Last Friday, we recommended that dentists (and all medical professionals who have direct contact with patients) incorporate teledentistry into their patient treatment protocol, especially during COVID-19. 

A vital next step is to communicate and market to your current and prospective patients.  

We have listed below several marketing channels to communicate your teledentistry capabilities:

Your Website

• Add a pop-up box on your homepage announcing your teledentistry protocol and provide steps to schedule an appointment.
• Add a web page that explains what teledentistry is and how it helps your patients. Include a link to your teledentistry platform, as well as simple instructions on how to log in. Write your content in a question and answer format so your patients can “skim” the page for the specific information they need. Some questions you may want to answer are:
  • What is teledentistry?
  • How does teledentistry help our patients? 
  • How do I schedule a teledentistry appointment?
  • How do I login for my appointment time?
  • What can dentists do for patients through teledentistry?
  • What will happen during my teledentistry appointment?
  • Will I be charged a fee for my teledentistry appointment?
  • Does my insurance cover my teledentistry appointment?

• Add a “Schedule Teledentistry Appointment” button in your navigation tabs with a direct link to the teledentistry portal or to your web page.
• Record and post a video explaining your teledentistry protocol. It is very impactful. Visit Dr. Rhonda K. Bowen’s site for a fantastic example.  
  • Keep in mind, your video does not have to be perfect or polished and can be shot with your smartphone. The purpose of the video is to communicate what you are able to provide and to reassure patients that you are there for them in every way possible. 

Google My Business

Everything you do on your Google My Business (GMB) page helps your practice show up in Google search.  Regardless of COVID-19, we highly recommend that you claim and optimize your practice and individual practitioner pages to improve your overall Search Engine Optimization. If you are unsure how to do this, contact us. We can help.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Google has recommended the following to help you communicate with your patients:

• Add Emergency Dental Services as a service category.
• Change your hours under the special hours section to the hours you are available for emergency appointments. 
• Make a Google Post communicating your emergency appointment status and add a link to your COVID-19 web page. Remember to keep adding weekly Posts, as they expire after seven days.
• Also, communicate your status or update in the COVID-19 section of Google Posts.
• Add your emergency dental protocol and teledentistry capabilities in your GMB Services section.

Email 

• Send an email to your patients announcing that you are now scheduling teledentistry appointments.  Explain the types of treatment/consultation you are providing through this platform, and provide a link to your web page for more information and to schedule an appointment.
• Send a reminder email a few weeks later just to reiterate the service you are providing and your digital capabilities.

Social Media

For our dental clients, we manage and post on their Facebook, Twitter, GMB, and some Instagram pages. However, we focus our messaging strategy on Facebook, as it is one of the most powerful channels to communicate to current and prospective patients during COVID-19 and beyond. You should be posting regularly on all of your practice social media pages. If you need help with these recommendations below, contact us so we can help.

• Add a Call-to-Action button below your banner image so patients know what to do when they need to contact you.
• Add a post announcing that you are available to schedule appointments via teledentistry.  Remember to add a link to your teledentistry web page. Pin this post to the top of your page so it shows up first as patients scroll down.
• Continue to post periodic reminders that you offer teledentistry and pin each post to the top of your page.
• Boost each teledentistry post to a specific audience to reach a wider audience than your current Facebook followers. Boosting a post is an easy and affordable way to target your followers and prospective patients, so we recommend that you incorporate boosting into your ongoing social media strategy as well. 
  • We recommend boosting to people aged 25 and beyond within a 5-mile radius of your practice. If your patients drive farther than five miles, expand the radius.
  • Boost your post for 7 days and spend between $30 – $50 as your budget. 

• Post your teledentistry video with a link to your web page.
• Add teledentistry to your list of services located on the left side of your page.
• Add a teledentistry description to your “About Us” section on the right side of your page
• Enable chat and post notifications so you will receive a message that someone has “reacted” to your post.
• Remember to reply to comments promptly.

Blog

• Write a blog on your website about teledentistry. 
• Post a link to your blog on your social media channels.

Adding teledentistry to your treatment protocol may seem overwhelming, but we encourage you to try it, especially during COVID-19. Marketing and communicating your teledentistry capabilities is equally important.  If you have any questions about how to communicate with current and prospective patients, please feel free to contact us at any time.