Marketing for Dentists: 30 Strategies to Increase New Patients
Using modern tools and technology is essential for digital marketing for dentists. He supports the expansion and development of dental practices as a powerful tool for attracting and retaining patients.
The success of your dental practice is ultimately the result of a favorable patient image and the trusting relationships that develop through effective marketing to dentists.
Table of Contents
- Utilize social media influencers within your local area
- Use Video for Effective Marketing Campaigns for Dentists
- Post to Instagram Reels
- Update the design of a modern dental website
- Optimize your Website for Technical SEO
- Update the wording of your practice’s mission statement
- Increase rating on Google Maps
- Add links to your social media profiles on your GBP
- Think about going to a dentistry marketing convention
- Make the most of dental social media platforms
- Use Instagram Threads
- Start a Dental Blog
- Receive a higher number of Google reviews than your competitors
- Respond to Every Patient’s Google Review
- Make a Difference with Cause Marketing for Dentists
- Improve Your SEO Rankings by Exchanging Blog Posts
- Collaborations for prize package giveaways are awesome!
- Reach a New Audience with a Gift Card Give-a-way
- Please update your website to comply with the new HIPAA regulations
- Make use of AI
- Remind your patients about their dental benefits before they expire
- Discover Your Unique Value Proposition
- Enhance Your Website’s Conversion Rate with Live Chat
- Consider outsourcing your marketing tasks to external professionals
- Do a live stream on Facebook or Youtube
- Get more feedback from patients
- Record and post a short video
- It’s time to create an account on TikTok
- Post a photo of your team
- Make sure your NAP Information is true
#1. Utilize social media influencers within your local area
One effective strategy to attract new patients to your dental practice is by collaborating with local social media influencers.
When it comes to Instagram marketing for dentists, incorporating influencers in your content mix can help you create engaging posts.
Influencers are individuals with a large social media following of at least 1,000 followers who endorse products and brands on their platform. Even those with less than 10,000 followers, also known as “micro-influencers”, can be valuable assets if they have the attention of people in your community.
Dental influencer marketing is usually more effective than traditional advertising because potential patients trust and value the opinion of these semi-public figures.
To target your market more effectively, select a local influencer to become a dental influencer for your practice.
This person could be a current patient who has an influence in the community, such as a photographer, personal trainer, musician, or blogger.
You can reach out to them and ask if they would be interested in creating a video about their next dental visit and tagging your practice.
Alternatively, you could partner with them for a giveaway.
In exchange, you could offer them free dental work, discounted products, or other incentives.
#2. Use Video for Effective Marketing Campaigns for Dentists
If you’re looking to enhance your online marketing strategy, then dental video marketing is an essential step that you cannot afford to miss. Research shows that around 68% of online customers prefer to watch videos about new services or projects, rather than reading about them. Moreover, the number of online video viewers has almost doubled since 2018. Therefore, it’s no surprise that 92% of marketers consider video content to be a vital part of their marketing strategy.
When it comes to dental video content, different practices require different types of video content. However, here are some ideas that you can include in your dental digital marketing strategy. You can pair videos with your email marketing, as adding a video link to a promotional email can increase your click-through rate by up to 80%. You can also create brief informational videos, answer frequently asked questions, and provide a demonstration of your dental services.
Additionally, you can shoot a day-in-the-life video, provide close-up views of your equipment, use videos on your dental website or landing page, and share fun videos on social media to connect with your audience.
To create a more professional-looking video, you can invest in professional video production. This can help you create an impressive introduction to your practice, utilize footage and produce full-length videos, as well as short promos that you can use in ads on various social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
You can also encourage and incentivize user-generated content by challenging your patients to submit their own content, such as quick questions, client testimonials, and other fun videos. Finally, you can feature a smile makeover to illustrate your restorative and cosmetic services visually.
#3. Post to Instagram Reels
As you focus on creating videos for your marketing campaigns, it’s important not to overlook Instagram Reels.
This engaging video feature on one of the world’s largest social media platforms is a great way to create awareness about your business and highlight your best qualities.
