Coming up with marketing ideas can seem like a heavy chore, especially when it’s not your area of expertise. But brainstorming ideas for dental advertising can actually be fun. The most effective dental marketing is a combination of creative imagination and down-to-earth proven techniques.
Who are you targeting? Different advertising ideas will appeal to different segments of your target audience, although every practice needs a steady influx of new patients, to continue growing and to replace those who’ve aged out (if you’re a pediatric dentist), moved away or otherwise gone missing over time.
Why should they choose you? Marketing should play to your strengths, to reflect your personality and style to and to differentiate your practice from the competition
You can purchase traditional ads, but here’s a list of other dental advertising ideas that are bullet-proof for any type of dentistry practice, anywhere.
Encourage word-of-mouth advertising.
Repost great reviews and testimonials on your website, via social media, on a poster in your reception area or treatment rooms, in your paid advertising. And ask for referrals, not just reviews. You can create an entire campaign around that. Be sure to reward patients who refer to you, to reinforce their loyalty and underscore your professionalism.
Be a visible part of the community.
Volunteer, whether it’s for the annual park cleanup day or providing free checkups to homeless kids. Host an open house or similar event at your office occasionally, or serve as the headquarters for collecting tooth care necessities for holiday food baskets. These things personalize you and your practice as well as advertising your name.
What’s the top pick among dental advertising ideas?
Many dentists swear by postcard marketing. In fact, it’s proven so successful, it’s the only form of marketing some dentists use. It’s easy to understand why. Postcards offer the best of all advertising worlds, in a single package:
- They’re delivered right to your prospect’s door.
- They’re highly visual, with attention-grabbing impact that’s hard to duplicate elsewhere.
- They put your information – and your special offer – literally in someone’s hand, and they can hang onto it so they won’t forget to follow up on your call to action.
- They underscore a sense of urgency, when you add an expiration date or limit the offer in some other way.
- And if the time isn’t quite right for your prospect to respond now, postcards keep reminding them of your name and contact information as you send repeat mailings month after month.
You can use postcard marketing to deliver all sorts of dental advertising ideas, whether your goal is to acquire new patients, solicit referrals or more frequent visits from existing patients or even recapture the loyalty of former patients.
Don’t forget the call to action.
Whatever dental advertising ideas you implement, all your marketing should include a specific call to action. Prospects can’t become patients if they don’t follow up, so give them an undeniable reason to do that.
Create a marketing plan, and analyze your results.
Random acts of advertising won’t do you much good, and they’ll waste your resources. Thinking strategically will keep your dental advertising ideas focused on attaining your goals, so you can get great results and enjoy the best possible return on your investment.
Be consistent, with the look of your marketing and your messaging, so it’s easy to remember and always associated with your practice. That’s called branding. Be consistent with marketing repetition, too, to drive home your message and increase response.
And track that response, so you won’t have to guess how well your advertising is working. Besides, it’s very satisfying to see the true financial value of all your efforts.
This list of dental advertising ideas is just the beginning, but now that your creative juices are flowing freely, what other new ideas can you come up with to market your practice?