A dental clinic can utilize the latest technological advances to help manage its office, but nevertheless, a small business can suffer from a lack of clients and cash inflow. The problem can lie in essential factors such as weak customer service, long average waiting time, bad appointment planning, and poor marketing strategy.
While every issue can be fixed or corrected in a timely manner, the last factor is the hardest of all to improve and of utmost importance. Imagine your future long-term prospective patient looking for a dentist at this very moment on the internet, but your dental office website can be dusting somewhere on the second or third pages of a search engine.
If digital marketing is the reason why new patients can’t reach you, then it is high time to make some changes in your dental marketing strategy. Although it is a lengthy process of trial and error, working on and developing your presence online is worth it. Before you continue reading how to get started on your journey of dental practice marketing, you should always remember to set clear, realistic goals and expectations.
1. Social Media Marketing
While having a website is a necessity, running a social media account for your dental office is a must. It is an indispensable tool that will drive sales and bring new patients to your dental clinic. Besides, you will be able to get in touch with your patients, read their concerns and react accordingly, answer their questions, and run various dental ads.
Most and foremost, to effectively strategize dental marketing, you should analyze and determine your target audience for teeth whitening. It cannot be everyone who wants to receive dental care but a group of people of a certain age, gender, and residence, among other characteristics.
Your social media can assist you in broadcasting limited promotions, informing patients about a new dental service, and promoting social media posts with engaging and useful information about dental care in your clinic.
Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Tik-Tok are used by millions of people. And this is your opportunity to grab their attention and elevate your presence. You should use Facebook to keep the latest information about your business: location, contact details, working hours, and latest promotions.
Instagram is famous for sharing photos and videos, and you could upload before and after results of teeth whitening treatment or dental hygiene, add high-quality products that you use to perform procedures, and share behind-the-scenes secrets to intrigue your viewers. Similar to Instagram, Tik-Tok is a platform for short clips, and there, your skilled dentists could share little-known tips about toothache and tips on how to care for teeth. Whichever platform you plan to use for a successful dental marketing campaign, make sure to suitable adjust your content.
2. Reviews
Writing a blog post as a part of your dental marketing can be very educational for your existing clients, but it might not convert potential patients to long-term clients. Therefore, the best way to prove your dental clinic is a go-to place for any kind of dental procedure you need reviews from real people. It will earn you credibility and trustworthiness online.
According to NRC Health, 83.3% of patients value online reviews more than personal recommendations, when deciding on using the services of certain healthcare providers.¹
Importance of online reviews for dental practice (Source: NRC Health)
Another set of statistics yet again proves that reviews on Facebook, Yelp, and Google do play a big role in a buying decision. The pivotal factors that influence potential customers to use your services are the positive reviews, star ratings, and your company’s engagement with commenters. Moreover, the recency matters a lot, so if you haven’t had any feedback in the past month, it can divert customers away from your clinic.
9 out of 10 people check online reviews before choosing a business
Weave helps you easily collect and monitor reviews on Google and Facebook. These reviews can be some of the best marketing for your business.
Schedule DemoUnfortunately, the hardest part in generating reviews is actually to get every dental patient to leave one. Sometimes excellent customer care is much appreciated but not enough – this is when you equip your office staff with coupons and bonuses. Give your clients a small discount or a free procedure as a “thank you” for leaving a comment as a much-needed encouragement. Consequently, dental marketing can be performed both online and on-site.
Google Business Profile
More often than not, people check information about certain places in Google, or better say, they google it. Therefore, having up-ro-date information about your cosmetic dentistry will help customers find you or read more about your offers. There is a tool that can assist you in doing just that and more – Google My Business.
The tool allows you to:
- Reply to private messages
- Answer questions
- Reply to reviews left on your business profile
- List your services
- Gain insights about who and how often visit your website, among other metrics
3. Dental Website
If you don’t have a dental website (or a social media account), clients might feel suspicious or think your business does not exist. A website is an equivalent of a business card, where a new patient can find the essentials:
- Clinic address
- Contact details (phone numbers, email, an appointment form)
- FAQ section
- Information about your business, mission, and vision
- Services
If social media covers the entertaining part of your business, a website will have all of the important details that customers want to learn. You can use your website to tell visitors about all dental services you provide, such as dental whitening, dental implants, and others.
It is also a place to run a blog where you can go into details of the teeth whitening service and products you use and provide reasons why this or another service is worth getting.
4. Video Marketing
A great dental marketing idea and a type of content marketing is video. It is engaging and valuable as you offer your expert opinion about certain products, services, or tips. While your long-term patients may be shy to speak on camera, you could ask for their permission to record the procedure. Another idea would be to engage your team of skilled dentists to open up about trending topics that people often inquire about or create an entertaining video debunking myths about dentistry.
Your goal in video marketing is to create authentic content that can be easily shared around or added to your existing blog posts. If you have creative ideas but lack the tools, hire a professional agency.
