How Can I Attract More of the Dental Cases I Want?

Are you looking to attract more new dental cases for your practice?  

While it can be an exciting prospect, increasing patient numbers takes a lot of time and effort, especially in today’s competitive world.

The good news is, there are several easy-to-implement strategies that can help you draw prospective patients into your clinic and keep them coming back – and these are what we’ll be focusing on in this post. Whether you’re looking for folks who need implants, a root canal, or dental fillings, following these tips will surely grow your patient base.

Ready to learn the secrets to attracting the dental cases you want? Let’s dive in!

Leverage Online Directory Listings

Listing your dental practice in reputable online directories is a surefire way to grab the attention of potential patients and persuade them to schedule treatment. That’s because people in these platforms are usually a step away from converting. They either don’t have a dentist or are planning to switch.

So, if you have yet to claim your dental practice in popular and trusted directories – such as Yelp, Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business), Foursquare, and Better Business Bureau – there’s no better time than now to do it. It’s also a good idea to look at directories specific to dentistry, such as SmileGuide.com, DentistDirectory.com, and RateMDs.com.

Once you claim ownership on these websites, you’ll be in total control of your entire profile. It’s up to you to decide on how you want your pages to appear to your audience.  

You can start by including all the information your target audience should know – your NAP (name, address, phone number), business hours, link to your website, and the full range of services you offer along with their rates, and of course, your specializations. If possible, add a map that pinpoints your physical location, as well as photos of your dental office.  

Don’t forget to double-check everything before you hit the publish button. And, see to it that your listings are completely consistent. One little mistake can spell disaster. Imagine losing a bunch of patients just because you typed a single wrong digit in your street address. Yikes!

Stand Out from the Rest

With countless other dental practices in your city, getting prospects to notice you can be extremely challenging. What can you do to set yourself from everyone else?

Develop a unique selling point (USP).

In case you’re unfamiliar, a USP refers to a marketing statement that differentiates a brand and its offerings from its competitors. It’s a specific benefit that makes you unique in your own way. It’s what answers the question, “What makes you different from your competition?”

Think about the things that differentiate your practice. What are your specialties? Is there a particular reason why patients prefer your Invisalign® treatment over that of your rivals? Do you have state-of-the-art technologies no other local clinic has?  

You might also want to consider your target market. Go beyond demographics and look at their lifestyles, habits, preferences, and problems. Do they want to be pampered? Are they willing to spend a fortune to get their teeth fixed? What do they want or need that only your practice can provide?  

Whatever your USP is, be sure to emphasize it on your website, social channels, and other marketing platforms.  

Ask Patients to Leave Online Reviews

Your patients, especially those who are satisfied with your work, can be your greatest promoters. Having them to simply write positive feedback about your dental practice can make all the difference in increasing your cases and establishing you as an expert in your field. Here are some stats to further convince you to seek reviews from loyal patients:

• 93% of consumers read online reviews first before making a purchase  
• 58% of consumers wouldn’t mind paying more or travel further to visit companies with good reviews
• 62% of consumers are more likely to buy after seeing photos and videos from others
• 94% of consumers have avoided a business because of its bad reviews

Where should you be posting those reviews though? Google Reviews, Yelp, Angie’s List, Facebook, and your dental website are among the best places to share them.

Keep in mind, however, that most patients don’t always take the first step to write their reviews. Don’t hesitate to reach out to them through email, SMS, or social media. Along with a nice message asking them to rate your dental services, send a link to the platform in which they’ll be leaving their comments. Requesting them personally after their procedure also works – just make sure they’re no longer in pain!  

Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

What good is having a professional dental website if it fails to show up in search results? Even if it’s well-designed and highly engaging, you could still have trouble generating organic traffic and qualified leads if your site doesn’t rank in Google’s first page. Mind you, 75% of searchers never bother scrolling pages two and beyond!

This is where dental SEO comes in.  

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing a website to improve its online presence. With a solid and meticulously-prepared SEO strategy in place, your dental site won’t only attract visitors, but it can also get them to book an appointment right there and then.

While it’s best to leave search engine optimization to the experts, there are some simple things you can do to slowly get your website rising its way to the top.  

Publishing dental-related blog posts on a regular basis is one of the easiest ways to increase search engine rankings. For instance, if you’re currently targeting people who want veneers, then your articles should mainly focus on veneers, though it’s also a good idea to talk about oral hygiene every now and then.  

More importantly, make sure to use relevant keywords to give bots a clear idea of what your content is all about – thus, making it easier for them to identify where your page should rank.  

Content creation is just one of the basic SEO tactics you can do on your own. If you’re interested to discover the rest, check out this post of ours.  

Run Local Awareness Ads

Ever heard of Facebook local awareness ads? These are basically ads that target users who are located within a specified proximity of your dental address. And, guess what? Running them can double, or even triple, your cases!

Most people won’t travel for an hour or so just to see a dentist, unless there aren't any in their town. That’s why it makes perfect sense to target your ideal patients using local campaigns.  

With these ads, you’ll quickly be able to get your dental practice in front of your ideal audience. Plus, thanks to Facebook’s advanced targeting options, you can reach users based on various factors, including demographics, interests, and behaviors. This makes it easier for you to identify those who are interested in your services.  

Get Ready to See a Spike in New Dental Cases!

Implementing these tactics will no doubt get your practice to welcome new patients. However, it’s very hard to put the work necessary into it, especially when you’re busy running your practice!

The wisest move is to enlist the professional help of an experienced internet marketing agency like Digital Resource. Our dedicated specialists have the passion and know-how to get your practice to attract more dental cases and keep them coming back for more. They’ll handle all the online marketing aspects while you take good care of your patients.

Get in touch with us today to start your journey to success.