The Failures and Disadvantages of Print Marketing

In today’s modern age where almost everything is apparently going digital and real-time, dentists who are still using or in favor of conventional print marketing don’t know what they are missing. Sure, print marketing for dentists has done its part on the past but now that there is a much more better alternative, it would be advisable to utilize it.

Online marketing has greatly revolutionized the dental industry. Dentists who applied online marketing to promote their skills are able to grab more patients and are able to communicate more effectively with their existing clients, thus resulting to better profits and revenue. Simply put, online marketing allows a dentist to acquire more patients and is not worried of losing their existing clients to competition.

The dental industry has increased significantly over the years – new dentists are coming out every now and then. Because of this, dental marketing has been more complex and competitive. The only time that printed dental marketing products can succeed is if it is perfectly planned and executed. Though some would surely disagree and will argue that print media can be

• noticed easier
• more engaging
• can persuade better than its online counterpart

First off, it is true that people tend to perceive information better and faster on printed materials rather than a computer screen. A deeper understanding of what they read with less eye fatigue is a great advantage of print marketing. Unfortunately, the problem with printed materials is that they are easily misplaced and disposed. Some people who receive flyers, business cards, or brochures wouldn’t immediately read its contents. At most, they would simply glanced at it and may keep it or throw it at the nearest trash bin. With online marketing, the visitor specifically searched for the information, hence, if they found it useful, it is likely that they will bookmark the particular site.

The next big advantage of print marketing for dentists is that it shows legitimacy and professionalism. A dentist with a business card conveys that here is a true professional. A poster or flyer with a physical address or photo of the location portrays that this is a legitimate dentist with an actual (not factual) office.

While it is true that flyers, banners, business cards, etc… can accomplish the above advantages, one has to consider the amount of time taken to plan, design, and produce these printed materials. Such printed materials can only be seen by a limited audience – the people of the local community.

To be fair with printed materials and conventional marketing, this marketing method is not dead and can still be effective. Printed marketing for dentists is here to stay and can still be used effectively if prepared properly. However, a much a much cheaper and efficient marketing method is also available. It would quite hard to choose traditional marketing over online marketing.

Nowadays, internet dental marketing is the popular choice by many dentists for their marketing campaigns. It is cheap, effective, reliable, and efficient. Online marketing projects that the dentist is modern and up to date with the current trends.

Online marketing for dentists is relatively easy as it covers only three essential steps. These three components are listed below.

For obvious reasons, this takes the number one spot. The website is the dentist’s virtual window to the customer – it is like a virtual helpdesk. The dental website should contain relevant information such as schedule, options or ways on how to contact the dentist, relevant information, etc…

When visiting a dental website, the customer should be able to see the dentist’s availability, make an appointment, see the dentist’s credentials, tips or some kind of info related to the procedure that they will undertake, etc…

The second method is about making your website appear in the front page of any search engine (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc…). Needless to say, majority of internet users when searching for something on the web are only interested on the top results returned by the search engine. If your website does not appear on the first page, it naturally follows lost potential clients. From the three essential steps, this is the most time consuming as it requires joining numerous dental forums, networking sites, article marketing etc…

However, it is important to note that there are numerous SEO companies out there (Egency in particular) that will do these things for you. Such companies offer inexpensive yet reliable service.

Reputation management –

Lastly is reputation building. People searching the web for dental practice would naturally do a background check of the dentist. They would search reviews, specialization, bad experience (if any), etc… Managing reputation is very crucial. If possible, ask satisfied customers to write or post their good experience on the website. For customers who appeared to be upset or dissatisfied, be sure to do something about it. Customers with bad experience but are well taken care of and cared for after, are usually the ones that remain loyal.