The secret to successful dental practice marketing is more than just the flash and fanfare of one single eye-catching campaign. Yes, bright colors and bold text are vital to grabbing people’s attention, but a truly great dental practice marketing campaign requires more than just a few social media posts.

Common Mistakes

Take a look at most dental practice marketing content and familiarize yourself with the competition. You might notice a few repeated things if you look with a critical eye.

• It’s feature-heavy, meaning it suffers from “-est syndrome” (think greatest, latest, best, etc.)
• It’s often loaded with dental jargon. Your colleagues will love it, but the public? Not so much!
• It’s crowd focused, not individual focused. The text reads like you’re speaking to the masses instead of being too “you” – writing to the reader.

Those three observations alone are the relative norm for dental practice marketing. While this may not be the case for all practices, most could improve their marketing with a focus on:

• Benefits over features.
• Content that’s conversational.
• Speaking to “one” person, making the text feel more personal.
  
  
  

Rethink Your Creativity

What ties together these three fixes? A focus on being yourself! The key is positioning your dental practice marketing in a way that feels unique and personal.

While it may seem like common sense, it takes some major courage to step away from the crowd and try something new and different. Sure, it’s easy to use templated marketing strategies and follow how-to guides line by line but if you want long-lasting results you need to get personal. These are for the offices that want more than one-and-done visits. You want long-term referrals from devoted patients!

There’s so much dental practice marketing “noise” out there, that it is essential to carve out your niche in the industry with personal touches. This need is also incredibly timely.

COVID-19 changed the marketing game for us all over the last year and a half, as well as the way dentistry is done. Stop us if you’ve had these conversations with your team this year.

• “We have to start doing dentistry differently.”
• “We need to find new ways to engage with our patients.”

Sound familiar? Not only have you had to make major changes over the last few months, but you’ve also had to evaluate the best way to appeal to the public need and desire for dental services. With all these changes in the marketing sphere and our world at large, it’s safe to say we’re in a new era of dentistry.

How do you use that to your advantage? Let’s focus on a few core ideas!

SOME BASIC YET CREATIVE DENTAL PRACTICE MARKETING IDEAS

Idea #1: Add Some SEO Muscle to Your Dental Practice Website

It’s not an over-exaggeration to say that your practice’s website is perhaps the most important tool in your marketing toolbox. Now more than ever, your website is the first thing a potential patient will ever see or know about your team – however, setting up a website is more than just purchasing your domain (as much as we wish it was that easy).

You have to optimize! If you’ve heard the term SEO (search engine optimization) before, then you know the tip of this marketing iceberg. It’s part – but not all of a healthy website.

Optimizing your site requires some serious creative thinking.

• See your website as an entire usable platform rather than a simple IP address on the internet.
• Maximize your website environment just as much as your office environment. Just like your in-person space, your website is where people and patients connect, interact, and engage with your services. Take the same time and care with your website as you do with your office.
• Offer free downloadable content and resources to your website for your existing and potential patients, just as you would have brochures in your office. Name the content after key search words that patients would be searching for online.
• Have a FAQ or question and answer area that you can fill with SEO-friendly keywords along with helpful info for your patients.
• Write a blog full of useful knowledge and keywords to help your website rank higher in searches.
  
  
  

Idea #2: Constantly Evaluate Your Web Design

Evaluating your site is where your creativity can be applied!

• Design your website around visitor appeal. 90% of web based users form their opinion about a website based on design, so this step is critical[1].
• Make sure your site is uncluttered and easy to navigate. Is the phone number and address easy to find? Is there a big call to action directing patients to book an appointment? Make the most important info the most obvious and easy to find.
• Confirm that your site is up to date with both desktop and mobile capabilities. Google will penalize a website that is not optimized for mobile and you will not rank highly in searches. 

Remember! 38% of site visitors will click away if the website design is difficult to navigate or looks unappealing[2].