Currently, dental practices can upload up to 90 seconds of video on Instagram Reels. However, the platform may soon introduce an option for 10-minute Reels to the public.
#4. Update the design of a modern dental website
A modern and comprehensive website is an essential aspect of any successful dental practice’s digital marketing strategy. The first impression that your website design creates is crucial. If it looks outdated and unprofessional, you should consider upgrading it immediately.
A well-designed website with top-of-the-line aesthetics and functionality can create a positive perception of the quality of your care.
Your dental website should be technically sound and well-organized to enhance visitor experience and increase rankings and conversions.
Customized information about your practice, services, and resources can also boost your practice’s visibility on Google maps.
Please keep in mind the following while developing a new website for a dental clinic:
- Custom design and photography
- Videos, more videos, and more videos
- Blog posts that feature the team and dentist
- Current ‘Meet the Dentist’ and ‘Meet the Team’ profiles
- Live Chat
- HIPAA compliance and security
- Virtual consultation integration
- Mobile Optimization
#5. Optimize your website for technical SEO
It’s important to pay attention to the technical aspects of a dental website, as Google prioritizes flawless user experience.
If your website is slow to load, has broken links, lacks security, or isn’t mobile-friendly, it will rank lower in search engine results.
To ensure that your marketing campaigns are effective, make sure that your website is technically sound and optimized accordingly.
Are you aware of the speed of your dental website? Visitors to your website have no patience for slow loading pages. If your website takes too long to load, visitors will quickly bounce off. A high bounce rate can negatively impact your search rankings. Your website’s speed is important, and first impressions count. You only have three seconds to make an impression before 40% of potential patients click the back button.
It’s crucial to ensure that your website is secure and HIPAA compliant. Security is a top priority in healthcare, and your website must comply with HIPAA regulations. Failure to do so can result in fines from the OCR. If you have contact forms, appointment requests, or payments through your website, being fully secure is a requirement.
Your website must be mobile optimized. More people use mobile devices to search online than desktops, so optimizing your website for mobile devices is essential. Google has implemented a mobile-first index, which means that a mobile-optimized website is necessary. Failure to do so can result in lower rankings.
It’s also important to confirm that your dental website is correctly built and coded for SEO. SEO is a digital marketing strategy that helps Google read and rank your website for the most valuable search phrases (keywords) for your practice. SEO can be complicated, but it’s one of the least expensive and most effective ways to be found by patients who are ready to schedule.
#6. Update the wording of your practice’s mission statement and make sure it is displayed on your website
Once you have updated your dental website with a modern design and ensured that it is running smoothly with technical SEO, it’s important to focus on the text on your website, particularly on your home page.
Your home page is the first impression that potential patients will have of your practice, and a mission statement can help them better understand what you stand for.
To create a dental practice mission statement, start by refining your values, goals, and purpose.
You can even submit your mission statement to ChatGPT and ask it to help you make it more concise or fit a specific tone.
#7. Increase rating on Google Maps
To market your dental services locally, you need to have a Google Business Profile (GBP). This listing will appear in the Google maps section of the Search Engine Ranking Page (SERP). It contains your business address, hours, phone number, website, reviews, and average review rating.
This makes it easier for potential patients to decide whether or not to contact your office. Since 90% of worldwide searches are done on Google, having an optimized Google Business Profile can give you a substantial opportunity to attract new patients. It’s important for dentists to be aware of this potential new patient source.
How can a dentist improve their ranking on Google Maps?
When someone is looking for a dentist online, they will come across the Google Map 3-Pack in the search results. This pack includes the top three listings on Google maps. Being listed in the Google Map 3-Pack is a big deal because it can significantly increase your new patient phone calls. Our own marketing case studies have shown that optimizing your GBP listing can even double or triple your new patient phone calls. When you optimize your GBP listing, you will rank higher on the Google map and appear to a wider radius of potential patients. This means that even patients located further away will see your GBP listing, and you will out-rank practices that are located closer to the person searching.
What happens if you don’t optimize your GBP listing?
