When we first meet a new customer and ask if they are currently using digital marketing campaigns to grow their business, we are often asked a lot of questions to clarify what we mean. Many independent dental offices still rely mostly on what we would call traditional marketing (direct mail, posters, print ads, word of mouth, etc.) and don’t really understand what digital marketing means. We also find that for the majority of dentists, digital marketing means having a website and a Facebook page.
While traditional marketing certainly has its place, digital marketing has become increasingly important to sales growth, especially in the dentistry field, and that means far more than a website and social media account.
Image source: Darwin Laganzon
Yes, digital marketing includes websites and social media, but that just scratches the surface. To be successful in digital marketing, a practice must use a variety of channels, including but not limited to social media, a website, email, blog, reviews, and promotional campaigns.
Real digital marketing is a multifaceted approach to promote your practice, raise awareness and inspire your target group with informative, interesting and diverse digital content.
Why multiple channels?
Digital media attract more and more attention every day. Almost half of all consumers search for products and services by starting with a search engine query that returns results that include not only websites but also images, video content, social media profiles, and online reviews.
Think how many digital devices you personally use every day – your smartphone, your computer, your tablet, your smartwatch. It is also likely that you have accounts with various messaging apps, at least one email address, and Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. You might listen to podcasts, read blogs, play games, and watch videos online.
If you and your team members are using digital media to find quality local businesses to patronize, interesting content to read and watch, etc., you can bet your potential patients will do the same, and so much more. Therefore, it makes sense for your practice to produce content via several digital channels in order to achieve this.
Image source: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
What are some of the most important aspects of digital marketing?
A common misconception among dentists is that digital marketing is all about advertising, but there is more to it than that. The nice thing about digital marketing is that you have the opportunity to reach your target audience not only through multiple channels, but also through a variety of content. Promotional content is certainly important, but it’s not the only way to promote your practice.
Through social media, email marketing, blogging and more, your practice can do so-called content marketing, which does not openly advertise, but promotes it by educating potential patients. For example, by raising awareness of advances in care and general dental issues, or highlighting key team members in the practice.
The overall goal is to take a more personal approach to engaging the audience and building a relationship even before a person contacts the office. This type of marketing is next to impossible with traditional print media.
Only digital media are flexible and fluid enough to be used for content marketing.
One of the most well-known and at the same time most complex aspects of digital marketing is social media. Having a Facebook Page is a good place to start, but it’s just not enough to be effective. It is imperative for a practice to create unique content for its social media pages and to update it at least weekly. The most important part of social media marketing, however, is adding social elements to all digital marketing channels in order to create as many opportunities to share content as possible.
Image source: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
If patients and potential patients who follow your practice on social media are motivated to engage in personal engagement with the content you post, they are more likely to share it with their friends and family who may be first learning about your practice . Social media marketing, when done right, is today’s digital equivalent of word of mouth, and therefore one of the most important parts of any practice’s digital marketing strategy.
Email is one of the most direct and reliable forms of digital communication. In 2020 alone, it is estimated that more than 306 billion emails will be sent worldwide every day. By 2025, the number of e-mail users worldwide is expected to reach 4.6 billion. It’s true that social media and other forms of digital communication are becoming increasingly popular.
However, email is still the most common way people communicate online. In addition, email advertising has a higher click-through rate than social media marketing. While some dentists might think email marketing isn’t effective, the statistics would say otherwise. Email is a great way to reach out to existing patients and educate them. With targeted email campaigns, a practice can deepen relationships and pull new business out of its existing patient base. However, like social media marketing, email campaigns require strategy and creativity.
If the content isn’t engaging, timely, entertaining, and useful, your patients likely won’t be very attracted. However, if the content gets their attention and is coordinated across other marketing channels (just like with social media), it is more likely to be read and shared.
The final component that we’re going to address here is a comprehensive marketing strategy. Since digital marketing is a dynamic mechanism that employs different strategies across multiple channels, success depends on how many of the process components can be “automated” by outsourcing them to a professional marketing agency.
Outsourcing your marketing helps you grow your business more consistently and efficiently for several reasons, following digital content tracking.
You will also be able to collect measurable and analyzable data that will be useful in understanding whether your efforts are paying off. Outsourcing is just as important for planning purposes because no one is running a single marketing campaign and that’s it. Digital marketing is a continuous process that changes and progresses monthly, quarterly and annually.
Image source: Wynn Pointaux from Pixabay
Therefore, to truly be able to plan and strategize beyond today, it is imperative to have a process where your practice monitors and tracks the results. The most effective way to do this is to hire a professional with proven experience in digital marketing.
It’s really not surprising that many of the dentists we meet don’t understand what digital marketing is all about. It’s actually pretty complex. In fact, there are many other aspects that we simply don’t have time for in this article. Suffice it to say that a website and Facebook page just aren’t enough if you want a true digital presence for your practice.
Still, digital marketing is essential in today’s competitive world, especially for independent dental practices looking to achieve sustainable, long-term growth. Therefore, it is important that dentists have at least a basic understanding of what this is about so that they don’t get left in the lurch.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With over a decade of experience in marketing and branding corporate dental laboratories, Ms. Ulasewich-Cullen decided to take her passion for the dental business and marketing to the next level by founding My Dental Agency. Since starting her business, she and her team have helped a variety of practices across the country focus their message, reach their target audience, and grow their sales through effective marketing campaigns. She can be reached at (800) 689-6434 or by email at jackie@mydentalagency.com.