage these blog content ideas:
Confront current events, myths, inaccurate data, and the numerous assumptions about dental care. Search newsfeeds, popular opinion articles, etc while bringing your own expertise to the narrative. People love relevant content – so keep on top of the news!
Share tips on routine dental topics like whitening, brushing, or flossing. Look for a fresh angle or technique on each and give your website visitors something they can use to improve their health or lifestyle.
You’re the expert, so make a FAQ section! Answer common and routine questions that the public and your patients are often searching for or asking about.
Idea #5: Make Friends with Your Community on Social Media
Social media is the modern day gathering place. Not a moment goes by that your “audience” (you included) isn’t checking one or many social media channels.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, Youtube, Reddit… The list goes on! It’s where people go to hang out, read their news, form opinions, show off their skills, communicate, comment, and generally interact with each other in our modern world.
Using social media in a creative way needs to be a major factor in your dental practice marketing. Your patients are online, so you need to be too if you want to maintain a lasting, relevant connection.
Use your fresh blog content (or a newsletter) and provide teasers on your practice’s social media feed. This will draw your community back to your website.
Post attention-grabbing statistics, visuals, infographics, or short videos. We are a visual species, so take advantage of it!
Tell a compelling dental success story using “before and after” images of a client.
Encourage more dental reviews for your practice by sharing recent positive testimonials.
Host Facebook “live” events on specific dental topics.
Show your local community vibe by sharing local milestones, events, and more. Remind your patients that you’re a part of their community.
Let your social media community see the real you by posting team pictures and videos.
… And that’s just a start!
As you create, never forget:
Your desire for long-term patient loyalty should be the engine that powers your dental practice marketing creativity.
Check out these related resources to generate ideas and create a dental marketing strategy for your practice:
How can you build influence and trust amongst your patients when they only come in once or twice a year for a cleaning? By utilizing email marketing that includes your valuable expertise, of course!
Staying front of mind via a dental newsletter will help nurture your relationships with your current patients. By providing valuable content, their trust in you as a provider will deepen.
INVEST IN YOUR CURRENT PATIENTS
While the majority of your marketing spend list probably includes new patient acquisition, don’t overlook your current patient base!
Your patients have already given you their consent to contact them because:
You’ve already treated them.
You’ve established trust.
You’ve answered their questions about dentistry.
You’ve provided a solution to their dental issues.
You’ve formed an emotional connection with their oral health goals.
Your current patient base is full of opportunities to encourage lifelong dental health, not just dental appointments for emergencies.
HOW A DENTAL NEWSLETTER BUILDS AND SUSTAINS PATIENT TRUST
You rely on patient trust for referrals and ongoing loyalty to your practice. Patients trust your expertise as a source of useful information about their oral health and related lifestyle.
Consider these examples:
A Dental Newsletter Provides Consistent Marketing
Content marketing works because it creates a long-term connection. It beats an often costly, one-and-done marketing campaign.
Again, patients have given you permission to communicate with them. You can use that permission to create and deliver useful content to maintain the relationship outside of appointments.
A Dental Newsletter Preserves Inbox Trust
They’ve said it’s okay to communicate with them, but NOT spam them. Preserve your patients’ trust by emailing valuable content, like:
Tips for good at-home oral hygiene
Blogs about popular/interesting topics, like teeth whitening or the value of braces
Brushing calendars for kids
Good food for oral health
Appointment reminders or follow up
Patient loyalty rewards
and more!
A Dental Newsletter Creates an Influential Connection with Your Patients
Face-to-face communication is preferred during appointments and consultations, but what about those weeks or months between appointments? Your dental newsletter keeps them connected with your expertise (and practice) until their next visit.
HOW TO CREATE A DENTAL NEWSLETTER THAT KEEPS YOU CONNECTED WITH YOUR PATIENTS
1. Theme It!
Brainstorm all the themes that come to mind about dentistry. Include those “seasonal” or monthly themes that occur annually.
For example, since we’re on the subject of “seasons” and “months”, you could build your publishing themes on a quarterly timeline.