Many patients search online for a dentist near their location. However, even if your dental practice is the closest one, you may not appear on the first page of search results. This is because your listing may be buried deep in the results, and practices that are further away may show up higher on the map. Research has shown that over 90% of people choose a result on the first page of search engine results. Therefore, the dental practices listed on the first page tend to get the most new patient phone calls.
#8. Learn how to add links to your social media profiles on your Google Business listing
Optimizing your Google Business Profile is an effective way to rank higher on Google Maps. You can also add links to your practice’s social media profiles to help patients get a better idea of what to expect before their first visit.
To add social media links to your GBP, log in to your account either through the Google Maps app on your mobile device or through the desktop portal. Then, select “edit profile,” followed by “business information,” and then “contact.” Under the contact section, you’ll see “social profiles,” where you can choose which platforms you want to display. These links will then appear next to your practice’s name in a Google search or Google Maps search.
#9. Think about going to a dentistry marketing convention
Are you feeling stuck and unsure of what to do next with your dental practice? It could be time to go to a dentistry marketing conference to broaden your knowledge, look into new possibilities, and network with industry peers.
You can find many marketing resources at dental conferences, or attend a general small business marketing conference and adapt those strategies to your practice. Conferences, seminars, and local networking events can be highly beneficial in expanding your community connections and resources.
However, we strongly recommend attending a conference that specifically focuses on digital marketing for dentists.
Dental practices are unique businesses that require both small business know-how and professional medical expertise.
Your marketing needs, techniques, and considerations are different from those of other small businesses.
A dental-focused marketing conference will address your specific concerns and help you make the most of every hour.
#10. Make the most of dental social media platforms
It is recommended that all marketing campaigns include active social media accounts. Social media allows your practice to stay connected with current and potential patients in your community. By creating quality content that generates engagement, social media can be one of the most valuable marketing strategies for dentists.
Unlike traditional advertising or online paid advertising, leveraging social media tools doesn’t require significant budgets. However, it does require time and training to learn how to create compelling and engaging content.
What social media tools are recommended for a dental practice to use?
Instagram is a mobile photo-sharing app that is owned by Facebook. It has evolved over time and is now one of the best ways to advertise and market a dental practice. The app’s user base is generally younger than Facebook, making it ideal for reaching mothers with young children.
One of Instagram’s unique marketing opportunities is with influencers. These individuals have followers who trust their recommendations about brands and products. Micro-influencers, in particular, are those with under 10,000 followers. They are likely to have followers in their local area, which is great for dental practices looking to market to their community.
If you’re looking for a micro-influencer, start by considering your current patients. They may have a strong following on Instagram and be willing to promote your practice.
TikTok
TikTok has become a phenomenon in the world of social media, growing at an unprecedented rate and showing no signs of slowing down. If you haven’t yet joined TikTok, I strongly recommend that you do, but with a caveat – make sure to have an accountability coach who can help you maintain a healthy balance. This person will guide you and intervene when you’ve spent too much time on the app.
Once you’re on TikTok, it’s a good idea to follow some of the trending dentists on the platform. Seeing how other dentists are leveraging TikTok to grow their practices can provide you with inspiration and ideas for integrating it into your digital marketing strategy.
It is important to keep in mind that Facebook has the largest number of users among all social media platforms. Therefore, if you are trying to connect with your local audience, Facebook must be a part of your marketing strategy.
One of the advantages of Facebook is its direct messaging feature, which is almost as essential as your business phone number. It is recommended that someone on your team manages these messages. If you do not have someone on your team to handle this, you may want to consider hiring someone for the job.
#11. Use Instagram Threads
Have a look at Instagram Threads, another social media platform that your dental practice can try. The app was launched in 2023 as a substitute for X (formerly known as Twitter). After a turbulent change in ownership, X has been losing users, and new platforms have been competing to take its place. When Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, introduced Threads, it received 30 million downloads overnight.
Your dental practice can benefit from this large network of people by posting regularly on Threads. Users can create a post of up to 500 characters, 10 images, and 5 minutes of video.
#12. Start a Dental Blog
Blogging can be an effective digital marketing strategy. However, many people do not enjoy writing blog posts. If you are one of those people, you may want to consider hiring a copywriter to create custom articles for you. This strategy is not just for dentists, but for anyone who wants to improve their content marketing efforts.
