Most people might think that marketing for dental care would be boring or nondescript—but as more and more dentists explore social media marketing, this can easily be proven wrong. With over 200,000 practicing dentists in the US, the saturated dental market has given birth to a great deal of creative dental marketing strategies to help these dental practices gain a competitive edge.
There is a sea of resources and opportunities provided by digital marketing, which a dental practice can use to boost visibility, rankings, and even profit. Read on to find the top ten most effective dental marketing strategies to “drill” into your target audience with ease.
Refining Your Online Presence
The first step in dominating the dental marketing landscape online is to have an online presence. However, with the saturation of competitors online, you need to ensure that your digital footprint stands out from the rest. Here are some ways you can elevate your online presence.
Optimize your website.
Website optimization
A website is considered a reflection of a business. A good website includes all the necessary information a customer needs to get to know your practice—but a great dental website goes above and beyond to convince the customer to choose your practice over the others.
The steps below can help you enhance traffic, conversions, and overall customer experience on your site.
Provide a user-friendly, intuitive website interface. Websites that appear disorganized and visually unappealing will discourage customers from engaging with the business. Crafting a landing page that is efficient, aesthetically pleasing, and easy to navigate is necessary. Here are some ways to ensure existing and potential clients have a great website experience:
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Have your contact details visible on every page – Keeping your name, address, and contact number visible at all times is one of the best ways to ensure visitors have the means to contact and inquire about the business, leading to more potential patients. This also serves as a benchmark for Google to identify your site as a credible and legitimate business. These details are usually placed on footers alongside links to your other social media platforms to maintain a professional look.
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Include patient portal features – Adding patient portal features improves visitor engagement and clinic operations. Some recommended features include online appointment setting, direct access to patient dental records, dental care reminders, and online payment functionality.
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Optimize for speed – Site speed has been linked to a website’s SEO rankings and overall conversion rate, so your loading speed must be up to par. We recommend choosing a reliable hosting provider with fast server response times and compressing your image files to reduce bandwidth usage. Just make sure you don’t sacrifice the quality.
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Comply with ADA requirements – The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted to ensure accessible internet usage for all. For an ADA-compliant website, incorporate sitemaps, HTML alt tags that provide text descriptions of images, and video captions, to name a few.
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Acquire SSL certificates - Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificates encrypt data between the web server and browser and are key indicators of a website’s trustworthiness. In addition to protecting your website from possible threats, SSL certificates increase credibility, traffic, and visibility, boosting conversion and user interest. For more information on how to acquire SSL certificates, check out this article.
Incorporate appealing visual content. Text-heavy websites can be quite overwhelming. Simplifying your text content and balancing it with images, graphs, and other visual concepts can greatly improve user experience. Here are some suggestions for visual content that can enhance the user experience on your website:
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Engaging infographics – Infographics are a compelling medium for providing information at a glance. Use charts, graphs, and images to convey the message of the infographic.
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Before and after galleries – A page dedicated to showcasing the “before” and “after” photos of your dental services allows potential clients to evaluate the quality of your services and consider your clinic for their next dental appointment. For this feature, ensure you provide text descriptions of each image for accessibility.
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Virtual tours of the dental office – A virtual tour lets site visitors get a sense of your office space even before visiting and helps customers feel more relaxed in a new environment. Consider making the virtual tour interactive for site visitors, similar to how Google Maps incorporates the street view.
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Video content – With the prevalence of video streaming platforms, incorporating videos on your website engages users who prefer more demonstrative content. Upload videos of your services to showcase the quality of your work in dental procedures.
Don’t forget the mobile experience. Around 54% of consumers have reported primarily using their phones when looking something up on search engines. Catering to a mobile audience can significantly widen your website’s reach and visibility. Follow these recommendations to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly:
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Test your site for mobile – Before implementing any design changes, assess how mobile-friendly your website already is. Use tools such as Lighthouse to ensure your site follows best practices for mobile viewing, among other key metrics for website optimization.
