Dentists need at least 20 new patients each month to succeed and grow. That doesn’t sound like too many, but when you think about the expenses involved and how long the majority of people put off going to the dentist for—well, it puts the challenge into perspective.
Globally, thousands of companies operating in the healthcare sector are using the inbound methodology to grow. The dentistry industry is no exception. An effective way to get clients for your dental practice is to invest in dental marketing.
Nowadays, 77% of consumers go online to seek out dental practices and treatments. As consumers become more aware of the consequences of poor oral hygiene and grow enticed by more affordable treatments, the dentistry industry is booming. That’s why it’s crucial for dentists to establish their digital presence to attract an audience of empowered consumers actively seeking solutions on the Internet.
In this article, we’re sharing six foolproof dental marketing ideas to attract clients and scale your dental practice.
List of the top 6 dental marketing ideas
Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to consolidate your digital presence, these dental marketing tactics will help you to establish your online presence. Let’s dive right in.
1. Optimize your Google My Business listing
According to a study by BrightLocal, the average business is found in 1,009 searches per month, with 84% of these coming from discovery searches. What’s more, over 90% (!) of people only look at the first search results page. So, when it comes to implementing a local SEO strategy, having a Google My Business page is a must.
Google My Business helps business owners (including dentists) to establish and manage their online presence across search engines. You’ve probably seen a Google My Business listing before. It’s what comes up when you search for shops, restaurants, bars, or any other kind of business in Google.
Essentially, it’s a source of verified information about your dental practice, including its specific location, website information, opening hours, reviews, etc. Be sure to include photos, as listings with photos are twice as likely to be considered reputable and they achieve 35% more clicks!
Here’s what a Google My Business listing looks like:
Setting up a Google My Business page for your dental practice is simple. Follow these steps:
- Use your Gmail address to create a Google My Business account.
- Complete location verification.
- Fill in the details about your business—the more detailed, the better! Include your business category (dentist), phone number, address, business description, business hours, and Google reviews.
2. Optimize your website
In today’s digital age, if you don’t have a website —and a great one at that— you’re simply not going to reach your full business growth potential.
Today people are empowered to search and review their options online before making a decision. So it’s more important than ever before that your website stands out.
Your dentist business website should be optimized with the user experience in mind. It should provide customers and potential customers with all the information they need about your business, the services you offer, and how they can book an appointment. The last thing you want is to deter customers with a grueling appointment booking system or cluttered website.
It should also be quick. If your website is super slow because it hasn’t been updated since 2002, visitors are going to question whether it’s the same case for your dental practices! If you’re not tech-savvy, consider investing in web development services to ensure your website is highly functional.
Technical elements to consider when optimizing your website include:
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- Website speed: Slow page load speeds are a huge deterrent for visitors. It’s suggested that a page takes no longer than 2 seconds to load, and the bounce rate increases by a whopping 32% when load time increases from 1 to 3 seconds.
- Mobile optimization: 52.2% of all website traffic is generated from mobile phones. Ensure your website is optimized to provide the same (or improved) user experience on mobile. This is especially important for attracting searchers looking for local dental services in their area while they’re on the go.
To further improve the user experience and attract more customers, consider updating your website with the following:
- Online appointment scheduling
- Online payment methods
- Prescription renewal services
- Live chat
- Informative content (blogs, videos, etc)
- Effective CTAs that lets visitors know what to do next (book an appointment, request a callback, etc)
Let’s take a look at Precision Dental Clinic in Dubai, a perfect example of how to create a dental website that’s designed to attract clients.
Their website is responsive, easy to navigate, and includes a range of features to streamline the user experience. They’ve incorporated a live chat widget, a direct-to-Whatsapp messaging button, and even a tool that allows customers to leave audio reviews direct from the homepage! Basically, they did everything right!
3. Create a winning content strategy
Who says you can’t make oral hygiene an interesting subject? Starting a blog is a great way to attract new patients to your dental business through organic search.
Blogging enables you to provide value to your customers while boosting your online presence and helping you rank on search engines. Creating informative blog articles and other types of content also establishes your business as an authority in the dentistry field.
So, where do you start?
First of all, you need to research your audience. Get to know who they are and what kind of dental services they’re looking for. Who is your target market? Are you offering general dental services or specialized services targeted towards a niche market?
You can reach out to a digital marketing agency that understands your industry (like YourTarget!) and use their expertise to enhance your content strategy.
