How To Market Dentistry: Trends & Impacts

Do you have your online dental marketing plan all lined up for patient acquisition and retention into 2014? Bring your marketing related question forward and know how other dentists are handling these issues. 

Here are some key factors that play a major role-

• Watch the trend lines
• Collective impact
• Its How You Do It

 Read Original Post here - http://www.patientnews.com/blog/trends-impacts-how-market-dentistry  or ask Patient News for a free consultation appointment to discuss your goals and how we can help you achieve them.

Dental Marketing- Attract More High-Quality NEW PATIENTS!

A dental marketing & advertising resource. Drive Patients To Your Phone, Website, & Door! LIMITED TIME OFFER – FREE CALL TRACKING!, Call 800.667.0268 for a FREE demonstration!

Dental marketing attract more high-quality new patients! from Patient News

How can increase your patient satisfaction with dental marketing

With Patient News you can increase your Reactivations, Referrals & Recalls and reduce cancellations and attrition

Can Your Dental Marketing Plan Be More Successful?

Always! Here are five ways you can improve your marketing results!

Frequency. Patients need to hear from you outside your practice more than for an appointment reminder. A direct non-administrative message sent 4-12 times per year will keep your name and service in focus. Most successful dentists send a combination of quarterly mailed patient newsletters and monthly email campaigns. And a monthly direct mail schedule will skyrocket acquisition results (with the right targeting, offer, and content). 

2.       Quality. Is the quality of your marketing and advertising actually costing you patients? Take a critical look at all of your mailers, email newsletters, brochures, social media content, websites, internal handouts, call handling… If the message isn’t consistent, if there isn’t a perceived value in everything that represents your practice, your brand and reputation for excellence in dentistry may be being negatively (albeit subtly) impacted.

3.       Targeting. Analyze your market and your patient base to find more of your ideal patients. Upsell/Cross-sell/Reactivate. Are you confident that 100% of your patients are aware of all of the services you offer? Have you created compelling offers that resonate with your market and make it easy for patients to respond?  

4.       Push. The idea that patients will find your practice on their own is what SEO companies sell on. When patients have a need (or pain) they may look for someone like you. That’s a type of “pull”marketing … where you’re waiting for someone to knock on the door – not at all targeted and very passive. On the other hand, when you “push” your brand and services in front of people you want to attract, you create demand. You take control. You trigger interest, you initiate a relationship, and you draw those ideal new patients to your practice on your timeline.

5.       Media Mix. An effective marketing plan employs a variety of tactics including direct mail, Internet, email, and more. The most reliable and dependable medium is mail. It can be highly targeted, it will reach 100% of your audience with a very high readership rate, and it’s trackable. Internet and PR activities are very important too. On the less targeted (and more expensive) side you have newspaper, magazines, radio, & TV.

Ideally we all need a combination of internal and external marketing programs that employ a combination of push and pull marketing tactics. When setting our marketing budgets, we should allocate our biggest percentage on methods proven to work, and then if desired, test a smaller component on less-reliable tactics. Always budget for the right amount of frequency and make sure that the quality of every campaign reflects the quality of your practice.

Every dentist has existing patients that are primed for upsell or cross sell. They have ideal prospects and inactive patients that are ready to take advantage of their dental services. However, without the right marketing plan and approach, this revenue can be delayed or permanently lost. Folks either don’t do anything (because they don’t know about the services they should desire) or they may call a competitor because of an advertising piece or because they found another site when they surfed online. A more comprehensive marketing approach will help you capture revenue now and continue to increase it over time.

Every practice has a huge opportunity to upsell existing patients. Every practice has a tremendous opportunity to better engage patients and attract ideal new ones. Talk to your Account Manager about how we can help streamline your marketing image and improve your marketing strategy so you can become more successful and more profitable.

For additional information on Dental Marketing from Patient News call 888.377.2404 or visit www.Patientnews.com.

Source- http://www.patientnews.com

Do Patients Really Read A Patient Newsletter?

