This year, dental practices can expect to be busier than ever before.
Life is now slowly returning to normal, which means dental practices will be able to operate under fewer restrictions, therefore enabling more patients to be seen.
With this in mind, you and your dental team need to be at the top of your game and ready for the tidal wave of patients coming your way. After all, it’s an exciting opportunity to:
- Grow your practice
- Establish a stronger presence in your industry
- Outperform competitors
So, let’s examine 5 growth strategies for dental practices that will guide you to more success.
1. Use a Dental Marketing Company
Marketing is now the heartbeat of the oral care industry. The reason for this is because of high competition levels. Sure, you can gain a good reputation for your practice by supplying patients with excellent care – but the primary key to growing your patient numbers is marketing.
If you and your team have no prior experience in marketing, don’t worry. Fortunately, dental marketing companies – such as Health Practice Digital – exist. Here are some effective ways that they will help you to grow and expand:
- Facebook and Instagram ads
- Google ads
- Improved website design
These excellent marketing tactics will give your brand recognition a major boost, and your patient numbers will quickly start to go through the roof.
2. Refresh Your Equipment
Success in the dental industry is largely dependent on the equipment you use.
If you opt to keep the same equipment for years without any upgrades, your standards will automatically slip.
This is why you must continuously invest in new equipment to ensure your patients remain happy and satisfied. From intraoral cameras to sterilization tools, make sure to tick every box. Remember, patients are more conscious about their health than ever before, so they will expect you to match their standards.
3. Embrace virtual communications
Nowadays, patients want the option to communicate with healthcare practices virtually – and even have video appointments.
Of course, this is more difficult in the dental industry due to the fact that up-close oral examination is required, but it would be a great idea to offer virtual consultations when patients have worries and concerns about their teeth. If you believe it is necessary, you can then book then an in-person appointment at your practice.
Additionally, it’s also a good idea to have a website with a digital bookings system. Due to the busy nature of modern life, many people don’t have time to spend time waiting on the phone to book an appointment. Instead, they want the convenience of being able to grab their smartphones, log into your website, and book an appointment in seconds.
4. Encourage patient feedback
After an appointment, it’s a smart strategy to email or text the patient with a short survey asking for their feedback. This will be able to shed light on improvements you can make to your services.
As an example, patients might commonly say that they would like some relaxing music in the waiting room or that the lights are too bright in the dentist’s office.
5. Be active on social media
Last but not least, make sure your dental practice is active on social media. This way, you’ll grow your brand name, build a stronger relationship with your patients, and will even receive more referrals. Ideally, you should be active on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter at a minimum.