Creating well-written, SEO-optimized articles that rank highly and match search intent is a great place to start. Build out your editorial calendar with informative, timely content that is valuable and relevant. You can even branch out and offer your audience podcasts, videos, or downloadable resources too! Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Create how-to guides about proper oral hygiene and healthy dental habits
- Address common dental issues and provide solutions
- Analyze dentistry trends (like natural teeth whitening) or explain new technologies
We’ve already established that patients are seeking dental services online. Creating content that answers their questions and addresses their concerns will attract visitors to your site and increase your reach, leading to —you guessed it— new patients!
4. Establish a social media presence
Whether you like it or not, social media is virtually inescapable these days—just like tooth decay if you don’t brush.
According to the Datareportal Global Overview report for 2021, there are 4.2 billion people around the world using social media. Moreover, 57% of consumers will follow a brand’s social media profiles to learn about new products or services. No matter where your dental practice is located, if you’re not on social media you’re missing out on a whole lot of potential patients.
Establishing a consistent social media presence is an effective way to boost brand awareness and improve your online reputation. So, where to start?
First of all, you’ll want to find out where your target audience hangs out. Are you targeting younger crowds who are more likely to spend their time on Instagram and Twitter? Older generations more accustomed to Facebook? Or high-income professionals who frequent LinkedIn? Chances are you’ll want to target more than one demographic, so you’ll need to establish social media presence across platforms.
Your social media profiles should be regularly updated, accessible, and consistent with your brand messaging and tone of voice. Posting to social media allows you to directly engage with your audience as well as increase engagement with shareable content. What’s more, many people turn to social media to read reviews about businesses—so it’s a great way to showcase your reputable dental business.
Here are some things to consider when creating a social media strategy for your dental practice:
- Create easily digestible, visually appealing infographics that reveal shocking oral hygiene statistics or visual guides for proper oral care.
- Share before and after photos of procedures or treatments to showcase results.
- Use video to your advantage and create content detailing your services or patient testimonials.
- Alongside Google Ads, you can launch social media ads to reach a wider audience.
5. Invest in Google Ads
Google Ads, a form of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, is an effective way to ensure your dental practice appears at the top of SERPs. PPC ads are a great way to generate new leads by putting your content and CTAs at the top of the results pages for competitive keywords. Google Ads is a great way to attract leads in the short term by targeting specific demographics that are likely to require your services.
If you’re considering investing in a Google Ads strategy for your dental business, we’d recommend partnering with a digital marketing agency that knows the ins and outs of Google Ads and how it works. This way, you’ll get the best ROI for your PPC efforts.
6. Encourage patients to leave reviews
Word of mouth marketing still plays a huge role in the success of modern businesses. Why not get those words down in writing? If a customer is satisfied with their treatment (which, hopefully, they are) then it’s a good idea to use their satisfaction to boost your online reputation.
Reviews, particularly Google reviews, are the backbone of any local marketing strategy. They’re one of the first things people see when they search for a product or service, and the difference a single gold star can make is astounding. An incredible 93% of consumers agree that online reviews influence their purchase decisions—so it pays to accumulate as many great reviews as possible!
The more reviews you have, the more established your dental practice will seem online. After all, someone searching for a dentist in their area is more likely to choose a business with over 100 five-star ratings than it is a business with just two.
Encouraging patients to leave reviews might seem daunting at first, but you’d be surprised how willing happy customers are to share their experiences with the world! Try asking them to record a short testimonial after their appointment or sending a follow-up email with a link to your Google My Business listing.
You should showcase your amazing reviews on your website. Tend dental clinic in New York has perfected this, consolidating reviews from Yelp and Google and displaying them on their homepage.
Ready to meet your new patients with an epic dental marketing strategy?
Although the dentistry business is known for its fancy teeth-related technical tools (you know, the ones where you’re like “WHAT is she putting in my mouth?”) digital marketing expertise probably isn’t listed on a dentist’s resume. But, with the right attitude, perseverance, and a pinch of creativity, you can transform your dental practice’s online presence and start attracting a whole new audience.
It’s important to keep updating and measuring the success of your dental marketing techniques to keep up with shifts in consumer behavior and the latest digital trends. If you don’t have time to do this because you’re too busy fixing people’s terrible teeth (we don’t envy you), then you can always hire a professional inbound marketing agency to take care of things.
Ready to start your journey into dental marketing? First things first, you’ll need to get to know your audience! Download our free buyer persona template to get started.
