Dental practices have suffered tremendously as the coronavirus continues to change the way Americans live and spend money. Though many dentists are focusing on the most pressing, immediate issues, they must look at the big picture as well. The decisions that many of them make right now will have a substantial influence on the futures of their businesses.

While you are unable to see your patients at this time, you can still communicate with them and foster a community virtually. In fact, maintaining your visibility online may be crucial to the success of your practice after the pandemic.

Dental marketing can become one of your most important tools for connecting with new and regular patients alike, especially while they are at home and highly likely to read through emails or important notices. Though you never want to appear tone-deaf, you can certainly provide informative and sincere messages on your website, in newsletters, and through other essential marketing tools.

As a result, an investment in high-quality dentist marketing during the covid-19 pandemic will increase your chances of success when your business reopens. You will be far better prepared for a resurgence in dental appointments and may develop long-lasting relationships with brand new patients.

The Do’s and Don’ts of Dental Marketing During the Pandemic

Many traditional dental marketing ideas will no longer have a positive impact on your patients during the pandemic. In fact, ignoring the pandemic in your copywriting may make you seem insensitive and could easily push away your patients.

As a result, your practice ought to incorporate new dental marketing strategies into its business. This will help prevent negative reactions to your advertisements or online campaigns. With carefully planned, thoughtful campaigns, you may attract new customers without taking advantage of the difficult situation.

A good dental marketing service will recommend that you revisit any automated messages or campaigns that are still in place. Everything that was crafted and written before the pandemic must now be viewed in a different light. Be sure to question whether any automated messages now seem offensive. Though you may not need to scrap everything you have planned, it may be best to pause all automated messaging.

Your next step may be to halt any non-digital marketing you currently have in place. With revenue at a dangerous low, money spent on marketing must be spent wisely. Any outlets that are not digital will offer you very little success, as most Americans are seeing only online messages and updates.

From here, any high-quality dentist marketing agency would recommend that you begin anew and determine what messages you would like to send to your current patients and perspective patients. Sending informative, thoughtful messages may help you build patient loyalty and maintain the relationship you have with your community.

However, there is a fine line between sharing enough and oversharing in your messages. You may not want to discuss in detail the ways in which your practice is struggling, because most businesses are suffering in some way at this time. Instead, you may find opportunities to let patients know what your office is doing to help during the pandemic. This includes offering virtual visits and emergency appointments, or even the ways you have been supporting the community, if applicable.

An Example of Simple, Constructive Marketing: Dental Newsletters

Marketing a dental practice during covid-19 may start by simply sending out a newsletter. While most practices have already sent out updates to inform patients of office closings, monthly newsletters may be used to stay in touch with patients and provide useful information.

For instance, you may want to use a newsletter to discuss:

The specific safety precautions your office is implementing during the pandemic.

Virtual appointments via phone calls or video calls.

Emergency appointments, and whether your office is offering them.

Anything else you can do for your patients at this time, such as prescribing medication.

Adding this information to newsletters is a good online marketing strategy for dentists because patients will benefit from it in multiple ways. They are far less likely to feel as though they wasted time reading the message if it offers valuable insights. They will hopefully learn that their dental office is using the best safety practices to prevent the spread of the virus. Most importantly, they may feel safer about coming in for emergency visits if necessary and scheduling appointments after the pandemic.

To ensure you are following good dental-practice marketing, make sure your newsletters have a personal touch. Let your patients know that you hope this message finds them well and healthy. As always, remind them that you are available to answer questions during this difficult time. End the message on a positive note, possibly by telling them how much you can’t wait to see their beautiful smiles when the pandemic is over.

In addition, the notice you send to your patients when you eventually reopen your practice is of the utmost importance. Most patients will have a lot of questions about the safety of visiting, and you must address each question so that they feel comfortable making appointments.

However, finding the best and most thoughtful ways of communicating that you are finally open for business can be challenging. It may be in your best interests to seek professional help for the marketing of your reopening.

Why You Should Consider Hiring a Marketing Agency

Developing a personal dental office marketing plan is a massive undertaking for any practice, especially when traditional marketing methods are far less successful during times of crisis.

However, advertising your services, especially if you are offering tele-dentistry and emergency dental appointments, is crucial. Many practices are closed indefinitely, which means new patients may be looking online for another dentist in the area who can provide immediate treatment or guidance.

If you are wondering how to attract new patients to your dental practice at this time, your best option may be a marketing agency. A full-service agency will craft polished and personalized content for your patients to read on a regular basis. And with professional and engaging ads, your website may experience a surge in visitors. This will significantly increase the chance that patients contact your business for virtual consultations, emergency appointments, and regular appointments, when your practice reopens.

Dental practices thrive on their connections to local communities. At GrowDDS, we consider our focus on local communities to be the most important component of our high-quality marketing. We can provide a personal touch to every monthly newsletter, social media advertisement, and page on your website. For a stress-free and successful approach to digital marketing during this uncertain time, we hope you choose GrowDDS.