Internet Marketing for Dentists: 4 Ways to Expand Your Dental Practice

Where do broken smiles go? To the dentist, of course. How can you find one? Why with Google!

Everything is going digital. From groceries to counseling, the Internet of Things continues to exponentially expand its conveniences. That includes making inquiries and appointments with a dentist.

If you are in the profession of promoting people’s oral health, consider putting up your practice on the Internet. Here are some ways on how you can best approach that.

1. Local SEO

People who have dental concerns usually go to the dentist who is most accessible in their area. A local clinic that’s only a couple of blocks away is preferable to one that’s in the next town over.

If you want customers around your neighborhood to find you online, you should set up a Google My Business profile. This puts your clinic on Google Maps. You will also appear in the search results for anyone who’s googling for a dentist around your location, along with any contact information you’ve added to your Google profile. This is usually enough for small-town dentistries.

Clinics in larger cities can expect stiffer competition. In places like Edmonton, Internet marketing means maintaining your brand’s visibility in Google’s local search rankings.

This involves building up your relevancy to a keyword commonly searched for by individuals with dental issues. There are plenty of SEO companies that will offer to do this for you if you do not have the time to dedicate to this task.

2. Social Media Pages

Almost everyone has some form of social media account. These platforms allow one to connect with their community with the touch of a screen.

You can tap into this reservoir of potential customers by creating social media pages for your business. They are free and cost nothing to maintain.

The best site for your dental practice is Facebook. It has its own search engine similar to Google which can supplement your Google My Business page. Most people prefer looking for businesses on Facebook as Google results can get confusing with all the unnecessary text descriptions.

Your Facebook page can be one of the core pillars of your online marketing endeavors. Not only does it serve as your digital storefront (if you don’t have a website), your customers can also message you directly on your page.

Though the other platforms — Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and such — are arguably not as suited for your profession, they still do have their uses.

Most individuals typically only use two or three social media platforms. If you put all your efforts on only Facebook, you’ll be missing out on the demographic who prefer to hang out on the other sites. It’s better to spread your net over all of them so you’ll have a better chance of attracting customers.

3. Meme Marketing

Your profession works to preserve people’s smiles. What if you used that power to create laughter?

Have you noticed how the funniest TV commercials are often the most memorable? That’s what memes can do online. They’re short and sweet and relatable.

Basic memes are pretty easy to make. There are templates and image macros available online. All you need is some creativity, a sense of humor, and an image editor like Photoshop or even just Microsoft Paint.

Your memes should mainly be about stuff relevant to your profession. It wouldn’t make sense if a dental clinic page posts political humor memes.

Be careful, though. Trying too hard to make a funny meme may end up making it cringey; jokes rarely come out good when they’re forced. This may turn off customers rather than attract them.

Alternatively, you can hire an artist to create memes for you. This will take your meme marketing a step further since your ads will look professional and polished. These creatives will often be well-versed in current trends and will know what memes will work and what won’t.

4. Video Marketing

Static ads can get bland. Video is the natural evolution for engaging advertising.

This style of marketing has been seeing more use lately as more sites are incorporating video into their platform. Facebook, for example, has more video content than before, and they are actively promoting more engagements with that kind of content.

You can do 5- or 15-second ads that will broadcast on top of a relevant video. Look at what Downtown Ottawa dentists have in their YouTube repertoire. These short video ads get promoted across YouTube regularly.

You can also do a proper 15-minutes or more video about topics within your profession. Some in the medical field even record themselves reacting to another video. They will either reinforce that video’s facts or call out any inaccuracies and offer their own second opinion or perspective. It’s great content that gets people intrigued and entertained at the same time.

Conclusion

These four strategies can get your dental practice off the ground and into the digital arena. The Internet is a vast, almost limitless resource. It’s time you earned a profit from it.