Dental Marketing Predictions For 2017
We may not quite be at the end of the year yet; Christmas tends to be a time of celebration and reflection on the previous 12 months. It’s also a good time of year to consider your marketing efforts of the past year and how you can move your dental practice forward in 2017.
After reading and reviewing marketing predictions for the year ahead for the marketing industry as a whole, here are some dental marketing predictions from Dental Design:
- The rise of augmented reality (AR) and the immersive experience
This one may not directly affect dentists, however ushered in by the virtual reality video game ‘Pokemon Go’, it’s predicted that in 2017 we’ll see the true rise of augmented reality.
Very few people could have predicted how the game took off as radically as it did. The hype has now died down, however it has shown the marketing community that users are ready for augmented reality experiences and it’s provided a taste of the earning potential. Therefore, in 2017 it’s likely you’ll see more AR games and advertisements.
In addition to augmented reality, giving consumers an immersive experience will become ever more important. Consider adding a 360 degree virtual tour of your premises so that potential patients feel like they can interact with you, even before they walk through the door.
- Live video will fully take off
Live video has been on the rise for a while and the likes of Facebook live and snapchat have already shown us in 2016 that live video is increasingly popular for consumers, this is set to increase even further with the introduction of live video services from both twitter and instagram.
How could this help your dental practice? You could live stream events, procedures or even live FAQ sessions with the team on your social media profiles.
- Native advertising will explode in popularity
Native advertising- otherwise known as sponsored content is becoming a real player in the marketing mix. This is because many consumers are ‘banner blind’ and switch off from more traditional advertising. By using methods such as product placement or sponsored advertorial for example, users are less likely to switch off as the ads are placed on the website/ magazine in a natural environment without standing out- subtlety at its best!
- Brands will target niche markets out of necessity
It will be important to reach out to local, more niche groups. Social media is great for this- find local groups on Facebook for brides to be for example and start contributing- it’s important not to spam them! However, the odd post about teeth whitening or orthodontics for brides may be very welcome.
- It will be ever important to ‘cut through the noise’
The attention span of the population has fallen to goldfish-like levels and we’re only going to grow more impatient. It has been found that it takes less than 7 seconds for a patient to decide if they want to proceed through a website. Users are more likely to skim content and skip posts as they are seen as white noise. Therefore it’s ever important for headlines and social media posts to catch attention quickly.
If you would like further information about marketing for your practice, speak to a member of the team at Dental Design on 01202 677 277 who will be happy to help you.
With thanks to Forbes for the inspiration for this post.
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