Trusted Dental Marketing Experts - Patient News

Improving Patient Retention And Significantly Increasing Revenue

Information is king and patients are accessing it online more than ever. According to research, 72% of internet users said they looked online for health information within the past year. That number will only continue to increase, so with your patients and prospective patients looking for information online you need to be ready. Ready by having great online reviews and ready by proactively educating them about your services and the value you provide.
In a world where patients know what they want and how they want it, communication, on your terms, becomes even more important. Word of mouth just doesn’t do all the work anymore.
Here are a few ways to get patients to influence other patients to use your services:
1. Add value. Mail a personalized patient newsletter every quarter
2. Show you care. Conduct a patient survey annually
3. Be present. Email a patient newsletter monthly and ask for a google review or referral
4. Encourage Reciprocity. Include a referral incentive or loyalty gift
5. Present benefits. Ensure your website, newsletter and other communications are top quality and are focused on your primary decision maker and their priorities
Patient Newsletters. Every practice, no matter how big, small, growing or established should be sending a newsletter to patients of record. There is no more valuable or meaningful way to connect with patients outside of the practice. When done correctly a patient newsletter can yield a 300-400% return on investment. Imagine reducing attrition by 1%, increasing referrals by 8 per year and reactivating 8 more lapsed patients. For an average practice that could equal $30,000 per year … over patient lifetime we’re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars. We haven’t missed one edition of our client Quarterly Update newsletter since we launched it in 1996.
Read original Source: http://www.patientnews.com/blog/improving-patient-retention 

Should A Business Offer A Free Consultation?

Attracting patients to dentistry is difficult. Some 50% of adults regularly avoid dental visits, therefore we must employ the most effective tactics in your direct marketing campaigns to draw more people to your practice. Some words have the scientifically documented power to attract the human eye. Others, the tested power to lift sales … and others have the proven ability to appear to be more truthful.

These words include: you, trust, proven, easy, quick, improved … and FREE. According to Predictably Irrational, “free gives us such an emotional charge that we perceive what is being offered as immensely more valuable than it really is.”  

You probably started working with Patient News via one of our free consults. Over the years we’ve had a couple of variations. Many of you may recall our “free trial” or “free demonstration,” while currently it’s a very straightforward but comprehensive “free consultation.” These offers work, just as they do at a dental office. Choosing a dental marketing partner is a big decision … choosing a dentist or dental practice is a big decision.  A free introductory offer is a way to help more people become your patients.

The free consultation in itself will not sell, or undersell, your service. Does it attract the wrong kind of patient? Not overall if you are targeting the right audience. You might attract a percentage of people who do not fit your ideal criteria, but keep in mind that even if they will not work with you right now, they may pass your name on to others – those who live or work in your area – because you’ve impressed them. This will extend your visibility.

A FREE CONSULT will be great if you:

•   Like meeting people, listening to their concerns, and sharing your knowledge
•   Would like a great way to practice treatment presentations
•   Would like to be more accessible to your target audience
•  Would like your practice to seem more friendly and approachable in your community
•   Have gaps in your schedule and have a streamlined process.

 

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Visit Yankee Dental Congress, Booth 428 for a sweet treat & request FREE Radius Area Demographic Analysis Report worth $ 450. Patient News will help you find your best patients & how to get more dental patients.

How to Create an Effective Dental Video Marketing Campaign

Advertising and marketing online can produce some excellent results for dentists. While there are many advertising channels online, one of the most potent is video marketing. Most dentists don’t know this yet, but dental video marketing can really transform your business. So, how can you create an effective dental video marketing campaign?

1.       Create a Branded Youtube Channel

Your channel doesn’t have to be extravagant or stylish. To get started immediately, all you need is an account with your dental practice brand as the main theme. Then, start uploading informational videos. Make sure to include keywords that are relevant to your business in the videos and the descriptions.

2.       Target Specific Problems and Address Them

The next thing you need to do is to choose specific dental problems that people might have and talk about them. As a dentist, you’re probably familiar with the usual complaints. Talk about the problems, offer some solutions.

3.       Engage on Social Media

Social media engagement can often make your videos go viral. After uploading on Youtube, share them on your social media accounts. And if you want extra boost, you may want to find ways of injecting humor into your videos. It sure does help make your dental video marketing campaign more effective.

Read Our Post about "Benefits of Dental Video Marketing"

Online Dental Marketing Strategy

These days, most dentists are finding it hard to compete online and offline. The cost advertising offline is pretty high and doing so online seems to go to those with the biggest resources. Not to worry, there are affordable dental marketing strategies that you can adopt today that’ll bring you some solid results.

Engage More on Social Media

If you haven’t started using social media, now would be a good time to start. All you need is an account with Twitter and Facebook. Think of an attractive brand name, set up your accounts and then tweet and update your Facebook status every day.

Inform Your Audience

Most dentists just sell their services on their websites. Be different. Instead of selling, inform and engage your visitors. Create reports and white papers filled with information that your audience can use to get some relief from their pains.

Pay Per Click Advertising

If you have some capital, think about pay per click advertising on Facebook and Google. Known as one of the best online dental marketing strategies, all you need do is put out ads, optimize them for optimum reach, create a compelling landing page and et the search engines do the rest.

Effective Dental Video Marketing Tips

Video marketing is an essential part of any marketing plan. Videos are especially helpful for dental offices. Videos can show patients how procedures are done, answer questions that patients have, and introduce them to the dental office. These are all helpful in growing your dental practice.

The more information that is available to potential patients, the more likely they are to want to use your services. As dental procedures have improved and technology has increased, patients may be unaware of how easily some of the various procedures are completed. Here are some of the top tips to make dental video marketing more effective for your practice.

Post Videos Online

Videos need to be posted online in two important ways. The most popular way to post online videos is through the use of YouTube. Once a video is posted through YouTube, you will then be able to link to it from your website. You can embed the videos directly in your website as well. Adding videos to your website will help to improve traffic. Add videos to complement and explain the information you provide in your online copy. Many people would prefer to watch a video than spend time reading an article. By posting videos online you’ll be able to reach a broader audience.

Create High Quality Videos

When creating videos for a dental video marketing plan, quality is of the utmost importance. High quality videos help to portray professionalism and trust – two very important things when it comes to dentists. If you don’t have the skills to make the videos, hire a company to create them for you. While these videos are short in length, the look of them and how they portray your services is essential to a successful plan.

Keep Videos Short

Most people online are used to moving quickly between sites. The attention span of most online users is rather short. Therefore, it’s best to keep your videos fairly short – generally under 5 minutes in length. Of course, explaining different procedures can take longer. Plan the videos so that you offer some basic information about your practice in a separate video. This will keep the content to a minimum on each video you plan to use. It’s better to add more videos than to make them too long. In fact, the more videos you post the more successful your dental video marketing plan will be.

Keep Videos Current

Dental procedures, technology, and equipment can change from time to time. When things change, you’ll need to update your posted videos and replace them online. This can be very helpful, especially if you offer the most current procedures in the area. Your dental video marketing plan should include the ability to update, replace and improve videos as necessary. For example, if you purchase a new or improved x-ray machine, you’ll want to let patients see it because it can greatly improve their experience in your dental office. As videos become outdated be sure to remove them from your website.