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How dental SEO services can grow your practice.

How dental SEO services can grow your practice.

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Dental SEO services can improve your website’s search engine ranking, increase traffic, and bring more new patients through your doors. A dental SEO strategy is the best approach to growing your practice by ensuring a steady flow of new dental patients.

What is dental search engine optimization (SEO)?

Dental SEO is the process of making a dental practice’s website appear higher in search engine result pages without having to pay for ads to achieve this.

According to recent research, 53%* of traffic to any website comes from organic search. For your specific location, it might be even more.

The more visitors to your site, the greater the chances you have of convincing someone to book an appointment.

As a result, it is essential to ensure people know where to find you when looking for dental services. The result is higher quality leads (the patients you’re interested in most) and a better conversion rate.

Why should dentists invest in dental SEO services?

Most people looking for a dentist are looking for the best dentist in their area, meaning the words they use to search for you have what is termed “local intent.” A localized online presence is vital because it attracts potential patients in your local area to your dental practice.

Most people who search for a dentist use either “dentist near me” or “(location) dentist.” This is referred to as explicit local keywords since the searcher includes the local intent as part of the search.

But let’s say someone just types in the word “dentist” into Google. Given the type of keyword, Google will most likely assume you are looking for a dentist in your area. This is known as an implicit local keyword.

Potential patients searching online for a dentist will rarely click past the top local search results. Overall, 25% of people click on the first Google search result. By comparison, the tenth result is an average of 2.5%.**

Connecting with Local Patients

Success means connecting your practice location to those searching for a dentist first.

Many dental practices are under the mistaken belief that they must target a larger geographic area before moving on to smaller areas. In theory, it sounds good – by targeting the larger community first, you’ll have more leads. However, it would be best if you did the opposite. That’s because you could end up expending resources getting in front of people who live or work too far from your practice to consider a visit.

With local SEO, your goal is to reach out to the people who live and work closest to you. If you can connect with them first, they won’t have a reason to look elsewhere.

There’s a reason most people click on one of Google’s top five suggested results. Right or wrong, they believe the dentists who show up at the top of the list are better than those who don’t.

Google thinks so, too.

The higher you rank in searches for your services, the more likely potential patients will trust you enough to click through to your website. The more people who visit your site, the more Google counts your site as trustworthy and credible and will, therefore, continue to push your site to the top results.

Success breeds success.

How Dental Practices Rank in Local Searches

To improve your website’s local SEO, you need to fine-tune your online presence by creating an accurate, complete, and verifiable Google Business Profile. Include a detailed description of each treatment and service offered, including your dental practice name and address.

You can select your primary business category and up to 5 secondary categories. Content relevant to your practice categories should be represented throughout your website. If your dental practices are in different locations, create a separate page for each one. Include relevant geo-targeted keywords in your list of keywords.

What’s a keyword, you ask? Answering this question will also demonstrate how successful practices using dental SEO services dominate the local search results and become even more successful in the process.

Start with Relevant Keywords

Keyword research is one of the most effective ways to improve your website’s ability to attract patients.

Dentists must be familiar with the terms prospective patients use when searching for dental services online. By researching the specific words patients are typing into Google, you can get an idea of what dental treatments and procedures they are searching for.

Finding new and relevant dental-related keywords can be done in various ways. Below are some of the most helpful keyword research methods.

When you start typing into a Google search bar, Google’s Autocomplete feature automatically completes the query for you. Google’s algorithm actually predicts your next search, which can help steer your search to connect you with the most relevant results.

Google’s Search Console measures your website’s search performance. It shows how many pages your site has, how well they’re ranked, and how often people click through to view them. You can integrate Google Search Console (GSC) with SEMRush, KeyWordTool.io, or Ahrefs to get all the stats in one spot and better understand and learn from your competitors’ performance.

Google Trends is a tool that helps researchers study the popularity of searches and topics over time. For dental practices, the tool is used to stay up to date with current dental-related keywords.

Some of the most popular trending searches include: dentists open on Saturdays, 24-hour service, dentists who accept Medicaid, dentists for children, teeth whitening procedures, and even DIY dental products.

With your newly acquired keyword list, dental SEO should be easy, right?

Yes and No.