Regularly posting new content on your website can help your blog gain visibility on search engines, improve your dental SEO, and serve as the basis for all your email marketing efforts. Additionally, it can help you refine your practice mission and purpose. So, investing in a copywriter to create fresh content for your blog can be a worthwhile investment.
A great way to begin a dental practice blog is by writing posts that provide answers to the most frequently asked questions of your patients. Alternatively, you can write posts that showcase your valuable patients and team members, particularly those with interesting stories.
#13. Receive a higher number of Google reviews than your competitors
If you are looking for an effective digital marketing strategy, it is highly recommended that you start by focusing on Google reviews. These reviews are now a crucial part of any marketing campaign. This is because they are attached to your practice’s Google Business Profile (GBP), which appears in search results and is usually viewed by more than two-thirds of your potential patients before they decide to schedule an appointment with you.
It is important to note that your GBP reviews can make or break your entire marketing campaign. For instance, imagine you have spent $20,000 on a print mail campaign, a billboard, a television ad, professional photography, or a website. A potential patient sees your marketing, and the first thing they do is validate it by checking your practice’s Google review profile. If the review profile is not great, there is a high chance that it will undermine your entire $20,000 marketing campaign.
If your practice has not been working on acquiring 5-star Google reviews, it is quite likely that your review profile is undermining all your marketing initiatives, including referral programs. Therefore, if you want to improve your dental digital marketing, the first thing you should do is focus on getting more positive Google reviews.
#14. Respond to Every Patient’s Google Review
It’s not enough to gather numerous reviews from patients to demonstrate that you care about their well-being and value their opinions. Simply collecting reviews will not leave a great impression on them. Responding to Google reviews is equally important. Responding to patient reviews can help improve your reputation, boost your SEO, and provide solid social proof to prospective patients looking for a new dentist.
Always thank people for their reviews, never argue with negative reviewers, and address their questions or concerns to the best of your ability. However, ensure that your responses are professional, friendly, and HIPAA-compliant.
#15. Make a Difference with Cause Marketing for Dentists
One of the best ways to generate buzz and get your whole team involved in a new marketing initiative is to do good. Everyone wants to join in on an effort to build up a good cause. Humanitarian drives can be surprisingly easy and create digital marketing opportunities for your dental practice.
These can include:
- Positive brand image. Patients and potential clients perceive you as generous, community-minded, and proactive. It makes you the type of business they feel good about being a part of.
- Increased team unity. It’s easy to get members of your team on board with charitable efforts, even those who feel hesitant about marketing. Setting a goal together can strengthen bonds.
- Patient referrals. Patients will join in on your awareness efforts by sharing your message with their friends, exposing you to a new pool of potential patients.
- Attract local media attention. Everyone loves a feel-good human interest story, and it can give you opportunities for press exposure you wouldn’t have otherwise.
Looking to grow your dental practice with dental marketing?
We can help!
#16. Improve Your SEO Rankings by Exchanging Blog Posts
One of the effective marketing tactics for dentists is to participate in a blog post exchange with another small business. This involves writing a blog post that highlights another business in exchange for them doing the same for your practice.
You can write a feature on someone in your community or make subtle references to their business. To make the most out of this strategy, find a business with a similar audience you want to target and that has an established online presence. It could be an orthodontist practice in your area, a local charity, a dental hygiene product manufacturer, or even a medspa.
Blog exchanges can provide your dental website with inbound links, improve your SEO rankings, and introduce your practice to new potential patients. Even if you’re not currently participating in a post exchange, having an updated blog is an effective marketing tool. The more compelling content you publish on your website, the higher your practice will rank on Google Search, Google Maps, and overall SEO.
#17. Collaborations for prize package giveaways are awesome!
If you haven’t tried hosting a giveaway before, this is the perfect time to start. Prize package giveaways are an excellent way to encourage prospective patients to engage with your practice and generate widespread awareness.