5. Teeth Whitening Ads
Advertising should be designed in a way that a pool of clients will not only discover you but also remember you. If your ad is memorable and remains in clients’ minds, then you can surely call it effective. Here is a straightforward guideline on how to come up with a creative and concise advertisement for your dental practice:
Keep it simple. State a clear message that is easy to understand and remember. Your goal is to make a memorable slogan instead of a dubious one.
Avoid exaggerating. We want to believe that our business is the best on the market. However, when the competition is fierce, being the best is not credible enough. It is better to include in what ways you stand out. Or mention the special service you constantly strive to be the best at.
Invest in quality, not quantity. Do not rush things and let the creative process take its time. Since you need to keep your ad simple, it should be catchy.
Google Ad
Google Adwords is the marketing tool that allows you to reach out to your target audience. It is a paid platform with many metrics available. When using Google Ads, your dentistry is popped up at the very top of the SERP, or search engine result page. For example, if somebody searches for “teeth whitening in New York”, your dentistry will be displayed as one of the firsts. The payments are based on:
- Cost-per-click (CPC): You pay per each click
- Cost-per-mile (CPM): You pay per every 1000 ad impressions
- Cost-per-engagement: You pay per certain action done on the page (e.g., number of registrations )
It is a particularly useful tool for new businesses that want to spread the word about their services. You can aim your ads at people who also previously visited your page or haven’t completed the booking of an appointment. It is a good reminder that the offer is still valid and can be claimed.
Facebook Ad
A Facebook ad works similarly to the platform above. An extra advantage that you should definitely try is to target your audience in your area on Facebook. This way, you will be able to attract and invest money in the advertisement that is local to your business and gain those visitors online that are the easiest to convert to buyers.
Other than that, the Facebook Ads tool is very affordable, and you can manage ads as you want. You are sure to boost your sales and revenues with well-designed and targeted advertisements.
6. Local SEO
When a potential patient types “teeth whiting nearby,” you want to see your clinic on the first page of the search result. This is where SEO comes into play. SEO is search engine optimization, and its main task is to improve the ranking of your dental website.
Among search engines, there are Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and others. As of 2021, Google is holding first place by occupying more than 90% of the market share.² Thus, optimizing your website and strengthening your online presence on Google specifically would make sense.
One of the effective ways to improve your ranking is through content. Simple adding your location along with the company name is not enough and can even result in poor readability. Instead, you should make proper research on local keywords that should be organically inserted into your content. This way, potential patients will be able to find you easier.
If your clinic has multiple locations, it would be beneficial to create a separate landing page for each of the cities you are present.
Google Analytics for Your Website and Social Media
Digital marketing can be very effective if you have planned it out well. And to see the progress, you should use one of the tracking platforms like Google Analytics. It will show how many people visit your website, on which page they leave, and how much time they spend on your landing page. Whenever you have a campaign, you can use this tool to track the progress and determine whether it has been successful.
Overall, Google Analytics is very handy to track traffic on your website, learn who is your target audience, and find weak points in your site.
Internal Marketing Ideas for Teeth Whitening
The type of marketing that small businesses may overlook is internal. As a dentistry owner, you want your staff to prioritize excellent customer service. However, it may require training and educating your employees on why they work for you and what goals you are trying to achieve.
You should also invest in tools that make communication with clients and among employees effortless. Apart from having access to the latest technology, your front office and dentists should feel valued and feel like they are contributing to the clinic’s success.
Once internal communication is maintained at an effective level, you can start incorporating other marketing strategies to boost sales when patients visit your clinic.
Some of the great ideas are as follows:
Your clinic should have a person who can answer all the questions about teeth whitening procedures or any other service you provide. It would be handy to promote a dentist to the position of head consultant and set up a pre-procedure appointment to make patients feel reassured and willing to come back again.
A successful business needs customers. And one of the easiest ways to gain new patients is through a referral bonus. You can give it in an electronic form or print our fliers.
If teeth whitening is a new service or you want to promote it, why not include it in a bundle with other offers. This way, your patients will be willing to purchase a bigger package at a slightly lower price.
Another great way to boost sales is to display the products you use for sale (if applicable). When patients see the result of the products you use, they will be more willing to purchase them for home use.
7. Teeth Whitening Promotion Via Email Marketing
Email marketing is an old but very effective technique. It is cost-effective, convenient, and quick. Emails can be used for a number of purposes that are not necessarily related to sales. You have a chance to supply your customers with informative content, promote teeth whitening, and encourage them to use limited and personalized offers.
