There was once a time when dental practices depended on word-of-mouth to get referrals or new customers. However, those times have changed due to the presence of digital marketing. As a result, dentists looking to successfully maintain their practice, it’s necessary to include in their plans – digital marketing. Why? Your customers are online.

When most start looking for something, they turn to the internet to find their answer. For example, 88 percent of people are using the internet for research prior to making a purchase online or offline.

Here you will find 4 key benefits of marketing your dental business online.

#1 Quicker Returns

If your dental practice has a substantial size marketing budget, it would be a good idea to promote your services via as many social media platforms as you can reach as many prospects as you can.

In the most common form of digital marketing (i.e., search engine & social media advertising) you pay to reach one person at a time. Compared to customary way of advertising, digital marketing has an immediate effect on your practice’s ability to generate quick returns.

#2 Reach Patients

Digital marketing allows you to personalize your message to your audience. When you advertise via the internet you have the ability to:

-Better interaction with your target audience

-Obtain higher returns (ROI)

-Reach patients who are already regular patients of yours

-Reach patients who are regular patients of other dentists

-Reach patients who haven’t visited your practice in a while

-With offline advertising, every member of the audience receives the same message; and for some, the message won’t be relevant.

#3 Pinpoint Targeting

Having a proficient digital marketing plan in place will allow you to target current, past and potential buyers. You can use pay-per-click, display ads, social media, and email marketing to keep your customers informed. You can also promote your website on search engines and business directories to reach prospective patients actively searching for dentists in your area.

Since digital marketing gives you the ability to target different messages to different people, your messages will usually be relevant to the people who see them — and relevance helps to ensure the best possible response rate.

#4 Capture and Nurture Leads

To help capture and nurture your leads, it’s a good idea to know your audience. The better you know them, the easier it will be to craft messages geared toward what your audience is searching for. For example, there may be people in your local area who are thinking about having their teeth whitened or straightened. Many of those people are searching online for the answers to their questions, but they’re only researching right now. They may not be ready to schedule an appointment just yet.

You can use targeted website content (e.g., blog posts, eBooks, case studies, etc.) to reach individuals who are searching online for basic information about dentistry. Just be sure to have a way to capture that person’s contact information and use it in your future marketing efforts via an autoresponder to build trust.

Conclusion

The message is becoming loud and clear. Marketing is changing from the way individuals consume information to how they buy goods and/or services. As such, it is necessary to change the way you do business. If your dental practice doesn’t have a website or an online presence, it’s high time you get one. If not, you’re practically invisible.

You should be using digital marketing to be a constant presence in your patient’s lives when they aren’t in your dental chair.

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