How to Market Your Dental Practice
You need to market your dental practice.
We all know that.
But if you’re reading this article, you’re probably like most folks: You understand dental marketing but have no idea how to market a dental practice.
Or maybe you already have some dental marketing ideas in place, but you’re looking to improve.
Either way: We’ll make it easy for you.
Keep reading, and we’ll walk you through the basics of how you can market your practice, find new patients, and connect to your existing clients.
We won’t get into too many fine details here, but we’ve linked to extra resources throughout this piece for when you’re ready to take your dental practice to the next level.
A dental marketing strategy needs to be omnichannel
In today’s digital age, being present on just one or two platforms is no longer enough. An omnichannel dental marketing strategy ensures that your dental practice reaches your ideal patients on every platform they use—whether they’re browsing Facebook, checking their emails, or searching for local dentists on Google.
Identify your ideal patient and market to them
Let’s get this out of the way:
You do not want “just any” patient to walk in the door.
“Wait,” you’re probably saying, “but I do! We’ll take anyone and everyone.”
Sure, you might accept all sorts of patients, but that’s not how you should approach dental marketing.
Instead, you should identify your ideal patient and cater your dental marketing strategy to them.
When we say “ideal patient,” we’re talking about the patients you love to have in your practice. These are the people who are easy to deal with and keep coming back time and time again
Dental marketing ideas that work well for most audiences
Make scheduling quick and easy
How much time do they really want to spend thinking about this? The answer is: not much. Create frictionless online scheduling processes and use appointment reminders through social media marketing or text messages.
Focus on benefits, not features
They don’t care about what material a veneer is made of, but they do care about how it’ll look and whether it’ll cause issues. Always emphasize benefits like improved confidence, ease, and pain-free procedures in your dental marketing ideas.
Be authentic
Your patient is a real person who wants to be treated as such. Salesy language and excessive pitches are a complete turnoff.
By staying consistent across platforms, you can move patients seamlessly from awareness to booking their first appointment and maintain ongoing communication on their preferred channel—whether that’s text, email, or social media marketing.
For more information on identifying and marketing to your ideal patient, read this blog post on creating customer avatarsThis link leads to a blog post on creating customer avatars.
Capture your brand identity through a stellar dental website
In the eyes of prospective patients, your website represents your entire practice.
If your site is lazy, boring, and generic, then that’s the impression you’re giving of your dental services and staff. You care about what you do, so prove it through your website.
Your website is the core of your omnichannel marketing strategy, acting as the hub that ties all your other marketing efforts together. Every platform you use—from email campaigns to social media ads—should lead patients back to your website.
Essential elements of a good dental practice website
Authentic, Relatable Language (No Sales Reads):
Your content should reflect the friendly, professional, and approachable tone of your practice, focusing on how you can help patients, rather than aggressively selling services.
Easy Ways to Quickly Get in Touch & Schedule an Appointment
Make it easy for patients to schedule with a few clicks or taps. Include contact forms, clickable phone numbers, and quick-scheduling buttons.
Real Photos of You and Your Team (No Stock Images!)
Prospective patients want to connect with real people, so showcasing your team can build trust and personalize the experience.
Mobile-Responsive Layouts
Does it look good on a phone? Given the significant portion of traffic coming from mobile, ensure that your website is fully optimized for mobile browsing.
Highlight How You’re Different from the Competition
What makes your practice unique? Whether it’s your approach to patient care, cutting-edge technology, or warm office atmosphere, make sure it’s front and center.
Patient-Centric Content
Your content should be focused on your patients. This is your opportunity to answer any common questions and address the concerns of your patients (i.e. details about procedures, cost, working hours etc.)
Content marketing matters for dental practices
Patients today turn to the internet for information about their health, making content dental marketing essential for any successful dental marketing strategy.
By providing informative content on your dental website, you can educate potential patients and guide them through their decision-making process. Educational content builds trust, increasing the likelihood that visitors will become new dental patients.
Types of content to educate and engage your audience
- Blog Posts: Regular blogs explaining treatments like braces or providing dental health tips, such as maintaining oral hygiene, help boost your practice’s search engine optimization (SEO) and engage both current and prospective patients.
- Educational Videos: Videos like “What to Expect During a Dental Cleaning” or “The Benefits of Veneers” make procedures easier to understand. Share these on your website, through email marketing, and across social media platforms to reach a broad audience.
