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Dental Marketing Ideas To Attract New Patients

Everyone needs a dentist, but sometimes it is difficult for dental offices to stand out from the competition. In general, you will need to see 24-50 new patients each month if you want your practice to grow.

Instead of stressing about how you can drive more qualified leads to your office and set more appointments, you can start to think about how your potential patients find your office with effective dental marketing strategies. When it comes to finding a new family dentist your patients consider things like your reputation, your location, your services, and how many reviews you have.

The exact number of new patients your practice needs to grow will vary based on the size of your practice, your location, and other variables, but regardless of the exact number, you will need to implement marketing ideas to engage with prospective patients.

You could have the best staff and the best prices in town, but if you are not able to get found and book more appointments, then your practice won’t be able to grow.

Along with competitive prices and quality services, you can use a few marketing strategies to drive more qualified leads to your office and turn potential patients into regular income today!

Your dental office marketing strategy needs to focus on attracting and engaging with patients who are geographically close to your office and who need specific services that you provide. It can be overwhelming to think of all the marketing channels that you can use for your dental marketing plan.

But fear not! Your dental internet marketing strategy only needs to focus on a few core dental marketing channels at first, and then after you start seeing results you can transition over to a more comprehensive plan for your office.

How To Use Dental Marketing To Attract New Patients Without Breaking The Bank

Just like anything else in your practice, you need to focus your time and resources on strategies that will deliver the best results in an efficient manner. Your team, your patients, and your practice is counting on your to implement dental marketing ideas that will deliver more calls, leads, and foot traffic while decreasing the amount you spend for each lead.

Many dental offices rely on old-school (and ineffective) forms of marketing. This can spell disaster for dentists as the economy fluctuates because you rely on returning patients for the majority of your office revenue. The good news is that you can use several low-cost and effective digital marketing strategies specifically for your dental office.

Now, let’s take a look at the 10 most effective marketing options that your dental office can use to drive more leads, calls, and book more appointments today!

1. Get Your Dental Office On Google Maps & Local Directories

Your dental practice is likely located at a physical location in your city, and this means that you can use local SEO to your advantage. Local SEO is special form of marketing that your dental office can use to reach potential patients in your geographic area. Think of this as a targeted approach to SEO, because your dental marketing dollars will only go towards getting your practice listed on Google Maps and other local directories.

Getting your dental office listed on Google Maps is essential to ensure you attract qualified leads. Most of your customers are not willing to drive several hours out of their way to get dental work done, so they are looking for local dentists.

Since these patients are using their phones to look for local dental offices, you can generate more calls and leads directly from Google Maps by first focusing on local SEO dental marketing strategies.

If you are looking to get the biggest bang for your buck, then look to local SEO because it is a strategy for dental marketing that packs a HUGE punch for your dental office because it is relatively inexpensive to implement and maintain.

While local SEO is cheap compared to other marketing channels, it will require you to focus on consistency and do a lot of manual work to get listed on relevant directories. There are specific areas that you need to focus on to make local SEO and Google Maps an effective part of your dental marketing strategy, so be sure to talk to an expert before you dive in to start building local citations.

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This localized marketing strategy focuses on getting your office found in Google’s Local Pack.

Local SEO is a powerful internet marketing strategy because it is focused on the intent and location of your audience.

Google and other search engines use advanced Artificial Intelligence to show local SEO listings to people searching who show “local intent” so their results will display local companies like your dental office.

Local SEO is a great online marketing tactic for your dental office because it can help you claim more real estate on mobile devices, plus your potential patients are likely looking for a dental office close to them, so you need to get found by search engines in your community.

Are you sick of not getting enough patients?

See how we used local SEO strategies to fill R & T Services’ pipeline. +125% calls and +185% local leads YoY!

2. Use Google My Business To Dominate Your Competition

Google My Business (GMB) is a secret weapon that not many dentists take advantage of. This is too bad too because GMB can be one of the best tools in your dental marketing plan and goes hand-in-hand with the local SEO marketing strategy that we discussed above.

Setting up and optimizing your GMB profile is one of the fastest and easiest wins you can get from any of our dental marketing ideas on this list. Optimizing your GMB page can have a big impact on attracting new patients, showing above your competition, and generating more calls.

Similar to local SEO, GMB uses information from across the Internet to understand your dental practice. This means that you need to pay special attention to several pieces of information called NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) of your business listings. We won’t get into all the details here, but you should have the same information on your website, GMB page, and other areas. To get the most out of your online presence, you need to make sure your GMB page is set up properly:

  • Your business category (should be “dentist” or “dental clinic”).
  • Your primary phone number.
  • A complete description of your business.
  • Your hours of operation.
  • Your physical address.

