There are many creative ways to implement a successful database marketing strategy for your practice. However, practice owners need to identify database marketing solutions that fit their practice model and provide a good return on investment. In an era where social media and other forms of advertising get the most attention, your own database of active and inactive patients could be the invisible weapon that can set you apart from your fellow practice competitors.
Below are four database marketing strategies and techniques that can help a practice boost their revenue in the 2nd half of 2019.

1. Building an Internal Database
Building an internal database is a long-term strategy that can produce solid results over time. Beyond just direct marketing objectives, building an internal patient database can raise the equity and valuation of a practice, making it appealing to outside buyers when you go to sell the practice. So, apart from obtaining all the normal patient details make sure you capture each and every patients email address.

2. Utilizing External Database Sources
More experienced practice marketers look past look past their own patient database and build an online (and offline) database of individuals through third-party data sources. For example, link with a local non-competing practice and get them (and visa-versa) to email their data base about you and some of these patients who are interested will join your data base and some will in-turn become new patients for your practice.

3. Patient Retention
Another effective patient database marketing strategy is marketing to existing patients to improve retention and loyalty. The cost of acquiring new patients is significantly higher than re-engaging existing patients whether they be active or inactive patients.

In essence, understanding the activity in your patient database can help practices tailor experiences, offers and messaging to specific individuals with the goal of improving retention and patient loyalty.

Also, increasing patient lifetime value through effective database marketing strategies enables practices to spend more on advertising, thereby outperforming local practice competitors with limited advertising budgets.