Why Marketing for Dental Offices Is Different
Why Marketing for Dental Offices Is Different
As a dental office, you are constantly looking for new ways to attractt new patients, keep the ones you have, and elevate your brand to keep your clients loyal. However, this can be difficult for most because—you still have a dental office to run, after all. The good news is: Navazon Digital has over 20 years of experience helping our dental office clients gain new qualified leads, instill loyalty in their existing clients, and take their practice to the next level. Keep reading to learn more about why marketing for dental offices is different and how you can get started today on your office’s roadmap to success.
What Marketing for Dentists Should Portray
The most important part about being a dentist (aside from the dental work!) is how your patients feel about you. If one of your existing patients moved 50 miles away, you want to give them a reason to keep making that drive to you for their cleaning checkups rather than finding a new dentist near them. The way you do that is by showing them trust, comfort, and loyalty. Aside from your superior dental work and friendly staff, this is done through your office’s branding and marketing.
Trust
Here is a fact you are likely well aware of: People do not visit a dental office as often as they should. Here are some statistics, according to the American Dental Association:
- 42 percent of Americans don’t see a dentist as often as they would like
- 85 percent of Americans believe that oral health is very or extremely important to their overall health
- Only 58 percent reported they visit the dentist at least one time per year
Even though most people agree that oral health is extremely important, they do not take the time to go to the dentist. One of the reasons for this is cost, making it crucial that your patients trust you—and also trust that the work you are performing for them is necessary. This is first and foremost obtained through you, your chairside manner, your staff’s friendliness, and the quality of your work. Your office’s marketing efforts by establishing credibility through being an expert in your field are the cherry on top.
Comfort
Another one of the main reasons people do not visit a dentist is due to anxiety. Avoidance of the dentist turns months into years, and years turn into major dental problems. Picking up the phone and making a dental appointment can be scary for many, let alone showing up to it.
This anxiety is something you can work with in your marketing efforts. It is essential that you show potential patients how comfortable, welcoming, and understanding your office is. The more familiar they are with you and your office, the more comfortable they will be picking up the phone and calling you—and showing up.
Loyalty
When you can finally get them in the door, that doesn’t mean they are a patient for life. Making sure that your patients are happy and satisfied with the work you do lies only with you and your staff; however, marketing for dentists can take your patient’s loyalty to the next level.
Exclusive deals, promotions, and feeling like they are seeing the best dentist in the industry are achieved through your marketing. This is especially true for people worried about the cost and the anxiety surrounding their dental visit. If they feel like they are getting an exclusive offer just for them, their trust and comfort in you have just elevated into loyalty.
Why Marketing for Dental Offices Is Different
The Bare Minimum of Marketing for Dental Offices
By now, you have learned that there are a few things you absolutely need when it comes to digital marketing for your dental office. First, you need a website. Then, you need to do some local marketing to make sure everyone in the driveable area knows about you. All of the other marketing you do after that will give you the competitive edge you need.
Website for Dentists
If your dental office has a website, make sure it has the following elements if you are looking to elevate your brand:
- Professional photography of your actual staff and office, not just stock photos
- High-quality and professionally produced videos of your team, procedures, office, and more
- Easy-to-use appointment booking
- Quick and easy forms for potential patients to use
- A wealth of testimonials
- Compelling calls-to-action and marketing copywriting
Local Marketing for Dentists
Local marketing is what will get your name out to the thousands of people in your office’s driveable area. Some of the ways of doing this include advertising in local circulars and putting billboards in the area. When it comes to digital marketing, some of the ways you can handle your local marketing include:
- Directory listings on Google and other directories
- Targeted local ad campaigns
- Social media marketing
- Partnerships with other local businesses in the area
- Video ads
How to Take Your Dental Office Marketing to the Next Level
Chances are, most of your competitors are also doing the bare minimum of marketing for their offices. The thing that will give you the competitive edge for more qualified and loyal new patients is a custom-blended marketing campaign. A Blended Marketing Campaign is exactly what it sounds like: a blend of several different marketing campaign designed specially for your dental office. Every dental office is different and has different needs when it comes to marketing. You might offer certain elevated services that the next nearest dental office does not provide. We find what your dental office needs to blend it all into one cohesive marketing strategy and easy-to-understand campaign reports.
Blended Marketing Campaigns for Dental Offices
During a Blended Marketing Campaign, we continually monitor and optimize everything to achieve your goals and improve the results. It’s not just a set-it-and-forget-it campaign. We measure the response and arrive at a cost per conversion, then continually improve upon that. The sky is the limit with Blended Marketing Campaigns – once you know what your marketing cost per patient is, you can adjust the budget to receive the number of patients that you want to receive.
Some of the many components of a Blended Marketing Campaign for dental offices may include:
- Pay Per Click Ads
- Video
- SEO
- Social Media
Pay Per Click Ads
- We will first design the ad’s creative. This refers to everything visually to do with the ad – the imagery, the copywriting, the music, videos, and more.
- Then, we will place your ads on various networks. These can include paid search ads on Google Ads Search Network, paid banner ads on Google Ads Display Network, local digital ads on Google, Yelp, and Nextdoor, video ads on Facebook Ads and Instagram, video ads on YouTube, and much more.
- We then constantly test and tweak the ads to make sure we reach an acceptable cost-per-conversion. Once that’s done, we keep working to improve upon it.
- Finally, we report all of the success to you!
Video
Never thought you would need to be in front of the camera as a dentist? Think again! One of the best things when it comes to marketing for dentists is video. Remember: You need to exude trust, comfort, and loyalty. What better way to do that than through a beautifully produced video?
Some video ideas include:
- Interviews with doctors and staff
- Walk-through of your office and what patients can expect to see
- Explanation of procedures and tools
- What to expect as far as recovery and options
- How common dental anxiety is and how you’re there for them
- Fun and lighthearted moments
SEO
Simple, local SEO keywording is essential as a dental office; however, it shouldn’t be all you are doing. There are seemingly endless ways to keep your website’s SEO fresh and elevated above your competitors.
Some of those elevated components for dental SEO include:
- Schema optimization
- Monthly or weekly SEO-style blog answering popular questions
- Optimized photos, video, and text throughout your website
- Meta work such as descriptions, ALT text, ADA compliancy, and much more
- Monthly optimization and tweaking work to keep content fresh
- MAT consistency work
- Google MyBusiness and Bing Places build-outs
Social Media
Social media for dental offices can be tricky because few people would be apt to following one. This is why follower count doesn’t need to be the main KPI of your social media efforts. It should be impressions and reach. Impressions and reach are the number of people seeing your content and the number of times they see it.
One of the best and quickest ways to getting your message out there is by social media marketing and, just because you won’t gain 10,000 followers overnight doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be using it or that people don’t see your content.
Navazon Digital’s Marketing for Dental Offices
Navazon has years of experience providing digital marketing to dentists and dental offices and is ready when you are ready for your blended marketing campaign. We understand the specific ins and outs of the dental business and know what our dental industry clients are looking for in a digital market. We have performed extensive independent market research to provide the best possible outcome for our dental clients.
We have served many dental offices across Southern California, helping them to gain new clients for dental services such as veneers, All-on-4®, sleep apnea, Invisalign®, and more. As a marketing agency with over 20 years of experience, we have a time-tested roadmap to send more qualified patients to your clinic. Our strategic partnerships and proven marketing methodologies will help elevate your brand and present your treatments in the best light possible, creating trust and loyalty with potential patients.
Marketing for dental offices with Navazon can help take your dental practice to the next level. Contact us today to learn more and to get started.
