Dental Marketing Tips
Now that you have some amazing dental marketing resources, let’s consider a few elements of dental marketing and some tips to make you the best marketer possible!
While these tips are intended for those dentists that choose to run their own marketing campaign, they can also be helpful for those that have hired a marketing company (as they will help you to better understand what the company is doing).
Ads
Running advertisements is a key component of your marketing success both online and offline. If you are running advertisements online, you’ll want to consider platforms like Google, Facebook, and even Instagram. For more traditional marketing, you may consider television, radio, print, and billboards.
While traditional advertising is still effective, you may find that digital advertising offers better results for your spend. Not only are you better able to control how much you are spending (as you can turn the spending off whenever you’d like), but you also are able to see how your marketing efforts are materializing in real-time.
For example, if you decide to run a print ad in the newspaper, it can be difficult to quantify how successful your ad spend was and how much traffic you actually got from the ad. You also can’t stop midway through the campaign. Once the money is spent, it’s spent. It doesn’t matter what results you get.
On the other hand, if you run a Google Ads campaign, you are able to track how your money is being spent, what the results look like, and what improvements you can make. You can also turn off the spending faucet whenever you would like—even mid-campaign!
Again, this isn’t to say that print doesn’t have its advantages. For instance, print may be useful for targeting an older audience that still reads the newspaper. But, for more control over your audience and other elements of your ad campaign, you may want to consider digital.
Target Demographic
To better understand your ad campaign, you’ll also want to understand exactly who it is that you are trying to reach. As was mentioned above, with a newspaper or radio (especially specific stations), you may be able to better reach an older audience. If you perform dental implants and denture services, this may be the perfect audience to meet your needs.
If you specialize in general services or cosmetic dentistry, on the other hand, it may be beneficial to reach a younger audience. This audience may be on Facebook, Instagram, or searching Google for local dentists in your area.
This is just one of many elements you need to consider not only with your ad campaign but all of the elements of dental marketing you plan on taking advantage of.
Social Media
Social media is also extremely helpful with both initially connecting with your target audience and staying in contact with your existing patients. It’s important to maintain a social media presence on some of the more popular platforms (especially Facebook) in order to connect with patients directly.
Platforms like Facebook also allow for reviews, which can be a major advantage. With that said, you may need to encourage reviews in order to get more. A lot of patients will forget to leave you a review if you don’t ask.
Facebook is also a great place for answering questions. You may create a post and then have a patient or potential patient ask a question in the comments. This gives you the opportunity to connect directly and even encourage an appointment. Facebook also has a messenger function, on which you can speak with your patient or potential patient directly.
Along with being able to communicate with patients and potential patients, social media is a great opportunity to create fun and engaging posts patients can connect with.
You may create videos (which we will go over in a moment), memes, and other forms of content (like photos). You can post puns, talk about upcoming health-related “holidays,” and much more. There are a lot of fun ways to keep your patients engaged with social media, which keeps you top of mind.
Part of your social media success will be posting often and consistently. Keep this in mind. Social media platforms reward consistent posting. On top of that, some social media sites make it extremely difficult to reach followers. Facebook, for instance, is notorious for throttling engagement for pages (without pay, of course). In order to reach more people, you’ll need to post more.
In order to make sure you are posting consistently and on schedule, consider creating a content calendar. You can even schedule posts in advance for Facebook and Instagram using the Meta Business Suite. This allows you to create posts in bulk and then line them up to publish on their own.
There is a lot that goes into running a successful social media campaign, but these are a few of the things you want to consider when you are getting started.
Videos
Another way to connect with your audience is through videos.
Below are some key things to focus on when it comes to videos…
What the Content May Look Like
There are three main kinds of videos you want to focus on: · Entertaining videos · Educational videos · Practice-specific videos and updates
Obviously, you want all of your videos to be entertaining, but this more refers to the purpose of the video.
Entertaining videos are intended to be fun and engaging more than anything else. They may be funny, interesting, and/or trendy. So, you can create a fun little skit or do a popular social media dance.
Educational videos should be focused on educating your audience. While they can be fun and entertaining, the primary focus isn’t on just being amusing to watch. These videos may be about specific procedures, shopping around for the right dentist, preventative care, and anything else that patients and potential patients may want to know.
Finally, there are practice-specific videos. These videos are focused on showing off your dental practice, interviewing staff, and providing updates (such as a new location, renovations, and so on).
Ideally, your video content should be a mixture of these three things. This will diversify your content, while also educating your audience about both dentistry and your specific practice.
A Low Cost Solution
Videos are an excellent way to reach your audience and are lower cost to make than they’ve ever been. If you have a little extra time to spare and a fun personality (or if someone in your dental office has a fun personality), creating videos can be an excellent way to get your brand out there and set yourself apart from the pack.
