You may have recently opened your practice and noticed your clientele isn’t quite what you expected it to be. This could be for better or for worse. If you find that you aren’t getting the kinds of patients that you are looking for, you need to consider what specific audience you are trying to target (along with who you are currently targeting). Only by understanding this can you make necessary changes to better target the kind of patients you want.
Below is more information about finding your perfect target audience in the dental industry, along with what you can do once you’ve determined the right audience you would like to target.
How to Find Your Perfect Target Audience in the Dental Industry
Finding your target audience will take a little work on your part and some steps you’ll need to get through. While this may seem daunting, if you take it one step at a time, you’ll find it’s easier than you initially thought.
Here are some things you’ll want to do to find your perfect target audience in the dental industry:
Consider Your Field of Dentistry
The specific field you are in is going to make a big difference when it comes to the audience you are trying to target. As a more obvious example, if you are a pediatrician your audience is going to be kids (or, more specifically, their parents). With that said, you may specialize in general services, cosmetic, or specialized forms of care.
Consider what audience makes sense to your particular field and, from there, you can target your advertising and outreach efforts accordingly.
Determine the Ages of the Patients You Want to Treat
Again, pediatricians don’t really have to worry about this as much (unless there is a specific age range of children you don’t want to provide care for). Otherwise, consider the age of the patients.
If you perform a lot of implant and denture services, you may want to target an older clientele. If you mainly provide cosmetic services like whitening and dental bonding, on the other hand, you may be shooting for middle-aged or even younger.
Your field and specialty should help you to determine the age of the patients.
Consider Location and Income Level
Two extremely important parts of targeting that you may not be consciously considering are location and income level. These are grouped together because they often go hand-in-hand.
If you want to specialize in cosmetic, high-end services, you’ll likely need to target high-income patients. Where do these patients live? In high-income areas.
With that said, your goal may not be high-income patients. Instead, you may want to help communities in need and give back. That’s perfectly fine as well. But, if you want to help those in need, you will need to consider your advertising and location. If you are in a wealthy area that is hard to get to, you probably won’t be getting a lot of low-income patients.
Consider the income, then consider the location and go from there.
Perform a Competitor Analysis
If you have a direct competitor that is getting the kinds of clients that you want, consider a competitor analysis. While this is a marketing concept (and you probably aren’t an expert at marketing), it’s still something you can do on your own.
How?
The first thing you should do is check out your competitor’s website. See how they are positioning themselves. Consider their brand and identity. Also, look at some photos of their office (or even go to the office to check it out). See what they are doing that you aren’t. From there, you can determine the best changes possible to get more patients.
What to Do Next?
Once you have a better understanding of what patients you want to target, you’ll want to take that information and put it into practice. Simply learning your target audience isn’t enough to get them in the door!
Here are some things you can do to attract more of your ideal patients…
Perform a Brand Audit
Take a look at your website, office, and overall brand. Is your brand consistent with the image you want to present to your target audience? If not, consider what changes you can make to be better in line with the type of brands your target patients would be attracted to.
Make Any Changes to Your Website
Once you better understand your brand, you can start updating things like your website. Unless your office is brand new, it’s likely that your website is dated and could use an update anyway. Be honest, when was the last time you actually updated your site?
Either way, you need to make sure your website is in line with your brand, and you need to make sure your brand lines up with your target audience.
Advertise Through Relevant Channels
So, you have your new brand identity and a website that reflects it. Now what?
Now it’s time to get the word out there.
You’ll need to consider where your target audience is, and how you can best reach them. If they are younger or middle-aged, you can focus on social media and Google ads. You can also write blogs, make YouTube videos, or even start a podcast!
If your audience is older, you may want to focus a little more on the physical side. This may include billboards, TV ads, newspaper ads, and other places your older audience will be likely to look.
With that said, you can run both traditional and online ads to cast a wider net.
Encourage Referrals (Within Your Target Audience)
Once you start getting your target audience in the door, as them to refer patients to you. It’s likely that they’ll have friends and family members that are similar in age, income, and other factors.
With an understanding of your target audience, updates to your brand, and your advertising in place, you’ll get more target patients in the door in no time!