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Attract & Increase More New Dental Patients

Dental solutions that will help your practice stand out and grow

Long-term practice success and security is why it’s so important to increase dental patients. Every office needs a steady flow of new patients, and not only to replace the 15-20% of patients who will “naturally” attrite due to life reasons, but more importantly because they contribute 2X-3X production over existing patients!

Bar graph compares the value of new patients to existing patients at the top 10% of dental practices

New patients help a dental office expand and grow because they refer, bring new family members, and take advantage of more services. A steady increase of dental patients will improve practice profits and valuation.

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    CONSULTATION

Sample neighborhood newsletter by Patient NEWS designed to increase dental patients

An excellent marketing mix to attract these high- value new patients to your practice includes a modern, secure, up-to-date dental website, effective listings, social marketingpositive reviews, paid (PPC) advertising and direct mail, specifically dental newsletters. Dental newsletters are often the cornerstone of the most successful new patient campaigns because direct mail is the ONLY way to reach 100% of the targeted households consistently, and with Patient NEWS, drive an average 6:1 ROI. But, before we begin, we need a complete market analysis so you don’t waste marketing dollars targeting the wrong patients.

“I love working with Patient NEWS. You can trust their knowledgeable team to help you put the best patient communication strategies in place. Patient NEWS is the best dental marketing company you can choose – and check out Practice ZEBRA – great platform to track success of your marketing efforts and more! I highly recommend Patient NEWS & Practice ZEBRA for successful dentists.

The team are top-notch people and have your true interest at heart. Plus, the first direct mail campaign I ran with them got the phone ringing like anything for both my offices. Practice ZEBRA also has phone training for your team who answers calls. Overall great company, great people, great quality of service, and great value with all they offer. You will love them and they will deliver.”

–Dr. Hiren Patel
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Direct mail wins with 100% reach

Successful dentists who want to increase dental patients to grow and secure the practice future for the successful and profitable sale of the practice want a proven process, a solidified plan that will deliver positive results.

Female dentist smiles while pulling down mask while another dentist works with a patient in background

Our proven process to attract more dental patients

Our team can help you differentiate your practice and become more successful. As part of our proven process, there are four key steps we go through as we work closely with you to help your dental office launch effective dental marketing campaigns so it can stand out and grow.

DEVELOP
DEVELOP
You’ll begin with a discovery session, full practice assessment, market research, demographic analysis, and online and competitor analysis. This will allow us to better understand your situation and target audience in order to strategically plan campaigns for success.
IMPLEMENT
IMPLEMENT
You’ll be assigned a dedicated team of experts who will use all assessment analytics and information to make informed decisions, create relevant marketing messaging that will resonate with your audience, implement team training, and set your practice up for success.
MEASURE
MEASURE
With practice intelligence, established benchmarks, call scoring and Practice ZEBRA, your account team will help you review the results information you need to find opportunities, take action, and grow production.
IMPROVE
IMPROVE
Informed coaching, fact-based feedback, and continuous KPI analysis will help you and your team improve practice efficiencies and generate loyal patients that return and refer. Distinguish your practice and achieve your goals with Patient NEWS and Practice ZEBRA.

Has your practice done a SWOT analysis?

This is an examination of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It’s part of the foundation of an airtight marketing strategy. If it’s something you haven’t done before, no worries, we can help. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Each letter that spells out SWOT, short for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
What is it that makes your practice different from your competitors? List everything you can preserve and leverage to separate your office from the rest.
Each letter that spells out SWOT, short for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
What types of grievances are patients bringing up? It can be tough to face these facts, but when you do so – head on – you’ll be able to overcome all obstacles.
Each letter that spells out SWOT, short for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
In which areas can you achieve growth? Assess every item to find out what you can take advantage of.
Each letter that spells out SWOT, short for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats
Are there any issues your practice may have to anticipate, prepare for, and defend against?

