A lot has been disrupted in these unprecedented times, including your marketing plans. 2020 may have been the year you were planning on ramping up your advertising but has now had to take a back seat. This sudden brick wall can be a huge de-motivation and you may be thinking “lets wait until next year” or “next quarter”, “lets give it a few months”. However, now as much as any time is an opportunity to ensure your marketing is a priority.
How has the practice been affected?
Undoubtedly there’s been changes at the practice, be this due to staff cuts, restrictions, or in-house decisions. It’s important that anything different is consistent across your marketing. For example:
- Has the capacity of the practice changed? – If so, ensure this is noted in patient reminders and let them know of the experience they’ll encounter when visiting. Reflect this on the website so patients are aware before even making an appointment also.
- Which treatments are you no longer offering? – Due to restrictions there have been treatments placed on the back foot. It is vital your patients are aware of this otherwise some may become irate that their local dentist can no longer provide a treatment they’ve been waiting months for, and may lead to a bad review (We’ve seen it!). If you are running paid advertising campaigns for specific treatments these will also need to be amended, you do not want to be directing traffic to something you cannot provide, your ROI (Return on Investment) will plummet!
- Are patients confident enough to make a return? – Although lockdown has been relaxed the virus is still very real and many people are cautious on returning to places such as dentists. It’s extremely important that you’re showing off your sanitation methods, the patient journey, and any reviews from patients that have been treated post lockdown.
- Is the communication between the practice and patients active? – Your patients are expecting to hear something from you and it’s important they’re updated. Not every patient will get in touch and it may take them hearing about another practice first for them to make a visit there. Mail outs, website notices, social media updates are all methods of communication between you and your patients.
Marketing essentials for a dental practice (Post Lockdown):
- Website Notice – Placed on the homepage informing patients of the current practice status
- Recent Reviews – Ask patients who have been to the practice after lockdown to review the experience. This will go a long way with unsure patients on their return.
- COVID Page/Area on website – Dedicate a section of your website for all your resources that patients can access freely
- Social Media Updates
- Screening Forms – Provide a way to check patients for any symptoms prior to their appointment. This can be done by a online form or over the phone.
Recommended Website Additions
- Patient Journey Video – Show off how the patient will enter the practice and what precautions will need to be adhered to.
- E-Consultations – Patients are still nervous to return, providing online consultations over video call or phone mean they are not missing out.
- Medical History Form
If you feel that your website or marketing is not quite up to how you’d like it, then feel free to give us a call on 01202 677 277 and we’ll be more than happy to provide assistance. In the meantime please feel free to use any of our free resources that can be found here – dental-design.marketing/resources/
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