Here are some common pitfalls to avoid when employing your keyword strategy:

  • Don’t use the same keywords everywhere, from the title and alt tag to the webpage text, the meta description, and the URL address.
  • Don’t use too many different keywords on one page. Three should be the maximum.
  • To improve your site’s search engine rankings, develop content that uses semantically-related keywords.
  • Balance is important. It is best to choose a broad enough keyword or phrase to deliver a healthy search traffic volume, but sufficiently narrow to capture traffic that’s relevant to you.

Claim Your Local ‘Google Business Profile’ Listing

The first step to dominating search engine results is to claim your Google Business Profile. In many cases, dental practices get more traffic to their GBP listing than to their actual website!

The Google Business Profile is a free online tool from Google that helps you increase your business’ visibility on local searches. Your GBP listing appears on Google Search and Google maps.

It’s easy to set up your listing.

First, complete your business profile. Google will use everything you share to help you rank in search results. The more you complete, the better your chances at ranking in more results.

Optimize Your Website for Local Searches

First impressions count. You can’t just create a generic website for a large dental marketing company by copying the site from hundreds of others. Dentists often overlook that websites are meant to be engaging, interactive, and valuable. The actual content of your website is crucial to converting website visits into conversions (phone calls and web form completions). Conversions are the step preceding a new dental patient appointment.

Again, your website’s primary purpose is to drive prospective patients to your practice via phone call, web form completion, or online appointment.

dental seo services

Dental SEO helps your dental practice rank in the Google Local Pack, Google Finder, and Google Maps. The above shows an example of the Google Local Pack, which is the most desired position for driving local traffic to your business.

Your website is your full-time salesperson at work 24 hours a day for your practice. Set it for success by investing the appropriate time and resources into your new website.

You can create a website yourself for only a few hundred dollars. However, it probably won’t attract much attention and convert better than one that is professionally designed, built, and managed.

A professionally designed dental website created by an agency that understands the dental industry and SEO will provide you with the best results. A well-designed dental website can be a great marketing tool for dentists, provided the website has these features:

  • Clean, mobile-friendly web designs
  • Simple, clear to understand navigation
  • An informative blog with content about your services
  • A team page with photos of the dentists, hygienists, and office staff.
  • Prominent contact info and location page (including an embedded map)
  • Reviews and testimonials
  • A video or photo tour of your offices
  • Fast load time (see below)
  • Technical SEO (see below)

You should expect to earn back any upfront costs you incur in building an optimized website in relatively short order. As noted, your website is ‘open for business’ at any time of the day or night, helping you attract new patients even when the practice is closed. As long as you’re marketing your website effectively, you should be able to recoup the cost.

Consider developing a website where patients can schedule appointments online. Ensure your contact information (including email address) is readily available, and be sure to provide multiple ways for prospective patients to get in touch with you.

Technical Dental SEO

Just as important as the content of your website is what happens behind the scenes. Technical SEO for dental sites looks at a website’s technical aspects to ensure everything is working correctly. This aspect of search optimization is often misunderstood or not fully understood by people who don’t work in online marketing. Left unattended, you risk placing your dental website at a distinct disadvantage vis a vis your competitors.

One of the most important parts of dental SEO effectiveness is website speed. As of June 2021, Google now considers the website’s speed essential when ranking sites, especially its mobile version.

Your website needs to be fast enough for anyone to use it on any desktop, tablet, or mobile device. Technical SEO is one of the most important aspects of dental SEO services. The most common reasons for slow site speed are unoptimized images, videos, or multiple snippets of JavaScript, all trying to load at once. If you optimize these areas of your website for performance, you can expect your site to load faster.

Your website must also be mobile-friendly. More than half your web traffic probably comes from mobile devices. Your website must function equally well on mobile devices as it would on desktop computers.

Good technical dental SEO services ensure your website loads correctly and function well on a mobile device. Nowadays, search engines penalize websites that don’t have an excellent mobile version.

Create content that is informative and interesting.

Content is a primary ranking factor used by Google, helping your dental practice rise above the competition. Content includes blogs, social media, news, reports, guides, newsletters, webcasts, podcasts, and more.

