6 Influential Ways to Market Your Dental Practice More than 65 percent of all dental prospects use a doctor s website as the primary decision driver as to whether to make a first appointment, according to Dental Products Report. Are you confident your website visitors would book an appointment at your office? Times have changed since you first opened your practice, and direct mail cards and word of mouth is no longer enough to compete in the highly competitive field of dentistry. To remain successful, you must adapt, opening your mind and your practice to digital marketing. Not that long ago, you could survive on a yellow page ad and being a good clinician, says Matthew Petchel, owner of Brand Target, a Charlotte-based marketing firm and dental manufacturing advertising agency. With the Internet, there are too many easy ways for people to find out about you and your reputation. You can t just ignore it or survive the old way. Getting Started Before you begin your marketing efforts, it is important to come up a marketing strategy or plan. It is also imperative to understand who you are and who your customers are. First, decide what kind of dentist you want your customers to see you as: modern, high-tech and sophisticated or comfortable and consistent. Decide what sets you apart from other dentists in your area. Then, find out what your patients want most; this is called creating a buyer persona. Write down the demographics of your patients, what their healthcare habits are, where they often go for medical information and what their overall dental goals are. Now you are ready to dive into digital marketing! Here, we look at the six best ways to market your dental practice in today s high-tech world. Your Practice Website Because most consumers now search for information on the Internet, it is imperative your practice have a basic website that shows off your branding (modern or comfortable?). Basic information should include address, phone number and short paragraphs introducing the staff as well as professional headshots. There should also be a picture of your office and a link to a map and directions. 1 Your patients and potential patients will be curious about what services you offer, so tell them on your website. Explain your hygiene and treatment services using language your patients can understand, and remember to focus on the benefits! But what patients really want is proof. Include a page dedicated to patient testimonials and make room for full-face before-and-after photos taken by a professional photographer. If you are unsure of how to set up and maintain a proper website, there are several marketing and web agencies that can help.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Search engine optimization refers to the natural process of getting website traffic via your website showing up on search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo! SEO is the new phonebook, Petchel says. The numbers are staggering as to how many people do not go to the second page of search engine results. 2 So how do you improve you SEO? Having good, keyword-rich content [blogs, ebooks, videos] really helps drive people to your site and keep them on your site, Petchel says, and it also increases your quality score and your SEO. Due to Google s most recent updates, whoever is writing the most of the best content is winning right now. A small dentist in Michigan can be the expert on periodontal disease if he wants to be if he writes enough, he says. People are searching for dentists and services, so it is important to focus your information this way. Here are a few tips to get started with SEO: Define relevant keyword phrases and use them on your site and in your content. Ask yourself, What would potential patients type into Google? Within your content, link back to other pages on your website, such as videos, bios or your contact us page Create search-friendly URLs Do not use Flash Be sure to use keywords in your image tags and descriptions Develop fresh, quality, relevant content as often as possible Get involved in social media (see tip No. 4!) Link to credible sources, like the ADA, in your content
Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC) Pay Per Click Advertising is the practice of creating and placing small ads at the top and righthand side of search result pages. (Ever notice the results that show up in a peach box at the top of Google? Those are PPC ads.) To be successful, a company must bid on keywords relevant to consumers searches. Rather than paying a flat fee as you would for say, a billboard, you can keep costs low by only paying when people click on your ad. The cost per click varies based on the popularity of the keywords you choose. 