When readers buy products and services discussed on our site, we often earn a liate commissions that support

our work. Learn more.

31 Dental Marketing Ideas the Pros Use

By Anna Dizon on March 8, 2018 | Marketing, Marketing Ideas | Comments (12)

Need more patients for your dental practice? We’ve compiled a list of the top 31 dental marketing ideas the pros
use to drive more tra c to their practice. Use these dental marketing strategies to start acquiring more patients
today!

1. Use an Online Scheduling Tool

Maggie Aland, Fit Small Business
Sometimes just the thought of picking up the phone to make an appointment is
enough to keep patients from your door. Square Appointments is a booking tool
that lets patients schedule appointments online any time of day or night. It
integrates with a cloud-based calendar to help you avoid scheduling con icts
and automatically sends friendly reminders for upcoming appointments. Best of
all, Square Appointments is free for individuals. Create a free account today.

2. Track Your Sources Across All Channels

Kim Kohatsu, Founder, Charles Ave Marketing
For dentists, being highly visible online is vital. Make sure your o ce is on review
sites such as Healthgrades and Yelp, and encourage your patients to rate you. If
you’re using paid channels such as Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, pair each
channel with a call tracking software such as CallRail. With call tracking, you
advertise a di erent phone number that forwards to your main o ce number.
This way, you can track which channels are most e ectively sending clients who
want to book appointments. This will help you allocate your marketing dollars in
the smartest way possible.

3. Build an Email Marketing Program

MarketingProfs
Dentists have a lot to gain by promoting their practice through email marketing.
Learn how one dentist uses email marketing to retain customers and attract new
 ones.

4. Target Local Customers with Google Adwords

Devon Vocke, Co-Founder, Evoke Strategy LLC
We use Google AdWords and geotarget a small radius (~5 miles) around the
practice. We create ads focused on ‘near me’ queries, e.g. ‘ nd a dentist near me,’
and so on. We focus on click-to-call ads and track incoming calls with a third-
party call tracking service. We only run ads during open o ce hours. This works
because calls convert better than form submissions; we’re only running ads
when someone is available to answer the phone, and we’re targeting people with
an immediate need for dental services. You can scale this model with the addition
of other query types, but this is a solid place to start.

5. Let Dental Marketing Experts Create Your Website

Before choosing a dentist, most people do an online search. Having a beautiful
website that also ranks well on Google will bring new business to your practice.

ProSites is a company that specializes in building dental websites and

successfully works with thousands of practices. ProSites combines compelling
designs with persuasive content and interactive features to communicate your
expertise and encourage patients to reach out and contact your practice. Click
here for a free demo.

6. Develop an App for your Practice

Izaak Crook, Digital Marketing Executive, App Institute
With your own app, you’ll come across as a trustworthy, professional and modern
practice – but that’s not the only bene t. Your own dentist app will provide a
simple way for patients to book themselves in for appointments, and you can
 avoid the annoyance of missed checkups by sending push noti cations out to let
people know when their appointment is coming up. O er added value that will
keep people using your dental practice by including helpful guides within the
content of your app, and even o er loyalty schemes built-in for your most
dental-health-conscious patients. It’s not as expensive and time-consuming as
you might think to make an app. Using an app maker provides a quick and simple
way to make an app for any business, including dentists!

7. Use an Email List to Remarket Audiences

Kaela Mast, Marketing & Branding Strategist, Kaela Mast Marketing
Gather this information with other customer acquired info (name, address, etc).
The reason you could and should grow an email list is so you can retarget them or
use look-a-like audiences in advertising. It will help a small dentist o ce narrow
in on who to target for advertising and get a general idea of their target audience.
One way to build your email list is by creating a lead magnet and target within a
15 mi radius of the dental practice. The lead magnet could be “5 steps to whiter
teeth” and you can talk about brushing techniques, products to use at home, and
then whitening services. After they download the PDF, you can follow up with an
email o ering a discount on whitening services.

8. Create a “Photo Booth”

Spencer X Smith, Speaker & Entrepreneur, Spencer X Smith
Consulting
Create a person-sized Instagram frame in which happy dental patients can pose
to share the pictures of your handiwork. O er to take a picture with their phone
so they can share to their social network, and share the photo (with their
permission) on your practice’s Instagram page as well. Create a practice hashtag
you can use on each post, and use popular hashtags like #dental (~1.4 million
posts), #dentalwork (~54k posts), #teeth (~4 million posts), and #teethwhitening
(~600k posts). Share these Instagram posts on your practice’s Facebook account
as well, and (after asking for your patient to Like your Facebook page), tag them
in the post so they can share with their friends.

