12 Most Effective Digital Marketing Strategies for Dentists in 2021
Digital Marketing has Limitless Potential.
Like most dentists, you primarily focus on fulfilling dental services and may not have the time to explore new marketing strategies. But in the era of digitalization, all dental offices must realize the importance of digital marketing. Your dental office should not be limited by just word of mouth; instead, try using proven techniques that will help you maximize incoming patients to your office.
You have to be aware of the new and current ways of reaching out to your target audience. Give your practice a fighting chance by carrying out these strategies and techniques. In this guide, we’ll review the 12 Most Effective Dental Marketing Strategies to Maximize Your Practice’s Growth In 2021.
1. BRANDING
Branding sets your practice apart from the competition and creates a unique experience that your patients recognize as soon as they interact with you. No matter which channels they choose to interact with your office, your brand – your website, blog, email, Facebook, Twitter, or whatever tomorrow’s technology may bring – they should all demonstrate the unique experience that your brand represents.
A brand is a person’s perception of a product, service, experience,
or organization.
A brand strategy is a long-term plan for developing a successful brand presence to achieve specific results. First, let’s clarify that your brand is not your product, logo, website, or name. Your brand is far more encompassing — your brand makes a more profound, emotional connection with your patients. A well-thought-out and defined brand identity should be the backbone of any successful practice, so distinguish yourself from those around you.
2. PHOTOGRAPHY ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Photo credit: # smileonnashville
Social media works wonders for marketing. But to do so, you need to upload high-quality photographs with eye-catching captions. Poor quality pictures, such as low pixel, blurry, or even wrong edited photos, do not catch people’s attention. They only bring down the quality of your work. You must understand that using quality photos and taking your time to edit them says a lot about your persona and how you carry out yourself with your work. If you start posting pictures with a low-quality resolution or posting temporary crowns/veneers (which are not as great as the final results of a delivered case, people tend to feel your work is low-quality. Dentists must understand that perception is reality.
It will be beneficial to invest in a dental photography class and a good camera. This way, you can attract cosmetic cases. The algorithm keeps changing, but sometimes it takes only one great photo or video to go viral. This will open up doors to new patients ready to commit to your work and maybe even A-list or celebrity clientele.
It is also important to upload photos regularly. Going cold on social media will negatively impact your image and business. So, be regular with the photographs and uploads. Keep it relevant and also make it fun.
One of our favorite tips is to create your own hashtags for your specific treatments. In a way, you can build your smile digital album for veneers, crowns, dentures, implants, etc.
Example: You just finished delivering a few veneer cases, so you start posting the before/after pictures on your social media platforms to create your digital album for those specific cases. You hashtag the posts #VeneersbyDrJAlbum (this is a custom hashtag of your own). Try using more hashtags obviously to get more presence, but this one is a must for all your veneer cases. *make sure no one else is using this same hashtag* That way, when you search for the hashtags, only your veneer cases pop up and not some random case from a different doctor.
3. SOCIAL MEDIA
Posting amazing photos on social media is not enough. You need to build a relationship with your patients via social media. Be as responsive as you can. Have frequent interactions. Maintain transparency to gain the trust of your patients. Your social media should focus on what your brand is. Maintain the consistency of your brand, and you will have a steady in-flow of patients. In simpler words, let your patients know who you are as a dentist and a person.
Make it about them, not you.
Having a presence on social media can also boost your reputation and give you a variety of clientele. It is a very effective way of attracting the a-list patients that you want. You could also draw celebrities and even big-time influencers with millions of followers. As mentioned before, perception is everything, so if you serve celebrities, others will follow.
See, back in the day, trust used to be something that would take time to build, but this generation acts differently. People with thousands or even millions of followers are called influencers because they influence people to come to your office. Even if they don’t know each other, one shoots the message, and others follow.
How do you know who an influencer is? When a patient comes to your office, try looking them up on social media, most people have their profiles “public,” so you can ask them to take a picture with you. Make it about them, not you.
5. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
By now, we all know that content is the new currency of this age. Displaying the right content gets your target audience’s attention and engagement with your business. Great content rich with SEO-friendly words will boost your practice when people search for services or specific keywords. It will help your website come out on top of search engine results; Search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. Search Engine Optimization helps you attract the right audience; in your case, patients ready to commit to treatment. You must understand these are patients searching for treatment or services and not patients interested in dentistry like Facebook targeted ads. Articles enriched with SEO-friendly words are not everyone’s forte. It is best to hire a content writing company or a freelancer. They specialize in creating the perfect targeted content for your practice. They will provide the content and help develop a blog system that will be read locally and not worldwide because when it comes to search engines, you want to keep your presence locally to avoid spammers.
In a nutshell, SEO refers to improving your website on the unpaid results, and ultimately, ranking you on the first page of organic search engines. A great way to see SEO strategies is as an investment for your practice. SEO helps search engines navigate your website more structurally. Creating a website and not performing SEO is like having business cards and keeping them in your storage room. No one will know you have them. It is important to distribute your content across the web. This type of strategy can take time, but it is a great investment in the long run. Because in a year or so, you can stop SEO, and all the ranking will stay up there until another office starts climbing up; unlike Google Adwords, once you stop paying, you disappear from the map.
Local Listings are also part of SEO, so make sure you have claimed your Google MyBusiness (GMB) profile and you are keeping your patients up to date with current information about your practice. After all, your GMB is seen 3x more than your actual website, so ensure you have accurate contact information, great pictures, specials, and hours of operations listed. Your Google MyBusiness profile is a hub for all the information about your practice.
Tip: you can claim your free business profile at http://www.google.com/business/
5. REVIEWS: “THE NEW DIGITAL WORLD OF THE MOUTH.”
If you ask where your patients found you, most of their answers will be, ”I found you online... You had great google reviews... or someone recommended me to you.” Reviews have become the new word of mouth. Most people read reviews before going somewhere; I’m sure this includes you, searching for the best Italian restaurant in your area. What makes dentistry any different? People search for the best service, and great reviews translate into the best services. The best part is that it is not limited to one geographic area. Maintaining a good, steady service with a focus on patient satisfaction will lead to good reviews. Great reviews will separate you from other dental offices.
A bad review can negatively impact your work to a great extent. Always provide the best service and stay up-to-date with what reviews you receive. The saying “Ask and you shall receive” must be applied to this strategy. Most of the time, doctors are afraid of asking for a review, but if you know you provided excellent service, make sure you ask for a Google review. By asking, you keep the person accountable to leave a great review; moreover, when you say, “I can’t wait to read your feedback.”
If you feel asking is too much for you, there are programs such as RepBoost from Geek Dental Marketing that allow your staff to send text messages with an invitation to leave a review. This will make the review process smooth, and if patients happen to text back to that text, your staff will be able to answer right away via the two-way (SMS) text feature. Programs like this will help you boost your reviews in no time. We have seen offices getting 10-15 reviews per day. Keep in mind; “The best advertising is done by satisfied customers.” - Philip Kotler.
Reviews influence purchase decisions, so consider setting a goal to get 5-10 reviews monthly and watch your office phones ring a little more than usual.
6. GOOGLE ADS (PPC)
PPC stands for Pay Per Click. Google Ads is a Google-based advertising platform that uses a bidding system to promote a business to users searching online. So, why use Google Ads? Google is the biggest search engine on the internet. Most people even refer to Google as being the internet; that’s how big it is. With Google Ads, you can create online advertisements to promote your practice to your specific target audience. The best thing about PPC is that you only pay when someone clicks the Ad to get to your website or contact you. There are different strategies to use within Google Ads, but it is essential to keep track of your budget and your office’s KPIs to have a healthy campaign. Conversions are not always the best KPIs. You see, there is a massive gap between the digital world and the physical world, so it is wise also to have physical KPIs such as incoming patients to the office, not just online leads, to keep track of your real return.
So what’s the difference between Google Ads and SEO? Your PPC Ads are placed on top of the search engines so users can see your Ads faster. If your Ad is compelling and catches the person’s attention searching for a specific keyword or treatment, they will most likely turn into a patient.