- Infographics: Visual guides, such as infographics explaining dental care procedures, simplify complex topics for patients and are easy to share on social media or display in the office.
- Patient Testimonials: Real stories from satisfied patients build credibility and encourage others to book appointments.
- FAQ Pages: Dedicated pages answering common patient concerns help address questions about treatments, insurance, and pricing.
Still confused about content? Our 6-step guide to creating incredible dental website contentThis link leads to a blog post on creating website content has you covered.
Nail your search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO refers to various strategies that help boost your dental website’s ranking on search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. The better your SEO, the more people will see your site while looking for things like “affordable dentist in my area.”
SEO is a key part of your dental marketing strategy because it boosts your visibility across multiple online platforms. When your website is optimized for search engines, you’re more likely to appear not just on Google but also in map listings, local directories, and even voice search results.
SEO can be as simple or extensive as you want it to be, depending on your needs and budget. As a brief introduction, here’s an overview of a few good dental SEOThis link leads to SEO page tactics to implement
Integrate Keywords
Integrate keywords (common search terms and phrases related to your practice) into your content and web pages. Examples of good keywords include “dentist in Wichita” and “are veneers worth it.”
Optimize Metadata
Configure metadata to describe pages, images, and other content on your website. Metadata helps search engines understand what your content is and includes elements like alt tags for images and page descriptions.
Local SEO
Local SEO is essential for dental practices because most patients are looking for services close to home.
Make sure your practice is listed on local directories like Google My Business with accurate information. This increases your chances of appearing in local SEO searches when prospective patients are looking for a dentist nearby.
By integrating SEO with your other omnichannel efforts, such as social media and local directories, you ensure that patients can find you no matter where they’re searching.
This is a complex subject, so you can find our in-depth guide on SEO for dental practices on our blog for more information.
Remember, SEO never ends. Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms, so you need to keep up with ongoing SEO.
Use social media to connect organically
Almost everyone’s on social media (if not multiple platforms at once), so you’re missing out if you’re not marketing your practice here.
Obvious, right?
Yet you may feel apprehensive about the cost and time investment associated with social media.
Sure, paid social media advertising works, but here’s the thing:
Marketing organically through social media takes minutes and is basically free.
The trick is knowing what to post and how often.
Let’s start with the latter question: How often should you post on social media for your dental practice?
Optimal post frequency varies based on the social media platform you’re targeting:
You can consult this infographicThis link leads to a blog post about when to post on social media for more info on when and how often to post to social media.
Ok, but what should you actually be posting?
Well, it varies, but here are a few ideas:
- Answer burning questions about treatments and costs.
- Talk about how you’re engaging with and giving back to your community.
- Share the joke that had your team rolling on the floor this morning.
- Let people know about birthdays and team events.
- Tell your patients about a new blog post you wrote.
- Share a link to an interesting article you found.
- Record a video, such as a testimonial, an event, an office tour, or anything else that makes sense.
Consistency across social media platforms is crucial for your omnichannel strategy. If you’re running a promotion, make sure it appears on Facebook, Instagram, email, and even text messages. This cohesive approach keeps your practice top-of-mind for potential patients, no matter where they interact with you.
Above all else, make sure to share content your patients will actually care about, even if it means you have to post less frequently.
Wanna really knock it out of the park? Our 365-day social media roadmapThis link leads to the Roadmap page sets you up with consistent, high-quality social media posts all year long. Never run out of ideas again!
Use video marketing to attract new patients
Video marketing is one of the most effective tools for dental practices looking to boost online visibility, engage prospective patients, and improve patient satisfaction.
Research shows that purchase frequency is 250% higherThis link opens a new tab to the Porch Group Media website in omnichannel marketing compared to single-channel campaigns.
For dental offices, this means using videos across multiple platforms—such as your dental website, social media accounts, and email marketing—can dramatically improve engagement and attract more new patients.
With 98%This link opens a new tab to the Porch Group Media website of Americans switching between devices throughout the day, incorporating videos into your omnichannel dental marketing strategy ensures your practice stays top-of-mind for patients. Video content allows you to demonstrate procedures like teeth whitening, showcase your staff, and build trust with your local audience. In fact, 70%This link opens a new tab to the Sprout Social website of consumers are more likely to trust and buy from brands where the CEO or dentist is active on social media.
Here are key types of dental videos you should consider:
- Introduction Videos: Highlight your dental office and staff, making your practice feel welcoming and relatable to potential patients.
