The last 16 months or so have certainly been highly unusual times with the pandemic impacting numerous businesses, dentists included. We\u2019ve seen a range of different effects; successes, failures and more.<\/p>\n
Some dental practices have fared quite well as they seized the initiative to introduce new ways of working, for example virtual consultations helping to book new cases even when face-to-face treatments were not possible. Unfortunately we\u2019ve also seen some practices go-under, where already stretched finances were pushed to breaking point as treatment revenues dried up.<\/p>\n
Despite continuing uncertainties, we\u2019ve seen dentistry gradually haul itself back on to its feet and come back strong; indeed the last 5 or 6 months have seen a lot of our private dental marketing clients<\/a> doing extremely well as pent-up demand was progressively released. We saw this reflected quite plainly in website performance statistics and bookings where average activity across the board increased 30 \u2013 40% above pre-pandemic levels in many instances.<\/p>\n However, over the last 4 \u2013 6 weeks, we\u2019re actually starting to see a downturn to pre-pandemic levels as pent-up demand from patients is satisfied and people get more options, not just smile makeovers, to spend their accumulated cash on. Holiday season is also upon us and whilst quarantine uncertainty will certainly deter some folk, others remain keen to spend their cash on that long-awaited holiday.<\/p>\n The effect of this is now starting to be felt by dentists UK-wide and the scope to \u201cmake hay\u201d is progressively reducing.<\/p>\n Many of our clients maintained core aspects of their digital marketing e.g. SEO for Google ranking, even through the darkest days of lockdown and they are now being served well; albeit overall patient activity is not quite what it was compared to a few months ago.<\/p>\n However, some of our clients decided to pare costs way back (understandably) and quit some or all of their digital marketing initiatives. As patients were able to return for treatments and the \u201cglut\u201d arrived, several clients also decided to hold off from recommencing any marketing work simply because they felt they didn\u2019t need to \u2013 after all, patient numbers and treatments were buoyant.<\/p>\n But how is the landscape changing again and how should you react?<\/p>\n Whilst thing are far from the \u201cnormal\u201d we remember, most dental businesses are running well again, backlogs have been trimmed and consequently the demand and supply is starting to balance again. Of course this then knock through into competition and there is a renewed need to ensure your practice is still the most prominent in your area.<\/p>\nRevitalising your practice marketing<\/h3>\n