Content Marketing Ideas and Tips for Dentists

Everybody knows that dental care is an important part of staying healthy and maintaining proper hygiene. But what sets your dental practice apart from the rest and why should a potential patient choose to spend their money/time with you? One of the best ways your dental practice can stand out from the competition, reach more potential customers and increase revenue is through content marketing. 

Content marketing is a strategic approach to marketing that drives online traffic to your business and markets your practice with digital materials such as blogs, newsletters, social media posts, emails, and more. You might already be doing many of these things, which is a huge positive and a step in the right direction. With how quickly technology changes, chances are there are additional content strategies you might not be taking advantage of that will help your practice reach more potential customers.

Benefits of Content Marketing for Dentists

Before we dive into the specific strategies, let’s focus on why and how these digital channels will help your practice:

Reaching targeted audiences

Your target audiences are the main groups of people who are most likely to book a dental appointment and spend their dollars with you. If it’s not clear already, these groups should not be overlooked, and using your efforts to market to them is vital to generating more business. 

It would be beneficial to do some research about what kind of person visits the dentist the most often. Which gender, age group, ethnicity, and demographic are more likely to want dental care? These are the specific answers you should know before you begin your content marketing strategy. Once you have answered these questions, think about why these types of people would choose your practice over others. 

Building a stronger reputation

As a small business owner, your reputation is everything, and surprisingly enough, your patients want to talk about your business. According to Weave’s Podcast, The Happy Practice Playbook, 81% of consumers trust the advice of family members and friends over that of a business even in the business’s specialty. This just proves how vital it is to not only give your patients a great experience but give them simple ways to tell others about their experience. 

If your practice can generate more reviews, respond to patients, post consistently and build a strong online presence, it signals to potential patients that your practice cares and is a cut above the competition. 

Even if you only focus on generating more reviews, this strategy will be a strong indicator of the quality of service your dental practice can provide and five-star reviews will speak for themselves. A simple way to get better reviews is to ask for them through a simple text message. This is a convenient way for patients to leave a quick review and it doesn’t take much of their time.

Providing additional value to patients

Value-based selling is the term for marketing your products not based on the product alone but on other attractive benefits such as cost savings. Instead of focusing on the basic dental services you provide, think about added value as the broader impact your services can bring. 

One main benefit to value-based selling is your services now become more attractive when patients can see there are multiple benefits to purchasing them. For example, the cost of maintaining good oral hygiene consistently and having regular visits to the dentist is far less expensive than the cost of getting multiple root canals or having your teeth removed. While you are still marketing dental appointments, you are highlighting that regular dental care is not only healthier but it will save patients money in the long run. 

This strategy helps to shift your patient’s frame of reference and show them the added value your services can bring. It is also a strategy to keep patients on regular appointment schedules and remind them to come see you. A great way to send out appointment reminders is with automated texts through software like Weave. To learn more about automated appointment scheduling, click here.

Utilizes multi-channel marketing (Social, Ads, Email, SEO)

The unique thing about the dental industry is every person needs dental care regardless of age. Utilizing multi-channel marketing is essential to reaching target audiences of every age group. With multi-channel marketing, you can reach people who frequently check their email while also targeting those who consistently scroll through social media. Multi-channel marketing is a key approach to diversifying your content and meeting potential business on the platforms they use frequently. 

The best way to utilize multi-channel marketing is with software that can manage and monitor all of the channels you want to use. Weave is a patient engagement software that helps small dental practices manage their marketing efforts across multiple platforms. 

Additionally, Weave lets you see more information about your patients through analytics and generated reports. Implementing a tool like Weave can spread mass communication to any person that might be interested in your dental practice.

Basics of Content Marketing

Now that we’ve explained the how and why of content marketing, let’s take a deep dive into what specific content strategies you can use to grow your practice and attract new patients.

Blogs

In 2022, the value of blogging isn’t dead but is evolving and changing. In fact, 77% of all internet users still read blogs. Although personal blogs might be dwindling, company blogs and content for your dental practice are more important than ever. 