Your content must communicate your dental practice personality effectively, and reinforce the critical attributes of Expertise, Authority, and Trust (EAT). Engaging content, backed up by effective keywords, will help increase your website traffic. It will also help extend the time visitors stay on your site, known as dwell time SEO.

Consider how what you have to say, or your areas of expertise, is related to what your present and potential patients are looking for based on current search patterns. This focus will allow you to create tailored posts for the patients you target. A one-size-fits-all approach won’t work. Carefully consider what you want your message to be, and the platforms where you want to deliver your messages. Infographics are effective at grabbing people’s attention. They’re also helpful in informing people about your business.

Blogging is one way of sharing your dental practice’s messages. A successful blog aims to answer patient questions. Doing this consistently will establish your website’s authority as a reliable source of dental and oral health-related information. Adding colorful visuals to your posts is an effective way to improve their quality and engagement. A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about your practice and what you can expect from particular dental treatments can be a great way to enhance your patient relationships.

Get More Reviews from Existing Patients

Reviews are essential for SEO because Google’s algorithm relies on them to rank websites.

More importantly, a review provides social proof, which people often use when unsure about a course of action or a decision. Personal recommendations are important when choosing dentists and dental treatment. According to a recent survey, 79 percent of consumers say they trust reviews as much as they trust recommendations from friends or family.***

Getting positive reviews for your dental office is easy when you include an online review request feature. Several services exist that provide this function to simplify dental review management. The system invites patients by texting or emailing them to leave a review. You can also encourage reviews by posting a QR code at the front desk, adding a review request at the bottom of your monthly (electronic) newsletter, including a short survey with a link to your review site, etc.

It’s not enough to simply ask patients to post a review. You must make it simple and convenient for them to do so, especially when they are predisposed to doing so (like when they just saw their beautiful new smile in your mirror). Happy patients are only too glad to share their positive experiences with your practice.

Once your Google Business Profile is accepted, it will automatically appear in a GBP listing whenever someone searches for “dentist” or “local dentist,” displaying important information, along with patient review scores.

It’s also a good idea to have a Yelp profile to help increase traffic to the site. Facebook reviews are helpful as well. Patients need to go to the review tab and write their recommendations.

Finally, include a few hand-picked patient reviews on your website or create a page dedicated to patient reviews.

Off-Page Dental SEO Services

Off-page dental SEO involves things that don’t appear on your website. An example is backlinks – links from other websites to your website.

The more websites that include links to your site, the more authoritative your site appears to search engines. As a result, you begin to rank better than your competitors.

But backlinking is not strictly about numbers. A reasonable number of high-quality backlinks is preferable to a high quantity of low low-quality ones. You want to be associated with other high-quality websites. While your competitors are unlikely to link back to you, local business organizations, health care association/membership websites, and blogs are often good places to find them. If you write a blog post or get featured in a news story, you can usually link to your site from the publication’s online version.

Most likely, you will get most of your links from websites ending with.com. However, it’s worth the extra effort to identify websites that end with .org, .edu, or .gov. These websites are generally regarded as more authoritative and will, therefore, help your site rank higher than relying on .com website backlinks alone.

Building backlinks is an ongoing process, so begin by building a nice, healthy list by linking to your dental practice over time. Caveat: never “buy” links or artificially create backlinks. Google levies harsh penalties for websites that employ such so-called “black hat” techniques.

What’s the return on investment from dental SEO services?

To calculate the ROI of an SEO strategy, you simply complete the following formula:
ROI = Return – Investment
Investment

Return is calculated by multiplying the number of new patients acquired times the average patient lifetime value (APLV). The Investment is simply the cost of deploying your SEO tactic.

Let’s say you’ve calculated your APLV as being $7500.

Now that we’ve established an SEO strategy, your site is delivering five new patients per month. We can calculate those five patients as representing $37,500. At a rate of 5 new patients a month for a year, you’ll add approximately $450,000 in additional revenue just from SEO. If your annual budget for SEO is, say, $12,000, using the above formula, your ROI is 3650%.

SEO is a Key Strategy to Growing Your Dental Practice

Ranking prominently in local searches is key to operating a successful dental practice. Whether you do it yourself, or hire a dental marketing agency to assist, a strategy leveraging dental SEO services can help your dental practice increase organic traffic and attract more patients online.