- Educational Videos: Explain complex procedures like cosmetic services or dental implants in simple terms, helping build trust and improve patient acquisition.
- Testimonial Videos: Let your satisfied patients share their experiences, increasing credibility and encouraging others to book an appointment.
- Promotional Videos: Promote special offers or new services to drive lead generation and boost engagement.
A cohesive omnichannel marketing approach that includes video can significantly increase patient retention and acquisition.
Research shows that omnichannel shoppers have a 30%This link opens a new tab to the Clerk.io website higher lifetime value than single-channel shoppers. When integrated across platforms like Google Ads, social media, and your website, video content not only boosts SEO but also enhances your practice’s search engine rankings.
Websites with video are 53This link opens a new tab to the WebFX website times more likely to rank on the first page of Google search results, driving more organic traffic.
By incorporating video into every aspect of your dental marketing strategy, you create a more immersive experience that improves social media engagement and captures the attention of prospective patients.
In fact… marketers who use three or more channels in a campaign see a 287%This link opens a new tab to Porch Group Media website higher purchase rate than those using a single channel, it’s clear that video is an essential tool for growing your practice.
Lead generation through paid ads
Lead generation through paid ads is an integral part of omnichannel dental marketing. With targeted ads on Google, Facebook, and Instagram, you can reach new prospective patients where they spend most of their time. Paid ads can be tailored to your specific audience, ensuring your marketing message resonates with the right people.
For example, you can run Google Ads to target people searching for “affordable dentist near me,” then follow up with Facebook ads that reinforce your message and showcase a limited-time offer.
Paid ads should direct users to a landing page that matches the ad’s message, ensuring consistency and guiding them toward booking a consultation.
Nurture patient relationships through consistent communication
Studies show that most customers (your patients included) need 5-12 “nudges” to commit to a purchase.
So why are you only following up with your patients once or twice?
Okay, fine, that was a rhetorical question. We know why. You don’t want to be annoying.
Here’s the thing: Nine times out of 10, patients will forget to follow up with your office. They have a life to worry about, so dentistry isn’t going to be at the forefront of their mind unless you put it there.
Omnichannel marketing is crucial here—by communicating through multiple channels such as email, text, and social media, you can remind patients about upcoming appointments or follow-up care without being intrusive.
You can touch base more frequently without coming off as salesy, pushy, or spammy as long as you tell them what they want to hear. Here’s how to do that:
- Be authentic and polite in your communication. Act like you’re talking to your client in person at your practice.
- Provide valuable content that they’ll care about. This could be a discount, more information about a treatment they’re considering, a Q&A about financing, etc.
So, now you’re ready to contact your patients again and again.
Do not call every patient every time you need to follow up.
Please. Your time is valuable.
Instead, use two-way text messaging as your first line of communication. Text messages have a 98% open rate compared to emails, which hover at a mere 18%.
Emails and calls are still valuable for marketing dental practices, but they aren’t as efficient as texting. Use two-way texts to make it easy for patients to schedule appointments, ask questions, and pay outstanding balances. They’ll thank you for it.
Monitor your reviews and digital reputation
Reviews work hand-in-hand with your website to build trust.
You can say whatever you want about your practice, but savvy researchers are going to check if other people are saying the same thing.
Many dental practices feel that reviews are tangential at best, but that’s just not true. We really can’t overemphasize how important your digital reputation is.
Case in point:
It’s better to have bad reviews than no reviews at all.
Negative reviews suck, but you can respond to them and fix mistakes—plus, they’ll still contribute to SEO. However, if nobody’s talking about you at all, that’s a huge red flag for your marketing (and for search engine rankings).
To remedy this, make sure your dental practice is properly listed on Google My Business and local business directories. Ask your patients to leave reviews to tell you how you’re doing.
When you get a noteworthy review or comment, respond! If it’s a good review, you can thank them for their feedback and time—and if it’s negative, you can apologize and try to make things right.
- Note that you need to respond to reviews in a HIPAA-compliant way to avoid breaking federal law. Not sure how to do that? We cover all that and more in our blog post about responding to reviews HIPPA-compliantlyThis link leads to a blog post on responding to reviews HIPPA-compliantly.
Either way, you’re showing the world that you actually care about your clients’ opinions.
