Case Study - Kickin' It Up A Notch - Comfort First Family Dental
Background
Dr. Jones' new dental practice was seeing 23 new patients per month, but she wanted to "kick it up a notch" when it came to marketing.
Concerned about competing against the other dental practices in her area, she sought out a non-dental-specific marketing company. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get the results she needed and became frustrated.
By switching to Firegang, she was able to increase her monthly new patient count from 23 to 42 in 4 months. She did this by making her website patient-focused, asking quality patients for online reviews, introducing an online ad campaign, and focusing on what types of services her new patients needed.
“I knew I needed patients. I tried to do marketing on my own at first with a few mailers and got an ok response.
But, I knew I needed to ‘kick it up a notch’ since we’re in a pretty competitive market and started thinking about how to use online marketing." ~ Dr. Miata Jones, Comfort First Family Dental
CHALLENGE #1
Potential New Patients Weren't Finding Her Practice Online
While Dr. Jones' practice had a website, it was so new that it wasn't showing up on Google searches. When it did show as a Google search result, there were no testimonials or patient feedback to build trust in her and Comfort First Family Dental.
Dr. Jones needed to find a way to not only make her website patient-focused but to build credibility online so potential new patients knew they could trust her new practice.
PRO-TIP - 3 Simple Ways To Get Your Practice “Seen” By Google
- Be mobile! Make sure your website is formatted to display well on smartphones.
- Create social media profiles. Make sure your practice has a page on Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn. Use a service like Hootsuite to make regular posting easy.
- Ask patients to leave reviews on Google. This increases your “star rating”, making it easier for your practice to be found.
SOLUTION #1 - A
Create A Patient-Focused Website That Highlights What Makes Practice Unique
Before beginning any online marketing efforts, Dr. Jones needed a website that clearly showed the benefits of her practice.
She made changes to the site and now it shows value to new patients by showcasing special pricing for consultations, an easy way to schedule an appointment and answers to the most common questions her patients were asking. The site also highlights convenient appointment options and expanded oral health services.
PRO-TIP - Action Step
Talk to your front office staff! Your staff knows exactly what new patients are looking for. Ask them what patients love about your office, and what made them decide to book an appointment.
By doing this you can clarify what makes your practice unique and start using that information to bring new patients to your website.
SOLUTION #1 - B
Ask Quality New Patients To Leave Online Reviews
When new patients finish an appointment, Dr. Jones' staff asks them if they would leave a review on Google or Yelp.
By adding this simple step to the checkout process, Comfort First Family Dental has been able to increase to a 4.8 star rating on Google and a 5 star rating on Yelp!
Reviews help build trust and increase the positive online reputation of Dr. Jones and the entire practice.
"I'm definitely seeing a positive ROI, our new patient numbers are growing every month.
We ask patients where they’ve heard of us and they almost always say online, through Google searches." ~ Dr. Jones
CHALLENGE #2
Dr. Jones Had Tried Using Online Ads Before, But They Hadn't Worked
The practice worked with a marketing company when it first opened, but Dr. Jones saw 0 new patients based on the marketing she was paying for each month.
Online ads were being run, but patients weren't seeing them or finding Dr. Jones' website as a result. Her time and money was being wasted on marketing efforts that weren't bringing new patients in the door.
She needed a better plan if her practice was going to be successful using online ads.
SOLUTION #2 - A
Use Targeted Keywords And Track The Ads' Success Each Month
Dr. Jones worked closely with Firegang each month to suggest keywords her new patients were commonly used to find her practice.
This enabled her online ads to be targeted to reach her local market and increased their chance at success. She also tracked the success of each online ad, making adjustments along the way to remove keywords that weren't working and add new ones.
SOLUTION #2 - B
Prioritize The Marketing Budget To Make The Most Of Her Investment
Finding the budget for marketing is a common worry for many dentists, especially startup practices like Dr. Jones'.
She decided to increase her online ad budget to $1,000 per month and use it as her practice's #1 marketing effort with incredible results.
By focusing her marketing efforts, she was able to increase her new patient flow rate by 58% in just 4 months and it is still climbing.
CHALLENGE #3
The Practice Is In A Highly Competitive Area And Needed To Differentiate Itself To Succeed
Every dental market is different and Dr. Jones needed to show how her practice could offer what her local competitors couldn't.
As a startup, she wasn't in a position to hire multiple specialists or bring in more new technology.
She wanted to make changes to her practice that would directly add value to her patients and give them what they needed and couldn't get anywhere else.
SOLUTION #3 - A
Offer Saturday Appointments And Creative Financing Options
Dr. Jones realized that her local competitors didn't offer weekend appointments, so she decided to open on Saturdays from 8am-3pm to make it easy for her patients to always find time to book an appointment.
She also extended her weekday hours to make it convenient for working patients to come to the office before or after traditional office hours. By going the extra mile with appointment times, Dr. Jones has seen her number of monthly new patients increase from 23 to 42 in just 4 months.
Comfort First Family Dental sees many families and financing options were something potential new patients constantly asked about. To meet this need, Dr. Jones developed a $1 new patient special, a Lending Club offering fixed monthly payments and giving a 5% discount to any patient paying with cash.
SOLUTION #3 - B
Always Answer The Phone, Even After Office Hours
The phone is always answered at Dr. Jones' practice and this is one of the main reasons her startup practice has been successful.
The front desk staff consistently answers phone calls during in-office hours and the practice's number is handled by an answering service that can schedule patients after-hours.
Dr. Jones also makes it clear that her office will accept emergency calls from non-patients and schedule next-day appointments. Her practice is consistently asking, "What can I do to make my patients' lives easier?" and puts it into action every day.
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"You have to give the people what they want within reason. A lot of patients think one dentist is as good as another so they’re looking for those little things.Things like giving financing, options and not insisting you only do things one way make a difference. It's about meeting people where they are and trying to work with them." ~ Dr. Jones
RESULTS
Dr. Jones and Comfort First Family Dental were able to increase their new patient flow per monthly by 58% by:
- Changing the practice's website to attract new patients;
- Using online ads to send new patients from Google searches directly to the practice's website; and
- By adapting the services they offer to provide what other dental offices in the area weren't.
She was also able to build the practice's reputation on Google and Yelp by asking quality patients to leave online reviews. The practice now has a 4.8-star rating on Google and a 5-star rating on Yelp.
When she first opened her practice, Dr. Jones was spending too much money on marketing efforts that weren't working. Now her practice continues to see the number of new patients per month increase because of her decision to focus her marketing budget on targeted online ads.
She's able to build relationships with families in her community by offering flexible appointments, emergency scheduling and creative financing options that make their lives easier.
FINAL THOUGHTS
How Was Dr. Jones Able To Achieve Such A High Increase of New Patients In Just 4 Months?
She viewed her practice through the eyes of a new patient and chose to put the patient first. By offering creative financing solutions, convenient appointment times and always answering the phone, she knew she had a practice that would advertise well online.
Once she decided how to differentiate her practice from her local competitors, she made changes to her website to make it more relevant.
Once her website was ready, she went to work putting an online ad campaign in place to bring Google searchers to her site "on demand".
By asking quality patients to review the practice on Google and Yelp, Comfort Family Dental was able to achieve a 4.8-star rating on Google and a 5-star rating on Yelp.
Dr. Jones was able to increase her new patient flow rate by focusing on exactly what prospective patients need and providing it through her website and her practice as a whole.
If you want a dental marketing company that will help you build a marketing plan designed to get high-quality new patients that respect your time, value, and expertise (& minimizing no-shows), then click below to schedule your Marketing Assessment Call.