3 Obviously cost is a benefit of PPC, but so are speed, control and timing. You are where your clients are when they are inquiring about your services. Social Media Next, you will want to create a professional business page on Facebook. But these days, the quantity of followers and likes are not as important as the quality of your content. Develop a quality strategy, Petchel says. You don t have to talk everyday about what is new, but it is more about being involved in the industry and posting a few times a week. 4 Engagement is created when people connect with your brand. Don t just talk about what you are doing for example, I m flying to Arizona for a conference today! but rather talk about the new equipment that will change treatment for patients. Focusing on quantity makes your relevancy go down, Petchel says. So before you can develop the right content, you have to have a good strategy. Petchel s top tip for social media? Be careful! It s something that is hard to undo, he says. Once something goes out, it is done. It goes back to the strategy; once you have a roadmap of what you are going to do, you can just follow it. Start by finding ways to engage with your current customers/patients, Petchel says, because they are most likely engage with you. For More Information DOWNLOAD OUR FREE GUIDE Facebook for Dentists: A Social Media Cheat Sheet click here >
Email Marketing Email marketing is an effective way to communicate with patients who are constantly on their smartphones, tablets and computers. You should definitely be doing it, Petchel says. I would recommend sharing what is new staff, equipment, treatments or anything you are doing to make dental visits better with patients on a monthly basis. It is also an effective way to send appointment reminders. Ask the front desk to request patient email addresses after each appointment. Video Marketing The first step is to start doing it, Petchel says. And the easiest way is to get patient reviews on video. Simply ask if patients mind saying a few words after their visits. 5 6 Creating simple yet effective videos requires minimal equipment and time these days. You can start today and have something out there tomorrow. Doctor interview videos are another great place to start, Petchel says. Have your office manager interview you in your office to humanize yourself and your brand so people are not just seeing patients say how great you are. Videos can also help set your practice apart from others in your area. Just shoot, edit, export, upload to YouTube and embed on your site. If the process is overwhelming, find a marketing agency or freelance videographer to help you out. As a dentist, you may ask, I m too busy, so who should be doing this? In some practices, it may be the dentist, but in others it may be the office manager because he or she is the most techsavvy. And in others, it just isn t getting done. In these cases, you may want to look into outsourcing or enlisting help because it can get complicated, Petchel says. The bottom line is developing a digital marketing strategy and sticking to it.
DIGITAL MARKETING QUIZ How far have you come with your practice s digital marketing? Take our simple quiz and find out! Circle the answer that best applies. 1. My feeling about marketing is: a. It s critical to the success of my practice (+10 points) b. I do it because my wife or husband told me to (0 points) c. I didn t learn it in dental school, so I don t do it (-20 points) 2. I am ONLY running newspaper and Yellow Page ads. a. Yes (-10 points) b. No (+10 points) 3. I last redesigned my website: a. Within the past 2 years (+10 points) b. More than 3 years ago (0 points) c. I don t have a website (-100 points) 4. I love Facebook and learning about digital marketing! b. (-10 points) 5. I have a proactive plan for marketing my practice s newest technology to patients. b. No (-10 points) 6. I know what my online reputation looks like. a. Yes, I know exactly what it is and manage it monthly (+10 points) b. Yes, I checked it once a while back (0 points) c. No (-20 points) d. Who cares what former patients are saying? (-50 points) 7. My practice has a Facebook business Page. a. Yes, we post multiple times per week (+10 points) b. Yes, I think our last post was sometime in 2011 (-10 points) c. Is a Facebook business page the same as my personal Facebook page? (-20 points) 8. I have claimed my practice s Google+ profile. a. Of course (+10 points) b. Nope (0 points) c. Is Google+ a dating service? (-20 points) 9. How do I determine where my marketing dollars are spent? a. My practice has specific objectives we are trying to achieve (+10 points) b. We are doing what we ve always done (0 points) c. We base most decisions on price (-10 points) d. We use a dartboard (-50 points) 10. I have a 5-year plan for how to use the Internet and grow my business. b. No (-10 points) c. 5-year plan? I just got my AOL email to forward to my phone (-20 points) 100 Points - Congratulations. You re a marketing genius and should consider a future helping other dentists. 70-90 Points - You re doing fine and are ahead of the pack - keep going! 0-70 Points - You probably need to read a book, hire someone or get some outside help to catch up. Less than 0 Points - You definitely need to read a book, hire someone AND get some outside help TODAY! Go to www.trykavo.com to start your free and easy trial today! 1.010.3509 888-ASK-KAVO www.kavousa.com