January to March “New Year…New Goals” themes: Promote annual examinations and check-ups. Encourage consideration of treatment that has a longer timeline such as orthodontics or dental implants.
April to June “Spring” themes: Build on the “new beginnings” vibe. Direct attention to cosmetic dentistry for feeling more confident at weddings, reunions, and vacations.
July to August “Summer” themes: Encourage relaxation and good oral health habits. Cover back to school preparations with general dentistry, ortho follow-ups, dental examinations, fluoride, sealants, etc.
September to December “Fall” themes Focus on the holiday season and end-of-year. Share tips for taking advantage of unused insurance benefits. Promote cosmetic dentistry for holiday parties. Remind them to complete unscheduled treatment.
2. Curate It!
Topic ideas can be a challenge, so curation is a good place to start.
Curating content is about scanning relevant sources for useful information. It’s information you can turn into a topic or theme for your dental newsletter.
Search content around dental topics your patients ask questions about. Provide answers via your dental newsletter.
Scan social media feeds for what’s trending – especially on topics or questions that involve health, wellness, oral health trends, or controversial topics (you can provide helpful insight about).
Curation is about being socially aware. Use your dental newsletter as a platform to build your influence among your patients and subscribers.
3. Promote It! (Without Being Salesy)
First and foremost – a dental newsletter is content based. Sure, you can promote your services or a current offer but lead with valuable content first!
Remember to keep any promotional emphasis natural, conversational, and somewhat connected to your newsletter theme. You want to maintain the integrity of your dental newsletter and not make it a deal-of-the-month promotional tool.
Lead with a theme. Stay in context if you want to promote a specific treatment or procedure. For example, if you’re on a cosmetic dentistry theme close the newsletter with a compelling teeth whitening promotion, etc.
Give readers an opportunity to respond. A strategically placed CTA (call to action) like “Click Here” or “Read More” will compel a response if the reader chooses.
Above all, your dental newsletter is about consistent communication. It’s a strategic way to stay front-of-mind while building patient relationships around your expertise.
BUILD YOUR INFLUENCE AND CREATE LIFETIME PATIENT LOYALTY
Content that connects will ultimately be the result of leveraging your patient conversations and communication.
And remember – it’s not about a one-and-done tactical approach. The best strategies (like a dental newsletter) create lifetime patient value: loyal patients who trust you for solutions to problems and answers to questions.
Check out these related resources to generate ideas and create a dental marketing strategy for your practice:
Pivot – that word has been used a lot in 2020, but we’re not talking about maneuvering a couch up your apartment complex’s stairs with Friends! We’re talking about pivoting your marketing strategy for your dental practice to include digital marketing.
So, why should you shift away from your traditional dental marketing to include more digital plays?
1. IT’S HARD TO ARGUE WITH DATA
Gone are the days of relying on Yellow Pages ads and billboard displays. Up to 85% of consumers rely on the internet, whether through a Google Business listing or a social media page, to find a local business. Can you remember the last time you used a phone book for something other than a handy paperweight?
Radio advertising can be cost-prohibitive due to an overcrowded ad space, unless your ad really stands out. Then, when you consider the high percentage of people streaming music on their smart devices, they probably aren’t hearing mainstream radio ads anyway.
As for direct mail, you can miss an entire younger demographic who live online or only check their mailboxes once a month to recycle their “junk” mail.
Digital marketing is the new age billboard. Digital ads stream 24/7 at a lower cost investment than most traditional marketing approaches. The benefits of digital advertising stand out immediately:
Larger audience reach.
Targeted messaging to specific demographics.
Easily change your messaging on the fly to improve audience response and engagement rates.
2. TYPES OF DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
There are many types of digital campaign strategies, so you’ll have to determine which one is right for your business. The most common digital strategies are:
Pay-per-clickads – position your business on search engines and business directories where people are actively searching for your services
Display ads – create awareness when people visit local news websites, streaming services, etc.
Targeted/re-targeted social media marketing – share useful information and stay front-of-mind in social timelines and news feeds
Let’s test a digital ad strategy out with a real-life scenario!
