When it comes to marketing your dental practice, you probably know you need to have a website. You also know it needs to look good. But that’s just the starting point. Creating a digital marketing plan with a clear vision and specific goals will help grow your business… and, if done right, can boost your reputation. There are many key components involved in digital marketing for dentists that you will want to implement to create a strong online presence that drives people to your site and, ultimately, into your office. These include:
- Mobile Marketing
- Content Marketing
- SEO / SEM
- Email Marketing
- Our Social Patient Center
At Crystal Clear, we have more than 20 years of marketing experience and expertise in the medical sector (including digital marketing for dentists), which is enough to make anyone smile. We do all the hard work to help you create a digital marketing plan that fits your business, attracts new patients and keeps current ones happy. In short, we streamline the process so you don’t need to cobble together 10 different companies to manage separate components of your marketing plan—all without any kind of catch or gimmick.
In addition to creating a visually appealing website, we take your digital marketing footprint and give it teeth, so to speak. We make sure your site is search engine optimized so it shows up at the top of Google searches; we develop complementary email and content marketing components that appeal to existing clients; and above all, we make your site mobile friendly. Why? Because most of the people who walk in your door have never seen your website on the big screen.
Harness the Power of Mobile Marketing and Boost Your Site Traffic
The number of people using mobile phones and tablets to access the internet surpassed the number of people using a desktop back in 2016, which is why having a mobile optimized site is critical: you can’t generate new business if you can’t reach your target audience. A record 65 percent of searches begin on smartphones, according to Google’s multi-screen world study. One-third of those same smartphone users are searching just for contact information. Another study by Telmetrics says 46 percent of people use their mobile device exclusively for conducting online searches.
What this means is a website created for a desktop or laptop does not configure well to a smartphone screen. It won’t look the same or navigate the same or function the same, which makes for a frustrating user experience and can cause you to lose patients to your competition. The good news is Crystal Clear understands that and can develop laptop and mobile responsive sites that have the same look and feel and function just the way you want them to. In addition, we consider your patients’ search engine needs and structure your site to meet them.
Crystal Clear also understands that people have different learning styles, which is why we incorporate those elements into effective websites: graphs and charts for visual learners; videos for auditory learners and step-by-step instructions for kinesthetic learners.
The Value of Content Marketing
Once you have a good-looking website, you need to focus on quality content to publish on it. We will always recommend making an investment in producing unique, original content. Sure, you can re-purpose the information manufacturers send you, but then you will sound like the guy down the street. Think of content as the way to connect with your clients outside the office. It’s a conversation with purpose. Use content to position yourself as an authority on specific topics. Create a monthly, bi-weekly or weekly blog to address Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) or to showcase someone in your office. A blog, by the way, is a great way to increase keywords and boost search engine outcomes. Good content can also help promote your services across social media platforms, which, in turn, should drive more and more traffic to your website. Keeping the content fresh and compelling provides you with additional ways to promote your business, reach out to your patients and maintain a reputation for being a current industry leader.
The Magic of Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is how we measure website rankings—the order in which a website appears on a Google search. When someone types a few keywords into the search bar, it generates a list of websites that meet the criteria of the search. This is also called an organic search. The purpose of SEO is to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to your website. The search engine determines relevance based on information on your site, i.e. keywords and phrases. Getting those keywords and phrases to appear on your site comes down to content. It takes roughly six months to get an idea of where your website ranks vis à vis the competition.
Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, involves paid advertising on search engines. If you’ve ever searched for something online, chances are you’ve seen the sites at the top of a search list and have the word “Ad” next to the company’s URL (website address). By investing in SEM, you can help your office get top billing more quickly than with an organic search. Of course, this lasts only as long as you pay for it. Crystal Clear can take you through the process and help you decide where to begin and what is best for your dental practice.
Email Marketing Really Does Work
When it comes to digital marketing for dentists, email marketing is a terrific tool and one of the most cost-effective ways to connect with your existing clients and attract new ones. It is also underutilized by many dental practices. Email is a great way to draw attention to promotions and events, but you can also use it to do any of the following:
- Outline new procedures and treatments
- Invite people to Facebook live events
- Encourage people to participate in contests or customer service surveys
- Generate interest in new services or staff
Tracking which emails generate the most click-throughs and participation is the best way to identify what your audience responds to and wants from email communications. Once you do that, then you can do more of it with increased success.
Manage Your Leads with Our Social Patient Center Software
Let’s talk about those new patients. How do you manage leads? Does your current system have a way to track them in real time? Can it sort those phone calls and forms into groups and give you a way to see the opportunities they present? At Crystal Clear, we’ve developed the Social Patient Center (SPC), a cloud-based system that can do all that for you. With the SPC, you can automate 85 percent of your patient education and outbound marketing. You can finally track what works, identify where you’re missing opportunities and realize increased per-patient revenue. Our business is your success, and successful practices and medical websites use technology to their advantage.
Most new patient opportunities fall through the cracks because most dental offices don’t have a flawless internal process to manage leads. A digital marketing campaign will drive people to your website and get them to make a call or fill out an online form, but it’s what happens next that can secure or lose a client. If your staff isn’t trained for success and you’re not using the right technology, those calls and forms go unanswered, and clients go elsewhere. SPC management software improves that outcome and makes follow-through an easy part of your daily operations. Some of the key features of the SPC include but are not limited to:
- Opportunity management
- Practice management
- Practice marketing
- Calendar scheduling
- Medical record and document storage
- Quote generation
- Invoice generation
- VIP member management
In addition to securing new patients, the SPC can help with existing client communication and education. Additionally, it can provide you with key analytics about your practice and generate reports on marketing and sales metrics so you can make wise decisions that will enhance profitability and decrease inefficiencies.
Crystal Clear Can Deliver for You
Let us help you take the next steps in expanding your practice by delivering a comprehensive, all-inclusive, high-quality digital marketing plan designed just for you. We offer short-term contracts and work with any budget. We pride ourselves on providing exemplary customer service, on-time delivery, and a cheerful human being to talk to. Live. You spent more than six years training to be a dentist to help more than just a few people. You want to create an exceptional practice with a steady stream of new patients. We’ve spent over 20 years executing successful digital marketing campaigns for more than 3,500 businesses across three different verticals, catering to doctors just like you.
We hope you will consider us as your next partner in marketing. Call or email us to schedule an appointment and learn more about the ins and outs of digital marketing for dentists. Crystal Clear Digital Marketing is your solution for all your digital and social marketing needs.