Optimizing for Social As it is essentially social content, posting videos regularly is important. You want to grow your fan base by being consistent and producing fun and engaging content.
Take a moment to consider the type of content you consume. What gets you to stop scrolling? Which videos are you watching all the way through? Then, consider what they would look like if they had a dental edge to them. This is the kind of content you can produce on an extremely low budget.
Along with fun content, long-form videos can be extremely helpful and informative for your patients. For instance, you can make long-form videos discussing procedures that you perform. If a potential patient lands on your site, they can watch a video embedded on the appropriate page. So, your dental crowns page can have a video discussing what crowns are, the benefits, and what the procedure looks like. You can even send current clients to your site to view these videos in case they want to learn more.
While online video marketing may not be at the top of your list, it can make a great addition to your social campaign.
Where to Post
Now that you know what your content should look like, you are probably wondering where you should be posting your outstanding content. There are a few places… For long-form content, YouTube is the perfect place to park it. Not only can you grow your YouTube channel so it’s a hub for people looking to learn more about dentistry, but you can also embed these videos on your website with ease.
For short-form content, you can focus on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram stories, reels, and shorts. Tik Tok is another option but, due to recent privacy concerns, you may want to research the platform further before deciding to post.
Make sure you post often. Your audience may miss one of your videos, but they may be able to catch the next one. It’s also great to keep a schedule. If your audience knows when you are going to post, they’ll be much more likely to tune in.
With great video content posted on the most engaging platforms consistently, you’ll see your viewership grow. This, in turn, can lead to a boost in your inquiries and bookings!
Commercials
Along with online social media videos, you may want to consider a professional video shoot for a commercial. Commercials can be run on local television spots to get in front of patients that live in your area. Once you’ve paid to have the commercial produced, you can also use it for your online campaign.
There are a couple of ways you can use a commercial that has been shot for TV online. The first is to add it to the homepage of your website and YouTube channel. This allows people to see what your practice is all about in a quick bite. You can also use that commercial to run ads on YouTube and other platforms. If you target properly, you’ll get in front of a ton of potential patients in your local area.
With this two-fold approach, you can get in front of the most potential patients possible.
Blogs
Having a blog is a great way to set yourself apart and serves a couple of different purposes. Mainly, these come down to providing information and marketing.
Before starting a dental blog, it’s best to first consider why it is that people read blogs. Generally, people read blogs for entertainment, information, or both. While you can definitely write entertaining blogs, when it comes to the field of dentistry, you’ll want to make sure to focus on informative blogs.
One easy place to start with a blog is to consider what services you provide and then create content based on those services. So, if you specialize in cosmetic dentistry, you can write blogs about teeth whitening, dental bonding, and so on. You can also write more general blogs discussing things like proper oral healthcare, smile design, and the best products to use.
Along with providing your patients and potential patients with information about your services and dentistry in general, your blogs should be designed to drive traffic to your website and increase engagement. If you are able to leverage the right keywords, you’ll get in front of more potential patients organically with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). On top of this, you can post blogs on social media and even run advertisements that drive patients to your blog.
Blog Tips
If you decide to start a blog, there are a few things you should consider. These include:
Checking Out Other Blogs
If you have no idea where to start or you would simply like some inspiration, consider checking out the blogs of your competitors. Read through some posts of other dentists in your area. If they don’t have blogs (which would be great for you), expand your radius a bit and find dental offices that do.
You should never directly copy another blog’s content, but you can at least use them to brainstorm some topics.
Posting Consistently As with social media, your blog should be consistent. Your readers should know when your next blog is coming out. Even if you don’t have a lot of readers, staying on a consistent schedule will ensure you are getting plenty of content out there, which will help you to rank higher on Google.
Hiring a Writer If you aren’t a good writer (or you simply don’t have the time to write blogs), consider hiring an expert blog writer. You can either go through a digital marketing agency or create a job post on Upwork and/or other job sites.
Stay Consistent with Your Brand
Even if you hire a writer, you want to make sure your blog is written with your “voice” and properly represents your brand. If you do hire someone, make sure to get them any brand documents you have created. If you don’t have any, ask them to take some time to review your website and get to know your brand better.
With a great blog, you can get in front of more patients, drive traffic to your site, and increase your bookings!
Traditional Marketing
Traditional marketing is what many people think of when they hear the words “marketing” and “advertising.” These are marketing methods that include television ads, newspaper ads, billboards, radio, and more. For some business types, this method has gone the way of the dodo. For others, like dentistry, these are still very strong methods for building your practice and attracting new patients.
