Dental Marketing Mistakes To Eradicate In 2020

Banish these big mistakes from your digital marketing campaigns and reap the benefits

It’s that time of year where we start to look forward to the holiday break but also ramp up our planning for next year.

Part of that planning should include a review of your dental marketing strategy to identify what is working and what isn’t.

It’s all too easy to sit back and keep paying out for things you think might be adding value but for which, in reality, you’re not really sure.

So it really does pay to dig into the detail and makes sure that all channels and initiatives are working, whether it’s basic elements like your website, right through to paid advertising via Google and Facebook.

To help with your assessment, here are some of the top mistakes we see dentists or their managers makes all the time with their digital marketing efforts. Address these and you should be firmly on track for the year ahead.

A stale website

Far too many dentists invest a lot of money in a website but then neglect it. The level of neglect ranges from persevering with an old-fashioned site which isn’t even mobile-friendly, to neglecting security updates on a content management system so that the website gets hacked (WordPress users, this means you!)

A website isn’t fire-and-forget and if it’s to continue to do well in terms of user engagement and Google ranking, you will need to continue to invest in it. This means checking your content regularly to make sure it’s still relevant as well as adding new sections to keep the site fresh. You also need to check the technical performance using tools such as Google Search Console and the ranking performance in Google too. Your practice website is a major asset when it comes to new patient enquiries and also acts as the key foundation stone for all of your digital marketing activities. Please look after it!

Overpaying for website maintenance

Some dentists think that paying out an onerous monthly fee to a website company ticks the box for the activities mentioned above, but of course it doesn’t. Unless you are paying hundreds of pounds, this type of fee is typically just a retainer and gets you little more than simple text updates and the odd security patch. All you’re doing is covering the website company’s infrastructure costs and not really enhancing your website at all. Indeed lots of dentists stuck in these types of contracts pay out for months on end without any work actually being completed on their websites.

Much better is a maintenance and updating solution which only charges when you actually need work completing on the site. This way you’ll save an awful lot of money in wasted monthly fees which can be put to good use funding worthwhile marketing projects with quantifiable payback. Here at Dental Media we are one of the very few specialist dental website companies which offers this service. Please contact us for more information and to see how much you could save.

Neglecting search engine optimisation (SEO)

If your website is languishing on page 2 or even in the bottom section of page 1 in Google, then you are missing out on lots of new patient enquiries. Whilst there is an opinion amongst some people that SEO is “snake oil”, done well it is hugely beneficial and well worth the investment. Payback when you reach the top few places in Google is nothing short of excellent and so this is one digital marketing initiative that really is a must for most practices. Great SEO can be achieved with sensible budgets, so if you’d like to know more and to check out some of our results, please get in touch.

Running DIY pay-per-click campaigns

This is another area where lots of dentists like to have a dabble. Whilst it might sound easy to set up and run a PPC campaign, in truth it isn’t. Not only is there a steep learning curve to grasp even the basic tools, there is then the huge amount of experience you need to really make these types of campaigns pay. So whether its Google Ads or Facebook, it pays to call in a specialist to get it done right. Their fee should easily be covered by what they save you and you’ll see more enquiries too.

Running blind

Do you really know how your SEO and PPC campaigns are working? Do you get a comprehensive report from your marketing team every month with a transparent summary which tells you all you need to know? If the answer is no, then it’s no surprise. Many marketing companies are deliberately frugal with the information they provide and selective too. This means that crucial information, such as the number of enquiries you received, is actually missed out. You can draw your own conclusions as to why this might be, but if it sounds like a familiar situation, then please call our team to discuss the types of information you should be receiving.

Neglecting email marketing

It’s absolutely essential to look after you existing patients as well as trying to gain new ones. However this aspect of running a dental business is often neglected and the only attention paid to an existing patient is when they come to the practice or when they receive an appointment reminder text. These days, patients are price conscious and *will* shop around for the best price when it comes to treatment, particularly more complex types such as implants and orthodontics.

One of the best and easiest ways to keep your existing patients on board and your services “top of mind” is to run a regular e-newsletter. Free and easy-to-use tools such as MailChimp help to facilitate this and it really is easy to land your updates in a patient’s in-box with very little hassle. Just make sure to keep your news non-spammy and keep the level of promotional content quite low – around 20%. Do be sure to get their authorisation to receive such correspondence from you so you can stay complaint with GDPR.

Summary

December is the time when we finalise business plans for the new year ahead, including our budgets and strategies for dental marketing. But before making any new plans, a comprehensive review of existing arrangements is required to establish what is worthwhile and what isn’t.

The topics above are key areas where we see dentists make mistakes time after time, so please check your own marketing initiatives to make sure you aren’t failing too. If you need help to evaluate existing methods or simply need a proposal for a complete new campaign, please get in touch with the Dental Media team on 01332 672548.