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Make your website responsive – Most hosting providers have options for responsive websites that automatically adjust the site layout on mobile devices. If you’re technically savvy, you can do this from scratch using CSS and HTML.
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Include mobile-specific features – To enhance the navigation experience on your mobile website, consider implementing mobile-specific features. Some examples would be using form fields with autofill suggestions, adding sticky headers, a “back-to-top” button, and click-to-call links that automatically redirect users to call your contact numbers.
Utilizing website optimization software and tools is a great way to make this process easier. Check out our article on the best website optimization software and tools.
Share the right content on social media.
Content on social media
Around 77% of businesses utilize social media to connect with customers, build brand awareness, and drive revenue—and dental practices shouldn’t be any different. We outlined some of the most popular social media platforms and a few content ideas to help elevate your dental marketing strategies on social media.
Facebook: Facebook remains the most popular social media marketing platform due to its wide userbase. The platform is also highly versatile, allowing you to share text posts, videos, images, links, and even articles. These are some of the best practices to keep your Facebook content engaging and reach wider audiences:
- Create a Facebook page to communicate your services or products, highlight patient reviews and testimonials, and share behind-the-scenes footage of dental procedures. This is also where you can link articles or infographics from your website.
- Streamline communication channels by setting up automated responses from your Facebook page. This can also allow customers to learn more about your services, office hours, appointment scheduling, and other frequently asked questions.
- Utilize Facebook Live to interact with your audience and host live Q&A sessions where viewers can send in inquiries about dental care that you can answer in real time. Other content ideas include office tours or live dental demonstrations.
- Make use of Facebook Ads to boost your content and target specific audiences. As of 2023, 89% of marketing specialists have reported using Facebook advertising in their online campaigns. Facebook ads are highly customizable, especially in terms of audience demographics and budget allowances. For dental practices, consider using Facebook ads to target people in your area.
Instagram: Instagram is highly suited for dental marketing, given its focus on image and video content. This is a great platform to share more visual content, like demonstrations of dental services or before and after images to show off your dental practice. Here are some ways that you can maximize your content on Instagram:
- Ensure that your account is set to a Business Instagram Profile. With a Business Profile, you can add contact buttons to your page, schedule posts, implement automated replies, have branded content tags, and receive post insights that can help you optimize future campaigns.
- Make good use of the Instagram Stories feature. With this, you can post short-form content like snippets of your dental practice’s day-to-day operations, infographics on dental care, article links on your website, and more. With the Instagram Highlights feature, you can also keep certain Instagram stories permanently available on your page. This works well for showing your business information and frequently asked questions on dental care.
- Always keep your Instagram location on. This will allow your Instagram account to appear when users search for specific locations and increase your chances of reaching your target audience.
- Partnering with influencers and content creators is also a great way to promote brand awareness and encourage conversion. Choose relevant influencers to promote your dental products or services through testimonials, vlogs, or social media takeovers.
TikTok: Similar to Instagram, TikTok is a video-sharing platform that allows users to upload short-form content. In the US alone, there are almost 150 million TikTok users, most of them aged 25 and below. Due to its popularity, having a presence on TikTok can greatly improve your reach, visibility, and engagement, especially if you want to reach a younger audience. These are some of the ways that your content will penetrate the TikTok audience:
- Keep up with TikTok trends. One suggestion would be to incorporate your dental staff into your video content. Not only is it trendy, but it will also help familiarize your viewers with your practice in general.
- Similar to Facebook, TikTok also has a live feature where you can interact and engage with your viewers in real time. You can take this chance to host live Q&A sessions, collaborate with influencers or other medical professionals, or just engage with your viewers.
- Make use of TikTok ads to boost your content. You can set up campaigns to target specific audiences and call-to-action buttons to encourage viewers to visit your page or website.
YouTube: A good number of potential patients—especially visual learners—are likely to turn to YouTube when doing research on dental services they are interested in. Here are some content ideas to create and maintain an engaging YouTube channel:
- Upload long-form, informative content like in-depth, engaging videos on dental procedures and technologies to help viewers familiarize themselves with the processes. Compelling displays of your knowledge and expertise in dental care will increase your practice’s credibility.
