Every day, it seems states like California, Florida, New Jersey, and many more are getting closer to the second round of shutdowns. Luckily, we have experience on our side to help dentists prepare for the next shut down, before panic gets in the way of smart decision-making. Take a look at some of the data we saw from the last shut down to help you prepare for the next...

Keep Your Marketing Running

Back in March and April, most dentists stopped marketing, in a panic move to hold onto cash flow. But for the dentists that kept running online ads to treat emergency patients, they paid record-low prices for record-high click-through rates: booking more patients for less money than they probably ever have!

This graph shows our clients' ad performance & cost during the shutdown:

If there is another shutdown, the first thing you need to do is keep your marketing running. While your competitors cancel their marketing, you will benefit from low ad costs to stack appointments for re-opening.

However, you may need to adjust your marketing message to fit the times and attract new patients. Marketing during the shutdown is not a one-size-fits-all strategy, so be wary of dental marketers telling all dentists to do the same thing. We have the data to prove that different marketing worked for different markets...

Create Messaging that Works for Your Patients

During the first shutdown, in some markets, like Indiana, patients were too afraid to go to the dentist. In others, like Colorado, patients preferred practices that continued their same messaging, without being reminded of COVID-19. The messaging needs to be specific to your practice and patients. At Firegang, we create a specific messaging strategy for each practice to set them up for success, especially during delicate times like the pandemic.

Safety Messaging

No matter the time of year, shut down or fully opened, standing out from your competitors is how you will attract new patients. For some dentists, like Dr. Hurcomb at Tulip Tree Dental Care in Indiana, that meant communicating safety messaging differently (and better) than her competitors.

Dr. Hurcomb ran a video advertisement on Facebook to share her practice’s safety steps, including:

• Staff getting tested for COVID-19
• Staff being properly fit tested for N95 respirators
• Their brand new, state-of-the-art surgically clean air purification system

Click here to watch the video ad.

This ad cost less than $100, was viewed over 5,000 times, attracted new patients, and even landed them a spot on the local news to discuss their safety steps...where they would reach even MORE new patients!

If you want to learn how Firegang can help you prepare for the next shutdown & claim the Nifty Thrifty Deal, click below:

Click Here for the Nifty Thrifty Deal

Non-Safety Messaging

A few states over in Colorado, Comfort Dental Kids took the opposite approach. They stuck with the same exact marketing strategy that they were running before the COVID-19 closures. They updated their ads but used “business as usual” messaging, including this Google ad that brought in more new patients at only $44 cost per acquisition.

At their Lakewood location, Comfort Dental Kids saw an impressively steadfast number of new patients during the closures (emergency-only patients) and saw an incredible increase in new patients when they re-opened, all because they kept their marketing running and were able to stack new appointments.

If you want to learn how Firegang can help you prepare for the next shutdown & claim the Nifty Thrifty Deal, click below:

Click Here for the Nifty Thrifty Deal

Consistent Messaging

Once your marketing message is identified for your specific market, you want that message to be consistent across all parts of your marketing. For example, Tulip Tree discussed safety in their ads and social media, so when patients clicked on their website, they needed to see safety & COVID-specific messaging there as well. If the messaging was inconsistent, patients may become wary of the doctor, and choose a competitor instead.

When patients called the practice, the front office needed to be able to continue that safety messaging, and answer questions about all safety steps. This includes confirming any ads or posts online that marketed safety. Tulip Tree uses Firegang's Call Coaching to convert over 70% of new patient calls into new patients, and their consistent messaging was the key to their success during the shutdown.

To learn more about Firegang's Integrated Marketing & Call Coaching, and claim the Nifty Thrifty Deal, click here.

Be Adaptable…

Across the nation, and even the world, healthcare and dentistry adapted to the new normal. However, many dentists waited to integrate new methods, such as teledental, or simply didn’t know where to start.

Here are a few ways we helped our clients stay adaptable during the first shutdown:

• Found the best HIPAA-compliant teledental platforms & coached dentists on how to run a teledental call without feeling awkward or over-discounting doctor time
• Partnered with patient communications platforms so dentists could strengthen relationships with existing patients (to avoid losing any during the shutdown!)
• Partnered with online reputation platforms so practice staff could use the extra time to ask patients for positive reviews
• Helped dentists create patient-converting video ads
• Help front office staff navigate strategies to communicate with all patients, retain existing patients, & stack appointments for the future

If there is a second shutdown or any unforeseeable situation, you need a marketing company that will help you be adaptable as well....so you can still have predictable new patient flow in unpredictable circumstances. 

If you're interested in partnering with Firegang to grow your practice, click below to schedule your free Marketing Assessment Call & claim the Nifty Thrifty Deal:

Click Here to Schedule Your Marketing Assessment Call

...But Avoid Knee-Jerk Decisions

When the first shutdown arrived, dentists made understandable, yet panicked, decisions to hold onto money. Now that we have the experience and can look back on the actual data, we can see that the knee-jerk decisions to stop marketing hurt many practices, and they may not recover until 2021. 

If there is another shutdown on the way, nationwide or by state, you need to feel confident that your marketing will be your path out of hardship, to secure your practice’s future.

If you want to learn more about how we helped dentists survive and thrive through COVID-19, and helped them grow their practice when they opened up again, click here to book an assessment call with us.