To create a prize package, you can either assemble a gift bag yourself or collaborate with a local business to put together a prize for the winner. For your own contributions, you can include items such as free teeth whitening, a free electric toothbrush (and other hygiene products), a discount for Invisalign, or branded gifts like t-shirts, stationery, and water bottles.
Alternatively, you can partner with a local online business, such as a jewelry brand or a restaurant, or any other small business that has an influence in your community, to donate prizes. By collaborating with another business, you increase your chances of reaching a broader audience.
#18. Reach a New Audience with a Gift Card Give-a-way
When devising your dental social media strategy, it is important to consider the potential of gift card giveaways. This kind of giveaway is inexpensive, easy to arrange, and can be a great way to increase traffic to your Instagram and Facebook accounts.
When seeking out local businesses to partner with for your giveaway, it’s essential to reach out to those with a similar customer demographic and a comparable number of followers to your account. This will help make the giveaway mutually beneficial, increasing the chances of a positive response.
It is essential to target the same audience to increase the likelihood of followers participating in the giveaway. For instance, if you are trying to reach parents of young children, you can partner with a kids’ play center or clothing store. And if your goal is to target young single adults, you may consider approaching a local gym or coffee shop.
Once you have identified the right collaboration partner, select the amount of the gift card and ensure that the giveaway is posted on both of your accounts, as well as your Instagram stories.
Just like any other giveaways, there are certain conditions that you can include to make people eligible to enter the draw and win a gift card. Following these requirements will help raise awareness about your brand and generate excitement among people.
#19. Please update your website to comply with the new HIPAA regulations
As you work on improving your dental practice’s marketing strategy, it’s crucial to keep compliance in mind. Are you aware of the latest HIPAA compliance guidelines for dental websites? Do you know how to handle negative online reviews in a way that protects your business?
It’s important to ensure that your online presence follows compliance guidelines to avoid any legal issues while growing your practice. Photos, reviews, and stories about patient interactions can all be tricky areas to navigate if you’re not following HIPAA guidelines.
Your dental practice should also ensure that your website is properly encrypted and secure, and that any data containing patient Private Health Information (PHI) is protected. Patients are entitled to access all their stored information and Electronic Health Records (EHRs) under the law, so ensure that your CMS is up to date.
#20. Make use of AI
Great marketers always keep up with new technology, and artificial intelligence can be a valuable tool for almost any industry. Great marketers always keep up with new technologies, and artificial intelligence can be a valuable tool for almost any industry. AI language models and visual image generators can help you create fresh and engaging content.
ChatGPT, which is a large language model from OpenAI, can generate responses to even the most unusual dental prompts. The more detailed your request, the more detailed the response will be. You can also use local keywords to improve your search engine optimization (SEO). Using ChatGPT in your marketing, you can generate ideas for website copy, blog posts, social media content, and even physical mailings.
With AI imagery, you can use platforms like Midjourney or ChatGPT to create graphics for your dental website, images for social media, and explore creative prompts.
#21. Remind your patients about their dental benefits before they expire
Consider implementing an end-of-the-year benefits reminder as a part of your marketing strategy. During the autumn season, you can leverage various communication channels such as social media posts, blog posts, email campaigns, and in-office posters to urge your patients to schedule an appointment before the year ends.
Many patients have a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or a specific dental care coverage benefit that they may lose if unused by the end of the year. Therefore, informing them about this “use it or lose it” situation can encourage them to make use of their health insurance before it’s too late.
#22. Discover Your Unique Value Proposition and Incorporate it into Your Marketing Strategy
A well-defined mission statement is essential for any dental practice, but it’s equally important to have a compelling value proposition. Your value proposition is a powerful marketing statement that communicates to patients what sets your practice apart from the rest.
To craft a strong value proposition, you need to identify the solutions you offer, the benefits a patient can expect from choosing your practice, and the advantages you have over your competitors.
#23. Enhance Your Website’s Conversion Rate with Live Chat
One marketing strategy that many dental practices overlook is adding a live chat function to their website. Patients, both current and potential, want fast and reliable channels of communication, and live chat is a perfect way to offer an accessible communication solution, in addition to practice phone numbers, email, and text messaging.