9. Automate Your Email Marketing

 Justin Knott, President, Intrepy Healthcare Marketing
The dental space is highly competitive and overly crowded so it is essential to
utilize unique marketing strategies to reach and attract potential patients in your
area. We have found that one of the best and often under utilize marketing
strategies is email marketing automation. Dentist needs to put an emphasis on
using various tactics including in person, their website, digital advertising and
more to build up a quality email list. Once you have done so you can utilize
automation to retarget current patients with cosmetic or high dollar procedures
and take potential patients through the sales funnel to convert them into
patients sitting in a chair in your o ce via educational pieces, promotions, etc.

Email marketing automation, if done correctly, is not only a viable dental

marketing strategy but can return a substantial ROI for your practice.
Infusionsoft is one of the go-to email marketing automation software and one we
often turn to accomplish this.

10. Use CRM Software to Provide Stellar Customer Service

Nicholas Thomas, Fit Small Business
Great customer service is pivotal for business success no matter the industry,
perhaps more so in the dental industry because of the face to face interaction
and customer lifetime value. Make a great rst impression on new patients while
also retaining your current patients, by using Salesforce Essentials.

Salesforce Essentials is a suite of customer service tools powered by the world’s

#1 CRM, that automatically pulls relevant patient data from your email, calendar,
and other channels to get a 360-degree view of every patient and their individual
needs. It even has a robust help desk that lets you preload and customize FAQs
for simple solutions, displays pertinent patient data to help you respond to
speci c customer inquiries, sends auto-appointment reminders, and integrates
with Gmail for seamless correspondence. Start your free trial today.

11. Use Google My Business Reviews

Feuza Reis, Director of Social Marketing & Communications, Next
Level SEM
Use Google My Business for reviews. This is extremely important for Local SEO
rankings and getting your website found online. We saw this with our client
SmilesNY.com. As part of their SEO plan with us, they got Customer Lobby which
is a reviews widget that helps collect reviews. They used the kiosk feature which
is an app you can add to your iPad and request reviews onsite. This helped them
improve their SEO rankings for their desired keyword. Getting reviews is not so
easy so using something like Customer Lobby can really help.

12. Create Videos to Answer Common Patient Questions

Anthony Gaenzle, VP of Sales & Marketing, SE Healthcare
Dental practice marketing can really bene t from applying content marketing
principles. By creating content like “how-to” videos, articles o ering advice on
particular subject matter, and providing some type of value to patients that
enhances their daily lives, practices can build trust and a strong channel of
communication. This leads to loyal patients coming back, as well as
recommending the practice to others.

The best way for practices to determine what type of content to create is to ask
their patients what they’d like to see. Video content really connects, so whatever
results come back, if a practice can apply that to a weekly video series (or
something along those lines) that gives their patients the advice or info they
seek, it can really have a positive impact on marketing e orts.

13. Market Your Practice with Video Testimonials

Doug Dibert, Founder/Creator, Magn
Dentist o ces can harness the power of patient Video Testimonials. There is
nothing better than a real-person talking about how what you’ve done for them
made their life better. You don’t need to break the bank to create a polished video
– you can do this with your Smartphone, tablet or computer with a webcam. No
expensive equipment needed! Remember to lm somewhere with plenty of light
that is also quiet, and don’t make it long!

Most professional video testimonials are 60 seconds or less. Have the person
being lmed talk about one unique aspect of your business that will turn the
viewer into a user of your product or service. You can even give the person being
lmed a few bullet points to help that person be more con dent and compelling
when he or she is being lmed. You can also use Magn , a one-stop shop video
marketing tool that captures and creates video testimonials in a simple, quick
and cost-e ective way.

14. Create a Universal Brand

Mike Plambeck , CEO, Emergency Dentist US
When creating a marketing strategy that addresses many di erent
demographics, there will be an urge to generalize and zoom out about what your
dental practice o ers. Don’t! Your practice is your brand and your brand should
be the star of all of your marketing regardless of demographics. Talk about your
practice with a consistent voice that speci cally highlights the care you and your
sta give to your patients whether they be young or old. When your brand is the
star, multiple demographics will nd your practice appealing and you won’t risk
alienating potential clients.

15. Encourage Clients to Write Online Reviews

Jeremy Levine, Fit Small Business
One of the best ways to grow your dental practice is with client reviews. They
build your reputation and let you gain insights on how your practice is doing.
Podium is an online tool that lets you solicit and manage reviews across over 20
review sites, including Facebook and Healthgrades, all from one dashboard.
Practices that use Podium have seen up to 15 times more reviews and a dramatic
increase in walk-ins. Watch a 3-minute demo.

