Abstract

This paper analyzes the effect of digital marketing and cluster membership on the entrepreneurship and performance of dental clinics in Colombia. The use of different digital marketing tools in dental clinics is evaluated, and the effect of these tools on the creation of new markets, and clinics’ services and general performance, are analyzed. In addition, the cluster effect on the learning and implementation of digital tools in individual clinics is studied. The results show the most effective digital tools to create new markets, as well as the tools that improve clinics’ performance through the Internet image and online visibility. The combined use of corporate Facebook and Instagram, a robust website with wide online visibility and YouTube develops the image of companies on the Internet in the most effective way. In addition, the importance of belonging to a cluster in the learning and implementation of digital tools in individual clinics was verified.

Introduction

The evolution of digital media in recent years has brought about opportunities to more effectively enter new markets (Romero Leguina et al., 2020). The evolution of digital tools allows online marketing to become very effective (Cizmeci & Ercan, 2015). Marketing campaigns through digital media enable the obtained results to be ccurately measured and, thus, allow to adjust marketing much more efficiently than traditional marketing by generating high returns on marketing investments. Currently, consumers use both online and offline channels in their search for products and services, to inform themselves of their quality and prices, and to, finally, make purchase decisions (Rangaswamy et al., 2020). The advance and acceptance of the Internet as a channel of information and purchase render clear presence in digital media as necessary because it is the organization’s visibility and Internet image that decide constantly growing online sales.

One business that is depending more on digital marketing is dentistry heath care. The current esthetics trend in dentistry forces the results of the work carried out by a clinic to be advertised before a patient decides to hire its services. Continuously displaying the results of its work and making the most of all the available digital tools to generate patient trust are crucial for dental clinics. Trust is the basis on which clients select a specialist to do any esthetic treatment (Song et al., 2023).

Conclusions

This study explores the role played by digital marketing tools in two important elements of performance of the dental health industry: capacity use and creation of new markets. The digital marketing ROI is also analyzed. Digital tools enable access to the targeted segments of the population in a very efficient and precise way. They help to know clients’ needs and tastes, and the degree of acceptance of products and services. They also allow to profound knowledge of the market and competitors to be acquired.

The main novelty of this study compared to past research lies in the fact that the analysis of the digital marketing effects was done directly through individual tools by analyzing their functions within different marketing activities. Thus, an Internet brand image construct can be created to differentiate specific effects on online visibility and client trust. The importance of digital tools is also analyzed individually in creation of new markets and their general effect on marketing performance through the digital marketing ROI.