Most dentists are always looking to increase the number of patients coming in for treatment. With more practices opening up, you need to stand out to get more patients coming in through your doors. Discussed below are some ways on how to attract more dental patients to your practice.
Hire a Professional Website Developer
This is one of the key ways on how to attract more dental patients to your practice. Nowadays, a website is a vital marketing tool for any business. When you hire a professional developer for your dental practice, you are sure the quality of your web design will be top-notch. Unlike the free website templates that you can get online, a professional developer addresses all the needs of your practice that you want. A common challenge with most websites is when mobile users have a hard time accessing them. In a world where mobile search traffic is increasing daily, a developer will ensure your website is mobile user-friendly.
A user who finds a website unresponsive is likely to find another provider of the same services. Another advantage of hiring a web designer is that they use the latest web technologies and trends, which keeps you ahead of the game. It also puts you at an advantage when competing with other dental practices. Ensure that your website has all the relevant information of everything that patients need to know. Also, make a habit of updating your website of any new developments related to your practice.
Utilize Local SEO Services
Wondering how to attract more dental patients to your practice? Well, almost all your patients will come from your local area, so this creates the need to hire a local SEO agency for your practice. Since a local SEO focuses on search engine result pages (SERP) in a particular location, the agency will market your practice to local patients. When people are looking for a local dentist in your area, yours is likely to appear among the top results they get. One key advantage of using local SEO services is that they can generate more traffic and leads from your local area towards your website. Those agencies use several ways to ensure your local SEO is successful by, for instance, optimizing voice search.
Customers tend to use more long-tail words through voice searches as opposed to typing. Some typical traditional question starters they are likely to use include, Where can I get root canal services? or Who provides the best teeth whitening services near me? The agency, therefore, adjusts the SEO of your content to fit a more conversational tone of someone speaking. That is why you should not overlook the importance of SEO services when looking for ways on how to attract more dental patients.
Create a Space for Patients to Leave Reviews
It is crucial to create a space where patients leave reviews about the services they receive at your practice. Like any other business, potential patients will want to look at online reviews before selecting a physician. Any physician with a lot of reviews is likely to get more appointments. Also, most people give honest reviews, and you can use that feedback to increase patient satisfaction at your practice. An increase in patient satisfaction leads to a good reputation, and in return, more patients walking through your door.
Ensure all your staff knows the importance of an online review, and if they do not, educate them. As you wrap up with a patient, let them know their feedback is valuable and that they should leave a review on your website. You can also ask the staff at the front desk to do the same as the patient checks out. Most practices use automatic response emails to remind patients of products and services. If you have a new service, like a discount on family dental care, inform your patients via email. At the bottom, add a reminder for patients to leave reviews on any services received previously.
Advertise Your Variety of Dental Services Through Social Media
Another way on how to attract more dental patients is through advertising your services. Start by identifying your target audience. If you only work with kids, then your audience will be parents. If you work with adults, there are multiple advertising options to use. Start by using social media platforms. Most businesses have come to see how impactful social media marketing can be in advertising. That is why you will find practices hiring social media marketers to maximize their efforts in reaching potential customers.
You should use some common social media platforms for advertising your services, including Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. You should also use your website to promote your services. Highlight all the services you offer, from emergency dentistry services to teeth whitening and annual checkups. Also, add content that is helpful to clients, like tips on dental hygiene, how to schedule appointments, modes of accepted payments, and how patients can reach you. You can also have a discount for new patients or patients who refer you to their friends and families. This will attract potential clients to your practice.
Highlight Your Cosmetic Dentistry Services
When looking for ways on how to attract more dental patients, you should highlight the cosmetic services you offer. While it may not be hard to convince people to visit a dentist for preventive care, cosmetic services may need a lot of convincing. First, list down all cosmetic dentistry services that patients can get at your practice, then find ways to convince them of the benefits of such services. Rather than emphasizing how you use high-tech equipment for teeth whitening, highlight how such a service can boost your confidence and appearance. Consider using pictures showing before and after images of actual patients who have benefited from your services. You can also use social media targeted ads to reach local people interested in health and cosmetic tips.
Another way of advertising your dental cosmetic services is through cross-promotion with businesses like orthodontists, plastic surgeons, beauty salons, and spas. You can quickly get referrals from such businesses. Cosmetic dentistry can be costly, which means your target market includes upscale households. As you advertise, focus on magazines, local radio shows, or newspapers with an upscale listener base.
