Is your dental marketing strategy prepared for a recession?
As we lead into a potential economic recession, we know that customers will start to tighten their wallets and spend only when necessary. As a practice owner, it may seem natural to do the same with your budget.
Marketing and advertising are two areas that usually hit the chopping blocks first when it comes to cutting back on business expenses. At first glance, that might make sense, as SEO and PPC aren’t typically related to the core business operations. But the fact is, cutting your marketing budget can have serious negative ramifications for your practice when it comes to surviving a recession and acceleration once it’s over. So what can you do?
Adapt your dental marketing strategy
Focus on customer retention
One of your biggest strengths during a recession is focusing on keeping your current patients happy. It’s also easier and more cost effective to retain happy customers than to acquire new ones. Across industries, returning customers spend more, buy more often and refer to friends and family.
Here are a few reasons why customer retention is critical:
- Affordability – it’s 7x more expensive to acquire new customer than it is to retain an existing one.
- Loyalty – retained customers buy more often and spend more than new customers. Once they’ve learned the value of your services, they’ll keep coming back again and again.
- Referral – not just from other dentists. Happy, satisfied and loyal patients are more likely to sing your praises and refer to their friends and family.
Reach out to your existing patients with low-cost marketing efforts like social media and email marketing. For more support and ideas, get in touch with our dental marketing experts.
Learn from your competitors
You’re not the only practice who will be facing the struggles of a looming recession.
Many of your competitors may find it difficult to keep afloat in this financial storm, resulting in losing their marketing focus and postposing any additional spend on advertising. This opens up the space for you. Taking full advantage of the increased visibility of your practice sets you up for long term growth. New patients will remember your name in a positive light when the economic crisis comes to an end.
Focus on content
Not to sound like a broken record but… content is king!
Content marketing is used by 79% of businesses to generate high-quality leads, and there’s other time like a recession to bring them in. Having a sound content marketing strategy in place helps keep you prepared for any eventuality.
Here are a few reason why content marketing is critical:
- Content marketing is 62% more cost effective than traditional marketing methods.
- It helps companies bounce back stronger post economic recession.
- Staying focused on lead generation and nurturing puts you in a good position when the market is back in full swing.
When creating content, whether it’s blogs or for social media, it’s important to consider what your patients want to hear. What are their pain points? Are you addressing them? It’s also important to note that content marketing doesn’t yield results overnight. It takes time and consistency before you start seeing results. For help with content ideas, get in touch with our experts!
Regularly refresh your strategy
With any changes, you have to consider that some things might not work. Frequently reviewing your marketing and making tweaks to your content or advertising when needed can help keep your target audience engaged. Our SEO team regularly conduct keyword research to identify what users are searching for. Keeping on top of trends and changes in search behavior will keep your practice one step ahead of the competition in these difficult times.
Outsource to dental marketing experts
We understand that not everyone is a marketing expert. But that’s where we can help!
One of the biggest reasons businesses are hesitant to outsource their marketing in these times is the cost. A major benefit of outsourcing your marketing is gaining access to our entire team of dental marketing experts (which is typically at much less price than the cost of one full-time employee).
We’ve been helping businesses like yours for over 20 years. Get in touch with our team today to assess your dental marketing strategy.
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