The answer is … yes they do. And I’m not just saying that!

In fact, of thousands and thousands of consumers surveyed directly via Patient News client newsletters, more than 85% report enjoying receiving and reading their dental patient newsletter!
We all know that patient communication of any kind is a good thing and has a significant impact on patient loyalty and frequency. But we need to consider the medium we use to ensure our communications have the best impact. Statistical data that continues to pour in from multiple sources proves that mailed pieces offer far more efficacy than any other medium. It reminds me of the news article this past spring that launched discussions about what we did as children that our kids won’t … like:
- talking on a phone attached to a wall
- biking without a helmet
- having a pen pal
- and receiving letters in the mail!

Instead of mailing our letters, we use e-cards, emails, texts, or posts. These can be great tools and we definitely use them at Patient News too, but they do not have the same personal tangible appeal as receiving something in the mail. So when we combine these facts, doesn’t it seem to be the perfect time to take advantage of increased visibility by mailing our personalized client communications?
But mail or not, what makes the difference between a successful versus unsuccessful patient communication initiative? Relevant and special information.

One of our longtime clients shared the following anecdote with me when we bumped into each other at a trade show … and his story demonstrates the value of genuine and personalized patient communication. He’d been using Patient News to customize and mail his patient newsletter for several years, and while he knew it was the right thing for him to be doing in terms of patient communication and education, and he believed that customizing and personalizing his message each time was worth it, he kept wondering in the back of his mind how much it was truly being read. He relayed his sad but heartwarming experience … after losing his beloved mother he included a tribute to her in his newsletter. It was personal, it was providing him with some closure, and he didn’t expect anything more. But he ended up being overwhelmed by patient response. He was simply deluged with cards, words of support and sympathy from his patients. Yes, a lot of patients were reading his newsletter.

Another client used their newsletter to help one of their staff members in crisis. A 20-year employee was diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing intensive chemotherapy and radiation. They included a custom article and image informing patients of a benefit dinner to raise money for the medical expenses. 150 people attended and helped to raise $8,000.

Up until a few years ago our most popular product was our internal patient newsletter, mailed to patients of record, and then as dental competition spiked up and the recession hit, the split shifted to our direct mail campaigns – what we call our “neighborhood newsletter/postcard” program. It seems that every dental practice we talk to is facing increased competition and desires more new patients. That’s why we have tended to focus our news on the success our clients are having with patient acquisition rather than the success of our patient newsletter clients. Dentists and their staff are trying to figure out what the best use of their marketing dollars is and want assurances about return on investment. Professionally created patient newsletters have a tremendously positive effect, but it can be a challenge to place a clear ROI value to internal client communications where the goal is education, communication, information, and strengthening long-term loyalty.

Of course that’s a consideration for my team at Patient News, yet despite wanting to focus every marketing dollar on new-client acquisition, we have never missed an issue of our own client Quarterly Update newsletter since we first launched the support tool in 1996. We don’t get astounding response to each issue, but in survey after survey more than 90% of clients report that not only do they read each issue, they share it and file for future reference. It’s a value and it’s appreciated … and clients love to be featured in our profile section.

In our current edition we profile Dr. Michael King. He’s utilizing a combination of our patient newsletter program and our neighborhood direct mail (newsletter/postcard) acquisition program. He discontinued all other marketing and generated an increase in revenue of more than $223,000, and we’re not quite finished his first year! These are great results and speak to the value of a multi-channel marketing mix. Dr. King also made a great decision as he began working with us – he involved his entire team from the decision-making process. They worked with their Patient News Account Manager to create uniquely customized newsletters and postcards. He focused on his staff, ensuring they knew their services and goals and encouraged them to speak with patients and people calling in to really talk up their practice and what they offer. Going forward, we’re adding Call Tracker to his campaigns and we’ll be able to further analyze and improve his marketing results … and keep you posted on tips for success.

