“India’s overall dentist to population ratio – 2.7 lakh registered dentists for a population of 134 crore- is about one dentist for 5,000 people, well above the WHO recommended ratio of one for 7,500.”
…. 21-Apr-2019 – Times of India
Dental Marketing Blog – From these data, it is evident that the current number of Dentist in India is higher than the international standards. Moreover, there are nearly 30,000 dental students passing out every year. Unfortunately, the patient count is not increasing. Everyone is trying to get the patient from the same crowd. This leads to a competition and makes marketing inevitable for dental practices. This article explains about the 2 best marketing strategies that can get more patients and revenue.
Before doing any marketing, think like a patient. What will you do if you have a tooth pain?
You will either ask your family or friends (Relationship selling) or you will take your mobile and search for the nearby dental clinics(Digital marketing). Lets see these 2 marketing strategies in detail.
1. Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing is the best and effective way for getting patients. Make your existing patients happy, they will bring more patients for you. Start thinking like a patient. You can find many improvements to make in your practice. May be you can try the below points for dental marketing
- Reminder about their appointments
- Reminding on their routine check ups
- Proper care and greetings while they are doing the clinic visit
- Give enough entertainment options at the reception like TV, Magazines, Free WiFi
- Give access to children play area
- Provide treatments as per the appointments
- Provide training to staff to give a better care of the patients
- Provide painless treatment
- Make them understand the different treatment options
- Help the patient to choose the plan which is effective and affordable
- Send thanks note after the treatment
- Provide routine follow ups
- Send birthday/anniversary greetings
- Send greetings on festivals or special occasions
- Provide special offers/ schemes
- Give surprise gifts
- Provide cash back/free treatments for referrals
- Provide various payment options including EMIs
Try to make the patients as your brand ambassadors. If the patient has got a for a celebrity status make use of their influence for your marketing.
02. Digital Marketing
In india there will have 2.1 billion connected devices by 2023. Digital marketing is perfect method to reach this customer base. It is a prominent method to attract the local customers. It can be done in various methods.
- Search engine marketing (Website, Blog and SEO)
- Social media marketing (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn …)
- Social messaging apps (WhatsApp, Messenger, .. )
- Short video apps (Reels, Tiktok, Shorts…)
- Messages and Emails
All these platforms are free (or at a nominal rate) unless you go for paid promotions. There are many Google tools available like Google Maps Google local business YouTube… which are very efficient for local business promotions. If the patient is searching for a dental clinic in your location make sure your name comes first. This can be done in various methods like creating a website and doing SEO, Updating the information in Google maps and local business, improving the likes and share in Facebook etc.
Always ask patients to leave a review in your Google local business and Facebook page. writing reviews in Google and Facebook can improve your patient flow.
Get a powerful dental practice management software which can help in getting more referrals
Get a team to work on your website development and social media promotion at very affordable rates