You’re looking at your practice’s returning patients, new patients, and overall growth...and you’re disappointed. You’ve leveraged every external marketing tactic you can think of to draw in patients, so why isn’t it working?

Are you really doing everything you can to boost the growth of your dental practice? 

Some dental practices focus so heavily on flashy marketing strategies that they forget about one of their most important tools: internal resources. 

Dental internal marketing might just be the key to boosting the growth of your practice. A vital part of internal marketing is ensuring the quality of dental staff training. Internal marketing is a team effort.

What Is Dental Internal Marketing?

Before diving into internal marketing strategies, it’s important to understand what dental internal marketing is. 

When you think of marketing, you might imagine websites, brochures, and big signs. These are all forms of external marketing. Internal marketing uses your existing patients to bring in new ones. 

Word-of-mouth advertising, formal referrals, and written patient testimonials are all examples of internal marketing. 

Internal marketing is effective because potential patients are more likely to listen to someone they trust, like a family member or friend, than they are an advertisement. Internal marketing is personal and makes more of an impression. 

It’s also much less expensive than external marketing. External marketing requires money for promo materials, hosting websites, and ad space. Internal marketing begins with talking to your patients.

But how do you get started?

Six Dental Internal Marketing Tips

To begin internal marketing or to adjust your existing strategy, consider these six dental internal marketing tips.

1. Prioritize Patient Satisfaction

If your existing patients aren’t satisfied, the likelihood that you’ll draw in new ones is low. Make an impression on every patient who walks through your office doors. 

Every patient’s experience should begin with excellent customer service at the front desk, and that feeling of welcomeness should remain consistent throughout their visit. Treating patients with compassion and respect will make them more likely to recommend you to their family members and friends.

2. Ask Directly for Referrals 

You have to ask for what you want. It might not occur to your patients to give referrals to your practice unless you mention it first. Having your staff members ask patients to refer your practice by word of mouth after their visit can maximize your referrals. 

To encourage referrals non-verbally, consider having signs in your waiting room or office that express gratitude for referrals. These may make more of an impression on some patients, keeping your practice in their minds.

3. Use Incentives for Referrals 

Patients are more likely to refer others to your practice if there is an incentive to do so. Consider introducing rewards for patients who make frequent referrals. You can easily do this with the Dental Intelligence Patient Loyalty Program which has customizable rewards. For example, if patients make a certain number of referrals, you might reward them with a gift card. 

Some practices will begin VIP clubs for patients who continuously make referrals. Not only does this incentivize them to continue referring your practice to other people, but it also builds a sense of community. 

4. Get Written Testimonials

Word-of-mouth referrals are a great source of promotion, but written testimonials can make a more lasting impact. Ask for testimonials in the form of letters from your patients, then put them on display in your office. 

5. Utilize Technology

You can maximize the impact of your internal promotion by using technology. With the internet at your fingertips, you can display reviews and testimonials on social media. Technology helps your message reach beyond the immediate community, building your reputation.

Technology is another viable tool for encouraging referrals. Some patients may be in a rush on their way out or forget that your staff asked them to make a referral. A reminder in their email, like a quick survey, is a great way to keep your practice on their mind.

Dental Intelligence Online Reviews makes it easy for you to request reviews that post directly to Google, Facebook, and other websites.

6. Use Promotional Materials

The brochures and flyers you created for your external marketing strategy can work well for internal marketing, too.

Keeping such light promotional materials in your office encourages patients to bring them home and share. A visual tool can make a word-of-mouth referral even more effective. 

Boost Your Dental Practice’s Growth with Dental Intelligence

Dental internal marketing starts with an effective patient referral program, but it doesn’t end there. It can be difficult to prioritize your practice’s growth when you have so much else to do. 

With the help of Dental Intelligence’s software, your office will run smoother, and your patients will leave happier. Schedule a demo today to get started.