In a May 2011 report by Pitney Bowes, small and medium businesses reported that their ideal marketing mix is a combination of traditional and digital communications. As expected, the multi-channel approach is the way to go, with advertising, email, and direct mail deemed to be proven most effective. First we can reach every client on our list with traditional mail, both active and inactive, and reading from paper improves comprehension. Research shows that people enjoy receiving relevant printed communications. We include email as part of our overall package, but it’s important to remember that email does reach fewer readers, and it’s easier to delete and cancel, so in order to reach 100% of our clients a multi-channel mix works best.

And finally, I can tell you that boring newsletters don’t work! Informative visually exciting pieces are proven to boost response. Patients relate to doctors and their teams when they know them a little better. Patients feel more connected when they recognize similarities. An effective patient newsletter becomes an extension of the “small talk” shared at the practice. Include photos of the team, events, before-and-after images of patients, and share information about interests outside of the practice. When you build and strengthen internal patient relationships, you definitely get results!

Patient News grew by having the greatest patient newsletter program available to dentists, and we still do. Feel free to call 1.888.377.2404 for immediate expert advice and request free information on developing content and marketing your dental practice. We respect your time. You’ll talk to a real person experienced in dental marketing between 8:30am-6:00pm EST. Outside of these hours, your inquiry will be returned within one business day.

Source- www.patientnews.com

50% Of Dentists Not Doing Anything About Their Declining Revenues

We’ve all read and heard the research and reports about why patients avoid the dentist – fear, anxiety, the sounds, the smells – but have you heard that a third of people who used to maintain regular dental appointments have not been to the dentist in 2 years? I think everyone is feeling a bit of that pinch. Hearing this latest statistic reminded me of another survey from a while back. That report indicated that many people don’t visit the dentist because they didn’t see a need.

It certainly makes sense… I mean if it’s not your favorite thing and you don’t think you need it, you’re not going to do it. Kind of like me and running. Or my daughter and onions.
So what are dentists doing about the lack of business? Not much according to Lisa Philp, President of Transitions Group. This week Lisa told me that a new survey indicated that 8 out of 10 dental practices admit they’re on a decline but only 4 out of 8 said they were going to do something about it. Whaaa?

What can we derive from this information?

Patients should be educated about their oral health so they understand their various needs and prioritize treatment for themselves and family members.
Patients need to be informed about what they can have so they develop a desire for it, want to buy it, and put a priority in their budget for it.
The competitive advantage is huge for the dental practice that takes action.
Now is the time to act if you haven’t. According to Small Business Trends, luxury spending is on the rise and it’s expected to continue. Consumers are still value conscious, but it’s about the value they want to receive from the products they purchase, not the cost of them. And I think we all know it’s never really about price, is it? OK, so what now?

Get your name out there! 

Take advantage of available exposure in your area that your competitors aren’t.
Showcase your brand attributes and help educate your prospects to establish your practice as the expert and the one people will turn to.
Demonstrate and communicate the quality and value patients will receive in your marketing communications; educated patients who know what they want are more profitable patients.
Develop a marketing plan that includes a mix of reliable methods of advertising and communication.
Just this week I had a conference call with a client in Virginia. His print campaigns generated a 5:1 return within the same year, grossing almost ½ million dollars from first year new patient revenue – imagine the exponential growth that his one year campaign will generate over patient lifetime! A great example of why targeted direct mail really should be pivotal in any marketing plan.
Earlier this month Print in the Mix posted data from Nielsen research. Close to 70% of shoppers said they look at printed paper material mailed to their home or inserted into newspapers at least once per week. The only digital tactic that matched printed paper’s weekly reach was email. Nearly 90% of consumers said they want to receive print advertising in the future. 72% also want email with only about 1/3 interested in social or smart-phone advertising.

Meatloaf sang, “two out of three ain’t bad.” But which 4 out of 8 are you?

Feel free to call 1.888.377.2404 for immediate expert dental marketing advice and request free sample information. We respect your time. You’ll talk to a real person between 8:30am-6:00pm EST, and outside of these hours, your inquiry will be returned within one business day.


Source- www.patientnews.com