Getting Persona(l) with Your Dental Patients

You probably have the demographics for your ideal dental patient figured out already. (If not, read this article.)

But demographics really only address “who” those patients are. If you want to dig into the what, where, why, and how of the patients you are trying to attract to your dental practice, you need to develop personas for them.

What is a persona?

In marketing lingo, a persona is defined as a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. In other words, you want your ideal patient to feel like you understand them and are talking directly to them.

What insights should you capture in a dental patient persona?

Demographics

As we already mentioned, the demographic data about your ideal patient is important. You need to define their age, gender, location, education, and socio-economic status.

That information is fairly easy to figure out. But beyond that, you want to zero in on what really makes your ideal patient tick.

Pain Points

What problems and challenges does your ideal patient face? Are they concerned about the cost of dental care? Maybe how much time it takes? Safety and infection control have certainly been growing concerns lately, leading to new persona variations for marketing to focus on.

Trust Factors

What would make this patient trust you? It could be your education or your experience. Do you produce educational content on a regular basis? Sharing your knowledge is one of the best ways to establish trust, especially with people who don’t know you yet.

Influencers

Who does your patient listen to and respect that might influence their decision to buy from you? Friends and family are usually on the top of the list, but other people in their circle (e.g., local politician, business owner, media personality) may be even more influential to them.

Community Organizations

Where is your patient active in the community? Think about what they have a strong connection and commitment to. It could be something with a purpose (like a church or non-profit organization), or a purely recreational group like a sports league or special interest club.

Preferred Content Formats

Would this patient prefer to get their information via email, videos, blog articles, newspapers, radio, television, or some other method? Knowing their preference will help you make the right decisions when it comes time to decide what media to spend your marketing budget on.

Social Media

Speaking of media, is your patient active on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any other social channel? You’ll want to connect with them wherever they are most likely to engage with you, and avoid social platforms that will drain your time and effort without producing results.

How Do You Develop Dental Patient Personas?

Personas are created through a process of research, surveys, questionnaires, and interviews. Does that sound like a lot of work? It can be. An easier solution is to let us handle it for you! Contact us today.