Your dental practice is special. Do the people you would like to have as patients know what you offer, and what makes you special? That's where targeted marketing comes in. If you reach the right people at the right time, targeted marketing will pay off.
You already know that it’s important to have a digital marketing strategy to promote your practice; the problem is making yourself stand out. If your marketing approach isn’t getting you the results you expected, consider focusing your efforts by using targeted marketing. Targeted marketing helps people who are looking for specific services, such as implants, Invisalign, or sleep apnea solutions, zero in on exactly what your practice has to offer. This makes it far more effective than simply using a generic ad for your entire practice.
Targeted marketing online
When someone is in need of a dentist, the first thing they’ll do is ask friends and family for a referral. The next thing they’ll do—with or without a recommendation from the people they know—is head to Google. Google Ads gives you options to make sure your practice information is seen by the right people at the right time.
Target your ads—If you are marketing your entire practice but not a specific service that you offer, then your Google Ad may not resonate with prospective patients. Targeting specific services, products, or treatments will increase the chances of having your ad seen by the right people. Casting a wide net makes it hard for you to convey the right message and resonate with the right people.
Here’s an example. Say you’re in the market for running shoes. You type in your search and Macy’s pops up, because they do sell running shoes. The problem is, when you land on the Macy’s homepage, you have to go through an elaborate process to find what you need. If their ads had been targeted, your search would have taken you directly to Macy’s running shoes and increased your chances of making a purchase. The same is true for the treatments your practice offers. If Allison is in need of a specific service - say adult orthodontics - she is going to include that in the search field of her favorite browser. The same is true for the people you are trying to reach with your targeted marketing approach. If someone types in “adult orthodontics,” they are more likely to convert if your ad take them to your Invisalign landing page.
Target by remarketing—When someone, we’ll call her Allison, is looking for a practice that offers adult orthodontics, but her child distracts her during her search, Allison will abandon her search. Once she has her child in bed and returns to her device, remarketing will place your ad in the pages of hundreds of major websites, reminding Allison that she was on your site earlier. Now that she’s free of distractions, she can click on your targeted ad and learn more about your adult ortho.
Targeted marketing emails
While using targeted marketing online allows you to connect with prospective patients, targeted emails allow you to focus on your current patients. You’ve already established a relationship with them, but you need to engage with them more frequently than their semi-annual appointments. Targeted emails remind them that you’re always available to them and that you listened when they discussed specific treatments.
Here’s an example of a success story: My firm, My Dental Agencys asked one of our clients to identify the patients who had received consultations for adult orthodontics but had not followed through with treatment. Knowing that some people need an extra push or incentive, the practice sent each of these people a personal message reminding them about their interest in the treatment and offering a limited time offer for a discount. Not only did the targeted emails yield results, but they allowed My Dental Agency to assess their effectiveness and use the data for future targeted campaigns.
It was well worth it for the practice to reach out to specific patients. During the three-month campaign, 41 patients received emails reminding them about their consultation and informing them about the discount. From that list, five patients committed to adult orthodontics, leading to a net revenue of $8,525 for those cases.
Because targeted marketing works on two fronts—with prospective and current patients—it is sure to take your dental practice to the next level. Whether you want to bring in dozens of new patients every week or simply reach out to those you see twice a year, targeted marketing can work for you.