By pushing your dental practice’s listing higher in search engine results, you drive more traffic to your site which in turn means more new patients through the door.

* BrightEdge Channel Report, 2019
** Sistrix Study, 2020
*** Local Consumer Review Survey 2022

AIM MarketingHow dental SEO services can grow your practice.
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Improve Dental Website Rankings While Creating Practice Ambassadors

Improve Dental Website Rankings While Creating Practice Ambassadors

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Dental Patient Testimonial Videos Are One Key That Opens The Door To More New Dental Patients.

Most dentists and dental team members instinctively understand and appreciate the value of video in general, and dental videos in particular, to help grow their practice.

If you want to improve dental website rankings, the following is a succinct explanation of why dental patient testimonial videos offer such power and potential, and how to ensure a steady stream of testimonial videos for your dental practice.

Step 1. Meet with your Team and confirm their ‘buy in’ of the importance of securing patient testimonial videos.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, video is worth a million! Explain to your Team that dental testimonial videos help engage website visitors far more than mere text can.  It not only provides the web surging public with social proof to bolster their decision to call your practice.  Video keeps website visitors on your site longer, which is a key determinant of the User Experience (UX) and accordingly, Google’s algorithm for calculating your dental website’s domain authority.

Step 2. Agree on the best place to shoot your video.

Be sure to consider:

  • Lighting – Is the patient being washed out by too much light, or are they hard to see owing to too little light?
  • Camera Angle – Eye level is usually best.  Too high of a camera angle can make the patient appear small, while too low an angle makes them look supersized.
  • Background – Be sure your background does not detract or distract.
  • Ideally, it will be ‘non-clinical.’ Your consultation area is preferable to a chairside view.
  • Sound quality/acoustics – Surprisingly, it is more often the case that a video is unusable because of audio, rather than video, issues.  To ensure high fidelity audio consider procuring a wired lapel microphone

Step 3. Arrange Role Plays using your video camera.

Take turns being the patient. Practice makes perfect.  Spend time allowing each team member to be the patient as well as the director.

Step 4. Consider who would be great video candidates

During your huddle, discuss which patients would be great to have as part of your online presence.  Consider geography, demographics, and delivered treatment. Strive to diversify your video portfolio as doing so will pay big search engine ranking dividends

Step 5. Prep The Patient

When scheduling/confirming the appointment, ask the patient if he/she would “…mind saying a few words on camera about your experience as our patient.” Expect some initial resistance until you’ve mastere4d your approach/verbiage. 

Step 6. Schedule extra time for the shoot to ensure it is not forgotten.

If the patient will be numbed up, consider doing the video prior to the procedure. It’s a GREAT IDEA to add a new procedure code (e.g. Video) into your Practice Management System so you can actually schedule the time for this ‘procedure’ 5-10 minutes is all you’ll need!

Step 7. Practice ‘directing’ the patient.

Questions to have them ponder prior to, then deliver during the video are:
-Who are you?
-How long have you been a patient?
-What do you LOVE about being a patient?
-Why will others enjoy being a patient here?

Step 8. Offer a gift to the patient for doing the video.

It’s worth it because doing so makes them ‘part of the show’ which, in turn, makes them a Practice Ambassador.

Step 9. Upload your video to YouTube.

Be sure to correctly optimize by Titling, Tagging, and Describing it correctly, then posting it to your website, social media, etc.

Be sure to have patients sign a Video Release giving the practice explicit authorization to use their likeness in your promotional materials.

A Dental Patient Testimonial VIdeo is one of THE most effective Dental Marketing tactics because, once you and your Team master the protocol, it becomes as second nature as performing a hygiene check.

For more information call 312-455-9488 or email Info@AIMDentalMarketing.com

AIM MarketingImprove Dental Website Rankings While Creating Practice Ambassadors
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AIM President Hosts Expert On Getting Dentists Payments From Uncle Sam

AIM President Hosts Expert On Getting Dentists Payments From Uncle Sam

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On November 18th, AIM Dental Marketing’s president and CEO Daniel A. ‘Danny’ Bobrow hosted Kathryn Devereaux for her presentation entitled:

The IRS Has Your Money – You Need Only Ask For It! Two little known, but totally legal, ways to receive up to $500,000 from Uncle Sam!