- Aside from educational content, consider making videos specific to your dental practice. Upload office tours to link to your website or shoot long-form patient testimonials that emphasize the benefits of your services.
LinkedIn: LinkedIn is one of the most well-known platforms for professionals to advertise their services and connect with a network of potential customers. It is also a great platform for sharing informative blogs, posting relatable anecdotes, and creating job listings if needed. Here are some ways you can engage with your network on LinkedIn:
- Create and post educational articles relevant to dental care. For instance, you can focus on recent dental health studies, innovations, or trends similar to this article. This will establish your credibility and expertise while widening your reach.
- Share local community involvement, especially if your practice engages with local charities, community drives, medical missions, or participation in health fairs or conventions. This is helpful for targeting connections in your area.
- Use different types of LinkedIn ads, especially dynamic ads, sponsored content, and sponsored messaging. These ads are a great asset in targeting those who are likely to be interested in your specialty.
To ensure you are creating the right content for your practice, it is best to research your target audience, keep up with social media trends, and maintain a consistent brand tone throughout your social media accounts. We also recommend creating content calendars to further segment your content into seasonal or trendy dental health topics. For a more detailed guide on sharing the right content, take a look at our article on content marketing strategies.
Create a Google Business Profile.
When a user searches for dental services or dental clinics, a Google Business Profile will show necessary information such as the business name, address, contact information, website, operating hours, and Google reviews rating. A Google Business Profile for your dental practice ranks you among the possible search results for dental services in your local area, helping you connect your business to potential customers.
Google business profile
Several factors affect the visibility of a business profile after a relevant search query. Relevance and distance are the main determinants of Google’s local ranking. However, prominence is also significantly taken into consideration. This is based on how well-known a business is and how much information Google has about the business across the web.
In other words, having a strong online presence will improve your local search rankings, which, in turn, will also lead to higher website traffic, Google reviews, and overall visibility. For instance, after The Glamorous Owl Gift Shop created a Google Business Profile and optimized its online presence, the brand climbed the local search rankings, resulting in over 8,000 monthly views on Google Maps.
Mounting SEO Strategies
Search engine optimization is a foundation of digital marketing that cannot be overlooked. Implementing these strategies will guarantee the growth of your visibility and reach on various online platforms. Take note of the different methods to improve your SEO rankings below.
Keyword research
Keywords are the bread and butter of search engine optimization. It should be present in all your online content and copies—from your website’s landing page to your social media accounts. To improve your dental marketing strategy, the first step is to identify and analyze keywords relevant to your dental practice. One way to do this is to search for relevant terms—such as “dental care”—on Google Trends and find related topics and queries.
Another best practice for keyword research is to use specific SEO tools that can provide in-depth keyword analyses and competitor keyword strategies. Fortunately, there are several free SEO tools like Google Analytics, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, SEMRush, and Mozbar that provide valuable insights on website performance, keyword generators, backlink monitoring, SEO reports, and so much more. Check out this article for more free SEO tools.
Once you have determined the necessary keywords to boost your search engine rankings, the next step is to integrate these keywords into your website, especially in pages detailing your services, pricing, area, contact information, and business profile. For better indexing results, we recommend creating a dedicated page on your website for each service or product you offer. Apply your keyword research to all aspects of your online content, including blogs, articles, and social media posts.
Dental blogging
A dental blog can significantly drive your SEO rankings, as it allows you to incorporate more long-tail keywords. The more blog posts you produce in a month, the more likely they are to be indexed and appear in Google search results. This is due to the large volume of keywords you will contribute to your site’s search engine rankings.
The best practice is to make sure that your blog posts are lengthy, high-quality, and unique—all while incorporating relevant keywords from your keyword research. Some examples of content ideas would be the latest dental health trends, the pros and cons of certain procedures and services, how dental care affects other aspects of health, dental care best practices, and so on. Here is an article on blog post templates and ideas that can aid you in producing quality content.
