Digital dental clinic: harness the power of effective dental clinic marketing to win new patients

How to use digital media, inspire emotions and create a well-rounded overall presence to for successful dental clinic marketing

We believe that a successful dental clinic needs both: good dentists and entrepreneurial skills. Effective dental clinic marketing helps the dental practice to stand out from the competition and increases the chances of gaining new dentist patients.

Dental clinic marketing involves diverse aspects

A coherent dental clinic marketing strategy includes a well-designed logo with recognition value, an online presence, printed advertising materials, business cards and ad placements. However, this is not where the bucket stops. Effective dental clinic marketing involves a diverse range of aspects. Below you will find a summary of the most important ones. Before you get started, however, ask yourself a few basic questions:

• What is your clinic’s philosophy, or core values? What are your strong points? How do you want to be perceived and how do you want to position yourself in the market?
• Does the ambiance in your practice (colour scheme, furnishings, team clothing, logos) reflect your philosophy?

Tip 1: Inspire emotions

Successful dental clinic marketing appeals to feelings. Good patient counselling should not only focus on the quality of the medical treatment but should also awaken emotions. Inspire your patients and use all the possibilities of the digital practice to do so. Useful technologies and tools, such as augmented reality and smile makeovers, can give patients a realistic impression of what they could look like if they had a cosmetic dental treatment done on them. The more evocative, the better.

Tip 2: Use the tools that your patients use

Smartphones and tablets are part of many people’s everyday life - take advantage of them. For instance, if you use an iPad as a consulting tool in your patient consultation sessions, you will meet your patients on their own ground, using the same modern tools as they do. By incorporating a QR code into your practice sign you can easily transfer and process data regarding the opening times or special treatment procedures offered in your clinic. WhatsApp enables you to communicate directly with your patients; Facebook and Twitter allow you to reach everybody on the net: the tools of the digital practice increase the efficiency of dental clinic marketing.

Practice marketing: This is how your practice gets found more easily on the internet

Tip 3: Speak your patients’ language

This one should be on top of the list of any dentist looking for gaining new patients: Speak your patients’ language and explain complex issues in words that your patients understand. Visual representations can help your patients understand the ideas that you are trying to convey to them - or simply provide peace of mind. The use of augmented reality - or computer-generated additional information - will be a valuable tool in every practice.

Tip 4: Create a strong online presence as a virtual showcase for your practice 

Your internet presence forms the basis for your practice marketing. A well designed and user friendly website acts as a digital shop window for your dental clinic. Your website is your business card and your welcome sign for your practice on the internet. A professionally designed and interactive web presence puts you on the right track for gaining new patients.

Conclusion: Effective dental clinic marketing at minimum effort

With little effort, you will be able to reap successful results from your dental clinic marketing efforts:

• additional consulting services for your patients (emotive consultation).
• enhanced dentist-patient loyalty (trust building).
• gaining new patients by using digital tools (speaking the patients’ language, reflecting the patients’ behaviour).
  

Extra tip: Use images to address your patients

Practical tools such as the “IvoSmile” consultation app allow you to provide your patients with an image of their new smile in a few short minutes. Patients tend to be fascinated by before/after images of what they could look like if they had a smile makeover done on them. These images are produced by the virtual mirror of the app (images & video). Time-consuming photo shoots and expensive mock-ups are no longer needed. The tools of the digital practice add an air of lightness and style to the consultation and decision-making process.