Are you leveraging digital marketing for your practice?
The American Dental Hygienists’ document titled ADHA Interim Guidance on Returning to Work is a 10-page guide to assist dental hygienists in safely returning to their dental practice and provide good safe patient care. The guide assists the 16 states that reopened for a selected number of dental procedures as of 12 May 2020.
This means that dentists will be returning to their practices and there is need to hit the ground running.
However, in the face of budget cuts and many other financial restraints that have come to exist because of this pandemic. One can ask;
- Is it necessary for a dentist to keep investing in digital marketing?
- Should dentists be particular with online content?
This article focuses on digital marketing and how it greatly impacts dental practices.
As a practice owner, you should always keep this mind, COVID19 like any other pandemic will end and your practice is going to fully reopen. If you decide to shut down your online marketing be prepared to struggle in getting your marketing to compete with your counterparts that kept their marketing measures in place.
Here are a few reasons why we strongly recommend you keep your online marketing activities.
You need be ready to hit the ground sprinting
When you reopen your practice it is vital to start by being as visible as you can to your patients old or new. The best way to do that in an environment that is still skeptical about leaving their homes is to be in their homes. Digital marketing for dentists is now an option right now, it is the one way that will keep you in touch with your existing and potential patients.. Keywords and appearing on dental patient searches ensures that your practice will be their first thought when the dental visit comes to mind.
1. Reinvent your page
Now is the time to resign your website and social media pages in order to convince your patients to come to you after this pandemic. Not convinced? Look at these facts
- 5% of web traffic goes to the first page.
- 1% of traffic engagement goes to the top three spots.
- 75% of people never scroll past the first page.
2. People are searching 24/7
Patients will not simply rush to leave their homes after a pandemic. Making your content available to them is very important. As several other services are likely to reopen patients will be searching for where to go and where they will safest. Reviews and good ranking online make your content the first thing they see.
The most searched for topics right now are updates on the COVID19, so why not have content about how your practice has evolved, how unique your services are, and how you have been preparing to make your practice a safe space from the pandemic. Raise your online ranking by offering unique services like:
- “Teledentistry” on your site.
- E-books on dental tips.
- Courses or stats updates.
- Online consultations.
3. Monitor your competition.
Sad to say, you are not the only dentists who are in this dilemma of whether or not to keep marketing. Stopping your digital marketing is not advisable simply because your competition will get ahead of you. Pick unique content, research on your patients’ needs, and always be original in your presentation. Digital marketing is always evolving and patients need to be kept engaged for you to realize a truly successful bounce back.
- Patients still need you.
Pandemic or not emergency dental care is always needed and with your SEO having put you at the top of online searches, your line should be ever busy.
Conclusion
Digital marketing is continuous and gives you the chance to present your practice in however many ways so as to keep your patients happy and engaged. Coming up with content and best practices to ensure you do it right is just as intriguing. In-sourced personnel from reputable dental support companies are there for you to consult and engage exclusively for your practice at less than a fraction of what you’d pay or lose trying to do it yourself or hiring a big marketing company.
Give your practice the upper hand coming out of this pandemic.
SupportDDS is a leading Texas-based in-sourcing company that provides virtual assistants and administrative support for dental practices. Moreover, we provide both short and long term virtual outsourcing services customized to suit your business process needs.
