Email Marketing For Dentistry: A Guide You Need To Know in 2022

COVID-19 has spearheaded major turnarounds for existing and emerging markets. Email marketing for dentistry is also part of a bigger picture of the digital presence of the healthcare industry. We have been riding the wave of change that is still to reach its cusp, but the point where we stand now in healthcare digitization is termed a “quantum leap” by McKinsey.

Of course, looking back 10 years, healthcare was not expecting such transformation and email marketing for dentistry received a low priority. For instance, in The Case of Digital Reinvention  by McKinsey, it was observed that industries are less than 40% digitized in 2017. Healthcare systems reported digital penetration was at 51%

A more recent study in 2020 by McKinsey, COVID-19 Digital Transformation, concludes that “COVID-19 has accelerated the digitalization of customer interactions by several years”. Healthcare and pharma have digitized faster than the consumer packaged goods (CPG), with a reported “jump nearly twice as large” compared to CPG in particular.

In other words, if you are looking at email marketing for dentistry, there is a strong case to analyze the shift of the entire healthcare industry from a slowly digitizing world to one that’s changing at a dazzling speed. With this backdrop, read ahead to find out the best marketing practices for dental care facilities and how Xoopah, a complete business management solution, can help you get there.

Marketing strategy for dental care facilities

The phrase “digital transformation” is an oft repeated buzz word in the marketing industry; however, it is more than just that. It refers to the advancement of technology which is better able to diagnose problems and help the healthcare staff deliver solutions to their patients. And it keeps getting better.

For instance, dentists have more advanced equipment, medications, procedures, and simulations that didn’t exist before; however, the dental care industry might just be transforming in a bubble, away from thousands of potential customers.

A good marketing strategy that increases the customer interaction can impact dental clinics, so the dental facilities can sustain healthy competition and thrive in economically challenging times. Therefore, a sound strategy with all correctly poised markers, can deliver the real promise of digital transformation to the stakeholders.

Align your marketing strategy with your goals

Leading companies display an important trend that decides how the marketing strategy pays off. McKinsey’s pandemic related study suggests that at the winning companies, “Marketing strategy is one and the same as the corporate strategy”.

Streamlining one’s corporate goals has significant consequences. If one has not vetted the vision and a corporate strategy, then the efforts made on the digital marketing front will bear little to no results.

The corporate strategy in oral care businesses includes informed decisions about costs, required resources, forecasting, and taking the required measures to sustain the business. Email marketing purpose should become very clear once the dentists have a corporate strategy in place.

Marketing funnel for dentists

A marketing funnel is a customer journey model that outlines the steps clients take to complete their purchase. Dentists can make use of the AIDA model (Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action) to understand each step of the funnel; email marketing comes in the middle of the funnel where your customers already have an interest in your service.

It is a funnel because it leads dentists to understand how they can gain and retain customers. Email marketing is for those clients who have visited your clinic, had a virtual consultation, or have subscribed to your updates and offers from your website.

Purpose of dental email marketing

The information in dental email marketing usually serves the purpose of retaining your clients. It has several other goals too:

• Engage to retain and attract clients

• Provide personalized experiences and testimonials by clients

• Provide relevant information of the dental practice and the facility

• Increase revenue of the dental practice

• Manage bookings and schedule appointments

Features of email marketing for dentists

Your clients usually wouldn’t ask you technical questions, such as, “do you have an imaging device from

that company?” Instead, you will be the one taking the lead and coming with details of your equipment that your clients would like to know more about and also inform them about your unique selling proposition (USP).

There are wo types of email marketing for dentists:

• Top of the funnel or educational content

• Bottom of the funnel or unique selling proposition (USP)

Type 1: Top of the funnel – Educational content

Address the challenges:

As a dentist in practice, you already have a fair idea of the challenges and issues faced by most people, possibly segmented by age groups and habits. You can identify these common trends and share your tips on how you address them with the help of technology.

For instance, many patients have aesthetic dentistry concerns of aligning teeth. You can use email campaigns to show how it is done now. You can visually represent a timeline of changes in alignment that a client expects to know. If you know that parents and children are hesitant about the procedure of pulpotomy, you could explain the process and address the common concerns.

Developing trust in you:

You may also incorporate educational blog articles or maintain a blog yourself. Your patients want to know that they are in safe hands and educating your patients makes them develop their trust in you.

Sending reminders of dental hygiene:

Sending regular informational tips about dental hygiene practices and general care advice are greatly appreciated by the clients who prefer reminders via emails.

