A popular marketing adage states: “When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise.” This is a fitting attitude given the COVID-19 pandemic, but of course you would expect a marketing agency to say that.
This article originally appeared in the July/2020 issue of the Academy of General Dentistry’s AGD Impact magazine.
If COVID-19 has taught us anything, it’s that marketing your dental practice online is more important than ever, but that the message may have changed. The crisis has trained people to reach for their computers for information, products and services instead of heading out to Main Street. It has also reframed how we interact with the world and each other; what is safe and what is not is still a question in many people’s minds.
The Opportunity in Change
Were you one of the practices that continued to engage with patients while your practice was shut down? If you weren’t, you have some catching up to do.
Marketing to Existing Patients During These Uncertain Times
Search engine optimization (SEO) — making your website appear as a top search result — is a must for practices that want to be found online when patients are searching for your services. However, many factors affect how your site ranks within these results, including the rest of your marketing strategy. While SEO is an important part of your marketing, it shouldn’t be your only focus. SEO, like most digital marketing tactics, is always changing. One day your site can be ranked highly on Google, and the next it can drop in rank because of a change to Google’s algorithm.
Search Engine Optimization and Organic Rankings
What do new patients look for when choosing a dentist? People purchase products and services based more on the results, or benefits, they will receive rather than their features. The same goes for your patients. Businesses across the board like to describe their product’s bells and whistles or the many, many details of what’s included with their service. New patients, however, will resonate more with your marketing and brand when you describe how the results of a treatment will make them feel, because that is what they are really interested in. When you focus on features, well, you may blend in with every other dentist who delivers the same services. Here are a few examples to show you what we mean.
Features Vs. Benefits
Among the many questions we are being asked from our dentists, the most common one is, “What can I be doing now?” In some cases, dentists think they should just pare back or stop marketing; stop posting on Facebook, pause emails, stop their Google and Facebook ads and discontinue adding content to their website. We…
Ways to Market During These Uncertain Times
While I am well aware of the seriousness of the current situation, I felt it necessary to share positive things I have encountered during this challenging time, in hopes that you may get inspired. It’s time to turn off the news, take a break from the headlines and tune into what’s going on behind the…
From My Perspective
You’ve probably noticed on your practice’s Facebook page that you have the ability to boost your post, meaning that you pay a small amount of money to get a single post seen by a wider audience. You may even get messages from Facebook telling you how many more people will see your post if you…
To Boost or Not to Boost: What you should know about Facebook’s boost button
Chances are if you have been utilizing online patient reviews as part of your marketing strategy, you might get a not so flattering one every now and then. Everyone does. The question however, is how will this affect your practice and what can you do about them.
Less is More: The guide on decluttering your digital marketing
Chances are if you have been utilizing online patient reviews as part of your marketing strategy, you might get a not so flattering one every now and then. Everyone does. The question however, is how will this affect your practice and what can you do about them.