Most dentists are unaware they may legally receive large cash payments by completing a simple qualifying application.

Kathy Devereaux has worked with dentists nationwide since the R&D and Employee Retention Credit rebate programs were codified into law in 2017. Since then, Kathy has helped dentists nationwide receive from $50,000 to $570,000 in cash from the Federal Government.   Her work within and outside of dentistry will result in payouts of over $400 million in 2021 alone!

Her emphasis on dentistry began when it became obvious dentists needed an advocate to show how their current hiring and training practices could be leveraged into cash payments from the Federal Government.

Working with dentists in the “IRS credits arena” Kathy has helped practices from coast to coast grow by providing them with unexpected, but welcome, working capital.

Attendees learned: the many myths surrounding the program concerning eligibility and qualification; the simple steps to apply for cash payments from the IRS; and how to repeat the process each and every year you are in practice.

The webcast ran for around one hour.  While attendees were in listen-only mode, they were invited to submit questions or comments. Questions asked included:

  1. Why hasn’t my CPA told me about this all these years?
  2. Can I only do it for one year?
  3. What if I have a partner in my practice?
  4. Do I have to pay my CPA to do anything?
  5. What if I don’t’ get any money back?
  6. Why can’t you do this and send it in when my CPA sends in my regular tax filing?
  7. Do I have to pay taxes on this money?
  8. Does this increase my chances of being audited?
  9. Does investing in various dental marketing strategies qualify for the R&D Credit?

To view the webcast CLICK HERE
AIM MarketingAIM President Hosts Expert On Getting Dentists Payments From Uncle Sam
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What you don’t know CAN hurt you! Cybersecurity: The Master Lock for Your Dental Practice!

What you don’t know CAN hurt you! Cybersecurity: The Master Lock for Your Dental Practice!

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AIM Dental Marketing president Daniel A. ‘Danny’ Bobrow sat down with Dr. Lorne Lavine aka The Digital Dentist to share with attendees a topic of growing importance to dental practice owners everywhere: cybersecurity.

Dr. Lavine has over 30 years invested in the dental and dental technology fields.  He is a Certified Network and Computer Repair Technician, and a HIPAA-Certified Security Professional. He has extensive hands-on experience with most practice management and image management software, digital and intraoral cameras, computers, networks, and digital radiography systems.

Lorne writes for many well-known industry publications and lectures across the country. He is the regular Technology Columnist for Dental Products Report, and the former technology consultant for the Indian Health Service.

Attendees at this event left with a deeper understanding of what ransomware is and what it does.  THey learned the statistics on how ransomware has affected the dental industry, mastered new technologies for dealing with ransomware, learned how HIPAA affects all of this, and help attendees develop their own “treatment plan” to protect and secure their practices’ critical data, both patient and financial.

The following questions were asked and answered during the Event:

  1. Are dentists really at risk for this?
  2. My IT guy installed antivirus software and says I’m protected, is he wrong?
  3. How much should a practice budget for IT and cybersecurity?
  4. Can I handle this on my own?
  5. What questions should I be asking my IT provider?
  6. How do you address a breach/ransomware attack once it occurs?
  7. Do you unbundle?
  8. What has the trend been in terms of breaches?
  9. What specifically is your company doing to prevent breaches of the kind practices in WI, Seattle, Dallas, etc. experienced?
  10. If our data is not in the cloud, does that lessen the exposure to ransomware?
  11. Can we ask for handouts for this course, like a copy of the questions to declare a breach?
  12. Can you elaborate on what constitutes a REAL risk assessment?
  13. Are there any compliance differences for Canada-based practices?
  14. Can your clients really rely on your service to notify them of a breach or ransomware attack?
  15. My head is reeling. Nervous as hell. I will call you. Or e-mail. Need to calm down first. Great webinar, otherwise.

To view the complete Event Click Here

AIM MarketingWhat you don’t know CAN hurt you! Cybersecurity: The Master Lock for Your Dental Practice!
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AIM President Hosts the Leader in Leadership Coaching

AIM President Hosts the Leader in Leadership Coaching

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Linda Drevenstedt, MS, President of Drevenstedt Consulting, is an Executive Leadership coach, speaker, and author. Her approach is honest and straightforward, yet gentle.