Once you have the basic information set in your GMB page, you should get to work adding more images, building out content, and regularly creating GMB posts. We have found posting 4 GMB posts each week helps keep your listing at the top of Google Maps. There are lots of different types of content you can share through GMB posts, so be sure to talk to our team about our end-to-end GMB management services.

3. Geo-Targeted Google Ads Marketing Campaigns

Google Ads is a powerful online marketing strategy for dental offices because you can control what and where an advertising message is seen by your target audience.

PPC marketing is a proven piece of any dental marketing plan because you can optimize Google Ads to show to the right people at the right time to drive more patients to your office. Dentists love this marketing strategy because you can choose how much you want to spend, what you want to say, and who you what to reach with each ad.

Google gives you a lot of control over your paid search campaigns because you pay for each click, but you do need to ensure that your ads reach the right people at the right time.

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Think about what sets you apart, and who will be searching for your services and base your keywords around the needs of potential patients to ensure you are found online.

  • Find the best dental marketing keywords. PPC marketing is an intent-based marketing channel because people have to type in specific keywords to get your ads found.
  • Optimize ad scheduling. An advanced option in Google Ads is to specify when your ads appear in search results. You should consider only displaying ads when your office is open so your team can take patient requests and book appointments on the spot.
  • Call Only dental ads. You can use call only PPC ads to drive more calls to your office. This is a special type of ad where your readers can click on the ad and call your office phone number directly without having to go to your website or other online content.
  • Great dentist Google Ads copywriting. You need to have great keywords to get your ads seen by the right people, but your Google Ads need to have great content if you want them to get clicked. You should use keywords in your ads and evoke emotional responses at the same time.
  • Optimize your dental website landing pages. The job of PPC ads is to get clicked, and the role of your landing pages is to get the reader to take action. You should have your landing pages optimized with keywords, imaged, and strong Call-To-Actions to ensure you generate leads and book appointments once people click on your ads.

While Pay-Per-Click is an excellent dental marketing idea, your team needs to make sure that you outsource PPC with a trusted marketing agency because will need to set up your Google Ads account and optimize your campaigns each month.

Reach more patients, reduce your costs

Learn how we used PPC marketing to increase PPC traffic by 700% while decreasing ad spend by 25% for BRAC.

Your office can use Google Ads and other PPC marketing strategies to attract more qualified leads to your site. Be sure to only show your ads to potential patients in the general area near your office, otherwise, your dental marketing strategy could start to waste a lot of money and see negative results.

Just make sure you use geo-targeting only to show your ads to people close to you and follow the above tips to make strong campaigns that will drive more results.

If you are not sure how to set up or manage a PPC account, then you should consider investing in a trusted PPC management company to help you make the most of your online marketing spend.

4. Use Local Facebook Ads To Market Your Dental Services

Facebook is one of the best places to spend your dental Internet marketing budget because you can target specific Facebook users based on their location, occupation, and interests. This means that you can take full advantage of Facebook’s data for your online strategy.

Similar to Google Ads, you will need to limit the geographic area that your Facebook Ads show. However, Facebook advertising is a unique dental marketing channel because you can personalize your Facebook Ads to speak directly to your audience.

For example, if you are trying to reach more parents looking for a pediatric dentist, you can use specific ad targeting and craft Facebook Ads specific to the needs of those parents. In addition to unlimited customization options, you can also utilize any of the various ad types offered by Facebook to reach the right audience at the right time.

Along with local SEO, Google My Business, and hyper-local Google Ads, Facebook advertising is one of the best dental marketing ideas you can use to grow your practice.

5. Make Your Website Accessible, Engaging, And Easy To Use

Everything you build for your dental marketing strategy will revolve around your website. New patients need to be able to find the contact information for your office and information about your services quickly and easily.

This means that you need to optimize your website with a welcoming web design. The design and layout of your site play a significant role in how your patients perceive your brand and whether they book an appointment with your staff.

dental internet marketing website design

Your website doesn’t need to be over-the-top, but your dental website should have basic elements like:

  1. Your Services. Patients want a way to quickly see if your dental office offers the services that they need. You should put your services in a convenient place to help patients get the information they need quickly before they call you to book an appointment.
  2. High-Quality Website Photos. Include high-quality images of your staff on the “About Us’ page. Many people are scared to visit the dentist, and having images of your staff will help make potential patients feel more at ease.
  3. Have An FAQ Section. Have an FAQ section on your site. An FAQ page is essential to help your site stand out in search engines, plus it is the perfect place to answer the most commonly asked questions so your staff won’t have to spend their time answering the same questions.
  4. Clear Contact Information On Each Page. Make sure your NAP (Name, Address & Phone Number) are visible at the top of each page. This information is vital for customers to contact you, and search engines use this information to present the correct information to your potential patients.
  5. Include Testimonials. People tend to trust reviews from other people, and you can include testimonials and reviews on each page to help potential patients feel more confident when reaching out to your office.
  6. Add Multimedia Across Your Site. A picture is worth a thousand words, but video is king can tell an engaging story. You should include quick interviews with your staff to help put parents and loved ones at ease as they search for the right dental office.
  7. Information For New Patients. If you are trying to attract new patients with dental marketing strategies, then you need to offer relevant information to prospects so they trust and call you. Be sure to add information to let new patients know your process, pricing, and set expectations.