Liaising information with insurance companies:

This can be a regular informational feature of your emails whereby you can keep the patients updated about different ways to pay for their required dental procedures. Dental procedures can be expensive and many patients may be hesitant to ask for the costs. Emails are a great way to reach the customers who will appreciate knowing about different packages by health insurance companies.

Type 2: Showcase your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

You have a great chance to showcase your USP using pictures, testimonials, videos, and all factors that make you different. If you have ad campaigns running, this is the place to pitch your offers as well. You may consider pictures of your office, clinic, equipment, and staff. A video explainer with your highlights can also be greatly helpful in getting your USP across your patients.

Statistics suggest that over 90% of people spend more time looking at pictures of your offers and watching your videos. They will be motivated to purchase your services and keep their attention for longer if there is visual content.

Possible USPs:

Equipment and Therapy

Dentists need to stay informed about the latest developments in dental technologies. For instance, iTero, an intraoral scanner is set to improve dental impressions, will become extremely important to restorative dentistry.

News of newer technological equipment may travel fast or slow to you, depending on your resources and demography. Let’s not forget that Invisalign came out in 1997, whereas it took some years to reach everywhere in the world, depending on the factors mentioned above.

Dental industry is already pushing for a standardized flow of information about developments and challenges, however, till that’s achieved, you have to be in a good position to stay in touch with the latest technologies.

Teledentistry and virtual care:

Teledentistry means that the patient and the dentist connect over a synchronous video call to share lab scans, previous history, and discuss possible solutions and timelines. Patients are then virtually followed-up with a call.

Email marketing makes a strong case for encouraging your patients to use virtual care for more convenience. Digital Transformation by Deliotte confirms the future of virtual care, whereby it states that 68% of healthcare facilities surveyed preferred investing in telehealth services.

If dentists are offering virtual care post-pandemic and plan on improving this service, it is a great idea to share this possibility with your clients over emails who may need to consult, especially when they are traveling or you are out of town.

It is very likely that every dental clinic will soon be offering some consultations virtually. Oral Health Group research study suggests that 50% of dentists implemented a teledentistry program during the pandemic and 94% of dentists plan to take webinars and courses to understand virtual consultations.

Finding your unique selling point (USP)

Rigorously upgrading your equipment and staying ahead of the competitors requires considerable investments. Many dental health facilities lack the resources required to invest regularly and boldly into futuristic technology or streamlined payments. Your technology and digital experience can very well be your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) in dentistry.

A study by CareStream Dental posts very encouraging numbers about the patient’s trend about technology: 2 in 3 patients would consider switching to a dentist who uses more advanced technology. Therefore, if you are working towards a more advanced clinical practice, you won’t be surprised to see the response among your patients.

Bring out your USP in emails

Since emails are in the middle of the AIDA funnel, you are already well poised to enjoy the interest of clients by using some differentiators that help your dental practice stand apart from others. In email marketing, your focal point is to bring out the quality of your digital, technological and educational services in the digital world.

Therefore, along with your educational background, experience in-office, you want your clients to know that you are moving with the rest of the healthcare trends that show a high interest and reception in clients and services.

Cashless payments:

If you are looking to explore integrated, cashless payment solutions for your clinic for your patients to experience a queue-free clinic, you may want to check out Xoopah’s SMS and Email payment solutions. Cashless payments are the preferred payment of many customers already and the number will triple by 2030. (Future Ready Payments 2030 by PwC)

Make bookings online:

Many clients are looking to book dental services online. If you are keen to digitize your schedules and appointments, then you can highlight this as your USP in the marketing emails as well.

With Xoopha’s bookings, you can steer clear of all the paperwork or excel files. You can additionally keep a track of all the schedules and cancellations using the Xoopah dashboard.

B2B dental marketing

In B2B dental marketing, dentists interact with healthcare organizations instead of patients. So, if a dental clinic wants to know about suppliers of dental equipment or connect with pharmaceutical companies, then this is B2B marketing. In B2B marketing, the target audience is the dental care facility, dentists, and healthcare professionals.

B2C dental email marketing is targeted towards patients or clients.

Dental email marketing templates Xoopah is a digital marketing platform that keeps you connected with your patients via emails. With Xoopah’s email services, you can send marketing emails to your patients that give them useful information and highlight your USPs. With Xoopah, you do not have to worry about dental email marketing templates.

With your selected package, you will get template support from Xoopah for sending email campaigns and individual emails.

Whether you are looking for dental email marketing to educate your clients or sell your services, you can benefit from this marketing guide and Xoopah’s email solutions.