She has extensive and direct experience ‘within the dental trenches,’ first as a dental hygienist, then assistant, and practice administrator of a multi-specialty dental group.

AIM Dental Marketing’s Founder and President sat down with Linda for an entertaining and information-packed session entitled

Top Tier Transformation
Producing Peak Performers

Her presentation equipped attendees to: Clearly identify your practice leadership level to reach your next level of
success, ask the Three Power Questions for effective leadership communication, practice 4 powerful communications elements to enhance your, leadership effectiveness, take 5 actionable steps to create team excellence and a thriving practice, recognize the 6 traits of a compelling leader, adopt a crucial leadership conversation model that really works, and more.

Some questions that were asked and answered during the Event included:

  1. How do I lead and do dentistry at the same time?
  2. When you ask an employee if they need anything to be successful, what if they ‘don’t know what they don’t know,’ that is, beyond obviously missing resources, malfunctioning technology, how do they know what they need?
  3. How does one know she has reached the level to hire a Practice Manager/Administrator?
  4. What if it’s the appointed office leader that is falling short?
  5. How do I find out about the DISC stuff for me and my team?
  6. What is the best book on leadership? …on Emotional Intelligence?
  7. Why don’t they teach leadership in dental school if it is so important?
  8. I have a worker who is high ability but low/middle commitment. How do I move him along the leadership curve/level up?
  9. Can you restate the exercise to de-domesticate and re-domesticate a worker?Click below to view the entire webcast.
AIM MarketingAIM President Hosts the Leader in Leadership Coaching
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AIM Hosts Dentistry’s Top Embezzlement Expert

AIM Hosts Dentistry’s Top Embezzlement Expert

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David Harris may have the coolest job in dentistry – he gets to chase, and catch, those who steal from dentists. A rule-breaker in his youth, David changed his direction and has spent much of his adult life in the world of investigation and enforcement, where he uses his unrivaled ability to understand the criminal thought process to help educate and protect dentists. David is the Chief Executive Officer of Prosperident, the world’s largest firm investigating financial crimes committed against dentists. AIM Dental Marketing president and Founder of the Practice Perfection web-based education series Daniel A. ‘Danny’ Bobrow had the pleasure of hosting Harris for an informative and entertaining ninety-minute session. David, a licensed private investigator, Forensic Certified Public Accountant, and Certified Fraud Examiner, regaled the audience with real-world stories from his own case files that illustrated just how prevalent embezzlement is and the cost associated with it.  Gladly, he shared several simple steps to prevent the dental practice from falling victim to dental embezzlement. Harris is the author of the book Dental Embezzlement: The Art of Theft and the Science of Control and over 30 articles in dental publications. In addition to being a prolific author, David is a frequent presenter at regional, national, and international dental conferences, and his vast wealth of experience, coupled with his keen sense of humor, make David both an engaging and entertaining speaker.

Key Takeaways Included:
1. The surprising (and sad) prevalence of embezzlement and fraud in the dental setting
2. Why people steal, and how to practice effective fraud prevention
3. Debunking the persistent (and dangerous) myths about dental practice theft
4. Red Flags, and how to read and act upon them
5. Three things you can do TODAY to lower your risk of fraud David Harris of Prosperident Dentistry’s Top Embezzlement ExpertView The Webcast Here
AIM MarketingAIM Hosts Dentistry’s Top Embezzlement Expert
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How to Choose a Dental Marketing Agency

How to Choose a Dental Marketing Agency

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More dentists than ever are retaining the services of a dental marketing agency in support of their dental practice growth plans. The most often-cited reasons for doing so are a desire to manage their patient mix between third party reimbursed and fee for service, desire to add an associate, and as a response to inroads from competitors, most notably DSOs.

According to Mike Abernathy*, 50% of practice growth should come from new patient flow, which makes choosing to work with a reputable agency, having a  proven track record, and whose sole focus is dentistry, a logical decision.

*Summit Practice Solutions E-Letter (10-29-20).

If your experience with dental marketing has been less than stellar, the first question to be answered is “Where did I (or my marketing firm) go wrong?”

