Even though governments have already rolled out their vaccination programs, there is still no clear end for COVID-19. With new mutations in the news, it’s only a matter of time before the number of cases starts to rise again. Where does that leave businesses? Specifically, how can dental marketing survive and thrive in such an unstable market? Will patients even regain their confidence? Will they want to consult with dentists given the uncertainty of the safety of these clinics?
Dental care is the last thing in people’s minds right now. What they’re trying to do is survive—both from the pandemic and its impact on their economics. The last thing they want to do right now is spend on dental care unless it is an emergency. But otherwise, for preventive care, you will be hard-pressed to find anyone jumping the gun to go to the dentist.
That leaves dental marketing in a kind of limbo. Where should they go from here? How are they going to convince patients to have their teeth cleaned and checked? Just how low is the confidence right now? Research points out that less than 25% of the participants believe that companies are putting their health and well-being first when making business decisions.
Do they believe that these companies are strictly complying with safety protocols? Maybe and maybe not. The point here is that there’s a gap in the patients’ belief that dentists are thinking about their health. Many are concluding that dentists want more patients than follow protocols.
It does not help that people are generally and traditionally fearful of dentists. Their minds could not reconcile the fact that sitting on the dentist’s chair does not always mean they are going to have a root canal. Dental marketing will help alleviate these fears—both the usual fear of getting checked by a dentist and the fears associated with the pandemic.
The right messaging should address these concerns. There’s no telling when the pandemic will end and when the new normal will set in place. For all you know, this is the new normal: wearing a mask, social distancing, and keeping gatherings to a handful of people. If that is true, then dentists have their work cut out for them. Not only do they need to follow safety protocols perfectly (seeing as they deal with oral health), but they also have to be conscious about their branding and the reputation they built in the community.