How to Attract More Spanish-Speaking Patients to Your Dental Practice
Dominique: This episode is all about Spanish-speaking patients—and how to attract more of them into your practice. It’s a massively growing segment.
These are dream patients. Muy bueno. And no—it’s not just about slapping a Google Translate button on your site.
And hey, if this is your first time tuning in: welcome to Marketly DigitalThis link leads to Home page!
Shannon: Welcome!
Dominique: We help established dental practices attract their dream patients using omnipresent marketing and systems that scale.
So Shannon, what’s your experience working with Spanish-speaking patients?
Shannon: For us, it starts with helping every practice figure out what makes them stand out. We hear a lot of the same messaging on dental websites. So our job is to dig deep and find what’s different.
And one thing that keeps coming up? A huge portion of their patients speak Spanish—yet everything is in English. My background is in marketing and positioning practices to stand out, so I naturally zoom in on that. And hey, I did live in Mexico for 12 years… but don’t ask me to speak Spanish, okay?
Dominique: Haha, deal.
So why is it so important to be intentional when it comes to caring for this patient segment—especially when they can make up half your patient base?
Shannon: Because high-quality marketing starts with love. If you’re not being intentional—if you’re not thinking about what patients need, what’s keeping them from saying yes—you’ll sound generic. And generic doesn’t connect.
If we’re going to be care providers, we need to care about all the people we serve. And that means honoring different languages and cultures.
Dominique: So is it enough to just translate your website? Or do practices need to go further?
Shannon: Definitely go further. A Google Translate button isn’t going to cut it. You want to create videos in Spanish, content in Spanish—stuff that speaks from the heart.
We’ve worked with practices where 70% of the patients speak Spanish. Even when their team is bilingual, they still wanted to refine our translations. They’d say, “That’s not how we’d say it—we’d say it this way.” It’s all about creating something that sounds like them.
Dominique: Right—and that’s what makes it land. Because video in particular has to cut through emotionally. It can’t be generic. You need warmth, trust, and connection.
Shannon: Exactly. And if the doctor doesn’t speak Spanish, that’s okay! Maybe it’s a team member. Maybe it’s the front office. That’s still powerful. Because for a lot of patients, Spanish is their language of the heart. And if they’re nervous about going to the dentist—language barriers only make that worse.
Dominique: It can be scary. Especially with medical stuff. But when someone can explain things in their native language, it builds trust fast.
Shannon: Yes. So I would absolutely recommend practices start by talking to their Spanish-speaking patients. Ask them: What made you feel comfortable? What made you say yes? What made you refer 10 friends?
That’s real insight. And then—turn those answers into content. Interview 3–5 of your favorite Spanish-speaking patients. Ask them to share their story. Use a teleprompter or bullet points to help them stay on track. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be real.
Dominique: You can also audit what you already have and just translate it. Use AI if you need to, but have a native speaker review it. Quality control matters.
Also, remember: social platforms work off language. If you’re only posting in English, you’re only reaching that group. But if you start posting in Spanish—even just once a week—you’ll start showing up in a whole new feed.
Shannon: And that applies to ads, too. Right, Dom?
Dominique: Oh yes. If you’re already running ads, translate what’s working. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Even adding Spanish captions can help. Or, have one of your team members re-record the same script in Spanish.
It’s such a light lift, and it opens up a whole new market. Honestly, the Spanish-speaking patients we see come through those ads are often amazing. They value care, they show up, they say yes to treatment, and they refer friends and family.
Shannon: And let’s not forget—that’s Blue Ocean.
Dominique: Yes! For anyone who’s not familiar, Blue Ocean marketing means tapping into an underserved space. Red Ocean is where everyone’s fighting over the same thing. Blue Ocean is where there’s huge opportunity and very little competition.
Reaching Spanish-speaking patients? That’s Blue Ocean.
Shannon: Totally. It’s a low-effort, high-reward move that can really set a practice apart.
Dominique: So what else can practices do to connect better?
Shannon: Build a strong referral system. Spanish-speaking communities are super connected—churches, family, neighbors. If you create a reason for them to talk about you—like a wellness quiz in Spanish that gives a $100 smile credit—you’re going to get referrals fast.
Dominique: Exactly. It’s not just about getting one new patient. It’s the ripple effect.
Shannon: You’re not just serving a person—you’re serving a whole network. And people talk. Especially when they feel seen and cared for.
Dominique: That also makes me think about events. What about creating a kid’s theme day—especially if you’re a family practice?
Shannon: Yes! Dress-up days, coloring contests, community giving—stuff that builds connection. Let the kids dress up as superheroes, donate to local shelters, or hang artwork on the wall. Take pictures, post them, create buzz.
That’s how you build community and create Instagram-worthy moments that turn into referrals.
Dominique: So good. Alright—if this sparked ideas for your practice, let us know in the comments. We read every single one.
And if you want to see our four-part strategy that helps practices become omnipresent and attract dream patients, click the linkThis link leads to a blog post about dental marketing strategy with Marketly.
