Dentist Marketing Strategies

Between taking care of patients, managing staff, and keeping yourself up-to-date with the latest dental practices and regulations, you totally have your hands full. So full that you don’t even have time to brainstorm a couple of dentist marketing strategies anymore. You know how competitive the dental industry gets day by day. You know how you need at least 20 new patients each month to achieve success and growth. You know that you need to up your game now more than ever. The problem is, you have no idea where to start.  

Well, what if we told you that building a strong online presence is how most dentists are marketing their practice today?  Whether it’s being active on social media, posting quality content on their dental website, or running Google ads, they sure are taking advantage of the digital world.  Especially now that 77% of patients go online to look for healthcare specialists, that might just be the wisest move.  

The good news is that there’s a myriad of ways to expand your reach on the World Wide Web. Since we understand how hectic life can get at the dental clinic, you don’t have to implement these dentist marketing strategies all by yourself - hiring a digital marketing company always sounds like a good idea.  But, if you’re really keen on carrying out these online tactics with no professional help, you’re more than welcome to go ahead.  

Regardless of whether you plan to hire a team of professionals or not, our guide to dental marketing will get you 10 steps ahead of your competition.  For sure, the results will bring a massive smile to your face, kind of like the ones you see after treating your patients! With that in mind, let’s get going!

mobile dentist marketing strategies graphic

1. Optimize Your Dental Website

Think of your website as your virtual brick-and-mortar dental office - it’s your first point of interaction with patients. Whether you already have one or you’re just starting from scratch, it’s crucial to keep it user-friendly and visually appealing. You don’t want first-time visitors to see a website that looks like it had its last update in 2000.  

Over 90% of Internet users judge a brand based on its website design, of which with 38% leaving a website they find unpleasant to the eyes and hard to navigate.  Imagine someone clicking on your Google ad, getting directed to your website, only to be greeted by a homepage filled with animations and paragraphs of info using  Comic Sans. Yikes!  

So, how can you ensure that your dental website is optimized enough to attract new patients to your clinic? Here are’s a few tips:

  • Provide high-quality content.
    Keep your audience engaged with well-written blogs. It can be about the latest dental topics, oral hygiene habits, or myth-busting facts about your practice.  
  • Avoid using too much dental jargon.
    Be sure to write in a language that can be easily understood by everyone, which means fewerless dental or scientific terms. Try to keep it as casual as possible, too.  
  • Speed up your website.
    If your dental site takes more than three seconds to load, consider yourself losing around 40% of potential patients. Even just a one-second delay in page load time can cut conversions by seven percent!
  • Secure your website.
    Search engines and browsers tend to warn web users if a website isn’t secured, which means that you’ll be warding prospective patients off if that’s your case.
  • Include key features.
    Aside from informative and valuable content, your website should feature dentist bios, videos, before and after images, testimonials, and online capabilities such as scheduling, prescription renewal, and bill payment.

2. Make the Most of Social Media

With 3.96 billion people around the world currently using social media and 54% relying on it to research products and services, leveraging social media is nothing but an excellent way to market your dental practice. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, social media is your go-to channel when it comes to building a strong online reputation, interacting with your existing patients, and of course, attracting new ones.   Some of the posts that will boost your social presence and gain a huge following are:

  • Infographics.
    People love infographics because they cover complicated topics in such an exciting way. A lengthy text, on the other hand, can only hold their attention for two minutes.  
  • Photos, photos, and photos.
    From smile makeovers to pics of you and your team having a blast at work, you’ll be winning the hearts of your audience. Be sure to flaunt your dental skills by posting before and after images regularly.  
  • Don’t forget videos, too.
    Show your audience how much of an experienced and reliable dentist you are by posting videos highlighting your dental procedures. You may also do a live video answering common oral health questions.
  • Get interactive with your audience.
    Ask questions or create a poll about your followers’ dental habits. Folks love nothing more than a dentist who makes an effort to connect with them outside the office.

3. Utilize Local Awareness Facebook Ads

Although your goal is here to get the word out about your dental practice, you’d only want to focus on targeting people within your area. Sure, it might be nice to learn that people from other cities have heard about you thanks to your ads,  but what’s the point? They won’t be traveling 50 miles just to have their teeth whitened by you! With local awareness ads, reaching a local audience will be easy-breezy. Features like the map card allows you to share locally relevant details about your practice, including its address, hours of operation, distance to and from, and a “get directions” link. What’s more, you can have a CTA in the form of a call button, which is perhaps the easiest prompt to book an appointment.

4. Set Up a Google My Business Page

Another one of the best dentist marketing strategies is by creating a Google My Business (GMB) account page.  It’s pretty much like setting up a Gmail account. The only difference is, it’s going to guarantee your dental website a lot of traffic.  With Google as the world’s top search engine, you are bound to be discovered by people looking for dental practitioners with an  optimized GMB profile.  

Aside from making you visible to the public eye, here’s a few other reasons why your dental practice will benefit from having a GMB page (for free!):

  • GMB allows you to appear in maps and local pack lists. The local pack is actually the first thing Google users see after typing in their query, including a map of places nearest to them.
  • GMB allows consumers to leave reviews and ratings on your listing. You know what they say about positive reviews - they bring in more new faces to your business! As for negative comments, you can use them to work on the areas that need improvement.  
  • GMB ensures online consistency. With Google My Business, you can keep your  patients in the loop by updating your listing, including your addresses, contact numbers, social media, and website.
  • GMB improves SEO. If you’ve been struggling to come up with an effective SEO strategy (which we’ll discuss next), GMB can help you work your way to the top. But first, you need to optimize your page first for the best results.

web traffic dial dentist marketing strategies

5. Develop an SEO Strategy

Every digital marketer knows that SEO, or search engine optimization, is a huge must for anyone who aims to boost their online presence and show higher in the search results without paying for a placed ad.  Being on the first page of the search engine results can be a huge milestone. Once you’ve made it there, more and more prospective patients will know about your dental practice. That said, here are quick tips and tricks to improve your dental SEO:

  • Use dental- related keywords
  • Prioritize local SEO
  • Focus on user intent
  • Keep your website user- and mobile-friendly
  • Publish long- form dental -related content
  • Write in a conversational manner
  • Create a FAQ page
  • Collect patient reviews
  • Incorporate short dental videos  
  • Use high- quality images
  • Include dental references on each web page
  • Steer clear of bad links

6. Create Mobile Call-Only Ads

One in twenty Google searches is for health-related information, and 53% of these searches are performed on a smartphone. This is a chance you wouldn’t wanna miss out.  But where can you create dental ads that are exclusively for mobile with call-only campaigns? Simple. Google Ads.  

7. Get into Video Marketing

They say video marketing is the future, and we gotta agree. These stats do, too:

  • 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a business they support.  
  • 93% of marketers say they’ve gained a new customer thanks to a video they posted on social media.  
  • 86% of video marketers say video has increased traffic to their website.  
  • 84% of consumers were convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video.  

See how powerful of a dental marketing strategy tool videos can be?  Videos with real people from your team can build a personal connection with your potential patients. Videos of happy patients reviewing your practice instills trust and confidence. And, videos of you performing a procedure can turn a viewer into a new patient.

people on camera dentist marketing strategies

Give Your Dental Business a Boost with These Dentist Marketing Strategies!

You don’t have to do it alone. You don’t even have to do any of them. We’ll gladly do every single one of them for you! Digital Resource is the leading digital services provider for dentists across the United States. From web design and SEO optimization to growing your social media presence, we got your back. Contact us today to learn more about our digital marketing services. We can’t wait to see you succeed.