Why patient communication and marketing is essential for your practice

For any small business owner, whether you have just opened up your first practice, you’re looking to expand, or you’ve just acquired a practice from a retiring partner, the way you handle your communications and marketing can have a huge impact on your ability to attract and retain patients, and recall patients who haven’t visited in awhile.

The world has changed, and with it, so too have patient expectations and demands. Here are just a few of the most common “requirements” that we hear from patients looking for their next healthcare provider:

My next dentist/doctor/healthcare provider must have:

  • A strong presence online, including a website and social media accounts
  • A positive online reputation, including more than a few reviews and an above-average star rating
  • An affordable list of services, and ideally good promotions or discounts for loyal patients
  • A modern office, reliable and convenient hours and appointment scheduling process

Now consider your practice. Can you confidently say that you have each of these four bullets covered? Integrated marketing communications and a long-term content and social strategy will net you better results from campaigns, and connect you to engaged, interested patients—but if you don’t have the time to develop these campaigns from scratch, or the experts to help you develop a plan of action, don’t despair!

An online marketing and patient communications platform like Demandforce can help do the heavy lifting for you, so that you have more time to spend on your patients. You remain in control of your marketing, your patient databases, and your appointment book – Demandforce just helps you automate tasks to streamline some repetitive office tasks, and helps you send out professional, proven email and postcard campaigns to drive patient acquisition, retention, and recall.

A strong online presence

Having a strong online presence, including a website and active social media accounts, helps when a patient is looking your practice up online, and wants to compare your online “credentials” with other practices in your area. A website adds legitimacy to your business, and active social media accounts add to your overall sense of “social proof.” This just means that when a patient looks up your practice and sees an updated website and active social media presence, they feel more confident in your business overall, and are more apt to choose you over others. Demandforce can help with this by making sure that all your online listings are updated and consistent, and that you’re continually requesting and posting new positive reviews from prior customers.

Good promotions and discounts

Did you know that it costs much less to keep a current patient engaged and returning to your practice than to solely focus your efforts on new patient acquisition? This is why retention efforts are so important to maintaining a healthy revenue stream. One of the ways you can keep your patients connected to your practice and engaged is by setting them up in an email nurture campaign, and sending them discounts on and off. You can even set up a loyalty club, if that works for your practice. A platform like Demandforce allows you to quickly set up and send custom email campaigns that offer discounts and ways to remind patients of recommended services and procedures.

Ultimate convenience for your patients

These days, the new normal is being busy. Patients have full schedules and are experts at time management. In order to keep your patients happy and satisfied with what your practice offers, you need to provide them with a seamless appointment scheduling process, a painless check-in and check-up, and an easy way to remember to book again. With Demandforce, you can make sure that you’re never missing a step, and our online platform keeps track of every communication you’ve sent, and every answer you’ve received from a patient. From offering 24/7 online booking to automated appointment reminders and two-way text, Demandforce can help you keep your patients happy—and a happy patient is one that keeps coming back.

For more information on Demandforce, or to set up a quick demo of our easy-to-use online platform, visit demandforce.com.

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