Tips to help your practice achieve outstanding marketing results

Establish budget based on goals
TIP #1
Establish budget based on goals
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Where does the practice want to be? If the practice is at $1 million in production, or $80,000 per month, and wants to hit $1.2 million, the monthly marketing budget will be based on $100,000. Budget will vary based on practice stage, competition, and how quickly the dental office wants to grow. Monthly budgets will range from 5-10% to cover all channels where the target audience is present.
Take a multi-channel approach
TIP #2
Take a multi-channel approach
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For best results, your dental office wants to interact with prospective patients using a combination of direct and indirect communication channels. Dental competitors vying for your patients will use various methods, so you want your practice to be visible and to make it easy for patients to connect with you wherever they are.
Consider the dental patient journey
TIP #3
Consider the dental patient journey
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A direct mail campaign will raise awareness of your practice and generate a phone call and/or drive traffic to your online presence (website). A PPC campaign will capture online search and drive to your website. A modern and secure website with a great user experience will generate a form fill or appointment.
Get team buy-in
TIP #4
Get team buy-in
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For your dental marketing campaigns to work, everyone on your team must buy in to your vision with actions that support it. Having just one team member not aligned can be enough to throw your practice off course. Patients can’t be viewed as “more work.” Consumers expect a superior service experience, particularly for dental care. Get everyone involved, help them understand the metrics around new patients and why they’re important, provide training, tools, and support, and reward for practice growth.
Stay the course
TIP #5
Stay the course
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This is the same as commitment. One-hit wonders never work. Previous marketing initiatives may have had flaws or the practice may have lacked visibility of results due to manual anecdotal tracking. With the technologies and tools available today, a dental practice can better-train staff, provide the right tools for higher new-patient conversion rates, and track and monitor results for continuous improvement.
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Dental solutions by Patient NEWS will put your practice on the right path

Two feet on pavement with arrows drawn around them  in chalk

Here are some of our top strategies to attract more quality patients:

1

DENTAL WEBSITES & SEO

When it comes to attracting more new patients and increasing your roster, having a modern, welcoming website is paramount. Your dental website could be the first impression a prospective patient has of your practice. Is it modern and clean or outdated and cluttered? Is the user experience seamless and easy, or do you have to click through 5 pages to find out how to contact your practice? We can help you leverage and refresh what you love about your current website, or create a brand-new site. WebLift™ is the perfect solution for every dental office or group.
WebLift dental websites on the screens of a tablet and mobile phone that are stacked on each other and a laptop

Search Engine Optimization

You could choose to have your WebLift website sit online like a static brochure, but if you want to grow your websites tenure with search engines like Google, you need to work it! That’s why we’ve created three distinct content packages:
  • Practice Awareness
  • Practice Differentiator
  • STANDOUT Local
Each package supports your website with high-quality content that’s optimized and based on your competitive landscape additional features like Google My Business Posts, Guest Blogs, and additional review and reporting.
Dental websites, like WebLift from Patient NEWS, when combined with an effective content strategy ranging from Practice Awareness, Practice Differentiator, to STANDOUT Local, will help you attract and onboard more new patients. You’ll be found by prospects in your area when they have a dental need. In competitive markets, you’ll also want to implement Paid Media to support your website and new-patient goal success.
Google paid search results for dentists
2

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWSLETTERS & POSTCARDS

In most markets, neighborhood newsletters remain the absolute best way to raise awareness of your practice, elevate your brand, and connect with your audience on a personal level. With high-quality educational content and 100% reach, direct mail can help your practice be visible in targeted area homes and garner a great long-term response because of its physical format.
Sample neighborhood newsletter cover by Patient NEWS

Facts about direct mail:

  • It generates 10-30 times higher response than email.
  • Studies show newsletters drive 70% higher response than postcards.
  • 70% of consumers say they always or sometimes pay attention to advertising in direct mail.
  • It requires 21% less brainpower to comprehend.
  • It gets the message across faster because of its low cognitive load and high motivation score.
Before a patient arrives at your practice, they experience a journey. Each journey is unique and doesn’t necessarily follow a linear path. It’s comprised of the various steps a person experiences, starting with awareness and finishing at advocacy and growth. In total, there are five phases.
Dental newsletters and postcards are one of the ways you address the first phase – practice awareness. When you choose high-quality format and content, they can make that stand-out first impression needed to inspire a new patient to call, visit, or look you up online. It’s this valuable information that causes 90% of people to research your practice online – and pick up the phone. Direct mail is a definite trust-builder..
Female dental patient on the phone while browsing the web on her laptop
3

PAID MEDIA & ADVERTISING

Paid Media encompasses a variety of advertising online that is a paid placement. This type of advertising will help a practice appear on a results page when specific keywords are searched. Included in Paid Media are Pay Per Click (PPC), display ads, remarketing, and search ads. Having a website alone is often not enough to appear in search results when competitors in your area are filling up the search results with paid ads.
Infographic that highlights PPC for dentists and how they drive website traffic
With search engines like Google Ads rolling out constant updates and changes, you want an expert in this space to assist you to better-target your prospects, present your ads more attractively, optimize and provide reporting, and improve your Paid Media results so you attract more new dental patients!
4

