Boost Your Patient List on a Budget: 9 Smart and Affordable Strategies to Attract New Patients to Your Practice
Small Budget, Big Results
Let's face it, not everyone has a marketing budget the size of the national debt. Yet in a competitive industry such as dentistry you still need to market, especially if you're looking to grow. So, the question is, how can you market to potential patients without blowing your conservative marketing budget clean out of the water?
9 Ways You Can Market Your Practice Without Breaking Your Budget
Make Yourself Known, Get Visible!
Networking is a great way of getting yourself known in the local community. What's more, it really doesn't cost anything bar a slice of your time. Seek out key influencers and try to join their circles.
- Are there business clubs in your area or networking events that you can join?
- What about going into schools and chatting to the kids about children's dental care?
All these things can help to spread the word about your practice and put you firmly on the local map.
Team Up With Other Local Businesses
There will be many businesses in your area that have a distant link to dentistry. Businesses such as fitness clubs, health spas, and hairdressers, for example, are all in the business of helping people to look and feel good.
Why not talk to them about displaying their promotional material in your practice, if they reciprocate with yours. Not only is it a win/win situation, but it’s also zero cost too.
Use Low Cost Incentives Aggressively
Incentives are frequently used in marketing circles, and not without good reason. Studies show that people are more likely to make a purchase or use a service if they know they're getting value. Incentives help to maximize that value.
As a dentist, for example, you might be able to offer say $50 off a patient's next treatment when they introduce a new patient to your practice (great referral marketing right there!).
Alternatively, how about giving away a free clean and polish when a new patient registers. The trick with incentives is to think low cost but high-value perception, so be original and make it interesting.
Social Media Can Do Amazing Things For Your Practice
It seems that everyone's on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok these days, and dental practices should be no exception.
Seek out the person you know who is most experienced in this field and get them to head your social media activity. Over time, as you use your socials to grow your practice, you'll be able to hire (and you'll want to) a social media expert like Akzis VIP.
The trick is to provide engaging and informative content that people want to share, not just fill it with a lot of self-promotion. If done right, social media is an incredibly powerful marketing tool for any business.
Make Sure You Have A Google (and Patient) Friendly Website
It's not enough to simply have a website these days. Instead, it needs to be filled with informative patient-friendly content, but it also needs to be Google friendly too. Did you know for example that more than 75% of new patients make an online search the first port of call when looking for a new dentist in their area?
After word of mouth, your website is the most powerful marketing tool you have in your arsenal, so make sure it's fully maximized. Okay, so this mightn't be low cost, but it is a necessity.
Always Maintain A Strong Professional Physical Appearance
Ask yourself this... How visible is your practice for passer's-by? As silly as it sounds, many practices don't have sufficient signage so that they can be noticed from the road. Even when they do, it isn't always clear what their business actually does.
Why not take yourself a few hundred feet down the road and walk past your practice? Don't forget to be honest and cast a critical eye.
Flyers & Mailings Do Work
Would you like to know why, in the age of digital marketing, you still receive postcards advertising various local businesses in your mailbox? Because it works!
Yes, the mailings from twenty years ago have not gone cold. In fact, they work better now, as very few businesses use them. It makes your practice stand out and it gets attention.
Public Relations for Local Publicity
If you're a new business in town you'll have a story to tell, so why not contact your local news affiliates, radio stations, local micro-influencers and bloggers and ask them if they would do an interview with you.
Explain how your dental business stands out from your competition and entice them to give you a try. A little PR goes a long way.
If your budget isn't as tight, or you're willing to grow your practice aggressively, we can guarantee local publicity and a boost in local authority for your practice.
Hold An Open House, Event or Mixer
Finally, how about holding an informal, relaxed event where people can come along to your practice and look round, meet the staff, and maybe get some quick advice.
You could also include quick demonstrations on how to best to brush, floss, and care for your teeth, plus of course, the obligatory glass of bubbly. It doesn't have to cost a lot to set up, just a little PR (see above) and a little organization.
So, there you have it, 9 great ways to grow your practice without blowing your marketing budget.
Remember, if you're prepared to do what others won't today, you can achieve what others can't tomorrow!
