Stuck for dental marketing ideas? Here’s what we’ve done digitally that’s worked
After working with over 46 dentists, we have found that they struggle to develop new marketing ideas for their practices.
Practice managers and principals tend to rely too heavily on traditional formats, such as exterior signage (which we’ve seen to produce very few results), and social media platforms to communicate their message, all to little avail.
However, because their websites are the primary source of new leads through organic search, it’s more important to focus on marketing strategies to convert browsing users into patients.
What can you do differently to help your practice stand out from the crowd—and where have we seen success?
Key Takeaways
-
Shift focus from “old school” tactics to what actually generates leads: The page argues that exterior signage and generic social posting rarely move the needle compared with website-led marketing.
-
Use movement and visuals to win attention quickly: Recommends simple, low-cost GIFs and strong imagery to highlight services, prices and key benefits in a way patients actually notice.
-
Run “ad-style” website graphics that push to a booking page: Suggests using advert-like banners/graphics that link directly to a targeted landing page with a form, moving visitors closer to booking.
-
Use video to build trust and sell expertise: Positions video (homepage hero video and clinician skill videos) as a fast way to create brand connection, credibility and differentiation.
-
Promotions that convert: pop-ups, events and finance: Shares tactics such as pop-ups for open days (including testing email vs form), pop-up offers (e.g., free consultations), and finance forms to capture warmer, higher-value leads.
1. Using GIFs to market services and products
Animated GIFs, similar to videos, capture a user’s attention when reading through pages on your website. Relatively easy and inexpensive to create, GIFs can be impactful when making short videos that highlight your costs, products, and services.
2. Using dental adverts to increase conversion
In this age, it’s difficult to retain a user’s attention through text alone, and images, the next best visual alternative to graphics, can stop users in their tracks and summarise services and costs, which many customers are searching for on your web pages.
In these instances, we use graphics that resemble advertisements to highlight the costs and benefits of treatment, linking the graphic to a landing page with a booking form to collect their information.
We create specific landing pages targeted to their treatment, taking them one step closer to booking their treatment.
3. Using video marketing to create a brand
As discussed in this post, video marketing is a powerful tool for evoking emotion in users and conveying your brand. It sets you apart from the crowd, builds trust and credibility among potential customers, and can be used to highlight your location, services, and staff.
On this particular dental website, video marketing is featured as the hero header on the homepage to promote brand awareness and identity, showcase the practice’s services, and highlight its unique selling points, such as the use of an in-house CEREC milling machine.
4. Using pop-ups to promote open days
This practice had a certain number of spaces for their Invisalign open day. It effectively sourced 32 leads who wanted to attend the event, resulting in the need to add additional spaces to accommodate.
The important factor here is where the pop-up banner is linked. We tested two different versions: one with a landing page and a contact form, and another that immediately sent an email.
In this case, the one that fired the email was more effective as it meant the user didn’t have to put in too much effort to send an enquiry, whereas the contact form produced fewer results.
Patients also had the opportunity to book via Live Chat with an operator, which resulted in three users engaging with the chat.
Dentistry magazine has some good advice.
5. Using finance to sell higher-value treatments
While we use graphics to show how affordable finance can be, as shown above, we also include custom forms embedded into a page, which results in the user submitting their information then and there.
Using the above form (pictured right), we can assess the user’s viability for finance, capture their information and deliver a warm lead to the reception team, who can then get the customer to book a free consultation.
6. Using video marketing to show off skills and expertise
While video marketing can boost sales in several ways, in this case, we’re using video to highlight the dentist’s skill, experience and expertise.
With this particular dentist, we found that the team pages attracted a lot of visitors, indicating that potential cosmetic patients were interested in knowing who their dentist would be.
As another tool in our arsenal, these videos familiarise potential customers with the dentist and the surroundings, encouraging them to take the next step and book.
7. Using pop-up banners to advertise local offers
Pop-up banners are traditionally used to promote discounts, deals, offers, promotions, and open days. You might have seen them on websites encouraging users to sign up to get 10% off, for example.
While they can be useful for stopping local audience users in their tracks and encouraging bookings, they can also be viewed as annoying, especially when businesses copy each other.
In this instance, we use pop-up messages to promote free consultations and pricing changes, which are more engaging to users.
For example, this specific pop-up resulted in an additional 92 conversions within one month, demonstrating its effectiveness.
Don’t think you can do this alone? Get in touch with us.
We not only manage your digital marketing but also boost your organic presence by positioning your practice on the front page of Google for search terms like “dental implants,” “Invisalign costs,” “All on 4,” and more.
Open in ChatGPT: ask questions about this article…