Backlinks
When a credible website links your site to one of its pages or articles, your SEO ranking is bound to improve. Backlinking can be a significant help in proving your website’s credibility and trustworthiness, all while boosting your visibility.
Consider participating in online forums like Quora or Reddit, submitting articles to directories, or partnering with other dental or healthcare blogs to obtain quality backlinks for your website. You can also analyze your backlink data with different backlink checker tools.
If you want to upgrade your SEO game even further, consider reaching out to SEO agencies that specialize in or have great experience with dental marketing strategies. We’ve compiled a list of SEO agencies for dental marketing that can help you.
Building Your Community
Marketing is all about making connections—and in the digital landscape, this is easier than ever. Aside from social media platforms, there are several dental marketing strategies that can aid you in building a community with both existing and potential customers.
Implementing e-mail marketing
E-mail and SMS marketing is a remarkable way to connect with potential and existing customers. This method allows you to advertise your services, communicate appointment schedules, request customer feedback, improve clickthrough rates, drive website traffic, and improve patient retention—all at a very cost-effective rate.
These are some of the best practices to take note of when mounting an e-mail marketing campaign:
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Use e-mail outreach software that aligns with your overall marketing goals. These tools can offer key features such as e-mail templates or template builders, A/B testing, communication management, and even AI-powered conversations. If you want recommendations, check out our article on the top e-mail outreach software.
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Identify and segment your target audience to send customized or personalized messages. For example, you can segment your audience into existing patients and potential customers and send out content that will cater to them. For existing patients, this can be in the form of service updates or special loyalty promos. On the other hand, messages for potential patients should revolve around introductions to your practice and services or offering discount codes for first-time customers.
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Ensure that your e-mail content is engaging and dynamic. Customers are more likely to click and read e-mails with visual content, interactive buttons, and short, snappy text. You can also share videos from your social media platforms or website. Furthermore, consider incorporating calls to action that prompt the readers to schedule appointments, visit your website, or learn more about your practice.
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Automation tools will be your best friend in e-mail marketing campaigns, as this can help streamline the process of sending scheduled e-mails, replying to customers, or following up with scheduling reminders. These tools can significantly improve the customer experience.
Offering promos and rewards
If you want to convert customer satisfaction to customer loyalty, consider providing promos and rewards to your existing patients. These can come in the form of discounts, limited offers, loyalty rewards, or dental packages, which you can share with them through exclusive e-mail newsletters. Studies show that offering promos and discounts can help improve customer loyalty, so don’t be afraid to give your longtime clients special treatment.
Engaging with review sites
Review sites are one of the most popular indicators of a business’ online reputation. Around 81% of online users have reported using Google reviews as a metric for evaluating local businesses, while almost 48% refer to Yelp. The testimonials customers leave on well-known review sites can make or break dental marketing strategies.
To build your community on these sites, interact with the comments and reviews left by patients. For positive reviews, make sure to show appreciation and enthusiasm. However, for negative reviews, professional, action-driven replies that promise to better your services are the best way to go. These small engagements and interactions will let potential and existing customers know that you are committed to delivering customer satisfaction, ultimately leading to more credibility for your dental practice.
Fortunately, there are some tools you can use to streamline the process of monitoring and responding to testimonials on review sites. When looking for a review monitoring software, some key features to look out for are the platforms it supports, integration options, and the comprehensiveness of its reports and data. Check out this article on the best online reputation management tools to learn more.
☑️ Partnering with Relevant Influencers
As of 2023, nearly 61% of millennials were reported to find social media influencers more trustworthy. In other words, influencer marketing has taken digital marketing by storm, and dental practices worldwide have already begun to take advantage of this.
Reaching out to influencers, content creators, and key opinion leaders can be a great way to spread positive word of mouth, increase awareness, and improve conversions for your dental practice. Here are some methods to maximize your investments from your dental marketing strategy:
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Identify the right influencers. Nowadays, content often fits into certain niches, such as lifestyle, travel, food, or fitness. Influencers from different niches will have varying audiences in terms of demographics and interests. As such, it is best to find an influencer with a viewer base similar to your target audience.