To integrate live chat into your website, your dental practice can use a dental chatbot feature that either uses pre-selected or AI-generated responses and then allows patients to speak with a live chat representative if their questions aren’t answered. This will reduce the number of unnecessary phone calls, save your staff time, and result in more leads for your practice.
#24. Consider outsourcing your marketing tasks to external professionals as much as possible
Many dental practices struggle to determine the marketing strategies that are most appropriate for them. However, even if they know which strategies to implement, they may not have the time and expertise to execute them effectively. In such cases, outsourcing your marketing efforts may be a wise decision. It enables practices to conserve their valuable resources and focus on their core competencies, which is providing quality patient care.
Companies that do marketing for dentists are well versed in the unique needs and challenges of the industry. They stay abreast of the latest trends and technologies and possess the competence to deliver measurable results to your practice.
How to Integrate Digital Marketing Strategies into Your Overall Marketing Campaign?
In order to establish a distinctive brand identity and promote your dental practice, social media, superior website design, cutting-edge dental digital marketing strategies, and SEO are essential. Compared to traditional marketing methods, digital marketing for dentists is cost-effective and much more effective at expanding your dental practice.
The benefits of dedicating effort to social media, dental SEO, and content-based web marketing for dentists are enormous. With Google Maps SEO, your dental practice has a better chance of appearing on the first page of Google search results. But there’s more to gain:
- Enhanced Brand Recognition: By optimizing all aspects of your digital marketing strategy, your dental practice can stand out from the competition. With over 160,000 practicing dentists in the United States alone, developing a memorable name and crafting your brand is crucial to capturing an audience and garnering attention.
- Strengthened Patient and Community Bonds: Regular blog posts, social media engagement, and content marketing can create a strong marketing campaign. By addressing their questions and concerns, potential patients will be more likely to trust your practice. Responding to inquiries and concerns via social media adds a personal touch to your brand. This engagement is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate your professional expertise, bolstering your credibility and increasing the likelihood of being chosen.
- Innovative Growth Opportunities: Digital marketing for dentists provides numerous opportunities for your practice to expand. By consistently publishing unique, insightful content, you can quickly establish yourself as a thought leader in your field.
#25. Do a live stream on Facebook or Youtube
Live streaming on Facebook and YouTube has become incredibly popular as it allows you to create engaging video content even with minimal resources. All you need is a phone. Here are a few steps and tips to help you have a successful live stream:
1. Preparing for the stream:
Decide on the topic of your live stream. It should be interesting and fit your format. Here are some ideas:
– Announcing contest winners
– Holiday greetings from your team
– Introducing a new team member
– Question and Answer (Q&A) session with your followers
It’s crucial to notify your followers in advance about the upcoming stream. Make posts on your social media, share the time and topic of the stream. You can even create an event or send invitations so that users don’t miss your performance.
2. Technical aspects:
You will need a phone with a good camera and microphone. Also, make sure you have a stable internet connection.
Find a quiet and well-lit place for the stream. Make sure the background noise is minimal and choose a background that won’t distract the audience.
3. During the stream:
Start by greeting your audience. Let them know what the stream will be about and how long it will last.
Be relaxed and natural. This will help you establish a closer connection with your audience. The main thing is to be yourself and enjoy the process.
4. After the stream:
Analyze how the stream went. Pay attention to the comments and interaction with the audience. This will help you improve the quality of future streams.
Remember: the key to successful live streams is informality and spontaneity. They should be interesting and enjoyable for both you and your audience. Don’t be afraid to experiment and have fun with the process!
#26. Get more feedback from patients
There are several effective ways to systematically collect feedback.
1. Using social media:
Utilize popular platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to post requests for feedback. Posting direct and friendly questions about patients’ experiences at the clinic can help them feel included. Take advantage of social media features such as surveys, questions in “stories,” and polls to gather real-time responses. Additionally, consider participating in thematic communities and groups on social media platforms to encourage patients to share their opinions freely.