Idea #3: Engage Your Site Visitors and Current Patients with Patient-relevant Solutions

• Before you create and publish content, ask yourself: is this useful to my patients? This will help you answer real questions and solve common problems a regular visitor may have about their oral health.
• Add an online scheduling portal. This addition is time-saving and convenient and will make appointment requests easier than ever. Eliminate all the barriers you can!
• Give your readers a reason to care about oral health benefits with attractive images and fun video content. Visual media is powerful so be sure to use it to your advantage!
• Provide patients the opportunity to securely make payments, request prescriptions, and complete necessary appointment forms online.
• Increase visitor and patient communication access with real-time chat and messaging apps built into your site.
• Add or update your Google My Business profile to give the public and patients another online access point.
  
  
  

Idea #4: Define Yourself as an Industry Leader with a Dental Blog

Fresh, useful content published on a routine schedule will set your dental practice website and marketing apart from your competition.

Why?

Creating original content takes time that many other practices are unwilling to invest. While it may seem daunting, the long-term payoff is worth your investment! Coming up with topics to write about is the biggest roadblock for many practices. Be creative and leverage these blog content ideas:

• Confront current events, myths, inaccurate data, and the numerous assumptions about dental care. Search newsfeeds, popular opinion articles, etc while bringing your own expertise to the narrative. People love relevant content – so keep on top of the news!
• Share tips on routine dental topics like whitening, brushing, or flossing. Look for a fresh angle or technique on each and give your website visitors something they can use to improve their health or lifestyle.
• You’re the expert, so make a FAQ section! Answer common and routine questions that the public and your patients are often searching for or asking about.
  
  
  

Idea #5: Make Friends with Your Community on Social Media

Social media is the modern day gathering place. Not a moment goes by that your “audience” (you included) isn’t checking one or many social media channels.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, Youtube, Reddit… The list goes on! It’s where people go to hang out, read their news, form opinions, show off their skills, communicate, comment, and generally interact with each other in our modern world.

Using social media in a creative way needs to be a major factor in your dental practice marketing. Your patients are online, so you need to be too if you want to maintain a lasting, relevant connection.

• Use your fresh blog content (or a newsletter) and provide teasers on your practice’s social media feed. This will draw your community back to your website.
• Post attention-grabbing statistics, visuals, infographics, or short videos. We are a visual species, so take advantage of it!
• Tell a compelling dental success story using “before and after” images of a client.
• Encourage more dental reviews for your practice by sharing recent positive testimonials.
• Host Facebook “live” events on specific dental topics.
• Show your local community vibe by sharing local milestones, events, and more. Remind your patients that you’re a part of their community.
• Let your social media community see the real you by posting team pictures and videos.
• … And that’s just a start!
  
  
  

As you create, never forget:

Your desire for long-term patient loyalty should be the engine that powers your dental practice marketing creativity.

Check out these related resources to generate ideas and create a dental marketing strategy for your practice:

3 Reasons Why Your Dental Practice Should Pivot to Digital Marketing

The Best Dental Marketing Tactics and Strategy

Contact Imagination Design Studios (IDS) to get started transforming your office from a mundane to a magical patient experience.

[1] Statistics on User Experience

[2] Web Design Statistics

How can you build influence and trust amongst your patients when they only come in once or twice a year for a cleaning? By utilizing email marketing that includes your valuable expertise, of course!

Staying front of mind via a dental newsletter will help nurture your relationships with your current patients. By providing valuable content, their trust in you as a provider will deepen.

INVEST IN YOUR CURRENT PATIENTS

While the majority of your marketing spend list probably includes new patient acquisition, don’t overlook your current patient base!

Your patients have already given you their consent to contact them because:

• You’ve already treated them.
• You’ve established trust.
• You’ve answered their questions about dentistry.
• You’ve provided a solution to their dental issues.
• You’ve formed an emotional connection with their oral health goals.

Your current patient base is full of opportunities to encourage lifelong dental health, not just dental appointments for emergencies.

