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communication is paramount to success. Maybe you have invested in a clinical course such as implants, braces etc, a new website or some new equipment. This is all great, but how do you expect to deliver the dentistry or use the equipment without investing in team training? Your front desk team are your sales force. Could you imagine BMW putting
a new employee on the front desk, allowing them to just quote fees or give out the number for the other car dealerships? They would never sit back and watch their team turn away business, so why do dentists? How many patients do you lose through lack of team training?
Communication with patients – use a mix of mediums Every practice needs a website. Most of us use the internet regularly to look for information. If a new patient is trying to find a dentist, your practice will be overlooked if you don’t have a website. Every- body does their research online so you need to make sure that your website is up to date, engaging and optimized. Most people access information ‘on the move’ now so make sure your website is mobile friendly. Today, every dental practice
should be asking for and recording patient (and prospective patient) email addresses and asking permis- sion to use that email address to make contact. Why? Because email is a quick, efficient and effective communication tool. How do you incorporate email
into your marketing mix? The same way you do direct mail. Some prac- tices use email for follow-up letters, as referral generators, to send reminders, or for e-zines. E-zines are a great way to inform new and existing patients about the fantastic services and technology available at the practice. Social media is the modern day
‘word of mouth’ and it can be very powerful if tackled correctly. Social media is free, but it will take a lot of time to make a success of it. If you are going to use Twitter and Facebook you must be active on it and ready to respond to any messages or replies. You have to engage with your followers and
always ensure that your online content stays professional and never controversial. A good tip here is to try and
engage with patients through social media. Don’t just ‘shout’ about special offers every day or people will get sick of it. Try and give patients oral health tips, engage in conversation and overall communi- cate with them. Video is taking content marketing
by storm. By 20ı7, video will account for 69 per cent of all consumer internet traffic, according to Cisco. Video-on-demand traffic alone will have almost trebled. With online video quickly becoming a key means for people to satisfy their information needs, dental practices that fail to include it in their internet marketing campaigns will fall behind. When it comes to potential reach, video is peerless. YouTube receives more than
one billion unique visitors every month – that’s more than any other channel, apart from Facebook. One in three Britons view at least one online video a week – that’s a weekly audience of more than 20 million people in the UK alone. Video can give you access to all this. Video marketing via website and social media channels are key for any 2ıst century practice marketing campaign.
Every patient should have a welcome pack People respond to different marketing mediums, so a complete marketing mix of traditional methods, plus new digital mediums will ensure that your marketing mix is complete. A lot of the over 60s would not probably respond to digital methods, but this age group are within your target market for dental implants, so it’s important to still use traditional marketing methods such as direct mail, patient education material, newsletters and every patient should receive a patient welcome pack. There is nothing better than
receiving a handwritten greeting or thank you card. The impact may be far greater than with an E-card which is why even in a digital society it is important to mix with traditional methods. More tradi- tional methods like this now create the ‘wow’ factor because people have actually gone to the trouble
Scottish Dental magazine 49
to write the card rather than just clicking a button. This is also true of picking up
the phone to communicate with patients. In addition to using the phone for appointment confirma- tions and the occasional reschedule, use it to enhance/solidify relation- ships with your patients and to create memorable experiences that many patients deem worthy of referrals and testimonials. For example, phone your patients
after a big treatment that evening to check they are feeling ok. It makes a memorable impression, gives you a chance to get to know your patients a little better and it shows you really do care. Place a thank you call to patients
who refer new patients to you. Every time a patient refers someone to you, that patient is staking the value of his or her word on you. It’s a big gesture and deserves a personal touch. And, again, it’s best if you, the dentist, make the call. (A personal gift and thank you note mailed to the patient can work just as well.)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joanne Mellor is marketing director of Designer Dental Marketing and Designer Dental Training. Joanne has over ten years experience in the field of dental marketing and has been awarded Chartered Marketer Status by The Chartered Institute of Marketing for six consecutive years. The Chartered Marketer Status is the formal recognition of an up-to-date experienced and qualified marketing professional.
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