Dental marketing agencies unlock the power of the web for healthcare providers*

77% of patients used search prior to booking an appointment. With the growing percentage of the population consisting of Millennials, that number will only increase.

50% subsequently referred family, friends, and colleagues. Digitally secured patients are as likely to refer as are patients generated internally or via conventional external marketing methods such as public relations, cause marketing, and direct mail. 43% of new patients watched patient testimonials before scheduling an appointment, while 30% of patients who watched an online video booked an appointment.  Video is a critical component of an effective digital dental marketing campaign. Finally, 56% of new patients used the click-to-call feature on their cell phones to book an appointment.

Taken together this means that, to ensure rapid, cost-effective growth, the internet is the biggest, if not the only, game in town, at least in terms of external marketing.

*https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-strategies/search/the-digital-journey-to-wellness-hospital-selection/

Law of Comparative Advantage

The decision to retain the services of a reputable dental marketing agency is further bolstered by what economists call the Law of Comparative Advantage, attributable to David Riccardo and James Mills, two nineteenth-century economists.  The theory holds that an entity, be it a country, company, or individual, should concentrate all its efforts on the task at which it is ‘most-best.’  It assumes the variable to be maximized is profit, that is, it does not take into consideration non-monetary benefits such as entertainment, mentoring, and other forms of fulfillment and gratification one might derive from such other pursuits.

*https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/comparativeadvantage.asp

Once Bitten (by a Dental Marketing Agency), Twice Shy

Along with the increase in the utilization of dental marketing agency services by dental practice owners, a concomitant, and unfortunate, the consequence is that a greater number of dentists are being disappointed by the gap between promises and results delivered by their agency.

The main cause is an inability (and, in a sadly increasing number of instances, an unwillingness) on the part of the dental marketing agency to present clear, reasonable, and achievable expectations to their clients.  Largely responsible for this is the relatively recent arrival of what I term Big Box Internet Stores.

To a surprising degree, these entities are funded by private equity firms whose primary motivation is the maximization of the return for their investors within a given (usually 3-5 year) time horizon.  That leads the company to be more concerned with aggressive marketing tactics to build their book of business than it is achieving quality results for those who are paying the bills; their clients.

The perception of what constitutes a fair and reasonable investment in dental practice growth has become further obscured by such agencies.  In too many instances “over-promise, under-deliver” has become the prevailing theme.

The ‘going rate’ offered by these stores is around $300 to $600 per month.  When you consider that, in any reasonably competitive area, the investment required to generate a new patient average around $300, even a well-managed program will be unable to generate meaningful results at that level of investment.

What’s “Fair?”

What constitutes a reasonable investment for your dental practice growth plan rests upon a number of factors including the above-mentioned competitiveness of your service area, your timeframe, and your goals.

“Rule of Thumb” estimates pegged to monthly collections assert that, if you are solely interested in stemming attrition, that is, replacing people who leave your practice with just enough to maintain your current patient base, you should invest two to three percent of monthly collections on marketing. If you want to increase new patient volume at a moderate clip the investment should be five to seven percent of monthly collections.  If you plan to grow aggressively to, for example, add an associate, you will want to invest in the vicinity of ten percent of collections.

De novo practices are advised to invest upwards of 20% of projected production so earmarking a reasonable portion of startup funding towards a strategic marketing program is a necessary first step.

Return On Investment

Of course, it’s wholly reasonable to ask “What may I expect in return for my investment (and when)?” To calculate that let’s assume an average new patient acquisition cost of $300. The typical new patient spends an average of $700-$1250 in their first year, while the average patient will remain for 7 to 10 years.

Based on the foregoing, the average lifetime value of a patient, regardless of its source, is between $3,200 to $7,600. That means if one invests $2000 per month, a reasonable expectation is 7 new patients per month.  Return On Investment is simply calculated by subtracting investment from return and dividing by investment.

Return = Number of Patients (7) x Average Patient Lifetime Value (we will assume this to be $5000)

Investment = $2000

Therefore, ROI = $14,000-$2000/$2000

Or 600%.