Take time to look through your website to see if your content answers questions that patients have about your services. As you build content on your site, you should balance between using keywords to get found in search engines while writing in a voice that your audience will understand.

Think about the needs of your customers and use engaging content to show that your office is the best solution to their problems. Your content should focus on the services of your dental office and drive qualified leads through SEO to your dental site.

6. Utilize SEO To Outrank Your Competition For Valuable Keywords

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of getting your website pages and blog posts to rank for specific keywords in Google and other search engines. There are lots of variables you need to consider to make your SEO strategy work in a dental marketing strategy. But the good news is that you can focus on emergency keywords and local search terms to enjoy quick wins with an SEO strategy.

Ranking for terms that include “emergency,” “near me,” and specific services that you offer is one of the ways to build a proper digital dental marketing campaign. A strong online presence can help you with branding and get more qualified traffic to your site.

Your SEO strategy is connected to your website performance, so you need to make sure your site loads quickly, has information that people are looking for and integrates valuable terms throughout the site to get picked up by Google.

Your blogging strategy will have a big impact on your dental SEO performance, so make sure you are creating lots of quality content that answers the needs of your customers. You will have success if you take a customer-first approach to dental marketing, and the same applies to your SEO strategy.

7. Increase Your Visibility With A Dental Blog

Your potential patients look to Google for answers, and you can improve your online visibility by offering answers to important questions on your dental blog. You can host your blog posts on your dental site (previous point), and if you don’t regularly blog then you are missing out on a lot of website traffic that turn into new patients.

Your blog posts should be easy to read for your readers so people turn to your posts for information that they are looking for. You can take on common questions that people are asking in your area, like:

  • What’s the best toothbrush for sensitive teeth?
  • How often should I floss?
  • How long should I brush my child’s teeth?
  • How can I prevent cavities around Halloween?
  • Does charcoal really help whiten teeth?

Think about the type of dental services you offer and start off your dental marketing strategy by collecting questions that your patients frequently ask you. It can be difficult to write great blog content for your dental blog so you may want to consider hiring copywriting services to get the blog posts you need.

8. Remarketing For Interested Prospects

Your office staff should collect information about your customers for excellent customer service, and you can apply this same approach to help your practice engage interested patients online.

This is called remarketing, and you can use this marketing plan to grab readers who showed interest in your services but did not book an appointment.

The basic idea of remarketing is that you can tag people who come to your dentistry site through Organic SEO, PPC, and other channels.

You can target online ads to those people based on the pages, time on page, and other elements of specific visitors.

Some remarketing ideas include Facebook remarketing and remarketing on the Google Display Network.

Remarketing may sound like an odd marketing strategy, but the truth is that finding a dental office is tough for your patients when they move to a new city.

Your website should specify what sets your practice apart to generate more leads, but sometimes people need more time to research before they choose to call your office.

This is where remarketing comes into play since there is a lot of research that goes into selecting a dental practice.

Remarketing is a vital part of your marketing plan because it allows even small dentist offices to narrow down who their ideal client is.

You can remarket to specific visitors who did not book an appointment with you based on their location, content they viewed on your site, and other qualifiers.

9. Content Marketing For Your Dental Office

Your dental practice relies on getting found online and building a relationship with your audience before they trust you enough to call and book an appointment.

This process can take some time from when they first find you when they schedule an appointment, so content marketing is a great way to get found online.

Unlike other forms of advertising for your marketing plan, content marketing is all about offering valuable information to online searchers based on their needs.

This approach to marketing will help you rank in search engines, and you can build a strong relationship with potential patients as they see first-hand that you are the go-to for their dentistry needs.

Here are some dental marketing ideas that you can use to get the attention of your ideal audience while also improving search engine optimization.

  • Create how-to videos on YouTube that show patients how to take care of their teeth and general dental health.
  • Write high-quality blog posts and articles that dive into the latest research about specific dental care practices that are important to your patients.
  • Provide answers to common questions and address objections early.
  • Discuss procedures, expectations, costs, and other important information in downloadable content for lead generation campaigns.
  • Update your site to have your contact information at the top of every page.

Make your content connect and convert

See the proof amazing content makes the difference. We helped increase Speakt’s online visibility by 500% and doubled ROI.