Creating dental content for your blog is an easy way to generate more online traffic, and become an authority on various dental topics. Although blogs are a great way to grow your business, there are a few key things to remember:

Readability

Even if you aren’t getting a ton of traffic with your blog posts at the start, remember that your posts will be read by real people who could become real patients. Your posts should have strong readability and be easy to digest. 

Some businesses opt for a friendly or funny tone while others prefer a more informational tone. Whichever tone and voice fit your practice the best, make sure it’s readable and encourages viewers to learn more or visit your practice. 

Consistency

Having one blog post is good, but having fifty is better! Some businesses find it hard to maintain a blog while juggling other tasks. Consider hiring a content writer or freelance service to consistently write blog posts. Keep in mind that all of your content should have a similar voice to build brand image and maintain consistency across all of your channels. 

Call-to-Action (CTA)

A CTA or call to action is a prompt within your content that encourages the readers to take an action. A simple CTA could be, “call today to learn more” with your phone number or a link to another blog post you have created. A powerful CTA makes sense in the reader’s journey and will be a natural next step for them. 

This is also a good way to lead readers to other forms of content you have such as other blog posts, social media posts, videos, webinars, and podcasts. Do not overwhelm the reader with too many CTAs or sales-sounding phrases as this takes away from the readability and could make them click off. To learn more about the best dental marketing messages and CTAs, check out this blog.

SEO

SEO or search engine optimization is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to your website from search engines. There are many strategies and tools you can use to learn more about SEO. Some best practices to get you started could be including keywords in your content, adding CTAs, hyperlinks/backlinks, meta descriptions, and more. For more information about SEO for dentists, click here.

FAQs

Consider adding an FAQs section to your website. This is a simple way to answer basic questions and build authority. If someone cannot get their questions answered by your website, chances are they will look for another source. If your dental practice has a Youtube channel, podcast, or social media account, consider answering some questions on those channels as well to reach more potential customers. 

Infographics

Infographics are graphic visual representations of data or information intended to present information quickly and clearly. Consider using infographics in emails and social posts so consumers can quickly digest the information rather than reading a paragraph of text. You can use free tools to design simple infographics to showcase a change of hours, new contact information, or specials and promotions. You can also include infographics in your email marketing with simple buttons and CTAs to push patients to check out your website or schedule an appointment.

Videos

People are watching online videos more than ever before and companies are taking notice. According to Hubspot, most marketers (62%) consider video engagement the top metric. This means that not only are more viewers watching videos online but they are engaging with them. 

A simple way to start creating videos is to start a TikTok account and create short videos on topics that your target audiences want to see. 

You can also start a Youtube channel and make long-form videos to showcase how dental procedures work or what a day in your office looks like. Keep in mind that not every video needs to tell your audience to book an appointment or visit your website. However, a funny, entertaining, or informative dental video will make the right people want to check out your content without having to ask for it.

Newsletters

Newsletters are a simple way to create a sense of community within your practice and keep your patients up to date. You can feature stories/reviews, jokes, ads, practice updates, promotions and so much more. Newsletters are a fun way to keep your most loyal patients in the loop and give them something to digest when they aren’t sitting in your dental chair. Consider using a digital newsletter format and not a physical one you have to mail as this can be a waste of paper and isn’t efficient.

Content Subscription

The average consumer spends roughly $133 dollars every month on subscriptions. You might be wondering why your dental content would need a subscription. A content subscription is something not every patient will want to invest in. However, for the ones that do want a content subscription, it can be a positive way to increase revenue and give an extra perk to your most loyal customers. Alternatively, you don’t have to charge anything for your content if you want to make it free. Simply having the option of a content subscription is a strategy for marketing to your loyal patients.

Email Campaigns

Another simple way to dive into content marketing is to create an email campaign. This can be as simple as creating a welcome email to new patients or sending out emails advertising timely promotions or sales. Weave has email templates you can use to create fast email campaigns without any stress.

Conclusion

Content marketing for dentists can be as simple or strategic as you want to make it. The benefit of content marketing is it builds trust and strengthens relationships with future and current patients and helps your practice generate more leads and opportunities. 

Using patient engagement software like Weave for other essential tasks like appointment reminders, online scheduling, digital forms, and in-office communication is also key to creating a better experience for your patients. For more information or to schedule a demo, click here.