Today’s dental world requires a different way of marketing for success in growing dental practices. Clients now get information through the internet and gone are the days of mere word of mouth. Lead generation by way of getting new patients requires the expertise of top dental marketing companies.
It’s no secret that dentistry is an extremely lucrative market in the United States. However, many dental professionals still struggle to establish digital marketing campaigns for their businesses.
Most don’t understand the basics of how it works or why it’s so crucial to their business growth.
That’s understandable – your specialty is providing dental care, not selling your services.
But here’s what most dental clinics don’t know: dental marketing is more important than ever before. Below are some facts.
Facts About Dental Marketing
- FACT: Search is the #1 way people discover businesses (including dental services) online. This is according to Think With Google.
- FACT: Most Americans are turning to the Internet before they book their next doctor’s appointment (Hubspot).
- FACT: Digital ads have a higher ROI than TV, newspaper or magazine ads (Think With Google).
Unless you have a strong web presence, you’re missing out on amazing opportunities to connect with new patients.
Here’s where a digital marketing agency like Digital Delane comes in.
We’re digital marketers for dentists, and our online marketing agency works with dental professionals just like you to understand your unique needs, create a custom digital strategy that gets results, and help grow your practice through the Internet.
We work with doctors’ offices to drive targeted, high-quality traffic to their websites.
When we say “high-quality,” we mean people who are actually looking for a dentist in their area and who are ready to schedule a dental appointment.
The simple fact is, if you want to grow your dental business and serve more patients – it all starts with dental marketing and the right marketing agency.
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However, it isn’t as easy as putting up a dental website and expecting the phone to ring. It needs to be done right, and the first step is knowing what’s wrong with what you’re currently doing.
9 Biggest Challenges of Dental Digital Marketing
Marketing a dental company is unlike any other industry. Dentists, nurses, and dental technicians have a very specific target market – individuals with dental needs.
Dental marketing differs from any other marketing because it’s not just about promoting your business or website. It’s about communicating benefits to potential patients that need the treatments you provide. You’re dealing with a special customer. This means traditional advertising – through print, radio, TV, or direct mail – will not work for dental marketing online.
If you don’t have the time to invest in developing engaging content and digital marketing strategies that reach your target market, it’s tough to get the results you want.
With these unique challenges, it’s not surprising that so many dental professionals are floundering online.
But if you take the time to learn how to market your business effectively on social media or websites, you’ll have a tremendous advantage over your competition – and that means more patients in the long run.
Before you craft a digital marketing strategy, however, you need to understand the challenges you are facing first:
1. Digital marketing for dentists is a lot harder than it looks
It’s hard to know where to start with dental marketing- it’s complicated, and there are pitfalls you may not even know exist.
One of the first challenges is understanding the different digital marketing campaigns available to your clinic.
For example, starting a pay-per-click campaign differs from creating a robust SEO strategy. There’s also social media, remarketing, email marketing, and content marketing, to name a few tactics that an online marketing agency may use.
What do all these terms mean? How are they different from one another? And how do you go about setting up campaigns that will get results?
You need to understand what each of these strategies involves and how it will help your business.
2. Not understanding how to create a great dental website that drives conversions
Every company is competing for consumer attention, which means you need to make sure your dental website is as engaging as possible.
That means your website needs to be functional, easy to use, and informative… but it also needs to stand out from the other websites in your area.
An out-of-date website is like the storefront of an empty store. It doesn’t matter what your business is or how great it might be… you won’t get many patients walking through the door if they can see that your site hasn’t been updated in years!
Even with a flawless website, however, there are still barriers that prevent people from contacting you. For example, many patients are intimidated by calling a dental company they don’t know or aren’t familiar with, especially for something as personal as their health.
And once you have that website up, you need to optimize it. This means making sure your website is ranking in the top results for keywords and phrases patients search for when they’re looking for a dentist in your area.
3. It takes a lot of time to develop an effective online marketing strategy for dentists/dental clinics
Digital marketing takes up a lot of time, and it’s not something you can do overnight. It might take weeks – or even months – to see the results you’re looking for. And unless you’re willing to devote less time to your practice in order to do online marketing, you’re better off letting experts do it for you.
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Today’s global marketplace is more connected than ever before.
That means you need to connect with your patients and potential clients online.
A firm foundation of online connections only increases your chance of getting new patients through the door – which means creating social pages (e.g. Facebook) for your dental office is a must. It’s also a good idea to have a presence on other platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn so that people can find you in a variety of places.