Here are some considerations for building your practice with the help of traditional marketing methods…
Branding
Branding is extremely important when it comes to traditional marketing, as these ads cost a lot of money and aren’t easy to adjust. Social media and Google ads are nimble and can be changed with a few clicks. This means, if you didn’t express your brand as well as you wanted to, you can rewrite your copy, change the images you are using, and so on. Once a traditional marketing ad is out, it’s out.
For instance, if you run a billboard ad and you aren’t happy with it, you aren’t going to be able to do much in the short term. It’s going to take a bit to remove the ad from a billboard, and even more time to put up a new one. This will also end up costing you a ton of money.
Along with a lot of money, if you mess up your branding message, it can be hard to undo the mistake. This is especially so if an ad spot was brand damaging!
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t run traditional ads—it’s more to illustrate the importance of nailing down your brand before you start running traditional ads. Take time to really ensure brand consistency, and even consider hiring a brand consultant to make sure everything fits together well before you put an expensive ad out into the world.
Target Properly
Like with online marketing, you’ll want to properly target your traditional marketing ads to get the most exposure to the right people for how much you are investing. This can be a bit trickier with traditional marketing, though.
If you decide to run a television or radio ad, consider the people that are most likely to watch or listen to a specific station before running your ad there. For instance, you probably wouldn’t run an energy drink ad on a smooth jazz station.
If you choose to run a billboard ad campaign, consider where the billboards are being placed. Are they in high-traffic areas? Are they in the places where your target demographic can see them? Are they close enough to your dental office for your potential patients to easily get to you?
You need to consider where your target audience lives, shops, works, and so on. If you are targeting very high-income patients for cosmetic procedures, for instance, a low-income community may not be the most efficient spot for a billboard.
The scattershot approach wastes a ton of money and doesn’t get great results. Be very specific about where you choose to run your ads and who you are targeting.
Highlight Your Location
You are a local business. Particularly if your practice only has one location, make sure you highlight that location. Put your address on or in your advertisements in a way that is visible and clear. Also, consider how your business fits in with the local community. If, for instance, your dental office is located in a primarily Hispanic area, consider representation. While you don’t have to do this, it can make some potential patients feel more welcome.
Bonus points: if you are targeting a group of Spanish speakers and you speak Spanish, mention it in the ad!
These are just a few tips for running a traditional ad campaign. The process can be pretty complex, and you may want to consider working with an advertising agency to help ensure your brand message is on point, create your ads, and find the appropriate placement.
If you do plan on running a traditional marketing campaign on your own, make sure to take advantage of the excellent marketing resources above, such as the dental marketing podcasts, YouTube channels, and books.
Word-of-Mouth
Word-of-mouth is the oldest form of marketing, and it is still a key part of any marketing plan. While a lot of your word-of-mouth will happen organically, there are other aspects of word-of-mouth marketing that are actually in your control.
Here are a few ways you can take advantage of word-of-mouth marketing and get the word out there for free!
Encourage Word-of-Mouth
This may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people simply forget to ask their patients to spread the word. It’s always good to put the idea in the heads of your patients.
The first way to do this is to ask them directly. When you are done with the appointment, remind them to tell their friends and family if they enjoyed your services. Then, make sure your front office staff reminds them again before they leave.
Another thing you can do to encourage word-of-mouth is to set up small signs that remind them. This may simply be a small stand by the front desk that says, “Tell your friends!” in a nice font.
Don’t underestimate the power of these small steps!
Reviews
Reviews are very important for building your practice. This is especially so in an area with a lot of competition.
You need to keep an eye on your reviews on Facebook and Google. If your reviews on Facebook aren’t showing up yet, there simply aren’t enough. As of right now, you need around 5 reviews before Facebook shows your reviews, and they should be comprehensive. Google will start showing reviews right away—for better or for worse. For instance, if only two patients leave reviews and they are both negative, that isn’t going to look great.
You can reply to reviews on Google, though, which is helpful. You may be able to open a dialogue with an unhappy patient and see what you can do to make it right. You can then encourage them to update their reviews. It can definitely be worth the effort.
Like with encouraging word-of-mouth, you should encourage patients to leave you 5-star reviews. This little nudge can get you some extra reviews, which can be very helpful.
Referral Bonuses
Another thing you can do to increase word-of-mouth is to offer referral bonuses. Maybe you can offer a discount on teeth whitening or a discount on another service. You may also consider giving out a free dental care packet with toothpaste, floss, and so on. These small incentives can make a big difference!
Start Your Dental Marketing Today!
We’ve now gone over 111 dental marketing resources, as well as some outstanding tips for growing your dental practice. Now the only thing left is to get to it! Put together your plan of action and decide on which resources are right for you. From there, you can start driving traffic, retaining existing patients, and growing your practice!
Good luck and have fun!
– Joyce
— Joyce
