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Research Outline
Prepared for Philip B. | Delivered July 28, 2019
User Journey for High End Dental Work
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Goals
To determine the user journey in terms of selection criteria, digital touchpoints, and useful content to create a full-funnel marketing strategy for a dental startup.
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Early Findings
Preliminary research indicates that information on the high-end dental or dental implant patient journey is limited. What is available tends to be from companies advertising their services (either their own implant services or their marketing services). Initial findings that are directly related to dental implants or other dental procedures are below.
DENTAL IMPLANT PATIENT'S JOURNEY IN IRELAND
In Ireland, the dental implant journey begins with a
dental problem
that becomes an imposition to the patient.
Next,
t
h
e
patient contacts their general dentist practitioner, who typically "prescribes an amount of work that is
prohibitively expensive
for the patient."
At this point, the patient may decide to
hold off
on completing the dental work, believing they can deal with the dental problems rather than spend the required amount of money to fix them.
They may begin seeking solutions from their
friends and family
who will provide referrals or contribute by telling stories of people they know who got their teeth fixed for a good price.
Armed with their friends and family's referrals and suggestions, patients often now
turn to Google
to research their options.
They may consider
traveling abroad
for cheaper solutions and even begin to get
online quotes
from various clinics.
Once they determine which clinic has the best price, they
schedule a consultation
.
SEARCH AND ADVERTISING CHANNELS
Facebook
tends to be the best advertising medium to reach potential implant patients because of its ability to target specific demographics.
Facebook is used by
98%
of dental practices as part of their patient acquisition strategy. Only
33%
use Twitter or Instagram, and just
5%
use Snapchat.
Since Facebook seems to be a major channel through which orthodontists are selected,
Facebook advertising
is critical for reaching targeted demographics.
Most dental patients do not choose a dental practice
based on a single interaction
. For instance, the practice may be discovered through a Google search, but then will continue through various channels as they vet reviews and visit the provider's website before calling to make an appointment.
Only
2%
of healthcare appointments are scheduled online, so no matter how the patient discovered the practice, most conversions come through a
telephone call
.
Thus, making the
telephone appointment process
simple will likely result in a higher conversion rate.
For orthodontics, building
potential customer trust
is a critical step in the selection process.
Patients will want to see "
plenty of positive reviews
on third party sites like Yelp or... Google Business listings."
Personal referrals are "a
vital decision point
in the customer's journey to choosing an orthodontist."
CONTENT
During the journey, patients want to be able to
communicate
with their orthodontist on social media.
An orthodontist's social media presence must be active and "
encourage sharing
, creating a constant flow of engagement between [their] office, patients and potential clients."
Educational content
on the orthodontist's website and on social media shows that they care and are knowledgeable.
DENTAL PATIENT JOURNEY
There appears to be plenty of information on
dental patients journeys
, but not much specific to high end dentistry or dental implants.
Likewise, there is plenty of advice on how to
market dental practices.
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