Your omnichannel marketing should also include managing reviews across multiple platforms—Google, Facebook, and Yelp. By responding to reviews consistently, you show potential patients that you care about their feedback and are committed to improving.
Build word-of-mouth buzz through internal marketing
Digital marketing is something like a wide-range net for your clients. Word-of-mouth marketing, on the other hand, is far more powerful and precise.
After all, who’s a potential patient going to trust more? A random Google review, or the opinion of a friend or family member?
Hint: It’s the latter.
Nothing gets patients in the door faster than a good referral from someone they trust.
An omnichannel strategy can encourage word-of-mouth by amplifying patient stories across multiple platforms. For example, you can share patient testimonials on your website, social media, and email campaigns, building a loop of trust.
So, here’s how you can get your existing patients to market on your behalf without even realizing it.
Optimize your patient experience
It all starts with a memorable patient experience – and that means going above and beyond “good enough.”
Every practice is different, but here are a few questions you can ask yourself:
- Do your patients see a smiling face when they open the door?
- Does your staff greet them by name right away?
- Do you show genuine care and interest in their lives and who they are as a person?
- Do you answer patient questions in a clear, informative, and compassionate way?
- Is your practice interesting and memorable to visit?
- Does your practice engage in charitable work or community events?
- When a patient calls you, does a friendly voice pick up in under a minute?
- Is it easy to schedule an appointment, check-in, and pay bills?
As mentioned previously, make sure to frequently look through reviews and comments about your practice as well.
Get involved and do good
Charitable work can be incredibly profitable, provided that you market around it and work with the right people.
To be clear, we’re not talking about giving a monetary donation to a charity and calling it a day.
Focus on causes that:
- Benefit your community
- Mean something to your clients
- Ask your team to contribute time and services more so than money
You can get involved with dental charities (such as the Smiles for LifeThis link opens a new tab to the Smiles for Life website Foundation) or organize broader charity events in your area. For ideas, you can consult this article on ways to get involved with your communityThis link leads to a blog post on ways to get involved with your community.
The trick here is to get your community involved and market your charitable work constantly. Talk about it on social media. Mention it during appointments. Make sure people know how you’re giving back and have a chance to contribute.
When people understand that your practice supports a good cause, they’re more likely to talk about and choose you over your competitors.
Engaging your local community through events
One of the best ways for your dental practice to build trust and attract prospective patients is by engaging with your local community through events.
Participating in or hosting local events allows your practice to showcase its commitment to the community while raising awareness of your dental services.
Consider organizing events like free dental check-up days, school presentations on dental health, or charity drives. These activities create opportunities to meet potential patients in person, making them more likely to visit your dental office.
Collaborating with other local businesses or sponsoring community events helps strengthen your practice’s reputation and build relationships with both current and new patients. Promoting these events through social media platforms and email marketing can further increase engagement and reach a broader local audience.
By staying active in the community, your practice becomes a familiar and trusted part of the area, which enhances patient loyalty and helps attract more prospective patients.
How to not get overwhelmed by dental marketing
Odds are, you’re pretty busy. You don’t have time to do all this dental marketing yourself.
Here’s the key:
Don’t tackle everything yourself. Bring in extra help from internal and external sources.
Get your team involved!
Ask your team about their experiences and comfort levels with different aspects of dental marketing:
- Do you have a confident writer who could create blogs and newsletters?
- Is someone comfortable getting in front of a camera and taking selfies and videos of your practice?
- Does anyone have ideas for monthly themes and activities?
- What about research? Can someone dedicate some time to finding new marketing ideas?
- Does someone have enough time to make sure that everything stays on track / to give frequent reminders?
Use the strengths of your team.
As a bonus, many team members feel more motivated and satisfied when they can get involved.
Get help from a professional
Dental marketing agencies like Roadside Dental MarketingThis link leads to Home page exist for a reason: We have time to work on your marketing while your plate is full. Plus, we’re good at what we do (it’s our job, after all).
Roadside can help with every part of your dental marketing. We do it all, from website creation and SEO to patient communication and social media. We know there’s no one-size-fits-all approach, so we tailor everything to your practice’s specific needs and strengths.
Better yet, many of our team members come from the dental field, so we already know exactly what you’re dealing with. We’ve been there, and we’re here to help you grow.
If you’re interested in getting some help (or just want to ask a few questions about marketing your dental practice), schedule a chat with ShannonThis link opens a new tab to HubSpot meetings today.