Provide Flexible Financing Options
To attract more dental patients, you should consider providing flexible financing options for your patients. The choices you provide should be beneficial to both your practice and your patients. You do not want to be too lenient till your business lacks resources to run or too strict that you chase away patients. You can consider offering your patients the option of third-party financing. You get paid immediately you offer a service while patients pay the cost in monthly installments to the financing company. This is a convenient payment option as your patients do not have to part with a lump sum at once.
A treatment like Invisalign can be very costly, and not most insurance companies are willing to pay the entire cost. Considering that a patient will need several visits to the dentist for the treatment to be effective, a third-party financing option can be convenient to most patients. Make it easy for patients by offering electronic billing, where patients only have to log into their account, see the amount they owe you, and make the payment when it is convenient for them.
Offer Methods to Combat Patient Dentophobia
Just like people are scared of spiders or snakes, there is also the fear of seeing a dentist. Being afraid of a dentist can cause one some serious health problems. Dentophobia can come in various forms, like being fearful of the dentist, the practice, pain, needles, and gagging. The result can be someone refusing to go to a dentist for a checkup or specific treatments like a tooth extraction. You can offer relaxation techniques to diminish the fear, like deep breathing exercises, guided imagery, or muscle relaxation. This can help reduce anxiety and phobia.
Another method that most dentists use is laughing gas to soothe a patient. Other common medications used include mild sedatives and anesthesia. You can also work with a physiologist to provide the necessary skills and tools to help patients manage their fear. Another method you can use is explaining to patients what procedure they are undergoing in a calm way that can help reduce the anxiety. After every successful appointment, praise the patient for boosting their confidence and reducing their fear.
Consider Investing In Commercial Renovations So Your Practice Looks Stellar
Another way on how to attract more dental patients is by ensuring that your practice looks great. Before you start renovating, you have to consider the season. If you are usually busy during the holidays or when the year is about to end, that may not be the ideal time to renovate. Also, you may opt to have renovations done at night, to cause minimal interruptions to your patients and other staff members. Confine construction work to one or two rooms depending on the size of your practice to cause less disruption. Apart from the clinical aspect of your practice, there is the administrative need to consider when renovating your practice.
Ensure that the reception area, which is the first thing that patients see when they come to your place, is well organized. Some considerations to take into account include not having the receptionist face the waiting patients directly, the check-in and check-out areas being separate, and having restrooms away from the sitting area. Maybe you are renovating because you have introduced new services, like cosmetic dental services. Have the contractors make enough space for the new equipment. When you hire commercial renovation services, they will help you come with a design that aligns with the goals of your practices.
Decorate Your Waiting Room With a Calming Nature Theme
Your patients in the waiting room are going through various emotions like stress, uncertainty, fear, and anxiety. Creating a warm and inviting room is among ways on how to attract more dental patients. What patients see is also a reflection of the quality of services they are likely to receive. You want your patients to feel assured they will get the best care possible. Your waiting room is also the branding of your facility. That is from the color, furniture, lighting, and finishes. Consider adding art inspired by nature on one wall. You can either get an artist to paint the wall or put a wallpaper. When painting, the colors you choose are significant. A neutral like beige is calming, especially when complemented by other calming colors.
Most people get a relaxing feeling when they look at the sky. That it is the same feeling, they will get at your waiting room painted blue. Also, use lighter colors that reflect light to make the room feel warmer. You can also work with an interior designer who will advise you on how to combine colors, even bold ones like orange and yellow.
Get Active in Your Community
Another way on how to attract more dental patients is by involving yourself in community projects. It can be supporting a local soccer team, volunteering in community development projects, or starting a charitable cause. The point is to create awareness so that people recognize your brand. Your practice will be relying on local patients, and so you want to put your name out there for more community members to talk about you. Being active in the community sets a good foundation of how the local people will view you. Community activities are a chance for you to engage in some word of mouth marketing.
You should also make an effort to join sports clubs, business clubs, or various circles in the community. Some of these organizations are always having events where they look for speakers to talk about various things. You can request to be a speaker in one of them, talk about the benefits and services of dental care, and finish by promoting your practice.
There are many ways on how to attract more dental patients to your practice. While not all of them may apply to you, find the suitable ones and use them. With time, you may be able to see some improvements in your practice.
