Dental Internet Marketing: Guide for Digital Success

What is Dental Internet Marketing?

Every business should invest in strategies and techniques to market and grow its customer base. Marketing is one of the best strategies by which a business can create value for potential customers and influence their decision to purchase. 

Internet dental marketing is, as the name suggests, marketing a dental practice via the internet.

A digital marketing strategy could include a website, social media page, paid ad strategies, and more. Within these mediums, there are many ways to utilize them, increase traffic and add value to the products and services you offer.

How to Market Your Dental Clinic Online?

Let’s take a closer look at these digital marketing strategies and what it means to implement them for a dental practice.

Dental SEO

SEO or search engine optimization is the process of improving the quality or quantity of traffic to a website or web page via search engines. SEO targets unpaid, organic traffic from people browsing and searching on search engines. Because SEO targets unpaid search, it is a simple way to impact the traffic clicking on your website or web page. SEO is one of the best strategies to increase revenue and grow your practice.

Dental SEO refers to SEO strategies related to topics or keywords in the dental industry that people are actively searching for. There are many free or affordable tools to research dental keywords and phrases that you can utilize in your content. 

Keywords are topics or problems that users are actively searching for and looking for answers to. Think about a simple search query such as, “how to tell if you have a cavity”. Whoever searches this phrase probably needs information on improving their dental health and might be experiencing symptoms of a cavity. 

Consider user intent when looking at dental SEO and determining which keywords you want to target. The goal of SEO is to provide users with the best answers to their questions so that when they begin to search, they can find what they’re looking for. 

Here are two methods you can utilize to begin improving SEO:

Website

A company website is an easy way to list the vital information that pertains to your practice. These might include hours of operation, contact information, online scheduling, billing, and location information. Websites that aren’t optimized for search engine rankings or have poor SEO won’t have a high ranking on a search results page or might not make it to the first page. It’s estimated that 75% of users only click on results from the first page.

If you want to increase traffic to your website, it’s vital to implement SEO strategies to rank higher on search engine result pages, so traffic is more likely to click on your website.

Here are some basic SEO strategies to implement on your website:

• Keywords
• Metadata
• Natural + High-Quality Content 
• Relevant Page Titles
• Backlinks
• Review every page for additional keyword placement.
• User experience + User Interface Design

If you’re unsure of some of these strategies or don’t have the time, consider hiring an SEO expert who can show you exactly how to implement these strategies on your website. If you are considering putting a blog on your dental website and want to learn how to make your blog popular, check out this post from Weave with helpful blog topic ideas. 

Social Media Sites

Nobody can deny how popular social media has become in recent years. It’s estimated that 4.7 billion people are using social media, and 227 million new users have joined the social media hype in the last 12 months. Having a company Instagram or TikTok page is a simple way to engage with users and make short content that gets them interested in your business. There is also free content online, such as this blog, to help you learn more about social media marketing tips for your dental practice.

Here are some basic SEO strategies to implement on your social media sites:

• Create Easily Shareable Content
• Publish High-Quality Content
• Optimize Your Social Media Profiles
• Build Partnerships
• Optimize Your Images
• Utilize Hashtags and Relevant Keywords

Dental Marketing Messages

Dental marketing messages are a great way to interact with current and potential patients outside the office.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a simple way to send dental marketing messages to patients to remind them of appointments, promotions & coupons, and events and to keep your practice at the forefront of their minds. Hence, they are more likely to do business with your practice.

Text Marketing

Although text marketing doesn’t take place online, it is a great way for patients to continue the conversation on their time. Using simple tools like text messages, your patients can make and change appointments, ask questions and receive updates while on the go, (you can read more about the innovative power of text messages for your dental practice here).

Dental Advertising Samples

There are many ways to advertise your dental practice via print, direct mail, and online. One thing to remember is the types of audiences you market to and which pieces of advertising will resonate with them the best. Younger audiences will likely be more receptive to online advertisements because they spend more time online. Older audiences might spend less time online but be more receptive to an advertisement in their mailbox or TV commercial. 

One of the benefits of online dental advertising is there is no cost associated with printing or running the material as there would be for a billboard, commercial, or paper ad. For younger audiences, some of the best advertising a business can implement is simple videos via TikTok. There is also no chance of the material getting physically destroyed or ruined since it is digital. 

Here are some of the best dental advertising samples

• Showing Results
• Click to call Ads
• Online Reviews
• Social Media Videos

You can read about more of the best dental advertising samples for your practice, here.

Dental Internet Marketing Quotes

Every person, regardless of age, needs dental care. Because of this, your patient base will be diverse with different ages, backgrounds, and demographics. For a younger audience, a funny TikTok video might be the content that persuades them enough to click on your profile. 

A light-hearted, inspirational, or informative quote or article might be the best bet for an older audience. You can also use free tools like Canva to create content that you can use in your dental marketing strategy. Here are some dental marketing quotes you can use in your marketing efforts:

• You don’t have to floss all your teeth – just the ones you want to keep.

• Love conquers all things except poverty and toothache.

• Smiles are contagious, so go forth and contaminate as many people as possible!
• All people smile in the same language.
• Smile, it raises your face value.
• Brushing rule: Two minutes. Two times a day
• Floss like a boss!
• Be kind to your dentist because he has “fillings” too.
• Dentists are medical professionals who help you put your money where your mouth is.
• A good dentist never gets on your nerves.

What are Internet Dental Marketing Services?

Dental practices need internet marketing just like any other business, and for busy practice owners and staff, you can hire someone to do it for you. Internet dental marketing companies provide paid-for services that help create value for your patients and bring in new business. Remember that marketing is not a one-size-fits-all and your approach should be tailored to the audiences in your specific industry.

Is working with dental internet marketing companies worth it?

Yes and no. The great thing about social media today is anybody can film and upload content without any special skills or training. You can also pay for online ads, boost content and manage the content you’ve published all from your phone or smart device.

The problem with only paying for dental internet marketing is that you won’t be investing in any other tools to help grow your business. Weave offers dental practice management software that includes digital marketing efforts so you can kill two birds with one stone. You can read about Weave’s all-in-one communication and engagement platform here or book a free demo to see what Weave can do for your dental practice.

FAQs

How do I advertise my dental services?

There are many ways to advertise your dental services. Online dental marketing and advertising are among the easiest ways to advertise in today’s digital world. If you have the time and resources, utilizing print will ensure your practice is visible to your audiences even when they aren’t online. Email marketing is also a simple way to continue the conversation and give them a subtle reminder to book another appointment or take advantage of any promotions.

What are some dental marketing jobs?

Dental marketing is a strategy to attract and retain new patients and increase brand awareness. The main goal is to get potential patients to make a phone call or book an online appointment. Some of the most common dental marketing jobs:

• Product Marketing Specialist
• Social Media Content Creator
• Digital Marketing Specialist
• Content Marketing Manager

Conclusion

Nobody knows your business better than you, and your marketing efforts should reflect that. Consider the demographics, ages, and backgrounds of the patients you serve, and keep that at the forefront of your mind when choosing a strategy. Invest in tools and techniques that will increase value for your audience and persuade them to click on your website, profile, or book an appointment. 

If you don’t know where to start, try checking out what has worked for other dental professionals and how they are creating a better experience for their patients. You can listen to Weave’s podcast, The Happy Practice Playbook, to hear more from other dental professionals.