5 Ways Dentists Can Increase Marketing ROI

At a glance:

• Get in front of patients: Marketing is what keeps dental practices top of mind for patients, but it does not mean anything unless practitioners measure their efforts.
• Level up your approach: Dentists should embrace a hybrid combination of digital marketing, community outreach and patient engagement to drive success.
• Get advice from experts: Enlist a professional team that works specifically with dentists to deploy your marketing strategies and appropriately measure ROI.

Schedule a free consultation with Aprio’s National Dental Team today.

The full story:

Jeff Bezos, the legendary founder and CEO of Amazon, once said, “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

Marketing is the channel through which dental practices get into the room. To stay competitive, you need to prioritize innovative and forward-thinking marketing as a business strategy and growth driver.

But how do you know if your marketing efforts are driving a better return on investment? Here are five techniques to keep in mind as you fine-tune your marketing plan.

1. Dare to go digital

Did you know that nearly three-quarters of patients use online reviews as their first step to finding a healthcare provider? In today’s digital age, an online presence isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a necessity for maintaining leverage in the saturated marketplace and continuing to attract a diverse range of patients.

Make sure that your dental practice has an updated presence on popular online review platforms like Yelp, Google My Business and Facebook, and that you have appointed someone to monitor reviews and respond to comments and questions.

2. Get social

According to a study by the National Library of Medicine, Facebook is among the most common social platforms used by dentists. To boost engagement among your current and prospective patient base, share educational or informative content — for instance, short Facebook videos on practice news or dental hygiene tips — or leverage Facebook Business Advertising to promote new features or specials.

3. Be a data detective

Establish solid key performance indicators (KPIs) and choose a realistic set of metrics to focus on as you navigate the rest of 2021. Set benchmarks to measure your success — for instance, what is your new patient acquisition rate? What percentage of new patients are coming from existing patient referrals? What is your strategy for increasing that number this year?

Your ability to develop better funnels depends on monitoring KPIs and accurately attributing results to the right channels.

4. Embrace community engagement

After a year like 2020, patients are looking for providers who make meaningful contributions to their communities. By prioritizing philanthropy and volunteerism in your practice, you’ll not only establish deeper patient trust, but you’ll also increase your visibility and position yourself as a community leader. Consider hosting a collection drive for dental hygiene products, donate your services to citizens in need or create dental hygiene packs for local shelters.

5. Prioritize existing patients

Even though your patients have already engaged you as a provider, you still need to market to them, too. Distribute patient surveys and proactively ask how you can provide better service. Tailor your new service launches around those needs, such as implementing more streamlined scheduling options or new office amenities. This is also an area in which content marketing (for instance, regular newsletters or educational blog posts) can come in handy.

The bottom line

Once you’ve introduced these techniques, the work isn’t over; you still need processes and tools for measuring the ROI of your efforts. That’s where Aprio’s National Dental Team can help. Schedule a free consultation with us today to get your marketing efforts underway and create processes for measuring your success.

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