How to Gain New Dental Patients Through Inbound Marketing?

As healthcare professionals, dentists are primarily concerned with providing service to their patients. However, patients often have lots of options available to them, so you have to ensure that your practice stands out to keep bringing patients through the doors.

While traditional marketing methods, like print ads and billboards may attract attention to your business, these methods are often not the most effective when it comes to marketing your dental practice. In today’s digital age, if you’re looking to attract new patients, you should consider implementing inbound marketing strategies.

Inbound marketing is nothing new. It’s officially been around since 2006 which is an eternity in internet time. You might not be familiar with the term inbound marketing and we get it. Inbound marketing is a way to “attract” patients to your practice. The opposite of inbound is traditional advertising in which advertisers try and “pull” a patient into the practice. Think of inbound like honey (flies are attracted to it) and traditional advertising as interrupting (like when they play ads every 7 minutes during your favorite show).

Why do dentists need inbound marketing?

In order to get patients through the doors, dentists need to communicate the value of their practice, and inbound marketing can help them accomplish this goal.

Instead of wasting time and money on advertising that doesn’t resonate with your intended audience, consider implementing inbound marketing strategies—designed to reach interested consumers where they’re already looking online.

Optimize your website to attract and convert leads

Before you deploy any kind of inbound marketing campaign, you’ll want to ensure your website is fully functional, fast, and mobile-optimized. This ensures your customers can explore your site and take the desired call-to-action effortlessly.

The purpose of your website is to show visitors what you have to offer and provide a great user experience for them to access your products or services. 94% of first impressions of a website are based on its visuals and design, and 88% of website visitors won’t return to a page if they have a poor experience. So it’s important you get this right.

If your website isn’t optimized, you’re going to lose out on a huge number of potential customers. Whatever the goal is behind your inbound dental marketing strategy, it’ll go hand in hand with an effective website.

Delight customers with exceptional content

The backbone of any inbound marketing campaign is its content. At this stage, you need to focus on how you’re going to delight your customers and keep them coming back for their future appointments.

In the dentistry business, content is traditionally pretty limited to a few images, basic filler blog posts, or irregular once-a-year Facebook updates.

A lacklustre content strategy simply won’t suffice in today’s content-driven world.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

A large number of American adults research online to identify a medical or dental condition. With SEO, you can target industry-related keywords and phrases and improve your chances of showing up in top result spots. The higher you appear in search results, the more likely potential clients will click on your website.

For example, when people search for dentists in their area, you want your practice to show up at the top of search results. No matter how great your practice is, you won’t attract new patients if they don’t know about you.

SEO also improves user experience on your site, making it easier for potential patients to find information about the services and procedures you provide and contact you to schedule an appointment.

Stay connected with social media and email marketing

Social media is used by 3.96 million people around the world. Over the years, social media has become a valuable tool for marketers looking to promote their business. It offers ease of accessibility that allows you to target and reach any audience niche.

Social media platforms are a great way to stay connected with leads & patients, promote your content, and answer customer questions synchronously and asynchronously. Social media is where you can develop your unique brand voice and create an approachable image for your business. Going to the dentist can be pretty scary, after all!

By sharing informative, engaging, fun content and encouraging engagement through social channels you can help to remove the stigma and fear surrounding dentists. Show your audience that behind the terrifying tools and painful procedures is a friendly team who are there to help solve patients’ problems.

How does inbound marketing benefit dentists?

Inbound marketing allows dentists to maintain a presence online where potential clients are searching, making it easier for to attract new patients and create lasting relationships.

No matter how great your practice is or how well-designed your website may be, your dental practice will not engage new patients if they can’t find you.