There is a family in the town next to yours (or in the same city) that is frustrated with the care or experience they’re receiving at their current dental office. They’ve been thinking about switching to a new provider for a while now and may have done some preliminary searching online. Thanks to things like browser cookies and search history, your ads will now start to target them! There is a good chance they’ve never heard of you before seeing your ad, but thanks to the specific targeting parameters you used, they’ll start seeing your name appear on their social feeds.
After seeing your ad(s) peppered throughout their timelines, they might pick up the phone or create an appointment online at YOUR practice instead!
Pretty cool, right?
How Much Does Digital Advertising Cost?
By now, I’m sure you’re now curious about the cost of an ad like the one in the example. The good news is that you create your own budget! That budget will help determine when and how often your ad shows up. You can get an analytic breakdown on your social or search engine ads to show how much you’re paying per person who has interacted with your ad – known as cost per click.
It will also show you how often your ad has been viewed in a feed – aka the number of impressions. Your cost-effectiveness will rely on how well you rank on specific search phrases as well as how targeted you make your ad campaign. Once your budget is used up, the ads stop rolling until you replenish your budget.
If this all sounds a little confusing, it’s okay, because digital marketing is a brave new frontier!
There are plenty of marketing specialists and social media experts you can hire that will help you with all your planning and execution. They will ensure you are using your budget appropriately by targeting the right markets with the right messaging at the right time.
3. DIGITAL MARKETING OUTPACES TRADITIONAL MARKETING
Digital Marketing Produces Fast Returns
The best part about digital advertising is that you can see in real time how effective your advertising dollars are being used, or ROI. Sure, traditional channels such as radio, television, and local newspapers create awareness about your practice, but you will likely not experience an immediate revenue boost.
You’re investing a large percentage of your marketing dollars when it’s likely only a few people are searching for a dentist at the moment your ad hits the airwaves. Traditional marketing is great for establishing brand awareness, but incorporating digital marketing will create sustained awareness.
Sustained awareness will lead to more patients, which means more revenue for you.
Digital Marketing is Relevant
Offline advertising can have a short shelf-life. Imagine investing a substantial percentage of your budget in a campaign to discover that your narrative is outdated before it’s even delivered.
Change happens fast in today’s culture, and the pace of change is often unpredictable. A digital marketing strategy is customizable, so you can pivot your tactics when necessary to make sure your campaign is evergreen and relevant. This adaptability gives you a huge advantage when targeting your campaigns.
Traditional advertising also has a very broad reach, but it isn’t as targeted as digital marketing can be. Running a radio or TV ad for your dental practice will reach a number of different demographics each time, such as:
Non-patients who aren’t even looking for a dentist.
Non-patients who might be looking for a dentist.
Those who are already current patients of yours.
Those who are satisfied with their current dentist.
Inactive patients who haven’t scheduled in your office in a while.
Digital Marketing Creates and Nurtures Relationships
People have dentistry on their minds routinely in some form or another. They could be thinking about a toothache while brushing or be reminded that they want whiter or straighter teeth.
Whatever their dental issue is, they will almost reflexively search online for a related answer to their question or a solution for their problem.
Employing a digital marketing strategy allows you to be a front-runner to help solve their problem.
Organic, targeted online content also gives you an advantage. When people search using questions about a particular issue, your website/blog content (if it’s adequately crafted) will appear in their search feed.
The more frequently you publish content, along with the relevancy and quality of your content, the better your organic digital strategy will be. That’s the power of digital content!
Not sure where to start with a blog or original content for your website? Try some of these examples:
Publish content that answers the questions and solves the problems online searchers are looking for.
Attach value to your content using a relevant promotion or a resource (i.e. an ebook, etc) that further helps them with answers and solutions.
Link your content within your email communications and on your social media channels.
Nurture the relationships built around your content with consistent “touches” that help you stay connected (i.e. automated email, social media posts, surveys, etc).
Digital marketing has the staying power that many traditional marketing approaches do not. It’s a pivot that can and will increase your ROI.
