How To Get Started Marketing Your Dental Practice

Google Business Profile – Since 92% of searchers make their selection on the first page of local search results, it is important that your marketing strategy includes tactics to increase your rankings in local searches. The first step: create your Google Business Profile. Including your address, phone number, and website as well as photos and a short summary of your business, your listing provides potential patients with a snapshot of your practice, so accurate information and category designations help to improve your place in the results.

Website – Now that they’ve found your practice, (thanks to your Google listing), it’s time to put your best foot forward with an engaging and informative website. Your site should be optimized for viewing on smartphones, since more than 70% of today’s web traffic is coming from mobile devices. In addition to an informative Landing Page with a Call-to-Action, you’ll want to include information about the practice, services offered, patient reviews, and a detailed contact page

Online Reviews – When researching, 84% of people trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. Successful strategies to obtain reviews following patient appointments can include sending out patient satisfaction surveys and follow-up emails inviting patients to write a review. Make it easy for them to access your website or Google listing with links embedded into the content of your email. Letting patients know that a referral is the best kind of review can also encourage word-of-mouth growth.

Social Media – It’s where it’s at! Meet your patients on their own turf by creating a presence on social media platforms that make sense for your practice. Each with its own niche audience, social media allows you to broaden your reach, posting content and creating a conversational community. Varying your content with links to articles, high quality imagery, and video content, regular postings impact your SEO and help to attract more viewers to your sites.

Create Engaging Content – Get your patients to stop scrolling when they come across your posts by creating content that interests your audience. Using a combination of articles, photos, and videos, you can take advantage of cross-posting to broaden your reach. Today’s social media users average 100 minutes per day watching online videos, and by creating your own original content – conducting Q&As, how-to’s, and behind the scenes videos at your office, you can interact with your followers on a personal level. Create and maintain a blog to increase the amount of quality content on your website and establish your practice as a leader in the profession.

Build your Contact List – Knowing the type of patient you’d like to attract to your practice certainly helps to influence your marketing efforts, but it’s what you do once you’ve put yourself in front of them that will determine how your business grows. Whether through a sign-up form on your website, building your address book by capturing patient’s permission and email address through patient intake forms, and engaging with those who follow and like your practice on social media, it is important to diversify your marketing to attract both new patients and serve the needs of your existing patients.

Remarketing Campaigns – With the paid marketing options provided by online platforms, you can take advantage of cookies placed within browsers to develop remarketing campaigns that allow you to target those who have previously visited your website or social media platforms. Similarly, you can look within your own patient files and develop a retention campaign designed to bring patients back into your practice. This is especially important as practices are seeing an influx of patients returning for treatment that had been neglected during the Covid-19 pandemic. A simple email or mailer to these patients, reminding them that it’s time to make an appointment that includes information about your Covid protection strategies can provide peace of mind and a helpful nudge toward your office.

Contribute to the Community – Patients are less likely to experience anxiety when visiting the dentist if they feel comfortable, so get involved in the community and become a familiar face. Engaging with the community outside of the office is a way to make your presence known and increase your profile among prospective patients. Whether you donate branded items to local and charity events, purchase ad space in school event programs, or host a booth at local fairs, there is a wide variety of opportunities that await! 

Bonus Points –  Enable Online Bookings, SMS Appointment Reminders, and all the tech that today’s savvy patients are regularly using to make life easier. Online scheduling and bill pay are appealing to patients, and can be utilized on both your website and social media platforms. Text reminders of upcoming appointments helps to reduce your no-show rate and can also be used to inform patients of the need to book cleanings and checkups. As with all communication methods, it is important to capture their permission to contact via these channels to remain compliant with HIPAA regulations. This can be easily done with a checkbox on your patient intake forms.