Episode 14 – How a Negative Online Reputation & Disjointed Marketing Effort Kept This Practice From Growing

In this episode, we go over a case study from one of our clients, discussing all of the things that were hindering their progress as a practice, and how we were able to turn that around for them in as little as 4 months!  It’s because we are marketing more comprehensively and holistically that they are seeing these types of results.

Jackie Welcome to the My Dental Agency podcast. This is Jackie. I will be sharing a video for today’s topic. To see a few examples, head over to mydentalagency.com/podcast. But I assure you if you are just listening to the audio you won’t miss anything. I will be sure to describe everything I am showing.
Jackie Friendly Family Dentistry came to us a couple years ago with a story that most practices can relate to.
Jackie On today’s episode I am going to share with you how:
  • Their online presence was hindering their growth.
  • How negative reviews, that were fake, were negatively impacting their practice.
  • How other practices in their area with worse reputations were showing up online more often than them.
  • And how they wanted to generate more new patients for a new associate that they had while the existing doctor wanted to focus on generating larger cases.

I’m sure one or all of these things you can relate to.
Jackie So after we found out what the client was struggling with and what their goals were, we dove in head first to find out what was truly going on behind the scenes with their practice marketing.
Jackie And here’s what we found:
  • They were not firing on all cylinders as it relates to their marketing.
  • They did not have a proactive review strategy.
  • They were not taking a custom approach to their marketing.
  • They didn’t have any specific campaigns set up to drive quality patients into the practice.
  • And they were using multiple different vendors for various marketing activities.
Jackie We knew we had to fix all of this:
  • We knew we needed to create a custom marketing plan to differentiate them from all the other practices in their area.
  • They needed a more cohesive marketing strategy so all their campaigns worked together.
  • And they needed to think more holistically to turn their online presence and reputation around and drive good, quality patients into the practice.
Jackie So let’s talk about where they started and where they ended up:
  • The practice website was outdated.
  • Used very little custom imagery through the homepage or the rest of the website.
  • Was plain and didn’t speak to what made them unique.
  • Very typical to what you would find online for a practice.
  • They had duplicate copy on their website meaning the words and sentences on their website were used by many other practice websites.
  • Very little direction on the website telling new patients what to do like requesting an appointment. Not very prominent and hard to find.
  • …..To name just a few.
Jackie They were also generating very little patients for their new associate let alone good quality patients for the existing doctor. :
  • They didn't have a review strategy and it showed- they had 18 reviews on Google when we started with them with a score of 4.8. 22 reviews on Facebook with a score of 4.6.
  • Clearly, I just mentioned that they had some negative reviews that were fake.
  • Their online business listings such as Google, Bing, Yellow Pages were not consistent with the same name, phone number and address.
  • And they were not connecting with their existing patients outside the practice.
Jackie One of the first things we did was redevelop the website to help them stand out in their marketplace and attract new, quality patients:
  • We made sure we used a lot of custom imagery and video.
  • We used video to tell their story and help articulate to new patients what makes their practice unique.
  • Very clear call to actions throughout the website such as requesting an appointment in multiple areas.
  • All of the content on the website is now unique to them. Meaning all their subpages are not duplicates.
  • We make it very easy to see, by quickly scanning the homepage, why a new patent should choose them.
  • We highlight their positive reviews.
  • We talk about what matters to the patients. Giving them a reason to pick up the phone and call or submit a form to request an appointment.
Jackie In as little as 4 months:
  • They went from 18 google reviews to 98.
  • And went from 22 reviews on Facebook to 69. Also increasing their star rating from a 4.6 to a 4.9. Now they are at a 5.0 star rating on both platforms.
  • We started with 151 followers on Facebook and in 4 months they had 547 people following them on Facebook.
  • In 4 months we generated 30 good quality implant leads for their existing doctor and 31 new patient leads for their associate.
Jackie These are just a few of our results but what is really neat is that there are so many intangibles working for this practice.
Jackie Because we are generating all these great reviews, more new patients are finding them organically and the ones that we are driving from our ad campaigns are more confident in choosing them as their next dentist.
Jackie Because we are more active on Facebook we often see patients checking in and sharing their experiences which in turn is getting in front of their friends and family. Here’s an example. We had a patient check in and talk about her visit and how fantastic this dentist is. And because of her checking in and sharing with her friends and family, people are commenting that they are considering driving down to get that level of treatment. There’s a few people that are now more interested in seeing this practice just because we are more active on Facebook. And because we encourage our patients to talk on Facebook with us more often, we are now getting in front of this patient’s friends and family.
Jackie It’s because we are marketing more comprehensively and holistically that they are seeing these types of results.
Jackie We didn’t just focus on one marketing activity for this practice but rather multiple different marketing activities. We are just showing you a few examples here. But we’re emailing existing patients, connecting with them on Facebook, we’re blogging now, and we have a good strategy to drive good quality patients alongside patients for their associate.
Jackie Each one of these activities is a part of the bigger puzzle. And again, I’m just naming a few of these activities that we are executing for this practice.
Jackie So many practices we speak with are in this similar position. They can not put all of their marketing focus and dollars into one activity. They must think about it more holistically because you will see small results from each of these facets of marketing. We have to make sure that we are firing on all cylinders. We have to make sure that all of these marketing techniques are connected and have the same goals. And have the same strategy in place. And because we are doing these things, this is why this practice is seeing this type of results.
Jackie That concludes today’s episode of the My Dental Agency podcast. I hope this client’s story resonated with you and maybe brought to light some things you could change in your practice marketing. I would love to hear what some of your marketing concerns and goals are. Send us an email to podcast@mydentalagency.com and let us know. Thanks!