It’s officially a New Year! If you haven’t already started to plan your year ahead, now’s the time to strategize how you can get your practice to stand out from your competitors and keep your customers engaged and excited throughout the winter months.
A targeted marketing campaign will help engage your patients and potential new patients during this season, giving a boost to your dental practice. Hopefully, you already have a marketing strategy in place to boost your revenue, but if not, you’re in the right place to find inspiration.
Consider these 3 tips:
- Post Entertaining and Engaging Content on Social Media
Everyone wants a personal connection with their favorite brands. Whether we’re talking about food, clothes, or dental care, most individuals want to feel understood by the people and the companies behind their favorite products and services.Social media allows you to interact with your patients, many of whom may feel comfortable connecting with businesses and organizations digitally via their phones, tablets, and computers.
- Post Personalized Content Featuring Members of Your Staff
- Offer Giveaways
- Create Fun Videos Promoting Dental Care
You can achieve this connection by posting pictures or videos of your staff. Share a video of your team decorating your office for the latest holiday or season, a photo of a staff member celebrating a milestone like 10 years with the practice, or behind the scenes of day at the office. Even something like a photo or story of a favorite pet because, after all, who can resist a cute pet photo (no one!). Show followers your office is a competent and compassionate business that also is family friendly. This gives your dental practice a personable touch that patients will relate too.
A great way to draw attention to your business is by offering a giveaway. There are many creative ways to do this. You can hold a social media contest, have a raffle to pick random winners, or even award milestone patients with a small token of appreciation (for instance, the 100th or 1,000th patient to visit that year or being a loyal patient for 10 years).
Your prizes might include a free or discounted dental checkup, dental products, such as an electric toothbrush, floss, branded t-shirts, or a $5 gift card to the local coffee shop or movie theater. This an opportunity to further boost your practice’s brand awareness while providing some fun for patients to keep you top of mind
You might create fun video content about how to properly care for teeth after consuming your favorite food and drinks. Since many people make health-based New Year’s resolutions, reminding them to maintain their dental hygiene provides a great way to connect.
You could also host Q&As to address your followers’ questions on dental hygiene. It is a great way to interact with your patients in a personal way while boosting your brand. You can make a post asking patients to send in their questions to answer in a later video or plan to go live on one of your social media channels to interact with patients in real time as they ask questions in the comments.
- Give Back to the Community
As we all know, supporting the community one lives and works in is important to the community’s health. Giving back to and creating strong relationships with the people in your community, is critical for increasing the chances of your dental practice being noticed and growing your patient base.
Some ideas on how to give back:
- Donate Dental Kits to Those in Need
- Volunteer Your Services at the Local Children’s Home
- Participate in a Group Activity
You and your staff could go live on your social channel and pack up oral care kits with floss, toothbrushes, pamphlets, toothpaste, and more. There are likely a variety of organizations near your practice that are sure to appreciate your donations, such as your local shelters, children’s home, etc.
Pick a day to offer free dental care to those in a low-income area of your community. You can advertise on social media to make people aware of your event.
Coordinate with your team to prepare or serve meals at the homeless shelter or participate in a community cleanup day or a charity golf outing. Sometimes a day out of the office building comradery with staff and the community is as important as a day in the office.
- Personalize Messages
What is a more thoughtful way to show your patients you care for them than to send them personalized messages? This can be a fast and friendly way to build strong relationships with your existing patients.
If you already have a newsletter distribution list, send your patients and subscribers holiday greetings and good wishes. You might also send a postcard or a personalized offer for your current patients to express appreciation for doing business with you. If you keep records of your patients’ birthdays, a birthday card with a warm message can provide a personal and unexpected touch.
Conclusion
The change of the New Year is the perfect time to reset and be creative with your marketing ideas, all you have to do is get started.