2. Email:
Develop targeted mailing lists to request feedback after a clinic visit. Automate the process to send emails a few days after the visit when the experience is still fresh in patients’ minds. Personalize the emails by addressing patients by name and referencing their recent visit. Ensure that the emails are concise and include a direct link to the feedback platform, whether it’s your own website, Google My Business, Yelp, or specialized medical portals.
3. Questionnaires and surveys:
Provide simple questionnaires at the clinic for patients to fill out on the spot or take home for further completion. Post the questionnaires on the clinic’s website or share links to them via social media and email. Platforms like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey can be used to create user-friendly and attractive surveys.
4. Contests and promotions:
Periodically host contests and promotions where participation is linked to leaving a review. For instance, patients can enter to win useful prizes or discounts for clinic services by providing honest and detailed reviews.
5. Chatbots and AI assistants:
Integrate a chatbot into the clinic’s website or social networks to automatically collect feedback from patients by offering simple and intuitive questions.
Each of these methods has its advantages, and their combined use allows you to reach a wider audience, increase patient engagement, and improve the overall quality of service in the clinic.
#27. Record and post a short video
It’s a good idea to create a short video guide explaining the correct methods of brushing teeth in circular movements, using dental floss with a fixative, and recognizing signs of bruxism.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are suitable for these videos.
The video should be short and informative so that viewers can easily understand and apply their knowledge.
Consider adding graphic elements and highlighting key points to enhance the perception of information.
#28. It’s time to create an account on TikTok
If you haven’t created an account on TikTok yet, now is the perfect time to do so.
Today, video content is the most sought-after format on social media, and TikTok provides the perfect conditions for creating vibrant and viral videos.
TikTok offers excellent opportunities to increase your brand’s presence on social media.
It’s a platform where you can showcase your uniqueness, convey important messages to your audience, and simply have fun creating content.
#29. Post a photo of your team
Of course! One of the most successful ways to start engaging with followers on social media is by sharing photos of your team members. Customer feedback shows that this approach is particularly effective for building trust. When patients see the faces of the people who will be involved in their treatment or care, they start to feel more comfortable and confident.
Team photos help you stand out from competitors. Many clinics and practices limit themselves to standard posts about services and promotions, but they fail to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere. By showcasing the human side of your business, you demonstrate your uniqueness and customer focus.
Furthermore, this approach can also increase the loyalty of existing clients. When they see familiar faces and can follow the lives of those who take care of them, it creates a sense of belonging and a desire to return to you. People love to feel remembered and appreciated.
#30. Make sure your NAP Information is true
The accuracy of your company’s contact information across all online resources is crucial for successful operations and attracting customers. This information includes the company name, address, and phone number (NAP) and should be consistent and up to date everywhere.
Why is this important?
- Customer trust: Customers need to be confident that your contact details are correct in order to get in touch with you or visit your office. Inconsistencies can raise doubts and deter potential clients.
- Local SEO: Consistent and accurate contact details enhance the local visibility of your company in search engines. Google and other search engines use NAP to verify the authenticity and relevance of your business.
- User experience: There’s nothing more disappointing for a customer than trying to call an incorrect number or find an office at the wrong address. Accurate data ensures a smooth and positive interaction experience.
- Competitiveness: Accurate contact information helps your business stand out among competitors. Potential clients are more likely to choose a company with precise and transparent information.
Frequently Asked Questions
One of the most important marketing strategies for dental practices to find new patients, especially local clients, is to optimize their ranking on Google Maps. This involves enhancing your practice's visibility in local search results to make it easier for potential patients in your area to find you.
To do this, you need to create and maintain a complete Google Business Profile (GBP), which includes accurate and up-to-date information about your practice, such as its location, hours of operation, contact details, and services offered. Posting high-quality images and regular updates or promotions can also help boost your profile's visibility.
Encouraging satisfied patients to leave positive reviews on your GBP profile is crucial, as Google's algorithm favors businesses with higher ratings and more reviews. This not only enhances your online reputation but also significantly influences your Google Maps ranking.
Another aspect of local SEO is optimizing your website and online content with location-based keywords. This means incorporating the name of your city or neighborhood into your website's metadata, content, and blog posts. This strategy helps your practice appear in search results when potential patients are looking for dental services in your specific geographical location.