But, first, you need to collect email info. There are also a number of ways to ask for your patients’ emails:
- Create a newsletter
- Add a pop-up window that asks for an email
- Encourage patients’ to create an account to receive reminders and promotions
Once your email list is ready, you can start working on what you plan to send. Here are some nice ideas:
- Teeth whitening aftercare
- Video about the procedures
- Referral bonuses
- Blog posts about dental hygiene
- Reminders
- Updates about working hours, holidays, contact details
Teeth Whitening Promotion
The reason why you should run promotional campaigns is to increase the appointment frequency. Every promotion you give can have an add-on that can be purchased separately, and this also increases the spending per client. Obviously, some clients will opt for equipment or products that have a long-lasting effect, while others will stick to the initial basic offer.
In any case, teeth whitening promotions will attract leads that can be converted to regular patients. Here are some examples you can borrow:
- Create coupons for teeth whitening
- Offer existing patients a discounted teeth whitening procedure
- Send emails with tips and tricks to keep teeth white with an included promotion at your clinic
- Include a quick teeth whitening option for every dental procedure your patients book
Your patients might think that teeth whitening is a long and tiring procedure and that it is quite unnecessary for them. Your job is to change their mind and present the benefits of your quick and painless service.
Mobile Teeth Whitening Business
A general idea of dentistry is based on a white-colored office with friendly staff and a dentist with a variety of scary tools. However, the teeth whitening market has some creative and out-of-the-box. One of them is teeth whitening on the go.
It is a great start-up idea that gives clients a lot of conveniences and saves a ton of time. Instead of renting an overpriced office, you can purchase or rent a van equipped with everything you need.
This way, you can offer various packages for a beautiful smile and place your van in populated districts.
2 Creative Dental Marketing Ideas For Newbies
1. Teeth Whitening Business Start-Up Package
Now that you know how to promote your business and attract new clients, it is time to open your business. If you are already a dentist or a beautician, you simply need to be trained and then add teeth whitening service to the list of your offers. Otherwise, you should choose your business model (e.g., mobile teeth whitening, dentistry, etc.).
Audience and Competition
Your next step is to research who is your target audience or who your competition is. This way, you will know what prices to offer, what location to choose, and whether there is something unique about your business. By evaluating your competitors, you can focus on their weak sides and find your niche.
Marketing and Business Plans
To attract your audience, they need to learn about you somehow. This is where digital marketing plays a great role. Scroll up to learn what you can do to generate revenue.
To scale your business, you need to write a business plan. It should be a detailed plan with every step explained. Define what success for you is, and what milestone you want to achieve. Obviously, as you run your clinic, there will be changes, but you shouldn’t derive much from the initial plan. More about it in the next section.
Final Touches
Once you register your clinic, you will need to purchase equipment and rent an office or a van. You should also come up with a catchy name and create a business email address with a phone number. Make sure to check with your local government office whether you need to acquire any license or permission to work.
2. Teeth Whitening Business Plan Framework
We touched on creating a business plan earlier. We want to reiterate that a business plan is a must for any company. It is your guide that you will follow and update as your clinic grows. Here is the structure you can follow:
Vision: Your cause or the reason for opening this business.
Mission: It is a business overview that indicates how you plan to achieve your vision.
Pricing: This section shows how you plan to receive revenue from your business.
Marketing: Here, you will plan your marketing strategies.
Objectives and key results: Those are the objectives you plan to achieve by a defined date.
Set of actions: Here, you will plan your step-by-step actions.
FAQ
What marketing strategy is helpful to the dental industry?
Digital marketing consists of many factors and covers many aspects. The strategy you devise should address your target audience. In order to reach them, you should work on a dental marketing strategy that includes creating a website, running a social media account, and investing in local SEO.
Is the teeth whitening business profitable?
Yes, the teeth whitening business is quite profitable. It is expected to grow to 8.2 billion US dollars by 2026.
Is teeth whitening in demand?
Yes, teeth whitening is in demand. According to Research and Markets, the growth rate is 6% during the years 2021-2026.
Is teeth whitening a lucrative business?
Yes, teeth whitening is a lucrative business. Not only are people willing to pay for a teeth whitening treatment to achieve the desired smile, but they are also ready to purchase the kits to use at home.
How to market teeth whitening business with inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is based on strategies aimed to gain new patients. It usually includes optimizing your content according to your business, making sales calls to invite previous patients, and sending a survey to patients to learn how satisfied they are with the procedure.
Basically, you need a strategy to attract a new audience, convert leads to prospect buyers, and increase profitability by retaining existing clients.
Conclusion
We hope that this article has inspired you to come up with even more teeth whitening business ideas aimed to promote your business and attract new customers. Brainstorming new alternatives and improving existing practices will open up new opportunities for scaling your clinic. However, the key to success is to stay consistent in your work and achieve milestones set in your dental marketing plan.
Being consistent in fast-changing digital marketing will help you convert viewers to actual patients. This will also require from you high-quality, educational, and informative content, incorporated with an expert opinion. Get a free walk-through from Weave to learn how to level- up your dental marketing.
Sources:
- Patients trust online reviews as much as doctor recommendations
- How Google retains more than 90% of market share