Albert Einstein once said, “The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.” But the problem with time is that it flies by too quickly and all the while everything continues to move forward. So when it comes to your business, in order not to get left behind, it pays to constantly review and update marketing methods. This is where marketing your dental practice to Millennials comes in.
One area that many dental practices forget about is that of the largest generation who are now about to move into their prime spending year in 2017. This group is identified as ‘millennials’ and they represent any person currently 17-34 years of age. At present, there are approximately 13.8 million millennials in the UK and this figure is on the rise.
Marketing Your Dental Practice – Why Be Concerned About Millennials?
Millennials have grown up in a rapid time of change, which means that they have different priorities, ideas, and expectations than any previous generation. This is also the generation who are set to reform the economy, plus they have the largest amount of disposable income.
Therefore it stands to reason that if your dental practice is not actively targeting them, you could potentially be missing out on a huge percentage of those young 13.8 million patients. So the question that leaves us with is… How do you as dentists effectively market to the millennial generation?
The first rule of marketing is to know your audience. A good place to start is to find out what truly matters to this generation and what sets them apart. With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at some effective ways you can reach out to millennials and successfully add them to your customer base.
Traditional advertising has little effect on millennials
It’s time to think beyond traditional advertising methods. Millennials have become the biggest threat to advertising because traditional tactics are no longer working on this younger generation. The usual methods we might think of like radio and magazine adverts tend to make little to no impression on the millennial generation. The majority find old-school advertising impersonal and profit-focused, almost to a point where it’s distrusted completely.
Conversely, millennials prefer to feel a connection when it comes to making a purchase. As a result, this new generation favours better customer service and a more personalised style of marketing.
“That’s all well and good” I hear you say, “but how as a dentist can I achieve that?”
The answer? Knock their socks off by marketing your dental practice to millennials with on-trend content that appeals to them personally. This can be done through a number of well-written, engaging blog posts, patient-friendly guides, and newsletters. Speaking of engagement, this leads us nicely to our next point…
Engagement and authenticity are key
With traditional advertising being almost insignificant to the younger generation, as a dental practice it’s important to turn your focus to useful content that shows real authenticity. Why?
In one study, it was found that 43% of millennials prefer authenticity over content type, so that means that they first need to have trust in a particular business or blog before they will bother to read the content posted. Millennials only trust what they sense is authentic and genuine. In other words, they prefer to put a face to a business.
So you can imagine how important it is to have a good dental website or blog that’s fully loaded with helpful and educational articles on dental procedures, common questions, and information about you and your team with photos that introduce your practice. This makes it more personal, trustworthy and puts a face to your dental practice. Also, think about the style of content writing by aiming to be more conversational and honest about your practice, procedures, and fees.
Millennials are tech-savvy
Remember, millennials are the first generation to grow up with the internet, so you can bet your bottom dollar they have a good understanding of what makes a good website. As proof, one study found that millennials spend, on average, at least 25 hours per week online browsing websites, blogs, and social media.
It goes without saying therefore that your first line of attack would be to include a modern and attractive-looking website. Any dental website that appears antiquated, takes an age to load or isn’t mobile-friendly is unlikely to pique the interest of any self-respecting millennial.
At the very least you need to ensure that your dental website is smartphone friendly. But in addition, you should be asking yourself…Are your landing pages optimised for use on a mobile? Do your content, images, and photos all load quickly?
Social Media
It’s no surprise that 85% of millennials in the UK use social media on a regular basis. In fact, research shows that they use not just one, but on average more than 4 social networking sites. Therefore if you want to connect and engage with millennials, it makes sense to be where they are.
You can find this generation across networking sites such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Pinterest. By posting updates and blogs on these channels, the more you share on social media platforms, the more likely you are to attract them. Simple!
Videos
Studies show that millennials actually spend 48% more time watching videos online than any other users do. This fact alone is enough reason to try and capture their interest using this avenue of marketing.
Videos are more engaging and visually stimulating, yet they’re rarely used in the dental marketing world. A great video can give your dental practice a warm, friendly, and authentic feel which millennials love. What’s more, as an added bonus, this marketing effort will not only appeal to the younger generation but will also attract those of any age group if it’s done correctly.
So what can you make videos about? Here are a few good suggestions:
- Meeting your team
- Touring your dental practice
- Educational videos on procedures
- Answers to common F&Qs
- Patient testimonials
Try and focus on making these videos as honest, relaxed, and friendly as possible and your genuine enthusiasm for your work and your practice will shine through. Avoid promotional content and keep these videos relatively short (no longer than 3-5 minutes) so that the viewer doesn’t lose interest.
Marketing Your Dental Practice To Millennials – The Takeaway
So there you have it… top tips you can use to target your marketing towards the Millennial generation. Remember, by targeting millennials you won’t be excluding other groups. Instead, it will serve to create a better-rounded campaign which your entire market will appreciate.
If you’d like to find out more about how to create patient-friendly content or need advice on developing a content marketing plan to appeal to all ages then contact the Dental Writers team today and stay one step ahead of your competition.
