An estimated 80% of all non-referral based leads in the dental industry begin with major online search engines. Because the reality of the situation is that Google, Yahoo and Bing have taken the place of the Yellow Pages, as a dental practice it is essential to pursue new marketing techniques which invest the majority of your energy into strategies that involve internet marketing for dentists.
Whether you hire a marketing company or choose to tackle marketing on your own, knowing some basics about internet marketing for dentists is a great place to start. First and foremost, it is important to realize that there are many approaches to marketing, and it is essential that you decide on the ones that will be the most effective for you and then stick to them.
3 Steps to Successful Internet Marketing for Dentists
Here are three major ways you can maximize your dental online marketing efforts:
1. Have a Great Dental Website for Your Practice
Your online marketing should start with your website. Many times potential clients will quickly navigate away from a webpage if they find it outdated, unattractive, hard to use or poorly laid out. Your website should be simple and easy to follow. When websites are designed well, they will be laid out in such a way that clients can effectively obtain information they are looking for. In short, be sure to have the following clearly displayed and easily accessible on your website:
- Quick access to your contact information, your hours, and directions to your office(s)
- The option to schedule appointments via the web page
- Clearly communicated information about the services you offer
- Clearly communicated information about what insurance, carrier/payment policies you work with
- A place for patients to write testimonials and potential patients to read reviews
- Links to access your Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages
- Access to your blog (which we recommend that you write content for at least once a week)
2. Make the Most of Social Media
In this day and age, it is vital for you to have a strong presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Google+. A large percentage of your potential clients use these social media websites and so should you.
What should you do with your social media pages? Here are some great content ideas for you to get you started:
- Quick (easy to see and access) links back to your website’s blog
- Testimonials that past and current patients have written about your practice
- Before and after photos
- Special offers
- Discussion/pointers about good dental health
- Reviews on different dental products such as toothbrushes, teeth whitening kits etc…
3. Utilize PPC (Pay Per Click) Marketing
Because social marketing is one of the fastest ways to get your business noticed by a large number of potential clients, paying for ads on these sites can also be a helpful strategy. There are many ways to host ads through Facebook, Google+ for Business, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Of course, you can also use PPC to pay for ads to appear directly on major search engine’s results pages. Finding the right place for you will depend on a variety of different factors.
We always suggest doing PPC in combination with other marketing efforts to get the most bang for your buck. Practices that rely solely on Pay Per Click Advertising will often times burn through their budgets pretty quickly because ads can be expensive. PPC marketing can help with immediate results, but your long-term approach should be to make an investment in a combination of great web design, social media implementation, and PPC.
Action Items & Takeaways
A well-rounded and effective internet marketing strategy will include the three points listed above as well as a well-developed inbound marketing approach. Although there’s a lot more to learn, you can get started with three simple steps:
- Review your website to make sure it is up-to-date and effective. If you don’t know where to start, schedule a free web report and consultation with our team!
- Create a schedule of daily posts you will make to your practices’s social media accounts. Try to include a mix of educational, promotional, and just plain fun pieces of content.
- Learn more about how PPC works, and figure out where it fits into your marketing budget and strategy.