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Use influencer marketing tools to assess influencers. In choosing the right influencers, tools such as HypeAuditor can help gauge an influencer’s viewer demographic, engagement rates, and audience authenticity to ensure their content aligns with your marketing goals.
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Partner with different influencer tiers. While mega-influencers are great for boosting awareness and reach, micro-influencers are more effective in driving engagement and conversion due to the perception of a more “genuine” recommendation. This infographic can help you find more information on different influencer tiering.
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Craft creative campaigns. There are countless content angles to choose from when you partner with influencers. The best dental marketing strategies for influencer campaigns are to highlight patient testimonials, provide educational content, and offer an exclusive promo for customers. Here is a great example of a content slant for dental practices, where an influencer discusses their experience at a certain dental clinic:
Certain marketing tools can also give valuable insights on the impressions, reach, engagement, and media value of the influencer’s content, giving you key insights to continuously maximize and optimize other campaigns. Check out our article on recommended influencer marketing software to help you here.
Reaching Out to Dental Marketing Agencies
If you have the budget for dental marketing, consider investing in an agency that can create and implement effective, data-driven strategies. Here are a few of the best dental marketing agencies that will get you the best results.
SmartSites is a digital marketing agency recognized as one of the top healthcare companies in the country. Its full range of marketing services includes web design, organic SEO, email & SMS marketing, and social media marketing. A testament to SmartSite’s prowess in dental marketing is its partnership with Real Smile Dental, which resulted in a 439% increase in organic searches and a 133% increase in site traffic. With those kinds of results, SmartSite guarantees an impressive dental marketing campaign. Outsmart the competition with best-in-class digital marketing services. With over 1,000 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews online, SmartSites is America's #1 rated digital marketing agency. Get more traffic. Acquire more customers. Sell more stuff. SmartSites w... 50+ New Jersey Best for: Small and Medium Size Businesses Outsmart the competition with best-in-class digital marketing services. With over 1,000 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews online, SmartSites is America's #1 rated digital marketing agency. Get more traffic. Acquire more customers. Sell more stuff. SmartSites w... Thrive Internet Marketing agency prides itself on its full-range, data-driven web marketing services. Among its services, it has been recognized as a leader in SEO, boasting a 64.7% increase in keyword rankings and an 82.2% growth in overall sales. For dental marketing, Thrive utilizes a six-point strategy. This includes improving lead generation, obtaining key data to optimize services, providing customer service support, and promoting the best practices on digital marketing platforms. Thrive Internet Marketing Agency is a full service agency specializing in SEO, PPC, Social Media Management, Web Design, Link Building, and more. 50+ Arlington, Texas; Los Angeles, California Best for: Enterprises, Large and Small brands Thrive Internet Marketing Agency is a full service agency specializing in SEO, PPC, Social Media Management, Web Design, Link Building, and more. As an agency specializing in dental marketing, Wonderist is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to digital marketing strategies. From branding, dental SEO, graphic design, website development, and ad campaigns, Wonderist has hundreds of satisfied dental practices. After collaborating with Wonderist, Third Coast Family Dental reported a 500% growth in active patients. This aligns with the countless testimonials from various clients across the country, all of which commend Wonderist’s creativity, professionalism, and expertise in dental marketing. These are just a few dental marketing agencies you can reach out to. For a more in-depth list, check out our article on the top 10 dental marketing agencies to grow your practice.1. SmartSites
SmartSites
SmartSites
2. Thrive Internet Marketing Agency
Thrive Internet Marketing Agency
Thrive Internet Marketing Agency
3. Wonderist
Final Insights
From crafting an optimized website to collaborating with influencers, there is an endless resource of dental marketing strategies. Applying just one of these methods might result in a slight boost in your practice’s visibility—but once you’ve followed all these dental marketing strategies, business growth is all but guaranteed.