16. Build Local and Niche Relevant Citations for Your

Practice
Donahvan Robello, Owner, #VariantSEO
Citations are a staple for ranking your dental practice for local keywords in search
engines, and can also drive customers to your site. The most popular citations
are Yellow Pages, Yelp, and Angie’s List. There are also medical speci c citations
you can add your practice to such as Health Grades and Zoc Doc. The more you
create the better you’ll rank in Google and the more customers you can attract.
17. Mimic Your Competitor’s Backlink Pro le
Christopher Grozdon, SEO Specialist, Practice Cafe
We use backlink analysis tools and keyword/site explorers to examine our clients’
competition and attempt to garner up similar backlinks for greater domain/page
authority. When analyzing a competitor’s backlink pro le, it’s important to
remember there are “good links” and “bad links”. Good links come about
organically or through outreach, bad links consist of comment spam, PBNs, or
purchased links. Go with the good links and you’ll see your rankings rise in the
SERPs!

18. Build and Promote Interesting Infographics

Danny Kidd, Owner/Head of Link Building, LinkJuiced
Create something visual that potential clients will see. In terms of content
marketing potential, the dental industry is as good a niche as any basically
because a lot of people are interested in their teeth. The secret of content
marketing is to think of a topic that people will be interested in, not just market
your services. The business will gain from the content being spoken about in
di erent places. Something I would do for a dental client is something that
interests people. Writing content is ne but I would invest an amount in having an
infographic created. In order to create something that may carry over into the
mainstream media, think of money.

How much do veneers cost? Try and nd out the average cost in a number of
di erent countries, and then turn the data into a map with the information. That
way, you’ve got some good content that no one else has. I would then reach out
to blogs and industry magazines/websites as well as some journalists who would
be interested in the piece.

19. Apply Message Matching

Taylor Kerby, Creative Director, Cave Social
Creating a successful ad campaign needs to go beyond making a catchy design
to draw in clicks. As a marketer, you need to think about the page people land on
once they click as well. For example, if you have an ad that talks about teeth
whitening and it leads to a general information page with all of your services,
then you are creating a confusing experience for the user. Instead, try ‘Message
 Matching’ so that your landing page has the exact same headline as your ad, with
only one thing to click. It takes a little extra work but we’ve seen conversions
jump from 1% to 10% in a matter of days, just by creating dedicated landing pages
for each campaign.

There are plenty of resources you can use to create these landing pages, such as
instapage.com, landerapp.com, and our personal favorite – unbounce.com.

20. Get Found in More Online Directories

Marc Prosser, Co-founder, Fit Small Business
When potential patients are searching for a new dentist, their rst introduction to
your practice will probably be in Google search results or in medical directory
listings. Yahoo Localworks lets you scan local listings on multiple sites, social
media, maps, and more so you can see where your practice shows up and check
that your information is up to date. Click here for a free scan and get 20% o on
updating your listings (use code LOCAL20).

21. Use Slideshare Presentations on your Website

Shannon Montoya, Director of Account Services, Page 1 Solutions,
LLC
Custom visual content that informs patients and presents the dentist as an
authority creates leads. We discovered this after embedding a custom Slideshare
presentation on the client’s website to increase his visibility in the crowded
Boston area. We then drove tra c to the page through multiple social media
channels, including automated quarterly reposting, and o -site content. Leads
for our client increased 100% in one month, and grew by nearly 150% within both
six months and one year.

Bottom line: with the right information and call-to-action, slide share
presentations and other custom visuals go beyond good, unique content and
become tools for inspiring decisions with patients, building rapport, and
converting them into leads.

22. Leverage Facebook for Marketing

 Randy Laird, Founder & CEO, 24&7 Marketing
This approach may not be ashy, but with a small dental practice, ashy isn’t
necessary. What I would do is start by leveraging social media, especially
Facebook. Next, I would use a picture of the dental o ce sta (smiling, of course)
to go along with any messages about their services. By targeting the right crowd
(through Facebook) and using a group photo of the sta , your marketing now has
authority and authenticity. Now, couple that with client testimonials and you
have your social proof.

This is a very cost-e ective approach to market a small dental practice, and you
can even run Facebook Ads targeted at your speci c audience to boost
recognition and sales.

23. Hold a Contest On Social Media

Vincit-Lee Lloyd, CEO, Lloyd Media Solutions
One way to get excellent exposure online is through Facebook/Instagram
competitions. The dental company can invest in building a mascot (such as a
giant tooth that someone can climb into), then the competition would look as
follows:

1. You go around the city/state/country and take pictures of “Toothie” (or

whatever you name the mascot) at well-known landmarks.