HOW A DENTAL NEWSLETTER BUILDS AND SUSTAINS PATIENT TRUST

You rely on patient trust for referrals and ongoing loyalty to your practice. Patients trust your expertise as a source of useful information about their oral health and related lifestyle.

Consider these examples:

A Dental Newsletter Provides Consistent Marketing

Content marketing works because it creates a long-term connection. It beats an often costly, one-and-done marketing campaign.

Again, patients have given you permission to communicate with them. You can use that permission to create and deliver useful content to maintain the relationship outside of appointments.

A Dental Newsletter Preserves Inbox Trust

They’ve said it’s okay to communicate with them, but NOT spam them. Preserve your patients’ trust by emailing valuable content, like:

• Tips for good at-home oral hygiene
• Blogs about popular/interesting topics, like teeth whitening or the value of braces
• Brushing calendars for kids
• Good food for oral health
• Appointment reminders or follow up
• Patient loyalty rewards
• and more!
  
  

A Dental Newsletter Creates an Influential Connection with Your Patients

Face-to-face communication is preferred during appointments and consultations, but what about those weeks or months between appointments? Your dental newsletter keeps them connected with your expertise (and practice) until their next visit.

HOW TO CREATE A DENTAL NEWSLETTER THAT KEEPS YOU CONNECTED WITH YOUR PATIENTS

1. Theme It!

Brainstorm all the themes that come to mind about dentistry. Include those “seasonal” or monthly themes that occur annually.

For example, since we’re on the subject of “seasons” and “months”, you could build your publishing themes on a quarterly timeline.

• January to March “New Year…New Goals” themes: Promote annual examinations and check-ups. Encourage consideration of treatment that has a longer timeline such as orthodontics or dental implants.
• April to June “Spring” themes: Build on the “new beginnings” vibe. Direct attention to cosmetic dentistry for feeling more confident at weddings, reunions, and vacations.
• July to August “Summer” themes: Encourage relaxation and good oral health habits. Cover back to school preparations with general dentistry, ortho follow-ups, dental examinations, fluoride, sealants, etc.
• September to December “Fall” themes Focus on the holiday season and end-of-year. Share tips for taking advantage of unused insurance benefits. Promote cosmetic dentistry for holiday parties. Remind them to complete unscheduled treatment.
  
  

2. Curate It!

Topic ideas can be a challenge, so curation is a good place to start.

Curating content is about scanning relevant sources for useful information. It’s information you can turn into a topic or theme for your dental newsletter.

• Search content around dental topics your patients ask questions about. Provide answers via your dental newsletter.
• Scan social media feeds for what’s trending – especially on topics or questions that involve health, wellness, oral health trends, or controversial topics (you can provide helpful insight about).

Curation is about being socially aware. Use your dental newsletter as a platform to build your influence among your patients and subscribers.

3. Promote It! (Without Being Salesy)

First and foremost – a dental newsletter is content based. Sure, you can promote your services or a current offer but lead with valuable content first!

Remember to keep any promotional emphasis natural, conversational, and somewhat connected to your newsletter theme. You want to maintain the integrity of your dental newsletter and not make it a deal-of-the-month promotional tool.

• Lead with a theme. Stay in context if you want to promote a specific treatment or procedure. For example, if you’re on a cosmetic dentistry theme close the newsletter with a compelling teeth whitening promotion, etc.
• Give readers an opportunity to respond. A strategically placed CTA (call to action) like “Click Here” or “Read More” will compel a response if the reader chooses.

Above all, your dental newsletter is about consistent communication. It’s a strategic way to stay front-of-mind while building patient relationships around your expertise.

BUILD YOUR INFLUENCE AND CREATE LIFETIME PATIENT LOYALTY

Content that connects will ultimately be the result of leveraging your patient conversations and communication.

And remember – it’s not about a one-and-done tactical approach. The best strategies (like a dental newsletter) create lifetime patient value: loyal patients who trust you for solutions to problems and answers to questions.