5. Many dentists don’t know when is the best time or when to post for maximum engagement and sharing
It’s not enough to set up a Facebook or Twitter account for your dental business and wait for people to come to you. You need to be proactive (and you need data).
You should test what types of posts generate the most engagement… and what times are most likely to result in your posts being shared. Again, few dentists have time to be on social media all day long, let alone monitor their accounts for engagement.
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6. Understanding the ROI of their dental marketing campaigns…
…and whether they’re getting a good return on their investment.
It’s important to track your results and see where you made the most impact.
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For example, did a Facebook campaign result in more appointments… or did an email marketing series get you more calls?
You’ll only know if you’re tracking the data. That means creating goals and benchmarks you can measure against. If you’re not sure what those goals should be, let a marketing expert help you out!
7. Not asking for dental service reviews on sites like Google, Yelp and Facebook
There are over 500 million people using online review sites to find local businesses – but many dental companies don’t even have a listing on those sites.
That means you’re missing out on potential business from searches that your website or digital marketing efforts could have triggered.
Reviews are especially important for dentists because they’re a good way to build trust in your practice. That’s why it’s important to ask patients for reviews after they’ve finished treatment. This shows potential new patients that you have nothing to hide and a proven track record of success.
8. Not having an online reputation management strategy in place when someone writes a negative review
You can’t prevent negative reviews, but you can respond to them.
The key is having a plan in place to monitor what people are saying about your practice online. That way, if someone posts a negative comment or review about you, you have it handled ASAP.
Of course, you always want to protect your online reputation and keep it positive whenever possible.
But the reality is that not everyone will leave a positive review of your practice online. Thus, make sure you know how to handle any negative feedback and set up a plan in advance so you don’t miss anything.
Online marketers have tools that can help you monitor your online reputation, not just on your website, but everywhere on the web. As a result, you can respond to any negative reviews or comments in real-time (or at least very soon after the fact).
9. Not having a plan that scales as their dental practice grows.
Scaling might seem like a buzzword, but it’s an important concept in the world of digital marketing.
You may be able to achieve strong results from your dental website and ads by targeting a hyper-local audience. Still, you need to consider how you’ll handle scaling when you decide where to spend your marketing dollars. Let’s take, for example, Facebook.
It’s easy to find new patients online if you’re targeting people living in your zip code. But let’s say that you want to go after dental patients across the country (or even internationally) who are searching for dentists like you. You’re going to need a wider net and different online marketing strategies.
When you want to scale your dental practice, you need a plan that makes it possible. For most dentists, scaling means expanding their digital presence with tools like Facebook ads or Google AdWords. This is something that an online marketer can help you do if you don’t have the time to monitor and maintain multiple accounts.
Additionally, scaling means growth-focused planning. For example, what are your plans when you decide to open up another dental office? If you’re not ready for that, you need to start now.
Setting up an online marketing plan that scales with your business is important if you want to be able to take advantage of opportunities as they arise.
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Dental marketing companies typically offer a broader range of services and can do so at more competitive rates than dentists who try to manage their own campaigns. Digital marketing companies also have years of experience with dental practices, making them uniquely qualified to handle the needs of dentists and ensure successful results.
Digital Delane: Grow Your Practice with Expert Dental Marketers
In conclusion, there are many challenges involved in internet marketing. It is thus best that dentists leave it in the hands of the best-in-class marketing experts.
The best-in-class marketing strategies involve bringing together the best of promotional techniques. This includes ads (FB and Google Ads), web design, SEO, email newsletters, and more to promote brand awareness. Also, it’s never too late to dive into online marketing for your dental practice:
- Don’t have an SEO plan yet, and your competitors already have them? That’s okay! Our search engine optimization specialists know how to analyze top websites to take advantage of SERP algorithms on your behalf.
- No idea where to start with social media? Digital Delane’s social media experts won’t just help you set up your accounts – we’ll also help you develop a loyal and active following such as in Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Maybe you’re interested in running some Google ads, using e-mail marketing, or selling your own branded dental products. Great! As a dental marketing agency, we have years of experience in many areas of the dental industry and all its verticals.
No matter what digital marketing challenges you face, our marketing team can help you overcome them so that your next year in dentistry is your best year ever.
In fact, why don’t we walk you through the actual strategies we use for our dental clients?
Let’s hop on a call, and allow us to come up with some fresh ideas to get your digital marketing plan!
This information will help you to learn which marketing strategies work best for your practice and how much time should be allocated for them in the future.
Dental Marketing Agency FAQs
What does a dental marketing agency do?
