Three benefits of capturing the online tsunami in 2020
By Dr. Greg Grillo
Accelerated growth of social and mobile technology leaves every business, including dental practices, on either side of a digital divide. Innovators use online strategies to create superior customer experiences. Traditional thinkers watch a competitive advantage slip further out of reach.
Many businesses struggle with enhancing their digital presence and demand. According to a recent study, 62% of companies plan to improve the online customer experience in 2020, but only 26% of organizations are ready to execute new digital strategies.
Where does your dental practice stand? In a challenging new environment left behind in the wake of COVID-19, here are the first three of six benefits we’ll explore for driving digital demand.
1. Capitalizes on Consumer Psychology
Most consumers today aren’t spending a lot of time in the Yellow Pages. But they are spending an average of 142 minutes a day on social media. And that consumption level surged during COVID-19. Meeting patients where they’re at means understanding what they’re looking to find.
In the book Decoding The New Consumer Mind , Dr. Kit Yarrow points out that today’s consumers want to interact with genuine businesses that provide fast results and integrate technology and innovation. By creating attractive, cohesive interactions, your practice can guide the entire patient journey into and capture the power of shifting consumer psychology. Driving demand on the digital freeway puts you in the driver’s seat.
2. Builds a Targeted Audience
Every practice is different, but the average dentist serves about 1600 active patients. While your message and brand spread across the online and offline landscape, you’re not looking to attract everyone under the sun. By designing and executing a strategy that drives digital demand, you can target local leads you want to bring into your patient family.
Most conventional marketing methods use a shotgun approach by placing ads across TV, radio, newspapers, and other print campaigns. But digital marketing allows your brand to land on the consumers you define. As they engage with your content, you can continue to target them with well-designed information that encourages them to choose you for care.
3. Integrates Your Marketing Technology
Your patients and leads spend time on multiple devices and channels, and they expect a smooth experience from brands. An ad that draws a click should lead to a landing page that furthers a visitor towards an appointment. Quizzes and assessments on your branded pages trigger email campaigns that show people more about your services.
Research shows that consumers display cross-channel behavior. On average, they view content on twelve different sources during their buying journey. The more demand you drive to your digital brand, the more integrated the pieces need to be. Like a perpetual flywheel, everything needs to work together and talk the same language. The smoothest marketing machines for dental practices usually work on a single platform solution built by the same team of architects.
Stay Tuned For More!
More tips from Dr. Grillo are on the way. Watch for Part 2 next week, packed with strategies for optimizing your digital marketing. In the meantime, get tips from our free guide on search optimization and your dental practice.