• Dental Marketing ,
• 20 Nov

Even if you’re providing the best quality dental service in town, it can sometimes be hard to get new dental leads. Furthermore, it becomes even harder converting these leads into paying customers.

Dental business is a cutthroat business.

If you are a young person, you might think that this is a dream job only to experience a rude awakening once you start practicing it.

According to data, more than $10 billion is paid every year on content marketing. A solid chunk of that money is used for promoting dental offices.

If you keep in mind that one lead in Google pay-per-click costs of $10-20, it becomes easier to understand what kind of competition you’re facing against.

So, what are the main issues? Why is it so hard to get new dental patients?

The 6 biggest issues with dental advertising

The dental business is quite specific.

It is focused on providing services to a local community, which partially limits its ability to convert. Given that it is a medical service, most companies get their clients via word-of-mouth.

This makes it really hard for new dental practices to step foot into the ring.

But there is more to it!

Here are some of the main issues that dental offices are encountering:

• Lack of a proper digital strategy
• Not willing to invest in marketing
• Poor website design
• Lack of social media marketing
• Low-quality content
• Not asking for referrals

Simply put, you have to do everything right if you want to get and retain dental clients.

People simply don’t mess with their teeth, and they are unwilling to give a chance to dentists who are new on the market.

Here are six battle proof strategies that will help you increase your conversion as a dentist!

1. Invest heavily in website and content

Due to the fact that everyone is doing dental marketing, it becomes increasingly harder to keep up the pace.

Nowadays, most clients will check your site and social media before they visit your office. This is also true for referrals.

People are so used to Google, dental review sites, and flashy appearance, that they are unwilling to give a chance to offices that are subpar. It might seem ludicrous to you, but most patients have strong anxiety, which they try to eliminate through a superficial decision process.

You should start by creating a high-quality, responsive site. It needs to be quick, mobile-friendly, and clean. It also helps if you have a lot of good content on it.

As of late, dental videos are becoming more popular. You can use them to showcase your ability and to demonstrate various treatments. This will bridge the gap between you and a patient.

A common misconception (especially among young people) is that if you don’t have a quality site, you also won’t be able to perform a quality service.

If you need a good dental marketing agency to help you out dental leads conversion, make sure to give us a call. We will create an awesome site that will give you a proper foundation for all other marketing efforts!

2. Create “humane” content

Depending on content posted on your site and social media, it will be easier or harder to close a client.

Of course, you can create blog posts and videos showcasing expertize and how procedures look like. But, it is also possible to insert hidden messages within the content.

Most people have strong dental anxiety. When checking a dental office website, they probably understand you can do a good job. Dentists are usually very skilled.

So, how do they choose one company over another?

Through hints of humane content.

One of the best tricks is to show how you care. Showcasing the team’s photos is a great way to bridge the gap. Patients need to know they are in good hands. Being proficient is often not enough; they need to know that you care.

These small messages can be inserted into your content. For example, when talking with patients in your videos, when addressing them in posts or on the homepage, etc.

Word of caution: make sure that you look honest! It is normal for dentists to look friendly, but you don’t want something that looks like a phony stock image.

3. Online scheduling is key

It is very important to give people options.

Nowadays, most dental patients are accustomed to scheduling appointments online.

There are several reasons for this:

• It allows you to book an appointment at any time
• You are not dependable on phone calls
• The potential patient is able to check your site and perform everything else in one go

But there is another very important reason why you should focus on online scheduling.

When filling the form, your dental leads will leave a lot of information. Some of them, such as email, can be used later on. All of this data can be used for retaining these customers.

The great thing about online scheduling is that there are certain tools such as Calendly, which can hasten the process. For example, a potential client can see your schedule as well as empty slots on it.

He or she can then schedule an appointment and book it directly into a tool. It makes everything easier as with software, a dental lead can see all the slots without having to go back and forth with your team members.

It gives patients time to choose the right slot according to their own schedule without feeling pressured.

