Posted by Sara WesterburgSenior Interactive Marketing Specialist

In this economy, we all have to get used to trying a little harder. Finding creative ways to market your dental practice can be the key to producing results in a tough economic climate.

Getting clients in your office can be the key here, even if they only come in for a routine cleaning once every six months. Once you have a client in your office, as long as you provide an excellent patient experience, they will come back, and potentially consider more expensive procedures down the road – such as teeth-straightening aligner technology or veneers. So while the upfront return on investment on a routine cleaning isn’t that high, the end results can be worth it.

Here are a couple ideas to really incentivize prospective patients to make that first visit that I’ve seen work great with past clients:

• Running New Client Specials: Specials such as “$49 Cleaning and X-Rays for New Clients,” while not particularly profitable for you in the short run, will allow you to attract a new audience to your dental practice. Such introductions can be the first step to creating a loyal customer base.

• “Get to know us for $1:” Anyone that sees “$1” in an advertisement will immediately be interested in it. Come up with a catchy way to say this and your ad that will grab attention immediately. Leave the specifics of the deal vague, so you can let your office manager or receptionist tell the client more details. I’ve seen great success with promotions such as this one – and it’s yet another technique to get those clients in the door.




Ultimately, it’s up to the individual practice to weigh the pros and cons of running these kind of promotions, but if you’re really struggling to get new patients in the door, some of these ideas may be worth a shot.