A dental marketing company is a business dedicated to marketing dental services. Dental marketing agencies provide brands and strategies to ensure their clients (dentists) will be the first choice when choosing a new dentist, or for recruiting new patients through advertising on social media and online directories.
What kind of plan is offered?
Each dental marketing agency has its own approach depending on the unique needs of each practice it serves. However, dental marketing companies usually implement a multi-approach marketing system that incorporates tools like search engine optimization, Email Marketing, Social Media management, Content marketing, lead generation, and more.
How much does a dental marketing agency cost?
The cost of a dental marketing campaign will depend on the type of practice and the number of new patients to be brought in. For example, smaller practices will generally pay less than larger practices. Also, large practices may need more specialized services to increase exposure.
What does a dental marketing company charge?
It depends on what you need. A trustworthy dental marketing company will be very clear about their plan, services, and fees. In addition, they typically begin with a consultation in order to determine the best strategy and budget for your practice.
There are so many dental marketing agencies. How do I know which one to choose?
A dentist should choose a company that is reputable in the industry, has experience in their respective field, offers services that are applicable to the practice, meets the business needs of the practice’s owner(s), and has a good rapport.
How do you market a dental clinic?
Dental marketing agencies have a variety of different services to best suit each practice’s needs. Here are some examples:
- Search engine optimization (SEO) for dental practices
- Telemarketing and appointment setting
- Direct mail campaigns
- Email marketing
- Social media engagement
- Blogger outreach programs
- Website design and management
How do dental marketing companies help increase new patient flow?
A digital marketing company will work with a practice to develop a full-service plan that covers the entire process from advertising campaigns to follow up, which can result in an increased number of new patients through increased awareness and increased website traffic.
What is the value of a dental marketing company?
By outsourcing to a dental marketing company, dentists can spend more time on their patients and their practices while also increasing revenue.
Why use a dental marketing company over doing it yourself?
Boost Your Business with New AI Trends – Get a Free Strategy Session Today
Dental marketing companies typically offer a broader range of services and can do so at more competitive rates than dentists who try to manage their own campaigns. Digital marketing companies also have years of experience with dental practices, making them uniquely qualified to handle the needs of dentists and ensure successful results.
Digital Delane: Grow Your Practice with Expert Dental Marketers
In conclusion, there are many challenges involved in internet marketing. It is thus best that dentists leave it in the hands of the best-in-class marketing experts.
The best-in-class marketing strategies involve bringing together the best of promotional techniques. This includes ads (FB and Google Ads), web design, SEO, email newsletters, and more to promote brand awareness. Also, it’s never too late to dive into online marketing for your dental practice:
- Don’t have an SEO plan yet, and your competitors already have them? That’s okay! Our search engine optimization specialists know how to analyze top websites to take advantage of SERP algorithms on your behalf.
- No idea where to start with social media? Digital Delane’s social media experts won’t just help you set up your accounts – we’ll also help you develop a loyal and active following such as in Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Maybe you’re interested in running some Google ads, using e-mail marketing, or selling your own branded dental products. Great! As a dental marketing agency, we have years of experience in many areas of the dental industry and all its verticals.
No matter what digital marketing challenges you face, our marketing team can help you overcome them so that your next year in dentistry is your best year ever.
In fact, why don’t we walk you through the actual strategies we use for our dental clients?
Let’s hop on a call, and allow us to come up with some fresh ideas to get your digital marketing plan!
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Once you have a clear idea of the marketing challenges your dental practice faces, it’s time to look at solutions.
The Top 12 Dental Digital Marketing Strategies for 2022
It is not enough to have a great dental practice. You will need to do more than that to ensure that your dental practice remains on top of the competition. The right combo of digital marketing strategies and marketing agencies can help you do that.
The following are some of the top strategies of the best dental digital marketing agencies in the year 2022:
1) Climb the Rankings with Dental SEO
SEO is all about ranking your website as high as possible on search engines like Google. More importantly, you want to rank higher than any of the competing dental clinics in your area.
Dental SEO can be quite complicated because it combines factors like backlinks, keywords, website authority, and a lot of technical information. But get it right, and your dental practice can get a considerable number of profitable online searches from people in need of your services.
More and more people are turning to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram to find everything that they need. For dentists, this means that you can get more patients by having an active social presence.
Social media marketing is not just about using these channels to post your services online. It’s also about encouraging your existing patients to recommend your dental practice to their social circles.
Part of this is choosing which platforms will deliver the best ROI for your marketing budget. For instance, Facebook can help you connect better with your target audience, while Instagram is a great way to showcase photos of your dental work. On the other hand, Twitter may not be the best medium for promoting your dental services, because most people don’t visit it to find a dentist.
