In the last instalment of our series on how to ‘Get Back On The Front Foot With Your Marketing’, we explore “Promotion”, the final P from the 4 P’s of marketing.
Marketing expert and head of Ronin Marketing, Kurt Schubert, sat down with us to share his insights. Read on to discover how your dental practice can execute an innovative promotions strategy.
Don’t Be Invisible
If someone is after a new dentist, chances are they will Google it.
“It’s absolutely imperative that you’re ranking highly on Google searches so that people are going to find you. There’s actually a lot of misconceptions about how that actually happens.
“There’s a lot of talk about SEO. But the reality is, a lot of how that is sold to people is actually nonsense. With SEO, there’s certain mechanical things that you need to do in Google to rank favourably or appear in maps. You have to have your Google My Business page and all of that set up correctly,” Kurt explained.
Create (Valuable) Content
With many dentists available in practically every suburb, your business is faced with many competitors for search ranking. To overcome this challenge, content is key.
“The way Google rewards you and places you at the top of searches is based on content; content that is put in the right place. Most of the time that’s on your website.
“You absolutely should have a website blog, you absolutely should have multiple website pages that talk about the various types of services that you’ve got, and you absolutely need to start thinking about your website more like an encyclopedia about all of the things that you do, and the potential issues your target market is interested in,” explained Kurt.
If your dental practice invests in creating this rich online content, potential customers will head to your website. But, once landed on your site, your customer asks many unconscious questions.
Do these people look polished enough that I can trust them? Is it inviting? Does it look expensive?
“You’ve kind of got to walk this line where [your practice] looks like it’s very nice, without looking like you’ve paved your hallways in diamonds… that’s always a bad look,” Kurt laughed.
Commenting further on the emotive nature of websites, Kurt mentioned:
“It’s easy to merely address what people’s needs are. You’re never selling what you’re selling. Yes, you need to list what the service is that you’re providing, but the subliminal thing you’re selling here is trust. It’s peace of mind. Someone needs to be comfortable that your practice is the best option.”
Engagement Is Key
Beyond crafting a welcoming website, maximising engagement is key.
“You want to think about where your customers are engaged, and you need to be active in those spaces. You want to tie what you do to your target audiences’ lifestyle, and make some link between what it is you do and the things that they enjoy and make it an emotive connection; without being too ‘salesy’,” said Kurt.
Relating this back to a dental practice, Kurt explained content ideas relatable to the dentists’ consumers:
“You’re talking about maintaining good oral health, the confidence boost that comes with good oral health, or the enjoyment of eating food despite having sensitive teeth. There are a number of different possible topics that you can include.”
Increased Engagement Leads To Increased Attendance
Getting patients to attend regularly is a key issue for dental practices.
“Because the name of the game with dentistry is getting people in more often and more regularly, [content creation], in addition to appointment setting and scheduling, reminds customers of their dental health and normalises the idea of regularly visiting the dentist,” Kurt said.
Kurt draws upon the bedding company “Tontine” as a case study for innovative customer engagement.
“They hammered the idea home that pillows have an ‘expiry date’. They sold an absolute truckload of pillows, because they normalised a behaviour that they wanted people to practice.
“So again by strategically engaging with people, you can target potential new customers, perhaps new to your suburb, who would be interested in switching to a more local dentist,” Kurt said.
When considering customer retention, customer engagement is just as critical.
“You want to encourage your existing clients to follow you on Facebook in as many ways as possible, you want to get them on a mailing list, and implement regular email direct marketing (EDM).
“This content again needs to be lifestyle focused. You’re not just selling them on the latest toolkit or chair. It should resonate, like a magazine that you would want to read. The more you’re actually engaging with people, the more they’ll keep you front of mind when assessing their dental needs,” Kurt explained.
Increasing engagement will result in dental care becoming a higher priority for new and existing consumers. This could be the catalyst for more regular dental visits from your clients.
“All of these things will come together to exponentially grow your income, because every single step of the way you’re attracting more people. Customers are getting over the line on the website, they’re coming in more often, or you’re able to book them on the website as well as on the phone”, Kurt said.
While some website booking functions can be clunky, Kurt’s used many different plugins over the years that have helped businesses capture the interest of potential customers in real-time.
This investment in customer engagement leads to increased attendance and revenue, meaning you do not need to worry about fluctuations in trade.
Implement The 4 P’s Of Marketing Within Your Dental Practice
There are many ways your dental practice can make the most of all points of contact with customers. Maximising your return on investment on your marketing efforts may seem tricky. Following Kurt’s tips on implementing the 4 P’s of Marketing is a great start to increasing engagement with new and existing customers to your practice.
At Dental Depot, we connect dental practices with the tools they need to run smoothly. If you’re looking to enhance the execution of your dental practice’s 4 P’s, we’d love to have a chat.