4. Force their hand with freebies

In the dental industry (like most other service professions), the most important thing is for a client to visit you once. After that, everything becomes much easier!

But, getting a client to visit you is not always as easy as it seems. In the end, this industry is still ruled by word-of-mouth marketing.

So, how can you persuade them to check you out?

By giving something for free!

Here, we suggest that you entice dental leads by providing free exams or treatments. Dental freebies will showcase your expertise as a dental practitioner, which is usually the main obstacle in getting and retaining a client.

While you might lose a lot of time (thus money) on free exams, if you are able to convert at a high rate, it will be more than worth it.

There are also other small freebies that you can give out, but none of them are as impactful as free treatments and exams.

5. Create a direct connection

As already mentioned, word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective ways of promoting your company. Whether its dental business or some other type of profession, there is no better way to break the ice aside from this.

But even when patients come recommended, it might be hard to close them.

You need to take a proactive stance in closing the clients.

First and foremost, it is much better if you ask for dental referrals yourself. Asking for people to recommend their friends and family may take a while. It also reduces the control you have over the process.

When you ask for a referral, you have the choice of inquiring about several specific things:

• Person’s dental state and recent procedures
• Need for regular procedures
• Offer discounts or free treatments
• Create a personal connection with a patient

Sometimes, your clients will not even consider recommending a friend. This is why you need to be proactive.

Perhaps they’re having an issue they’re not able to fix? Perhaps they need a periodic treatment? Either way, you can offer your services.

It makes it even better because you can give this person a discount. If they are not persuaded by that, there is a low chance you will ever close that particular patient.

Lastly, you can take a person’s phone number. Don’t be shy! Call them and create a direct connection.

You can even send them a message to make it less intrusive. Most people will like the personal touch and concern.

6. Focus on email marketing campaigns

Email marketing for dentists is a very powerful weapon for several reasons.

These campaigns are very cheap, allowing you to reach numerous people in a short amount of time.

The only issue with them is a lack of personal touch. However, if you want to reach out to potential leads, there is only a handful of methods that are more efficient.

Ideally, you should reach out to people who have already made some contact with your company. Some organizations are willing to scrape contact and then reach out.

Unfortunately, there are certain reasons why you should avoid doing this.

Have dental leads emails? Here are 5 smart ways to use them

If you already have a dental lead’s email, that means that you have already made contact. By sending them a message, you can accomplish the following:

• You can lead them to your homepage or specific pages you want them to see
• You can show expertise and care
• If they forgot about their appointment, you could use an email to remind them
• Emails are a great way of promoting new services, events, and promotions
• If a person is interested in dentistry, you can send them to specific blog posts

A dental company can create marketing campaigns revolving around emails.

One of the popular strategies nowadays is performing 3-email marketing campaigns. It is ideal for all the leads who have asked for company information.

According to the existing data, these campaigns can significantly increase the conversion of your dental leads.

With these campaigns, you are able to link landing pages to a client.

There are several reasons why you should send 3 emails:

• By sending several emails, you’re making sure they are not sent to spam
• You can reinforce the idea
• If a person is serious about this request, they will respond to at least one of these emails

Given that there are links within them, you can also track conversion.

This data can then be used to modify campaigns, making them more successful in the future.

Wrapping it up

Dentists often feel that dental lead conversion is out of their hands. They will simply pay for marketing services and let things be. As you can see, your team can have a great proactive role in closing the clients.

Some of these methods are still better when done by experts. In the end, you probably shouldn’t start an email campaign on your own, right? This is where we come into play!

How can we help your dental practice?

Dentie Leads is one of the most prominent dental marketing companies focusing on the North American market.

We have extensive experience with various marketing approaches and techniques. No matter what you need, we will be able to provide it!

Given our extensive experience, we won’t need much time to get a hold of things. We can quickly analyze your dental company, its marketing needs, and then, we will devise a winning strategy.

If you need some additional info or you simply want to chat, make sure to contact us today!