[ad_1]
Creating a dental newsletter is a leading dental advertising technique, not only because it keeps the practice's name regularly in front of current patients, but because a newsletter can increase referrals, increase startup logo design awareness, create stronger practice/patient relationships, improve patient satisfaction and loyalty, and improve lifetime-value of clients. Read on to learn the top ten tips for creating your own dental advertising newsletter.
1. Do Your Research
A big blunder many people make is to just dive into making the dental advertising newsletter. It's important to do your research - what kind of patients do you have? What is their main demographic? Who is the main decision maker in most households? You can also study newsletters from other dental practices and companies to get ideas on what type of newsletter you'd like to create.
2. Pick a Name
Instead of picking a generic name like "Dr. Smith's Dental Newsletter," be creative when choosing a name for your dental advertising newsletter. Clever names make the newsletter sound more fun to read and improve its marketability. Examples include: "Nothing but the Tooth," "The Brush & Floss Daily News," or the "Periodontal Periodical." Have fun with it and your patients will too!
3. Avoid Advertorials
Although technically an advertising vehicle, your newsletter is should incorporate education and be informative to your patients. If the articles in your newsletter are well-written and personal, they will engage your clients and accomplish the goal of the newsletter - to create a stronger relationship with your patients.
4. Don't Rely on the Internet
Many practices think an email newsletter is just as good as one that goes out in the mail to their patient's homes, but this couldn't be further from the truth. While email is a good way to reach patients (you could even email them and let them know they'll be receiving a newsletter in the mail soon), a print newsletter provides tangibility and credibility that a simple email just can't provide. Not to mention needing 100% of your patients email addresses versus having 100% of their mailing addresses, email readership remains flat at about 22%. Once brought into the home, a printed patient newsletter provides a constant reminder to your clients, where an email can be quickly deleted and soon "out of sight, out of mind". In addition, 90% of the 18-49 consumer group actually welcome, read and respond to printed mailed materials.
5. Write to Your Patients
Your patients don't want to be talked down to, but they also don't know all the technical jargon you may use with other dentists. Talk to your clients the way you would talk to one of your non-dentist friends. Don't purposefully use big words when smaller ones will do, and don't assume they'll automatically know certain dental terms or abbreviations.
6. Proofread, Edit, then Proofread Some More
Your dental advertising newsletter is a reflection of your dental practice. And if your newsletter has many errors, your patients might assume you're careless in all aspects of the practice. Have several people proofread each story, not only to make sure there are no misspellings or grammatical errors, but so you can have several perspectives as well.
7. Draw Readers in From the Start
You wouldn't buy a magazine at the supermarket if it was just a bunch of plain words on the cover, right? Make sure to "sell" your dental advertising newsletter by putting a story that packs a punch right on the front page. If you draw readers in from the very start, they're more likely to read through the entire newsletter.
8. Don't Hog the Spotlight
Readers are bound to get bored of reading all about Dr. Smith, so encourage various employees to participate in the newsletter by letting them write articles from their perspective in their area of expertise. Spotlight patients, community events, your charitable efforts and introduce new products. This will give your dental advertising newsletter a more interesting, comprehensive feel.
9. Don't Forget the Add-Ons!
Many dental practices spend so much time focusing on the actual practice that they forget to sell some of their add-on services that could bring in significant additional revenue. Consider devoting at least one article per newsletter to highlight one of your higher cost or lesser known services such as teeth whitening or adult braces, create urgency to respond by offering a time limited special consultation. Many patients will consider coming in for additional services when they know more about them.
10. When in Doubt - Don't DIY
Professionally produced patient newsletters represent the single most effective marketing tool for dental practices, so why gamble on doing it yourself. One of the biggest challenges dental practices can have is trying to create their own newsletter, and then maintain consistency. If you or your employees are unable to spend time researching, taking photos and creating really interesting patient centered content, seek the help of a professional dental advertising company.
A team of experts can create a newsletter that reflects your specific practice philosophies, speaks to your main patient demographic and the decision makers of the household, and many professional dental advertising companies even offer mailing services and call tracking to help track the ROI on your dental advertising investment. Start creating stronger practice/patient relationships and bringing in more quality patients with your very own dental advertising newsletter today!