You’ve seen quick response (QR) codes proudly displayed on outdoor tables or storefront windows if you ordered food from a restaurant during the pandemic. And platforms like Venmo and PayPal enable customers to use QR codes to pay for services and goods. Since the pandemic, QR code usage in the US has increased by 11%. This widespread use of QR codes is good news for practices that struggle with their dental patient acquisition. Why? Because not only are patients familiar with this technology, but these codes make it easier for dentists to promote online booking and special offers and gather patient data to target future marketing campaigns.
✅ Optimize Dental Patient Acquisition in Your Practice with QR Codes
Patient acquisition conversion rates for the healthcare industry are lower than the industry average at a mere 2.5% percent, compared with 9.7%. And dentists don’t fare much better. One of the best things your practice can do to attract patients is make it easy for them to book an appointment—and that means offering online scheduling. Research from Accenture found that 68% of patients said they’re more likely to choose a provider who lets them book, change, and cancel appointments online.
Any dental office that uses YAPI Smart Scheduling already has a unique web link for their practice that new and existing patients can use to make an appointment. Your dental practice can create a QR code that contains this unique booking link and put it on an array of print marketing materials, including brochures, pamphlets, post-op notes, postcards, or even advertisements in your local paper. Patients need only scan the QR code with their smartphone to be directed to a booking page. From a digital perspective, your practice can also share your QR code through email or even embed it on your website. No matter where patients find your code, make sure there is a clear call-to-action below the QR code, such as “Scan Me,” “Scan to Schedule,” or “Book Now.”
✅ Try Using QR Codes for Patient Promotions and Offers
While QR codes certainly make it easy for patients to book online, they can also support marketing efforts for special promotions or offers to new and existing patients. Instead of sending patients text-heavy postcards that explain the details of an offer (and make their eyes glaze over), why not create a postcard with an engaging and clever headline and a QR code they can scan for more information? The QR code link can take patients to the promotion landing page to learn more or redeem their offers. You could also get creative by embedding links to your social media accounts in your QR codes or even sharing an informational video on a new dental procedure via QR codes.
✅ Improve The Tracking Efforts of Your New Dental Acquisition Strategies
A significant marketing challenge for most dentists is knowing how well your marketing collateral or promotions perform. However, a (free) online platform such as QR Code Generator allows you to track the engagement level of QR codes, giving you insight into patient behavior.
Let’s say your practice is running a new patient campaign across magazines, postcards, and pamphlets in a particular geographic area. You can use the QR Code Generator to create three different QR codes that direct patients to your online booking link but give each code a unique naming schema. Once your campaign is live, you can use the naming schema to segment and track essential details for each QR code, such as the number of scans and where people scanned the codes. This information can help you target future promotions more effectively and ensure your marketing dollars are well spent.
There are many marketing uses for QR codes, and their flexible nature can help you make smarter marketing decisions and ultimately improve your patient acquisition game!
