This is a dentist’s website in the Metaverse- specifically, it’s a dentist’s website in the 2-D browser of a popular VR headset.
It’s a far cry from actual virtual reality marketing for dentists, but it’s the beginning. When cell phones became accessible tech for the average person, companies immediately exploited them for marketing purposes. We’re probably years away from developing true virtual reality experiences for dental marketing purposes, but likely only years. A British dentistry chain has already made the leap into the metaverse with a virtual reality dental office where patients can sit in the dental chair, get virtual treatments, design their avatars, talk to the staff, and get consultations. Sounds like fun, right? But is the metaverse at a place where it’s practical for dental marketing purposes?
As part of our Pro Membership, we redesign our dental marketing clients’ websites every 24 months—not quite whether they need it or not, but close. It’s included in the membership fee because we believe our clients need the latest and greatest when they need it, and we don’t want a cash flow issue to prevent them from getting it.
Soon, these redesigns need to account for dental marketing in the metaverse. I’m not talking about a virtual consult—but perhaps a virtual dental Q&A experience with an office avatar. The latter would be interactive and might be combined with a 3-D office tour like those offered by Google, but with an improved degree of resolution that would feel like the patient was already there in your office.
If you’ve attended a virtual conference since the onset of the pandemic, you probably can relate to these challenges in a virtual experience:
- Lack of personalization
- Direct, 1-to-1 communication was critical but felt unnatural, like visiting an early Internet chat room.
- Graphics that felt pretty corny.
- The “virtual” experience was a big stretch as things were animated in 3-D but not experienced via a VR headset.
- The quality of your experience impacted your trust in the information they presented you.
These challenges are not new in dental marketing. Dental metaverse marketing will still need to:
- Connect with prospective patients – no use in building a dental VR marketing experience if prospective patients don’t see it.
- Communicate effectively – Unless you demonstrate an understanding of the dental patient’s problem, experience and authority in providing a solution, and a clear path to resolving the symptoms, you will fail to convert the best prospects.
- Present a modern, professional feel – People will struggle to trust you if your metaverse presence doesn’t exude professionalism. Things have to work and look great.
- Include clear calls to action – Unless you include a next step that is clear and actionable, your dental metaverse marketing will be a waste of time for your patient and a waste of money for you.
How Do I Get a VR Marketing App for My Dental Practice?
Right now, you can’t—not from Pro Impressions anyway. We may not even be the first to market with a dental VR app that sells your marketing services. The next step would be VR use in-office, which is already happening.
Just as mobile apps lead to a gold rush to sell mobile apps to dentists, there will soon be a mad dash to sell VR systems and apps to dentists. Resist the urge to be an early adopter. Wait for the experience to match the patient need and to be able to convert VR visitors into patients in the chair. In the meantime, focus on the in-office experience for patients and make sure that your current website is a professional dental website design. If it’s not, you will struggle with attracting and converting visitors to your 2-D website (mobile included, of course) into patients who say ‘Yes!’ to moving forward with dental treatment.
Need help evaluating your website? Use our free marketing report tool to analyze how things are going, then contact us for help reviewing your results.