When creating a Google Ads account, you must ensure that you or the company helping you optimize your campaigns keeps in mind hours of operations, landing pages, link extensions, location attachments, devices, offers, and more. There are many ways to optimize campaigns, but the biggest of all is the negative keywords! These are your best friends when it comes to Google Ads.
7. YOUTUBE VIDEOS
Youtube is a great medium to reach out to your target audience. Make simple educational videos as if you are talking to your patients to build trust. It helps you showcase your knowledge to assure patients that they should come to you for specific procedures. Visitors can get to know you before they even come to your office, so they’ll feel more at ease when finally talking to you in person. Using suitable titles, descriptions, and tags can help your channel grow and bring you great results.
In addition, you can create testimonial videos from your patients. New visitors will start trusting more when they see other patients talking about your service and work quality. Eventually, with time, if your videos get a lot of traffic, you can even monetize the channel and earn additional income from Youtube, which can help you boost your marketing strategies without taking from your overhead. Still, these are doctors that can commit their time and become influencers.
Never compromise with the quality of content
you upload. It will affect your reputation...
In addition, you can create testimonial videos from your patients. New visitors will start trusting more when they see other patients talking about your service and work quality. Eventually, with time, if your videos get a lot of traffic, you can even monetize them and earn additional income from Youtube, which can help you boost your marketing strategies without taking from your overhead.
Adobe Premiere Pro is a program used by video producers to edit videos. It can turn regular videos into magic! You can add transitions, cut scenes, or color-grade your videos so they can look professional.
Lastly, Youtube videos will help boost your website’s SEO. If you are already investing in Search Engine Optimization, this is a great way to grow it and get organic local traffic.
Adobe premier video editing software: You can check prices and plans here:
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html?filter=video-audio&plan=individual
8. EMAIL MARKETING
Creating “Use it or Lose it” campaigns can help your end-of-the-year collection, but creating an email marketing campaign is not just to send promotions to your current patients. You can also build automated campaigns. An automated email campaign is a series of emails sent automatically, triggered by your subscribers’ actions or staff members. The cool part about automation is that 69% of offices said automation could help reduce wasted time.
There are many ways to get the most out of email marketing campaigns.
For example: when a new patient is scheduled for an appointment, the automated email campaign will send directions, welcome forms, etc., as an email. One week later, the patient will receive an email asking for reviews linking them to your Google reviews. Lastly, they can probably get a personalized letter asking for a referral of friends & family.
9. social media paid ads
You may not think that social media marketing as a paid search campaign is essential. But to maximize your visibility on social media platforms, they are a must these days.
While social media platforms differentiate drastically from search engines, you can always benefit from paid advertising visibility. Remember, older demographics between the ages of 35 and 55 are quite active on social media. They come with a significant household income, family-oriented, understand the importance of a healthy smile, and are your desirable patient.
Picture advertising a “Teeth Whitening Special” to that specific person? Even if you are not interested in going into too much detail. I am sure you are aware of an old marketing strategy, sending a “Welcome to the Neighborhood” letter to people who just moved in – Visualize doing the same, but instead of a letter, an actual personalized video saying, “Welcome to our city! This is Dr. John Smith at White Smiles Dental Office; I just wanted to let you know that we are here for you whenever you need a new dentist around your new town. Click the link below so we can get your information and meet you!”— Yes, that is possible!
Paid Social Media is all about targeting the right audience. Always keep in mind that social media differs from search engines in a big way! While people look for you or your services on search engines (hot leads), social media shows ads to people interested in you or the demographic you chose (cold leads), which is why your ad needs to convince someone to come to your office.
10. PODCASTING
Like writing and publishing a book, starting your podcast will enhance your reputation and increase your credibility. Focus on topics related to dentistry. Do not worry about attracting a massive audience. Instead, focus on putting out good quality content and polishing your reputation. This is a wonderful way to stand out and get noticed by your target audience. Do not give up and stay consistent.
Podcasts can tend to be more engaging than books because not everyone reads. Also, many people do not have enough free time. But a podcast can be listened to while traveling or even cleaning.