3) Regularly Do Dental Blogging and Guest Posting
When done right, dental blogging can be a great way to spread the word about your dental clinic. More importantly, it gives you the opportunity to share useful information that people will value.
For instance, you might want to talk about the latest dental techniques or share tips on how to maintain good dental health.
Remember, your blog needs to be interesting and useful for people to read it. If it isn’t, they will not waste time reading useless articles, and this can affect your search engine rankings as well.
At the same time, it’s a smart move to do guest blogging on relevant dental websites and give away valuable tips for free. This is a great way to establish credibility, attract links and gain exposure for your practice.
4) Online Branding for Dentists and Dental Practices
When you need to establish an online presence for your dental practice, it’s very important that you have the right branding.
Branding is more than just choosing the right logo, tagline, and color scheme. Your goal is to come across as a professional, trusted, and reliable dentist. It’s also important to define your target audience. For instance, an elderly audience might respond better to more traditional choices for your branding. Millennials. on the other hand, tend to be more responsive to modern designs.
Before you finalize the design for your logo, website, and other marketing materials, it’s a good idea to run a focus group. This will help you validate your branding choices before investing too much money in them.
5) Invest in Dental Video Marketing
Instead of just talking about your dental clinic or practice, why not show it?
When done right, dental video marketing can be an extremely powerful tool for promoting your practice.
For instance, you might want to show before and after photos of some dental procedures. Or, organize an educational video where you talk about dental hygiene tips or give advice on dental implants.
Videos are a great way for you to establish your credibility as a dentist. They are also much more engaging than just text alone, so they have the potential to attract more leads for your practice.
6) Use Email Marketing to Promote your Dental Clinic
Email might not be as exciting as other digital marketing strategies. But, it’s a powerful tool for reaching more of your target audience and promoting your dental services.
It’s a good idea to have an email list where you can store the contact details of people who are interested in what you have to offer. You can then send regular emails to inform them about upcoming events, new dental products or services, as well as special discounts.
In most cases, it’s a good idea to have an email subscription form on your website. This is because people tend to lose interest in promotional emails sent from businesses very quickly.
When you send promotional emails, make sure they offer value and contain useful information. That way, people will be more likely to open your emails, click on the links in them, and ultimately become your patients.
7) Boost Your Promotions with Dental PPC (Pay Per Click) Marketing
Another way to promote your dental practice and attract more patients is PPC. This is a great option for businesses that don’t have the budget for traditional advertising or a more comprehensive digital marketing strategy.
With PPC, you can pay to show ads related to your dental services on major search engines like Google and Bing. And, when people click on your ads, you will be charged a certain amount of money. The more specific and well-crafted your ad is, the higher the chances that it will bring in quality leads and sales for your practice.
PPC is a fantastic complement to your overall marketing plan because it can help you reach a larger audience and boost the conversion rate for your dental clinic.
8) Ensure that Your Website is Mobile Friendly
Nowadays, more and more people are using mobile devices to browse through web pages. If you want your dental practice’s website to succeed in attracting these users, it has to be mobile-friendly.
For example, if your website’s text is too small, it can be difficult to read when you’re using a smartphone. On the other hand, if the font is too big, it can cause your website to get truncated on smaller screens.
Your dental clinic’s website should be designed so that users can easily navigate through pages on a phone or tablet. It also has to look attractive whether it’s viewed in portrait mode or landscape mode. Furthermore, it should load fast and be compatible with a variety of devices.
9) Snag Patients Near You with Local SEO for Your Dental Clinic
The difference between search engine optimization and local SEO is that the latter focuses on your geographical location to boost your online presence and attract more patients. In other words, it focuses on making your practice visible to people who are in your immediate service area.
One way to make your practice more attractive to local users is by posting accurate and up-to-date business information. For example, you can add details about your clinic’s services and location on Google My Business or and other similar directories. This way, your practice will appear more prominently when people search for a dental clinic nearby.
10) Use Reviews as a Dental Marketing Tactic
People who are looking for a dental clinic have more trust in the recommendations of their friends and family members. If you want to convince them that they can trust your practice, too, it’s a good idea to receive tons of positive reviews from past patients on sites like Yelp or Google My Business.
In some cases, these reviews will be visible to potential patients at the top of search engine results. And, if your reviews are numerous and highly positive, you’re more likely to attract new patients to your dental clinic.
Now, what about bad reviews? You can never please everyone, so your practice is likely to receive some negative feedback from time to time. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a response prepared for every potential patient that contacts you about the complaints they read online. Make sure to respond to the negative review itself as well, because this shows that you care about your patients even after they’ve left your clinic.
