At Clear to Launch Dental Solutions, we use a 3 step dental marketing plan for the practices we work with. This is applicable to 1, 10, or 100 practices. This framework for success works every time. In this blog post, we’ll go over the first step.

Order is Critical.

Steve ate the fish. The fish ate Steve. Same words. Wrong order. Very different results. If you market your dental practice in the wrong order, you will get less than optimal, or even poor, results. Marketing on social media before your website is designed for patient conversion, is the wrong order. This line of thinking is logical but is often overlooked. With your dental practice, there is a very logical order to marketing. If you complete the steps in the incorrect order, you will pay more to acquire dental patients, or worse, you will actually be helping your competition get these patients.

STEP 1. Get Above The Line Of Credibility

First impressions are everything. To be viewed as a professional and credible practice, your online reputation must be taken seriously. Make sure the way you look online represents the quality of your dental practice in the real world.

The action items in Step 1 include the following:

• Establish Your Dental Office’s Brand Guidelines
• Build A Modern Dental Website
• Set Up Social Media & Online Listings
• Generate 100+ Google Reviews 
• Implement Local SEO

Establish Your Dental Office’s Brand Guidelines

Your dental practice’s brand is your identity, your reputation, and how you are perceived in the marketplace. This is how people think and feel about your practice. You want dental patients to use these words and phrases when describing your practice:

• Professional, high standard of care, knowledgeable 
• Clean, well-kept, aesthetically pleasing 
• Modern, cutting-edge, up-to-date 
• Fun, pleasant, enjoyable, helpful 
• High-end, luxurious, exclusive

Over time, your dental office’s brand image is developed through marketing with a consistent theme and then confirmed through the patient’s direct experience in your dental practice. Your brand image needs to be considered in all advertising, all patient interactions, the appearance of staff, print materials, online (social media, business listings, etc.) signage, and company culture.

One of the most important documents / assets a dental practice can have is a Brand Standards Package & Guidelines.

A Dental Office’s Brand Guidelines generally include: 

Dental Brand Overview

• Brand Messaging & Language
• Core Values
• Brand Story
• Treatment

Dental Logo Guidelines

• Logo Variations
• Color Variations
• Acceptable / Unacceptable Logo

Visual Guidelines

• Brand Colors
• Typography
• Wordmarks & Variations
• Element Application

Build A Modern Dental Website

First impressions are everything and today your first impression is your dentalwebsite.
A modern dental website provides a professional representation of your practice.
All word of mouth, referrals, and marketing will lead people to your website.
Your website is a valuable asset to your practice that needs to be a top priority.

New Dental Patients visit your website BEFORE they consider doing business with you.

Today a great dental website is built by a team of people. Some websites are built solely by designers. These websites can be visually appealing but are missing many critical elements.  This translates to a website that will not convert visitors into actual patients.  Your website needs to be built by a TEAM of professionals. Your first impression depends on it. 

Your website team should include the following:

• Web Designer
• Web Developer / Architect
• Graphic Designer
• Content Creator
• Copywriter
• Dental SEO Expert (Certified)

Set Up Your Dental Office’s Social Media & Online Listings

Setting up social media and online profiles is vital to your dental practice’s first impression. Your first impression can happen on ANY platform. Taking the time to be consistent across the most popular platforms will benefit you greatly. This is also a critical component of Search Engine Optimization(SEO).

• Claim social media / online listing profiles 
• Update practice name
• Update business categories
• Verify dental office address and marker location
• Update service area (if applicable)
• Update hours of operation
• Add special hours & holiday hours
• Update phone number
• Update website address
• Add practice description  
• Add opening date
• Add/update new photos and graphics
• Delete all old photos and graphics (if necessary) 
• View profile map location, verify accuracy
• View profile search in search results, verify accuracy

Generate 100+ Google Reviews for Your Dental Practice

The images below illustrate why this step is so important. 99/100 new patients will choose the dental practice with the highest quality and quantity of reviews. When a new patient searches for a dentist, they will compare multiple practices. 

Which practice will provide a better experience?

Which practice has a friendlier staff? 

Which practice has a better dentist?

Which practice would you choose? 

Generating Google Reviews for Your Dental Practice

Option 1. 

Timing is everything. Asking the dental patient as they are checking out (after they have had a good experience) is the best chance you have to get a review. Setting goals with your front desk staff is key to reaching your Google review goals. 

Google Review Script (during checkout): “Let me pull up your file….. And while I’m doing that, would you mind leaving us a Google Review?  It only takes 30 seconds and every month we have a giveaway for XYZ, you will be automatically entered.”

*Email lisa@cleartolaunchdental.com for the complete guide to Google reviews and a free custom QR code flyer for your dental office.

Option 2. 

Most dental software has a review function that will automatically text or email patients and ask them to leave a review. If your software does not have this capability, you can purchase this software from a third party. Do a Google search for “patient review software” to explore some options.

Implement Local SEO for Dentists

Easy to find = Easy to do business with 

Hard to find = Hard to do business with 

Search Engine Optimization(SEO) is one of the most complex topics in marketing today. As a dental professional, you should only be concerned with one goal for
SEO = Rank high(top) in search engines.
+70% of people click on the top 3 results.

Google’s goal is to direct people to the best possible websites when they are searching. Once you understand Google’s rules, you can do more of what Google likes, and they will reward you with a higher website ranking. Unless you are extensively trained as an SEO expert, we recommend you outsource this to a professional. 

 

Not All Dental SEO Companies Are Created Equal 

The Bad News

SEO is a complex and evolving service. This leaves dental practices at a massive informational disadvantage. It is difficult to evaluate what you are paying for and the results you are getting.

The Good News

• New reporting tools are making it easier to quantify results. 
• The rules of the game are more defined than ever. (by Google) 
• Service quality has gone up, price has gone down. 
• Less bad actors in the marketplace.

SEO Reporting

Analytics tools, like the ones above & below, allow dental practices to see where they rank for specific keywords (ex: dentist near me, best dentist in Nashville, etc.) Practices now have the ability to verify results when it comes to SEO services.

*Email lisa@cleartolaunchdental.com for a full Local SEO audit for your dental practice. This will serve as an SEO report card.

Thank you for reading Step 1 of our Modern Dental Marketing Plan. Stay tuned for Step 2 and Step 3.

Clear to Launch Dental Solutions is a full-service dental marketing agency headquartered in St. Louis, MO and serving clients across the US. Clear to Launch Dental Solutions focuses on dental websites, dental social media marketing, dental Google Ads, dental SEO, and other online marketing for dental practices, dental groups and DSOs.