Check out these related resources to generate ideas and create a dental marketing strategy for your practice:

Why You Should Have a Blog on Your Dental Website

3 Reasons Why Your Dental Practice Should Pivot to Digital Marketing

How to Get More Patients in Your Dental Office (And Create Long-Term Loyalty)

Contact Imagination Design Studios (IDS) to get started transforming your dental patient experience from a mundane to magical.

Pivot – that word has been used a lot in 2020, but we’re not talking about maneuvering a couch up your apartment complex’s stairs with Friends! We’re talking about pivoting your marketing strategy for your dental practice to include digital marketing.

So, why should you shift away from your traditional dental marketing to include more digital plays?

1. IT’S HARD TO ARGUE WITH DATA

Gone are the days of relying on Yellow Pages ads and billboard displays. Up to 85% of consumers rely on the internet, whether through a Google Business listing or a social media page, to find a local business. Can you remember the last time you used a phone book for something other than a handy paperweight?

Radio advertising can be cost-prohibitive due to an overcrowded ad space, unless your ad really stands out. Then, when you consider the high percentage of people streaming music on their smart devices, they probably aren’t hearing mainstream radio ads anyway.

As for direct mail, you can miss an entire younger demographic who live online or only check their mailboxes once a month to recycle their “junk” mail.

Digital marketing is the new age billboard. Digital ads stream 24/7 at a lower cost investment than most traditional marketing approaches. The benefits of digital advertising stand out immediately:

• Larger audience reach.
• Targeted messaging to specific demographics.
• Easily change your messaging on the fly to improve audience response and engagement rates.
  
  
  

2. TYPES OF DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

There are many types of digital campaign strategies, so you’ll have to determine which one is right for your business. The most common digital strategies are:

• Pay-per-click ads – position your business on search engines and business directories where people are actively searching for your services
• Display ads – create awareness when people visit local news websites, streaming services, etc.
• Targeted/re-targeted social media marketing – share useful information and stay front-of-mind in social timelines and news feeds
• Automated marketing / Email marketing – share relevant reminders and information with patients who haven’t visited your practice in awhile or who are inactive

Let’s test a digital ad strategy out with a real-life scenario!

There is a family in the town next to yours (or in the same city) that is frustrated with the care or experience they’re receiving at their current dental office. They’ve been thinking about switching to a new provider for a while now and may have done some preliminary searching online. Thanks to things like browser cookies and search history, your ads will now start to target them! There is a good chance they’ve never heard of you before seeing your ad, but thanks to the specific targeting parameters you used, they’ll start seeing your name appear on their social feeds.

After seeing your ad(s) peppered throughout their timelines, they might pick up the phone or create an appointment online at YOUR practice instead!

Pretty cool, right?

How Much Does Digital Advertising Cost?

By now, I’m sure you’re now curious about the cost of an ad like the one in the example. The good news is that you create your own budget! That budget will help determine when and how often your ad shows up. You can get an analytic breakdown on your social or search engine ads to show how much you’re paying per person who has interacted with your ad – known as cost per click.

It will also show you how often your ad has been viewed in a feed – aka the number of impressions. Your cost-effectiveness will rely on how well you rank on specific search phrases as well as how targeted you make your ad campaign. Once your budget is used up, the ads stop rolling until you replenish your budget.

If this all sounds a little confusing, it’s okay, because digital marketing is a brave new frontier!

There are plenty of marketing specialists and social media experts you can hire that will help you with all your planning and execution. They will ensure you are using your budget appropriately by targeting the right markets with the right messaging at the right time.

3. DIGITAL MARKETING OUTPACES TRADITIONAL MARKETING

Digital Marketing Produces Fast Returns

The best part about digital advertising is that you can see in real time how effective your advertising dollars are being used, or ROI. Sure, traditional channels such as radio, television, and local newspapers create awareness about your practice, but you will likely not experience an immediate revenue boost.

