Cosmetic dentistry marketing strategies

Like every business in today’s digitally-driven world, cosmetic dentists need a solid online presence. Sure, prospective patients may ask friends and family for recommendations, but ultimately, they will turn to Google before making a final decision.

According to statistics, 87% of consumers use a search engine like Google to find a local business, including healthcare providers like dentists.

If cosmetic dentists want to grow their practice, they need to invest in innovative digital marketing strategies that focus on brand awareness, search engine optimization (SEO) and a favorable online reputation.

What is cosmetic dentistry marketing?

Cosmetic dentistry marketing is creating awareness about your practice on the internet. The main goal is to connect with potential patients at the right place at the right time.

It can involve tactics such as:

• Social media
• Search engine optimization (SEO)
• Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
• A website that converts
• Content marketing
• Email marketing campaigns

Traditional promotional materials like radio, direct mail and magazines can supplement your marketing efforts. But, if your goal is to grow your practice (it should be!), diversifying your cosmetic dentistry marketing strategy will help you reach more potential patients.

What are dental marketing strategies?

Planning a dental marketing strategy is essential to growing your dental practice. But knowing where to funnel your efforts can feel daunting — it’s easy to get pulled in every direction!

When used together, the marketing strategies below will boost your online presence and help attract new patients to your dental practice.

Define your brand

Defining a brand for your cosmetic dentistry practice is two-fold:

• Your unique selling proposition (USP) will set you apart from other dentists
• Knowing your target audience will help you get hyper-specific with marketing

Developing your USP and target audience can feel time-consuming, but it is worth the effort as it sets the stage for your entire marketing strategy.

Will you promote your practice as the cheapest in your local area? Or as one that invests in modern equipment that other cosmetic dental practices don’t have?

And determining who your ideal cosmetic dentistry patients are will make it easier to find them online and use language in your marketing that resonates with them.

Optimize your website for mobile users

85% of American adults own a smartphone, and over 50% of all internet traffic originates from a mobile phone.

It’s safe to assume your prospective dental patients are part of the demographic searching for dental care on smartphones. These stats strengthen the case to optimize your website for mobile users.

A website that isn’t optimized for mobile can end up with a high bounce rate — this is when visitors land on your site and leave because they didn’t find what they expected — and can negatively affect your ranking on Google.

Like other search engines, Google wants to create a positive experience for its users. A website with a negative association is never prioritized in a Google search.

Partnering with a marketing platform like Broadly can offer the peace of mind that your website is mobile-friendly.

Invest in content marketing

Content marketing includes many forms of content creation. Blogging is a form of content marketing where your cosmetic dental practice educates potential patients about your services.

For example, if someone searches for “smile makeover” and lands on your high-quality blog on teeth whitening, it will position you as an expert dentist and build trust with the reader.

Small businesses with blogs generate 126% more leads and 434% more indexed pages on search engines such as Google and Bing.

When you produce high-quality content that answers questions your patients may have and includes the right keywords, you improve your chances of showing up on the search engine results page (SERP).

Implement a local SEO strategy

Since 92% of internet searchers never make it past the first page of search results, a local SEO strategy is essential to your cosmetic dentistry marketing plan.

The most important thing you can do is claim your Google Business Profile. Formerly known as Google My Business (GMB), Google Business Profiles are free business listings that help your business appear in local Google and Map searches. They are, in essence, your digital business card.

On your profile, include your business info like location, phone number and service areas so Google knows when to show your profile in a search. Make your profile more appealing to viewers with photos of your practice and ask current patients to leave reviews.

Not sure where to get started? Check out our guide to Google Business Profile for help with claiming and setting up your profile.

Create a reputation management strategy

A reputation management strategy is vital. Google, Facebook and Yelp reviews are the digital equivalents of a personal referral. In fact, online testimonials carry more weight than a referral from a family member or friend!

Over 40% of Americans select a dentist based on the number of positive online reviews.

To improve your online reputation, try the following:

• Encouraging satisfied patients to leave reviews on Google and Facebook
• Reply to all reviews — both positive and negative
• Embed reviews on your website

Using a reputation management software such as Broadly to collect and manage reviews can help streamline this process.

How do I market my dental practice on social media?

There’s a reason why 87% of small businesses use social media marketing — it’s free to use, and 92% think it’s essential for their business.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a solo dentist or have multiple dental office locations, a social media presence will help increase awareness of your dental practice.

So, how can you use social media to market cosmetic dentistry successfully?

First off, have fun! Social media is designed to be entertaining, engaging and educational.

Check out this handy guide to get started marketing your dental practice on social media.

Create posts

Use video, graphics and real-life images from your practice. Share photos of happy patients, tips on oral care and other topics relevant to your cosmetic dental services.

Focus on answering your patients’ questions and remember to engage with followers!

Encourage customers to take selfies and repost their content

Get your current patients and followers involved with user-generated content (UGC). Create a hashtag they can use so you can easily find their posts and repost them in your stories and feeds.

Run social media advertisements

Running ads for your cosmetic dentistry practice on social media is a great way to expand your local reach and manage your budget.

It’s easy to set a daily ad spend and target your audience. Besides gender and age, you can also specify interests, geographical location and even by a degree of separation from your current followers. Boosting a well-performing post or video is an excellent way to test the waters with social media ads.

Run pay-per-click advertising campaigns

Pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaigns are another affordable option to advertise your cosmetic dental practice.

You can target specific keywords and set a budget based on results like a click or video review. PPC ads are a low-cost way to connect with your target audience.

What are the benefits of digital marketing for cosmetic dentists?

The cosmetic dental industry is projected to reach $30.1 billion by 2025. While this is good news for your cosmetic dental practice, a rise in popularity also means increased competition.

Aside from helping your cosmetic dental practice attract new patients and increase profits, digital marketing has many benefits. Some of the more apparent benefits of digital marketing over traditional marketing include the following:

• It’s more cost-effective. Whether you’re a small practice or have multiple locations, digital marketing is less expensive than traditional marketing channels. And there are more accessible (and free) options, like social media.

• You can target the right demographic. With digital marketing, you can target new customers explicitly looking for cosmetic dentistry. A direct mail campaign will land in every mailbox within a specified geographic area. But with digital marketing, you can target your cosmetic dentistry services to people already searching for veneers, teeth whitening or dental implants.

• Get measurable results. Digital marketing offers more opportunities to measure your return on investment (ROI). With offline marketing, it’s challenging to measure the results of a marketing campaign. But with digital marketing, you can measure just about everything and gain precise insights to then double down on what’s working.

How much money should a dental practice invest in marketing?

The amount of money you invest in digital marketing to grow your dental practice will ultimately come down to your goals. Some questions to consider are:

• How aggressive are your growth goals?
• How many treatment rooms do you have?
• Are you planning to expand by location?
• Is your practice new or established?

Once you determine your goals, you can set a budget for your marketing plan.

Research reveals the average cosmetic dental practice should plan to budget approximately 20 to 30% of gross revenue.

Use Broadly to manage your online reputation and marketing

There are many moving parts to marketing your cosmetic dentistry practice. From posting on social media to collecting Google reviews, it can feel overwhelming.

Partnering with a marketing team such as Broadly removes the guesswork and streamlines your marketing efforts.

Broadly has affordable marketing services like reputation management software and an Inbox that centralizes customer communications and automates your cosmetic dentistry marketing efforts.

Want to see how Broadly can help your cosmetic dental practice grow?