A negative review is a terrific opportunity for your dental marketing agency to show you how to turn things around and win back the trust of potential patients.
Social media is a great source of free promotion for local businesses, especially if they post regularly and network with like-minded individuals. However, if you want your social ads to get attention and generate views and likes, you may need to allocate a small budget for them.
The good news is that social media advertising isn’t limited to Facebook and Twitter. There are tons of other social sites like Pinterest and Instagram where people like to post about their favorite brands and businesses. Paid ads on these sites can be targeted towards the users who live near you, so they can really work to promote your dental clinic.
12) Track your Results with Dental Analytics
Finally, to make sure that you’re making smart decisions about your dental marketing strategy, you need to keep track of numbers and statistics related to your online presence. Your web analytics specialist can provide all the data that you need.
For example, you’ll get information about how many people visit certain pages on your website every day, which social media platforms bring you the most of the new patients, how much traffic is coming from mobile devices, and so on.
This information will help you to learn which marketing strategies work best for your practice and how much time should be allocated for them in the future.
Dental Marketing Agency FAQs
What does a dental marketing agency do?
A dental marketing company is a business dedicated to marketing dental services. Dental marketing agencies provide brands and strategies to ensure their clients (dentists) will be the first choice when choosing a new dentist, or for recruiting new patients through advertising on social media and online directories.
What kind of plan is offered?
Each dental marketing agency has its own approach depending on the unique needs of each practice it serves. However, dental marketing companies usually implement a multi-approach marketing system that incorporates tools like search engine optimization, Email Marketing, Social Media management, Content marketing, lead generation, and more.
How much does a dental marketing agency cost?
The cost of a dental marketing campaign will depend on the type of practice and the number of new patients to be brought in. For example, smaller practices will generally pay less than larger practices. Also, large practices may need more specialized services to increase exposure.
What does a dental marketing company charge?
It depends on what you need. A trustworthy dental marketing company will be very clear about their plan, services, and fees. In addition, they typically begin with a consultation in order to determine the best strategy and budget for your practice.
There are so many dental marketing agencies. How do I know which one to choose?
A dentist should choose a company that is reputable in the industry, has experience in their respective field, offers services that are applicable to the practice, meets the business needs of the practice’s owner(s), and has a good rapport.
How do you market a dental clinic?
Dental marketing agencies have a variety of different services to best suit each practice’s needs. Here are some examples:
- Search engine optimization (SEO) for dental practices
- Telemarketing and appointment setting
- Direct mail campaigns
- Email marketing
- Social media engagement
- Blogger outreach programs
- Website design and management
How do dental marketing companies help increase new patient flow?
A digital marketing company will work with a practice to develop a full-service plan that covers the entire process from advertising campaigns to follow up, which can result in an increased number of new patients through increased awareness and increased website traffic.
What is the value of a dental marketing company?
By outsourcing to a dental marketing company, dentists can spend more time on their patients and their practices while also increasing revenue.
Why use a dental marketing company over doing it yourself?
Boost Your Business with New AI Trends – Get a Free Strategy Session Today
Dental marketing companies typically offer a broader range of services and can do so at more competitive rates than dentists who try to manage their own campaigns. Digital marketing companies also have years of experience with dental practices, making them uniquely qualified to handle the needs of dentists and ensure successful results.
Digital Delane: Grow Your Practice with Expert Dental Marketers
In conclusion, there are many challenges involved in internet marketing. It is thus best that dentists leave it in the hands of the best-in-class marketing experts.
The best-in-class marketing strategies involve bringing together the best of promotional techniques. This includes ads (FB and Google Ads), web design, SEO, email newsletters, and more to promote brand awareness. Also, it’s never too late to dive into online marketing for your dental practice:
- Don’t have an SEO plan yet, and your competitors already have them? That’s okay! Our search engine optimization specialists know how to analyze top websites to take advantage of SERP algorithms on your behalf.
- No idea where to start with social media? Digital Delane’s social media experts won’t just help you set up your accounts – we’ll also help you develop a loyal and active following such as in Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Maybe you’re interested in running some Google ads, using e-mail marketing, or selling your own branded dental products. Great! As a dental marketing agency, we have years of experience in many areas of the dental industry and all its verticals.
No matter what digital marketing challenges you face, our marketing team can help you overcome them so that your next year in dentistry is your best year ever.
In fact, why don’t we walk you through the actual strategies we use for our dental clients?
Let’s hop on a call, and allow us to come up with some fresh ideas to get your digital marketing plan!
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