Having a strong backlink profile from local businesses, healthcare directories, and community websites can further enhance your local SEO efforts. These backlinks act as endorsements, increasing your website's authority and, consequently, your ranking in local search results.
Focusing on ranking higher on Google Maps through comprehensive local SEO efforts is vital for dental practices. This approach not only increases your practice's visibility to local patients but also builds a trustworthy online presence, which is essential in attracting new patients in the digital age.
Improving your online visibility and demonstrating your value is the key to attracting more dental patients. A well-optimized, engaging dental website is crucial for this purpose. It should be user-friendly, mobile-responsive, and contain useful content.
Utilizing dental social media can help you showcase your practice's personality and create engagement with potential patients. A strong local SEO strategy can ensure that people find you when searching for a nearby dentist. Google My Business, local keywords, and positive reviews play a vital role in this regard.
Finally, community involvement is an excellent way to demonstrate that you care and can improve your reputation locally. Following this roadmap can lead to a busier practice: a solid online presence, valuable offers, active community engagement, and a bit of digital advertising.
Digital marketing is essential for dental practices, even if they are not actively seeking new patients. The healthcare industry, including dental services, has shifted significantly towards the digital realm, making an online presence necessary for staying relevant and competitive.
Digital marketing serves two primary purposes. Firstly, it helps attract valuable new patients, including those seeking specialized services or high-value treatments like cosmetic dentistry. Targeted digital marketing strategies, such as search engine optimization (SEO), website optimization, content marketing, and social media engagement, can help a practice attract patients who are looking for specific services that the practice excels in.
Secondly, digital marketing is crucial for nurturing relationships with existing patients. Regular engagement through email marketing, social media updates, and informative blog posts can help maintain patient loyalty, encourage referrals, and keep patients informed of new services and treatments.
Moreover, a robust digital marketing strategy is necessary for staying relevant in the digital age. With most patients turning to the internet to search for healthcare providers, including dentists, a practice without a digital footprint risks being overlooked or perceived as outdated. A strong online presence, including an optimized website, active social media profiles, and a high ranking on Google Maps, ensures that your practice remains visible and accessible to both existing and potential patients.
Finally, digital marketing offers innovative ways to connect with a wider audience. New platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels can help dentists showcase their practice, share valuable dental health tips, and establish a brand identity that resonates with patients of all ages.
In summary, digital marketing is fundamental for dental practices looking to maintain a competitive edge and stay relevant in an increasingly digital healthcare environment.
According to a recent survey, more than 50% of dentists reported spending a minimum of $1,000 per month on marketing, while just over 20% reported spending more than $5,000 per month. Only 5% of those surveyed reported spending nothing on marketing.
As a general rule, dentists should aim to maintain a profit margin of at least 40%, and their marketing expenses should not exceed 7% of their total costs.
Dental digital marketing involves a four-phase process known to expert marketers. The four phases are Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action, and the acronym that most marketers use is RICE.
Firstly, to reach your audience, you can use several strategies such as social media marketing, email marketing, paid advertising, SEO, and blogging.
Secondly, you need to interact with your audience, which includes having a well-designed website, live chat support, internal website, and social media channel linking, calls to action, and custom photography and video content creation.
Thirdly, you need to convert your audience. Conversion involves exclusive offers, landing pages with calls to action, schedule now buttons and options, and copywriting focused on conversion.
Fourthly, you need to engage with your audience. Engagement involves some of the action items listed above, but is repeated with a focus on nurturing. These tactics include email marketing, organic social media posts that allow for personal interaction, and remarketing strategies.
Once you create a dental digital marketing campaign, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are we reaching the correct audience?
- Are my patients interacting with my practice through the platforms in my campaign?
- Are potential patients converting to scheduled patients?
- Are we seeing any repeat business from previous patients?
Begin attracting, converting, and engaging with patients today
Let us help you put together the perfect mix of marketing services to increase your rankings and attract new patients.
Fill out the form to talk with an Internet Marketing Advisor.