Like any small business, marketing is an important player in the success of a dental practice. Without an effective marketing approach for our business, it’ll be hard to stand out from the herd let alone attract new patients to our practice. And while there are so many dental practice marketing strategies out there, not all are created equal.
One marketing strategy I’m a big fan of—especially in this day and age—is digital marketing for dental practices. Digital marketing is one of the best ways to create sources for new patients—whether it’s done through social media, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), retargeting campaigns, or some other method.
That’s why, for this weeks’ article, I want to hone in on digital marketing. I’m going to give you four tips about implementing digital marketing in your dental practice.
1. Digital marketing is especially important for practice owners who have specialized.
Most dental practices are brick-and-mortar businesses that face unique challenges when building awareness around them. Competition is fierce, especially with DSO’s in the game, and our services cater to specific demographics—especially for those who specialize.
If you’re a general practitioner, it’s usually easier to generate momentum naturally—even without implementing strategies revolving around effective online advertising for dentists. There are constantly patients out there who need treatment and, oftentimes, they can find a GP even if an ad hasn’t been placed in front of their face. Marketing is definitely an asset for a GP’s business, but it’s not the difference between sinking or swimming—it’s the difference between surviving and thriving. However, if you are working in a speciality like implant dentistry, then you’re much more reliant on good digital marketing for dental practices to drive leads into your doors. You’ll be up a creek without a paddle, and waiting for patients to find your practice with minimal marketing is a one-way ticket to a struggling business.
Thus, it’s even more important to have effective marketing efforts when you’re working in a specialty. If the phones stop ringing and new patients aren’t sitting in your chairs, then the marketing isn’t working—and you’re in trouble.
2. It’s easy to reach leads via digital marketing, but that’s for naught unless you can convert them.
Even if you’re able to catch the attention of a prospect with an online ad, you won’t take them far if you lead them to a lackluster website. It’s easy to pour money into your marketing efforts, but all that spending will be for naught if you don’t get your ads in front of leads and convert those leads into new patients—and that’s the hard part.
Without taking the right approach, you may end up injecting boatloads of cash into marketing with no ROI. And then it’s downhill from there; your marketing efforts will be costing you more money than they’re worth, you’ll likely find yourself turning internally to focus on plugging holes in your business and forgoing all those external efforts to save face. This is the beginning of a domino effect with a downward trajectory, where marketing is seen as an expense rather than an opportunity for growth. It becomes a drain on your resources and time rather than a means of creating sources for new patients and keeping your schedule full.
A “conversion-optimizing” campaign is a little different than a campaign focused on generating leads. The former is focused on generating quality leads who are more likely to become a patient while the latter is focused on simply driving as many clicks as possible. Conversion optimization in dentistry is good—it’s what makes our marketing efforts successful or unsuccessful—and, depending on your situation, a “conversion-optimizing” campaign may be the best approach for you.
3. Digital marketing attracts prospects who are already self-identifying their needs and self-selecting your services.
Compared to other marketing initiatives, digital marketing for dental practices may offer the highest return on your investment. There’s a reason people pour thousands upon thousands of dollars on Google ads, Facebook ads, etc.—because they work. It’s going to be different for every practice when it comes to what channel will work the best for you and offer the greatest return on your investment. However, across the board, effective online advertising for dentists offers an effective approach for any dental practice owner.
As somebody who runs a Facebook group with over 50,000 followers, you’d probably assume that my favorite would be Facebook ads. While I definitely spend a pretty penny investing in those, my favorite is actually Google ads.
When you’re sponsoring the local sports team or throwing up a sign around town, you’re going to reach people who aren’t proactively seeking dental services. You might fit yourself into the back of their mind, but you’re unlikely to convert any prospects immediately. However, what’s great about Google ads is that you’re able to catch people when they’re looking for a dentist.
Most people have teeth and most people already have a dentist—they’re colder leads. However, when it comes to Google searches, people are warmer leads because they’re looking for a new dentist. They’re self-identifying their needs and self-selecting your services.
4. Any marketing effort—digital or not—requires a solid investment; you can’t just dip your toe in the water.
When it comes to marketing, an important metric is your ROI. For every dollar you put into it, how much are you getting out of it?
I’d recommend that a GP should spend around $3,000 a month on digital marketing for dental practices. And, if you’re going to spend that kind of money, you want to know that it’s going to work. That’s why you want to work with companies that you know have effective dental practice marketing strategies.
Some people want to just dip their toe in the game. They spend $500 a month to “see what happens.” When they don’t get results, they decide that digital marketing just doesn’t work. They shrug their shoulders and give up. If you’re going to do this, you have to show up. You’re gonig to an auction when you do paid advertising, and that’s like showing up at an auction without enough money to play along. You can bid on a few things and leave, but you’ll never win or capture the value of that auction.
I like to think of digital marketing as a funnel. At the top of the funnel is your investment of $3,000 and, from there, you have a 10% click-through rate. Out of that 10% who click through, there’s a 10% conversion rate. So, out of all the people who see your ads, there are maybe 1% of people who end up calling. If you show up at this “auction” without enough money to start with, you might not see anything dripping into the bottom of this funnel. There’s a few drips here and there—a sporadic phone call once every couple of weeks—but nothing consistent.
That’s not what you came to Google ads for; you came for a steady stream of reliable new patients. With a $3,000 monthly investment, you could expect anywhere between five and 10 new patients a month but, if you show up at the “auction” with only $500, you’ll be lucky to get one or two. Maximizing ROI in dental digital marketing requires a sufficient budget.
We’re living in the digital age.
Marketing has been part of businesses for as long as they’ve existed. Some strategies have stuck around, others have faded out, and some are only beginning. Digital marketing for dental practices is something that has proven to be one of the most effective strategies in recent years, and I don’t see it going away anytime soon.
I run a community full of dental professionals who can give you some nuggets of wisdom about marketing in a dental practice. So, join the Nifty Thrifty Dentists Facebook group and reach out! People from all across the globe will be happy to let you in on their two cents.