Key local business and marketing trends that apply to healthcare and dental practices — 5 insights

Medical and dental practices share many common characteristics and trends with other local businesses. A 2021 survey looked at how consumers feel about local businesses and how dental practices are meeting consumers' expectations.

During a February webinar sponsored by Podium and hosted by Becker's Dental + DSO Review, dental marketing leaders discussed how to translate insights from this research into business success. The panelists were:

  • Raechel Duplain, product marketing manager, Podium
  • Brad Newman, founder and chief buzz officer, Dentainment

Five insights:

  1. In times of uncertainty and complexity, efficiency is paramount. A number of the top challenges facing local businesses, including medical and dental practices, are staffing, supply chain and changing COVID-19 protocols. Another challenge is keeping up with demand. With constrained hiring, efficiency is the key to meeting demand. Facing a high risk of burnout and a diminished patient experience, many practices are looking at automation. When leveraging technology, personalization is vital.

  2. All local businesses are adapting to changes in consumer behavior accelerated by the pandemic. The pandemic accelerated shifts to digital and mobile. "It's fast-tracked the way patients and consumers want to interact with [local] businesses," Ms. Duplain said. Overwhelmingly, consumers expect these changes to continue after the pandemic, especially as younger consumers use digital and mobile communications channels. The survey found 46 percent of consumers seek out businesses that provide alternatives to talking on the phone.

    To adapt, local businesses rely on reputation (including online), customer experience and expertise. Marketing strategies reflect this. "On the top of your website, right under the header, you want to make sure you have all your 'trust' signals," Mr. Newman said, like accreditations and awards to demonstrate expertise. Other strategies leverage user content to burnish reputation, such as being Instagram-friendly to invite patients to share with others. Using images help a practice convert website visitors to patients.

  3. Local businesses must compete on convenience. For more than half of consumers, convenience is top of mind when choosing a local business. Convenience also influences referrals and repeat business. It is vital for dental practices to keep convenience in mind. "Make it easy for me to find you, make an appointment, pay you and communicate with you," Ms. Duplain said.

    Marketing can ensure patients know a practice is convenient, which can be amplified by repurposing "social proof," such as Google reviews. Failing to respond promptly to inquires can cause potential leads to fall through the cracks.

  4. Technology enables dental practices to improve the customer experience. Like other local businesses, dental practices are making tech investments. Top priorities include messaging software, phone systems, point-of-sale/payment processing, website chat, social media management and email marketing.

  5. Lean into consumers' desire to support local businesses. Three quarters of consumers are more likely to patronize a business that shows community support. Dental practices can tap into this interest by emphasizing their ties to the local community. For example, a dental practice can celebrate National Pizza Day by sharing a picture on social media of their team enjoying pizza from a favorite local business. This shows personality, enhances the brand and conveys that "you're supporting a local business," Mr. Newman said. This practice is "promoting healthy smiles, all without [directly] selling dentistry. It's the perfect social media post."

Consumers are looking to do business with unique and convenient medical and dental practices, just as with other local businesses.

To register for upcoming webinars, click here.

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