You’re investing a large percentage of your marketing dollars when it’s likely only a few people are searching for a dentist at the moment your ad hits the airwaves. Traditional marketing is great for establishing brand awareness, but incorporating digital marketing will create sustained awareness.

Sustained awareness will lead to more patients, which means more revenue for you.

Digital Marketing is Relevant

Offline advertising can have a short shelf-life. Imagine investing a substantial percentage of your budget in a campaign to discover that your narrative is outdated before it’s even delivered.

Change happens fast in today’s culture, and the pace of change is often unpredictable. A digital marketing strategy is customizable, so you can pivot your tactics when necessary to make sure your campaign is evergreen and relevant. This adaptability gives you a huge advantage when targeting your campaigns.

Traditional advertising also has a very broad reach, but it isn’t as targeted as digital marketing can be. Running a radio or TV ad for your dental practice will reach a number of different demographics each time, such as:

• Non-patients who aren’t even looking for a dentist.
• Non-patients who might be looking for a dentist.
• Those who are already current patients of yours.
• Those who are satisfied with their current dentist.
• Inactive patients who haven’t scheduled in your office in a while.
  
  
  

Digital Marketing Creates and Nurtures Relationships

People have dentistry on their minds routinely in some form or another. They could be thinking about a toothache while brushing or be reminded that they want whiter or straighter teeth.

Whatever their dental issue is, they will almost reflexively search online for a related answer to their question or a solution for their problem.

Employing a digital marketing strategy allows you to be a front-runner to help solve their problem.

Organic, targeted online content also gives you an advantage. When people search using questions about a particular issue, your website/blog content (if it’s adequately crafted) will appear in their search feed.

The more frequently you publish content, along with the relevancy and quality of your content, the better your organic digital strategy will be. That’s the power of digital content!

Not sure where to start with a blog or original content for your website? Try some of these examples:

• Publish content that answers the questions and solves the problems online searchers are looking for.
• Attach value to your content using a relevant promotion or a resource (i.e. an ebook, etc) that further helps them with answers and solutions.
• Link your content within your email communications and on your social media channels.
• Nurture the relationships built around your content with consistent “touches” that help you stay connected (i.e. automated email, social media posts, surveys, etc).

Digital marketing has the staying power that many traditional marketing approaches do not. It’s a pivot that can and will increase your ROI.

If you are interested in more dental marketing strategies, you can check out our list of key strategies that you can use to help with your dental marketing.

THE BEST DENTAL MARKETING STRATEGIES CREATE LIFETIME PATIENT LOYALTY

Check out these related resources to generate ideas and create a dental marketing strategy for your practice:

How to Get More Patients in Your Dental Office (And Create Long-Term Loyalty)

The Best Dental Marketing Tactics and Strategy

Key Strategies to Jump-Start Your Dental Marketing

Contact Imagination Design Studios (IDS) to get started transforming your office from a mundane to magical patient experience.

Dental ads! For many they can be a necessary after-thought. But the best dental ads and why they work are the result of intentional creativity.

It’s not to say that all effective ads are merely creative. In fact, overdone creativity can actually work against ad success.

Here’s what we know about the best ads – generally speaking.

In the dental industry, like other industries, you’re aware that a well-crafted ad can be leveraged to attract new patients and retain current ones.

Here’s why:

”Businesses make an average of $2 in income for every $1 they spend in AdWords. Display advertising has proven to increase traffic to websites by 300 percent.”

But don’t be biased that it’s all about the use of AdWords or display ads. Generally speaking, the best ads contain:

• Compelling imagery
• Benefit-focused copy/content
  
  
  

SOME OF THE BEST DENTAL ADS AND WHY THEY WORK FOR PATIENT ATTRACTION

1. A serving of the unexpected with a side of benefits.

An Instagram post by Grand Street Dental was created to promote their Invisalign® services. It focused on the emotional decision associated with getting metal braces.

The ad’s image featured a fork with crooked tines. The unexpected symbolism: crooked teeth.

