How to Market a Dental Practice

By: Virginia Bussey

As if practicing great dentistry wasn’t enough, you are now having to take time to figure out how to bring in new business to your practice. And not only that, you are having to keep up with the changing technologies and methods of marketing. So what should you do and where do you start?

In short, online. Online marketing is becoming more and more important when it comes to finding new patients and retaining current ones in your dental practice. But it’s hard to differentiate between what’s important and where you should start when it comes to your online marketing.
After seeing some marketing work and some marketing fail in the dental industry, here’s my advice on what to do and where to start.

Build a User Friendly Website

It is extremely important to not only have a website, but to have one that is easy to use. Here are some things to make sure your website takes into consideration:

• Choose a navigation that clearly shows what your website visitors can do on your site
• Clearly communicate what you do and why you’re unique
• Make sure the design reflects your practice

Use Social Media

Use social media like Facebook and Twitter to communicate with your current patients and new patients. The following is some types of information you can share:

• Interesting articles that talk about dental care, dental symptoms, dental scams, or anything else you think your patients would care about.
• Events you might be having in the office whether it’s a social event or a discount.
• Links for information on your site
• Before and after pictures
• Testimonials from patients

Write Blog Articles

Writing blog articles about topics your patients ask about can be beneficial in a lot of ways. It can help with your natural search engine rankings, it can help you describe something to a patient, and it can build trust that you know what you’re talking about before someone makes their first appointment.

The more frequent you blog, the more impact you’ll see. You can have your staff contribute, as well. Start out slow even if it is one new blog article a month. As you get the hang of it, try to increase it until you’re blogging a few times a week. The following are a few example topics:

• What to expect at your first appointment
• Why you may be experiencing jaw pain
• Is tooth wear normal? The truth about your bite

Get Listed on Find a Dawson Dentist

By becoming an alumni association member, you are listed on a site built for potential patients. It is also promoted throughout the country using Google paid keyword advertising. This site can help you find patients that have major dental conditions or who are looking for a Dawson Dentist specifically. You can also refer your patients to this site for patient education.

All of these things can contribute to a good marketing plan for your practice. Start with one of these items at a time and don’t give up. It might take a while to get in the full swing of things but once you do you’ll start seeing some results.

And if you want to learn first hand from a Dawson Dentist on how to not only implement complete dentistry in your practice but how to market it, consider taking Implementing Complete Care Dentistry.