MARKET ANALYSIS & TARGETING

To have the best success attracting more new patients, it’s important to get clear on your neighborhood. What is the current practice market share? Where is the competition located? Which area households are most likely to respond? By determining the core, potential and niche pockets, you can more precisely establish which dental marketing strategies should be brought into play for future success.
With in-depth market analysis and targeting, your marketing messages will reach more of the right new patients. These are the people most likely to respond and want your services. They’re also the ones most likely to generate a higher lifetime patient value at your practice. That way, you get the most out of your marketing dollars. The three unique studies we conduct as part of the market analysis include:
  • Market share diagnostics. This reveals where your hottest areas are, and where you can find more great patients like your best patients.
  • Competition. Find out which practices are vying for the same new patients both offline and online
  • Area demographics. Uncover the household characteristics and buying preferences to better tailor marketing messaging. All of this makes it possible to craft compelling content that will resonate with this audience.
Map of patient market area dat Map of competitors that surround a specific dental practice Map of consumer buying preferences
Hispanic family poses for a photo under a tree
With a complete market area and demographic analysis, we’re better equipped to establish a dental marketing plan and content based on your target audience and relevant offer strategy that will attract more new dental patients. When you’re clear on the “backyard you want to own” you can be clear on the demographics of the households and buying behaviors. This allows the dental practice to select the right marketing channels, and create relevant content for those consumers improving results.
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We’ve just scratched the surfaces of all the dental marketing solutions we provide dentists.

Call us or browse our site to learn more.

When you reach out, we’ll start with a complimentary analysis of your practice situation. The output of the assessment will help you identify critical areas for your strategic marketing plan. You’ll see the highest-priority issues for your practice and which strategies would be best to implement.

Your Questions Answered

Open FAQs To Read Frequently Asked Questions About Attracting More New Patients

or better yet, call us at
888-377-2404 & talk to a real person!

FAQ

What technology does Patient NEWS use to conduct the market area and demographic analysis?

We use Esri ArcGIS Business Analyst, an industry-leading tool to collect detailed information on patient demographics in your neighborhood. We’ve invested in this technology to give our valued clients the most detailed insights possible – all at no extra cost to them.

How long should I run a direct mail campaign to generate new patient calls to my practice?

How long do you plan to have your dental practice in its current location? Dental marketing for your practice is an investment for the long-term security and profitability for your dental office. Successful dentists know that their name needs to be present in area households consistently and over the long term and they commit to dental marketing that is customized to them and helps them become a household name in their community.

How close does a competitor need to be to my practice to be considered a threat?

Consumers perceive that all dentists offer basically the same thing. You may not feel that other dental offices and their dental marketing campaigns are a threat to your dental practice, but in the dental consumers’ minds they are an option and therefore competing for the same dental patient dollars that you are after. You’ll want to have a close eye on all dental practices that operate within or just outside of your draw area. All patients in that area can choose your practice or another one within a certain distance. That distance varies on location, rural, suburban and urban – so know your area and target your dental marketing campaigns precisely to minimize competitor draw.

Which marketing strategy do many dentists underutilize today?

When it comes to dental marketing, the strategy that we see most dental offices underutilize is a multi-channel approach. It’s important to have a strong new patient acquisition strategy and a comprehensive patient retention game-plan. The dental marketing plan that hits all marks on the patient journey, print, direct mail, digital, social media, that’s the one that is most successful – and can be very manageable with the right dental marketing partner.

How long should I expect to stick with a dental marketing campaign before I see an ROI?

Attracting new dental patients is a function of practice success and security. If you’re not planning to move your location in the next five years, your goal is to be visible to the residents that live around your practice. This requires a long-term marketing plan that will build recognition. The practice situation, competitive landscape, practice reputation, staff engagement, practice status (ie no active marketing for some time), plateauing or declining revenues all reflect the investment of the practice management and will all play for or against success. Dental offices that have been actively engaged in dental marketing will achieve success more quickly than those that have been silently doing OK but now want to amp up production to get ready for sale. Every dental office can achieve success some just may take a stronger commitment to the strategies implemented, from direct mail, to web, to social but as long as a good investment is made to those strategies including team training to improve conversions and reviews, then every practice has the ability to achieve a 6:1 or higher ROI. The message is to do it right. Listen to the experts. Implement the training. Stay the course.