family

Ways To Attract More Families To Your Dental Practice

By ||Published On: May 6th, 2022||Categories: Dentists, Healthcare Marketing||
family

Along the same lines as the age-old question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?, when marketing your dental practice to families, do you focus on dental care for the adults or the children? For both, you’re really trying to attract the parents, but as far as who’s going to be the first patient, well, there’s a few ways to approach that…

WHO’S MAKING THE APPOINTMENTS? 

When developing your marketing strategies, the best way to get new dental patients revolves around the person who’s making the appointments for the family. Commonly, in a two-partner household, one parent takes the lead when it comes to maintaining the family calendar, from extracurricular activities and team practices, to birthday parties and healthcare appointments. A juggling act even on the best of days, caregivers can alleviate some of the headache by relying on one practice for all members of the family. 

  • CONSOLIDATE! – Your Services page on your website should include a comprehensive list of the dental treatments that you provide – even better if you create groupings sorted by typical treatments by age range. This allows the decision-makers to easily see that your practice can treat all members of the family, at all stages in their dental care. Did you know that children should receive their first dental visit before age 1? Or that orthodontic treatment often begins between the ages 8 and 14? Wisdom Teeth removal? Dental care during pregnancy? Diabetes? Periodontics? Establishing a treatment plan that follows you as you grow, whether you’re 1 or 12 or 82, your dental needs change with age and a family practice allows you to receive all the care your family needs in one convenient location.

  • AUTOMATE! – Make it easy for parents to schedule appointments and keep track of upcoming visits. Booking links and chat boxes on your website and other social media platforms allow the masters of the multitask to make appointments while in the midst of other family duties. Through email, text messaging, and automated phone calls you can easily send reminders and gather appointment confirmations. Software advancements also allow you to send one message if several family members have appointments during the same visit.

  • SOCIALIZE! – Not only on social media, but maintain a presence in your community as well. Sponsor charity events, participate in wellness clinics, 5K races, community fairs and other events that put your face out into the public. By becoming a familiar face, patients of all ages can overcome any anxiety that they may face when visiting a new doctor, a fear that is usually heightened when that doctor will be going anywhere near their teeth.   

ADAPTING THROUGH THE AGES

Expanding your services beyond care for patients of all ages, today’s dental practices need to stay on the forefront of the needs of today’s busy families in order to attract new patients.

  • TELEDENTISTRY – Teledentistry services provide patients with a way to communicate with their dentists when they are experiencing tooth pain or other dental concerns, or when needing a follow-up visit after a dental procedure, proving that teledentistry is here to stay. While not a replacement for dental visits, teledentistry offers flexibility in care, expanding the reach and resources for your dental practice.

  • MEMBERSHIP PLANS – Currently 10% of children and over 30% of adults do not have dental benefits. Allowing patients to pay a monthly rate for dental work as opposed to large payments at the time of their appointments broadens your pool of prospective patients, making dental care more affordable and defraying the sting of out-of-pocket costs.

  • PATIENT PORTALS – Providing secure access to appointment history, X-rays and test results, and other sensitive information, a Patient Portal allows you to continually provide access to exceptional dental care while complying with HIPAA privacy regulations. Integrate payment processing into your portal services and let patients pay for their cleanings and exams with the same convenience they pay their credit card bills.

Today’s families move at a breakneck speed, making marketing a fluid enterprise that must constantly respond to their need for high-quality, but also convenient, care. 

Strategy Meeting

Looking for additional help?

At Firefly Marketing, we help you to broaden your practice, letting your patients know that you provide quality care to patients of all ages. 

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About the Author: Lauren Tumminello

lauren tumminello Ways To Attract More Families To Your Dental Practice
Account Manager – Like a glass of champagne, Lauren’s bubbly personality quickly brightens any conversation. As an account manager, Lauren is skilled at breaking down the big picture into a frame-by-frame solution tailored to each client’s goals and dreams. Eternally optimistic, her approach to problem-solving centers on prioritizing wants and needs on a human scale, making her a strong marketing partner.

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