The basis of content marketing is using the information to build a relationship with new patients. This is one of the best approaches for dental marketing because your content will address the real-world needs of your customers.

If you are struggling to get started building content, then you can begin by noting the questions your patients often ask when they visit you.

Once you have a list of items, you can organize and build out content to rank in search engines and drive new patients to schedule an appointment with you!

10. Build Relationships With Social Media Marketing

At its core, your dental marketing strategy should focus on the needs of your customers and building a relationship with new patients. There is no better way to do this than to create an online community on social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Social media marketing is a powerful approach to advertising even for a small practice. You can post before and after pictures, happy patients, and information about your training so interested patients can research you before they book an appointment.

Social networks offer paid advertising options, and you can use Facebook ads for marketing to both prospects for new patients in your area and remarket to people who visited your site.

Marketing on social media is a cost-effective approach to market your dental practice by targeting your specific audience.

Another great way to drive more engagement on social media is to host a contest on Facebook where the winner will receive a free consultation with your office or other rewards.

Social media can be a tough channel to master, especially for a professional industry like dental offices. However, you can use some general types of content to build a content calendar and fill your social media networks, like:

  1. Quotes. Your team should include inspirational quotes throughout the month. You will find that inspirational quote posts do well with most audiences, and you can cater your quote posts around your target audience.
  2. Thought-Provoking Quotes. Similar to the previous type of content, you can use thought-provoking quotes to engage your audience. You can ask questions like “what’s your favorite movie” and “what is your favorite type of toothpaste” if you want to keep the message on dental hygiene.
  3. Fill In The Blank Posts. These are great posts that encourage your audience to engage with your posts. Typically, these posts will have open-ended questions and your audience will provide their answers to your questions.
  4. Visual Tips. You can use graphics along with tips to provide your audience with valuable tips for brushing and dental hygiene. You can also cater to these posts to meet your customers- like information about braces, diagnosing pain, etc.
  5. Series & Themed Posts. You can make a group of posts into a series. This is a great way to diversify your posting schedule. One example of this is around Halloween you can create a series of posts that give helpful information to parents on ways they can keep their children’s teeth strong even when they are eating lots of candy.
  6. Data-Driven Infographics. Everyone loves looking at compelling data that is displayed in an interesting way. You can use this type of post content to show trends and interesting information to educate and entertain your audience.
  7. Visual Stats Posts. Similar to the previous type of posts, visually compelling stat posts are a great way to show interesting information in an unusual way. You can use this type of content to address concerns around dental hygiene and compel your audience to take action to improve their health and visit your office.
  8. Short How-To Videos. Your team can showcase your knowledge and help potential patients trust you with quick how-to videos. Topics like caring for braces, flossing, and even denture care can be a great source of content for videos that your audience will find interesting and even share with their loved ones.

Along with Organic Social Media, your dental office can also use paid social advertising to reach a targeted audience. Many social media platforms offer paid ads so you can specify exactly who you want to show your message to. Some of the best ways to reach qualified leads are to target geographic areas near your dental office with relevant advertising through social media marketing.

Social media is one of the major marketing avenues that businesses all over the world are taking to be able to improve their image and appeal to customers. Social media is the answer for any dentist office looking for a strategy to boost web marketing efforts and drive more engagement.

Take These Great Dental Marketing Ideas To Grow Your Practice!

There are many marketing campaigns that your practice can run to attract new clients in your geographic area.

These dental marketing ideas are relatively easy to implement and do not require a substantial upfront investment.

One thing to keep in mind though is that while these dental marketing strategies don’t seem too tricky, it can be complicated to implement the step-by-step details needed to get the most out of your marketing dollars.

If you need to improve your dental practice’s online visibility and attract new patients, then you can use the above marketing ideas without having to hire an in-house marketer.

Be sure to use these proven dental marketing tricks to build your practice and grow your client base today!

Marketing For Dentists F.A.Q.s

Dental marketing is a hyper-local approach to online marketing. Since you need to acquire new patients near your office, you need to implement local SEO, local PPC marketing, and social media strategies.

Each digital marketing channel serves its own purpose. In general, dental offices find a lot of success with a core set of marketing channels like:

  • Google Maps and local SEO
  • Hyper-local Google Ads campaigns
  • Traditional SEO
  • Email marketing
  • Social media marketing
  • Remarketing campaigns

Results will vary based on your location, budget, and goals. If you want quick results like more phone calls and leads, then you should spend your marketing dollars on local SEO, Google Maps optimization, and hyper-local Google Ads campaigns.

About the Author: Chris

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Chis is the Lead Strategist at StrategyBeam with over 19 years of marketing know-how up his sleeve. He loves transforming business marketing campaigns into success stories by boosting efficiencies across all campaigns. When not strategizing, he can be found laughing at the monkeys at the zoo.

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