An Instagram timeline scroll on their feed would naturally compel a comment like, “there’s a fork!” Strategically, the copy/content that follows makes no mention of the obvious “fork-in-the-road.”

It does, however, create a compelling case for the benefits of straight teeth over crooked (aka the fork) teeth.

The ad works because:

• It uses an unexpected, though compelling, image
• It doesn’t overplay the image but instead directs attention to the solution and benefits
• It places emphasis on how the practice’s services can solve the problem
  
  
  

2. Keepin’ it local.

Targeted marketing with a local emphasis works for a variety of reasons. This type of promotion is crystal clear about the audience.

You could fill-in-the-blank with any city (yours), add an emotionally compelling image relevant to what you’re promoting, and include a few lines of equally compelling copy.

This type of ad works because:

• You can use the effective resources of search engines like Google and social media channels such as Facebook.
• Geo-tagging narrows your ad’s reach to a specific city, region, and/or demographic.
• Proximity and convenience work in your favor.
  
  
  

3. “Can’t-unsee-that” before & after images.

This isn’t about grossing-out your audience. It’s more about the “shock-and-awe” unveiling.

People often feel their condition is beyond repair. And that’s the power of this type of promotion. You can’t look away! But then you realize there can be a positive outcome.

Here’s why this is effective:

• The imagery stops people in their tracks but stops short of being grotesque.
• It creates a second look appeal by presenting an obvious solution to the problem.
  
  
  

4. Pop-culture memes.

Promotions that follow the same “before & after” theme can also take a humorous track. The popular ad featuring Lord of the Rings, Gollum, uses humor to send a message.

The normal “before” image of Gollum compared with the off-the-grid “after” image of him has a powerful impact. You laugh then you go “hmmm!”

This promotion works because:

• Pop-culture references from movies, TV, and books deliver an unexpected “jolt” of reality but still feel relatable helping your audience to feel in on the joke.
• Dental issues create feelings of dread and/or a sense of seriousness. A humorous approach lightens the mood while presenting benefits and solutions.
  
  
  

5. Print-ad with an old-school vibe.

Dental direct mail doesn’t have to always include a “happy, smiling” stock image. In fact, many direct mail promotions or print ads have a numbing effect because we’ve all seen the same images over and over.

Revive an old-school feel with a humorous twist like the ad copy featuring a woman wearing a crown:

“My Dentist told me I needed a crown. I was like, ‘I KNOW, RIGHT?!’”

A crown on her head creates a “duh” response. In reality, a cap or crown required on a tooth is less invasive when you sprinkle in some humor (like the Gollum ad).

The ad is effective because it:

• Creates incentive for a second-opinion, a necessary treatment, or an examination.
• Creates urgency about a recommended treatment.
• Creates a connection from something funny to something that’s beneficial to your patient’s health.
  
  
  

6. “Didn’t see that coming!” storytelling.

An attractive woman, a party, working-the-room, and then she smiles. But that’s where the positive attention comes to a grinding halt. You feel the tension in the room.

That’s how the Crest 3D White Whitestrips ad used video to tell a story. The surprise ending popped up when you least expected it like a jack-in-the-box.

You’re shocked. You feel her pain. And you don’t want to ever feel what she felt.

The ad is powerful because:

• It sells without being salesy.
• It promotes white healthy teeth without being pushy.
• It uses an everyday scenario to reveal an unseen reality.
• It releases you from the need to use a heavy promotional approach and instead directly appeal to emotion.
• It captivates as it compels.

Trust the results and strategy of the best dental ads and improve your dental marketing.

Effective marketing starts at the idea level. Then turning those ideas into a promotion that compels your audience to take action.

Check out these related resources to generate dental marketing ideas and create a more sustainable recall system:

5 Dental Marketing Ideas (and Strategies) for Increased Patient Recall

The 3 Social Media Sites You Should Be Promoting Your Business On and Why

Contact Imagination Design Studios (IDS) to get started transforming your office from a mundane to a magical patient experience.