Following is a table, which details the investment for a given task/tactic as well as the variables upon which that investment depends:

dental marketing agency pricing

 

Perform Your Due Diligence

When my brother and I started our dental marketing agency in 1989 we could count on one hand those companies offering a similar service for dentists.  Now that number is in the hundreds, with new entrants arriving seemingly daily.  As noted above, many of these new entrants are funded by private equity firms that have become aware of the potential to earn a handsome return by aggressively marketing to dentists, promising them spectacular results for next to no investment. It is this type of entity, which has resulted in so many dentists being disappointed with the results of their marketing investment.

While it will require a bit of time and effort there simply is no substitute for deliberate research and comparison shopping.  Do not fall into the trap of assuming all dental marketing agencies are the same and therefore, the price needs to be the only decision criterion.  As with dentistry, price is but one consideration.  A true fit goes well beyond the investment.  As with most things, dentistry included, results are typically commensurate with investment, that is to say, “you get what you pay for.”

As part of your due diligence, the following questions should be asked and the information requested:

  • How long has the firm been in practice? Experience matters.
  • Does the firm specialize in the dental field? Profession-related experience matters.
  • Will the firm allow you to speak with current and former clients? Trust, but verify.
  • Does the firm require a large advance payment and a long-term contract? Reputable firms strive to keep your money in your pocket until they truly need it, and are sufficiently self-assured as to not require a long-term contract.  Clients should remain a client because they want to, not because they are contractually obligated to.
  • How does the firm demonstrate an understanding and sensitivity to your unique situation? Does it customize a plan to meet your needs, or do they employ a “one size fits all” approach?  Do they provide a fully transparent, regularly updated, and easily understood online interface, which presents their results?

Transparency and Accountability – Trust, But Verify!

There are certain key performance indicators (KPIs) about which your marketing agency should be reporting.  KPIs to watch include so-called “bottom of funnel” results: new patient volume (and how this compares to your agreed-upon goal), new patient acquisition cost, and your “team batting average,” that is, their success with converting calls from prospective patients into solid, and kept appointments. “Mid-funnel” KPIs include so-called conversions.  These are indications of some desired action being made by prospective patients including phone calls, form completions, chat-bot engagement, and reviews activity. “Top-of-funnel” KPIs to watch include: total website visits, percentage of new vs. repeat visitors, page load speed, bounce rate, time on site, paid search impressions and click-through rate, traffic lost to budget, and more.

New Possibilities

The properly conceived, implemented, and monitored dental marketing plan places the practice owner squarely in control of their practice growth plan, and can mean the difference between success and failure.  Conversely, a plan that is poorly conceived, executed and, therefore, rendered non-actionable can mean frustration, wasted opportunity, and costly.  That’s why it makes sense to become familiar with the means for vetting, selecting, and evaluating the dental marketing agency that will help you navigate dental marketing landscape and come out the other end a winner.

Here’s a free glimpse at AIM Dental Marketing’s Dental Marketing Dashboard 2.0

AIM MarketingHow to Choose a Dental Marketing Agency
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The Elite Practice Founder Interviews AIM Dental Marketing President

AIM Marketing , ,

On June 8th, The Elitre Practice founder, Dr. Carlo Biasucci, sat down with AIM President Daniel A. ‘Danny’ Bobrow to hear an update on several digital marketing tactics dentists, both Canada and U.S.-based should know about it.

Updates included how to avoid paying GST/HST tax for Google Ads, enhance rankings by adding specific content to the dental practice’s Google My Business page, keeping your marketing honest and actionable, and eliminating the number one bottleneck between the dental marketing plan and practice growth.

The interview runs around 40 minutes.

Access The Interview Here

AIM MarketingThe Elite Practice Founder Interviews AIM Dental Marketing President
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Many Thanks To Six Step Screening Inventor Eva Grayzel

Many Thanks To Six Step Screening Inventor Eva Grayzel

AIM Marketing

On Thursday, June 17th, at 6 p.m. Central Eva Grayzel, Master Storyteller and Visionary Survivor, and author of: M.C. Plays Hide & Seek Mom’s Choice Gold Award Winner and Readers Favorite 5-Star Rating will deliver:

 

Protect Yourself From Liability, And Save A Life

A Free PACE-Approved CE Course For Dental Professionals

Access Eva’s Blog Here

AIM MarketingMany Thanks To Six Step Screening Inventor Eva Grayzel
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