You may also invite other healthcare providers to join you on specific episodes; this will make your show more diverse! But, again, this is not to get you thousands of listeners or followers but to build your reputation and stand out from the rest.
Don’t want to spend money on Podcasting? We recommend https://anchor.fm.
11. CONVERSION-DRIVEN WEBSITE
Finally, we can’t leave this behind. Optimize your website to have a conversion-driven design. Conversion is the ratio of people visiting your website and taking action, such as buying, calling, or filling out a form. In this case, getting people to schedule appointments or calling would be the conversion you need. You can increase your website conversion rate by doing a few simple but necessary things. Instead of using hyperlinks to help the audience to book an appointment, use buttons. Make them prominent, visible, and attractive; that way, your visitors won’t miss them. Second, the loading time of your website is a big deal. Because the attention span and patience have decreased with time, people will not wait for your website to load.
Your website should be easy to navigate — make sure that the information is not presented chaotically. It is a big turn-off and eventually leads to low conversion rates. Adding real images also attracts more people to the website. Keep in mind that a picture speaks a thousand words, but a video gives your patients a specific message. A video is a high-conversion tool, so consider doing it. Make sure to add the relevant keywords that people will use to search when looking for a dentist. If you are doing a Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaign, these will also help drastically. Lastly, make sure your website is mobile optimized and has a “call” button on the first-page load— so that patients can call right away! Do not make it hard to find your number. Consider age in this matter; while some younger generations will be able to identify a button with a simple phone icon, older generations may want to see a clickable phone number. Always account for everything and think outside the box.
12. guerilla marketing
Guerrilla Marketing is an advertisement strategy in which a company uses surprise and unconventional interactions to promote a product or service; it is a type of publicity. The term was popularized by Jay Conrad Levinson’s 1984.
*This idea was formulated just to show
an example.
This strategy works wonders if you have the creativity and can be applied to social media platforms or the physical world, for that matter. Here is an example of guerrilla marketing to go viral:
Everyone loves the Avengers (Comics and Movies), so why not purchase a glove, paint it gold, and put all the stones (fake gems) and make a patient walk to your office and you (as a dentist) snap your fingers and then show the patient with a fantastic set crowns/veneers. A full smile makeover was done with a snap of your fingers.* The better your video production is, the faster it will spread; now that you have a video, you have to make it a challenge so that other dentists can do it. The original clip (yours) goes viral, and others follow.
There are other ways to create guerrilla marketing strategies, but the point is to connect with patients on a level where you are not selling; you make them remember your brand when they see something else
These were twelve of the most effective online dental marketing strategies to maximize your practice in 2021. If you need any help creating specific campaigns, feel free to reach out! It’s never too late to start growing.
We will be giving a complimentary assessment of your digital presence for all Hermanson Lemke Dental partners, in which you’ll learn what can help you the most in your particular case. Remember that not all offices are the same.
For your complimentary assessment:
(954) 681-5824
info@geekdentalmarketing.com
GeekDentalMarketing.com
About the author
Cesar Navarro
Geek Dental Marketing
Cesar Navarro, MS, is presently the Marketing Director & CEO of Geek Dental Marketing®, a marketing, development, and technology company for dental offices. With the vision to grow practices, improve management and visibility online, Cesar launched a full marketing company that focuses solely on dentistry to help dentists stand out from the crowd. Cesar holds over ten years of experience in the dental marketing field. He has also served as a group practice administrator and treatment coordinator, where he began his journey and passion for dentistry. Before dentistry, Cesar served as an NCO in the United States Army for several years, where he gathered many skills that most marketers lack. Combining all his skills like attention to detail and experiences, he has presented several CE courses to help dentists globally, such as “Leadership in a Dental Office,” “Branding Mastery Course,” “The How Much Patient? Converting & Selling”, “A New Era: Social Media Marketing,” and many more, and with it thousands of hours as a practice marketing consultant.
His strategy includes the GeekBoost™ program, which allows clients’ business information, including addresses and phone numbers, and online web presence to be distributed across multiple channels, such as landing pages, listings, and social media platforms from one single source – securing the accuracy of dental office information online.
