It’s fair to say that the world is a very different place from just a couple of years ago. The unprecedented changes brought about by the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, by the pandemic and by the current crisis in Eastern Europe have all had a major impact on our lives and livelihoods. This has had knock on effects in every industry, and marketing is no different. Consumers have changed their habits and the supply and demand dynamic has suffered a huge amount of turmoil.
In dentistry, these changes are even more pronounced. The lockdowns that the country went through in 2020 and 2021 led to a severe restriction on the availability of dental services. This put untold pressure on NHS provision and effectively forced many people to either go without or go private. With so many more potential new patients in the pool and a finite capacity at practices, especially in the wake of PPE requirements, the necessity arose for a radical rethink of the digital marketing offering.
As alluded to in the title of this blog, ‘targeted approach’ has become the mantra to which dental marketers must now adhere. With so many patients requiring general dental services the focus is now on higher value treatments, namely implants, adult orthodontics and facial aesthetics. Being top for ‘Dentist Locationtown’ is not as important as it used to be because that term will usually lead to more ‘general check-up’ enquires. Great if you’re desperate for new patients, but when the books are full you need to focus on quality over quantity.
As is often the case, taking an early advantage is vital to exploit this change in approach. A strong and direct marketing strategy concentrating on high-end treatments is key. SEO should be tailored to achieve this and it is worth considering pay-per-click advertising to entice these high value enquires patients who are actively seeking certain treatments. Website designs can be tweaked and amended to better highlight the services that you want people to enquire about.
With budgets being stretched it’s more vital than ever that every pound being spent is getting the absolute best value it can. Make time to analyse your current spending. What has changed in the last few years? Are you guilty of repeating the same things over and over again when the landscape is so different? When was the last time you spoke to whoever is looking after your digital marketing? In these difficult times these are the difficult questions you need to be asking yourself.
Marketing is all about multiplying and maximising your investment. It’s no longer good enough for your marketers to simply get ‘more’ patients, especially in this deep pool. Quality has to be the driving force behind the marketing spend now. The practice that embraces this change in the market will reap the rewards.