Biggest Dental Marketing Mistake and How To Fix It

In fact, because there are so many opportunities for dental practice growth, many established and successful practices are losing business to new practices.

The internet has changed the way people find dentists. Without the right digital marketing strategies, older and established dentistries will lose business – regardless of how long they’ve been around or how great their practice is.

Check out this article if you’re looking for some top Digital Marketing Strategies for Dentists.

But even the practices who are engaging in digital marketing and doing a good job, there is still one mistake we see over and over.

The worst part is it’s one of the most important things to get right.

PART 2:

Biggest Dental Marketing Mistake

Discover what the biggest dental marketing mistake is:

Answer to the #1 dental marketing mistake
Why it’s the biggest mistake
How to identify if you’ve made the same mistake
Example of what not to do

What is the Biggest Digital Marketing Mistake for Dentists?

Not Enough Clear Calls To Action

No matter how great your website looks or how much traffic you get, no matter how great your social media photos look or how beautiful your emails are, if you don’t have clear calls to action, you’re missing out on getting a lot more patients.

To be clear, that doesn’t mean more calls to action is better. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes is having too many calls to action that the user feels overwhelmed and doesn’t take any action.

For example, even after looking at this graphic several times, I still have no idea what they want me to do.

It’s about quality calls to action, not quantity.

While most dental practices are trying to get more people to their website, they should be focusing on the user experience once people land on the website.

Many of your webpages, social media posts, emails, and other digital marketing strategies should be designed around the action you want them to take – not simply be a part of your strategy.

There’s a big difference.

PART 3:

How to Fix the Biggest Dental Marketing Mistake

Here’s how you ensure you don’t fall victim to the biggest dental marketing mistake:

7 strategies to avoid the big mistake
Helpful tips to avoid dental marketing pitfalls
Techniques to improve your dental marketing

How to Fix the Biggest Dental Marketing Mistake

Here’s how you ensure you don’t make the mistake and strategic ways to encourage future dental patients to take the action you want.

Large buttons encouraging users to take action

All of your digital marketing efforts should have large buttons that users clearly know what they will receive when clicked.

In addition to the button color and presentation being good, the text should either be your phone number or a statement that gets the user to click.

Here’s a good example where the dentist landing page clearly encourages the user to get a coupon.

Ensure your office phone number is always visible, will call when clicked, and has text near it like, ‘Call Us Today’

You want to make it effortless for future patients to call you. That’s why your phone number should always be visible.

Plus, when clicked, it should call your dental practice right away.

How do you set up a click to call phone number? Simply use the following as the URL and replace the fives with your area code and phone number: tel:+15555555555

Put your email address front and center & encourage people to reach out

Just like your phone number, you want to ensure your email address is very accessible. Many people don’t like to chat on the phone or aren’t in a place where they’re able to.

But if they know they can quickly email you, they may be much more likely to reach out.

Have a chat feature that subtly notifies users you’re there standing by if they have questions

Often times when people are on your website, they have questions about your services or specials.

A live chat agent makes the website user feel as though your practice is already taking care of them by being available to answer their questions.

Make your physical address noticeable and encourage potential patients to stop by and see your office

Even if people aren’t searching for your address they should be able to see it.

Subconsciously, they make take note of where you’re located and may spot your practice the next time they’re driving in the area.

Enable easy access to book appointments & tell the user it will only take a moment to book

Your site should make it extremely easy for people to book appointments.

Have clear calls to action explaining how easy it is to book and how it will only take a moment. Then ensure the user experience is fast, easy, and enjoyable.

Offer New Patient Specials or other coupons to encourage first-time patients

One of the best ways to get new patients is to offer them something of value.

dentist-coupon

Since the lifetime value of a dental patient is high (on average), giving new patients a good deal to get them in the chair is a great way to grow your practice.

PART 4:

Bringing It All Together

Here’s a summary of the biggest dental marketing mistake and how to avoid it:

What the big mistake is
How to avoid making it
Closing advice to help you get more patients

Bringing It All Together

If you want to get more patients and grow your practice, you need to ensure you have clear calls to action.

Remember, more is not better. Users can easily feel overwhelmed if there are too many calls to action — even if they’re all asking for the same thing.

Focus on the quality and placement of your calls to action. When they’re optimized, you’ll get more conversions. And more conversions means more patients. It’s really that simple.

Of course, simple doesn’t mean easy. If you want to hit the easy button, you should hire a dental marketing agency to take care of it all for you.