2. You rst post a picture of Toothie on FB or IG saying that your company will be
running a competition. The winner gets, for example, $5 000 worth of dental
products. To stand a chance to win the prize people must comment where
Toothie is, like the picture and share the picture.

3. You can post di erent pictures for a week or even a month; after that,
announce the winner.

In the process, you would have gained a social following, engaged with current
and potential clients, and generated leads.

24. Initiate a “Best Smile” Contest

Anahid Lisa Derbabian, MA, Founder, Integrity Communications
 This fun marketing campaign will bring positive attention to your dental practice,
as bright smiles will re ect your brand. Further, it will inspire all sorts of people,
backgrounds, and ages to participate, which will bring energy to your initiative
and attention to your dental practice as people may share, like, and comment on
this campaign.

Invite people via social media to nominate themselves and/or family and friends
by sending in photos, and ask di erent people in the community to do the
judging, or perhaps ask your followers to narrow down the winner(s). Run the
contest periodically, give away fun prizes, and then share a photo of the
winner(s) alongside the dentist(s). Leverage this campaign by placing photos and
information about the winner(s) on your website, emailing it to current patients,
and even make a poster for your dental practice of the smiling winner(s) with the
dentist.

25. Use Twitter to Inform and Update Patients, Not to

Constantly Self-Promote
Elm Endodontics
Twitter is a fun tool to connect with your patients and let them know about
what’s going on with your practice. This article shares three things you should be
doing on Twitter — sourcing information, sharing information from events, and
connecting with your patients.

26. Let Customers Know About Your Recent Successes on

Facebook
Post Planner
Because of size and location, local dental o ces don’t typically get thousands of
clicks, likes, shares on Facebook. But your customers (and Facebook fans)
probably love your sta , and would love to see the faces of your employees on
your Facebook page. Ideas like these will get fans engaging with your Facebook
posts, build brand loyalty, and o er your customers a glimpse inside your
operation. View more ideas from Facebook pages in this article.

27. Utilize Opportunities to Humanize What You Do

Dr. Bobbi Stanley, D.D.S., Dentist, Stanley Dentistry
One of the ways we’ve been able to establish ourselves as a top practice in the
area is by utilizing opportunities to humanize what we do. There are people who
are scared of the dentist, or who think of it as a very sterile, harsh environment.
We’re not afraid to talk about what we’re doing in the community or to share what
our team does outside of work! We’ve written blog posts and used social media as
an opportunity for our patients to get to know us. We really do care about our
patients and we’re here to help them take care of their teeth, so we want that to
come across in the way we interact with them from a marketing standpoint.
“We’ve also tried some creative marketing to make our patients a part of the
experience!

We recently did a giveaway where we encourage our patients to take pictures of

them with ‘Flat Stanley’s’ – photo cutouts of myself and my husband, Dr. Robert
Stanley and tag us on social media. The winner won a pizza party and a $100 gift
card, it was a fun way to involve everyone and a simple way to spread the word!

28. Promote Your Practice on a Waiting Room TV

Matt Gibbs, Co-Founder & CMO, UPshow
Late last year UPshow launched a product called Waiting Room TV and we
targeted it speci cally at dental practices. Waiting Room TV is a cable
replacement that provides both entertainment and marketing value for the
dentist, at a fraction of the cost. The dentist can promote their services, sta and
events while hand-picking the games and video entertainment that also appear
on screen.

29. Write Articles for a Local Publication

Debra Jason, Author & Speaker, The Write Direction
One way to get your name out to prospects in your community is by writing
articles for local publications. In addition to reaching a broad audience,
publishing articles conveys your knowledge and expertise about dentistry and
enhances your professional reputation. For instance, if you’re a pediatric dentist,
you could share a piece about how to ease a child’s fear before a dental visit. On
the other end of the spectrum, you could share tips for seniors on how to care for
their teeth and gums as they age. You’ll be o ering value (vs. an advertisement)
to readers who have the potential to become your patients.
 Many local papers are receptive to receiving articles from experts. And, most
publications will include your photo along with a byline that includes contact
information so a reader (i.e., prospect) can reach out to you. Just one article can
result in many leads for new business for your dental practice.

30. Cross Promote Your Dental Practice with Business

Partners
Dan Virgillito, Author, Town Squared
You can increase your client base and boost your bottom line by using cross-
promotion, collaborating on marketing with the right business partners. In this
article, Dan gives 6 ways to work with a local business in order to promote your
dental practice.

31. Create a Comprehensive Plan

SmileMarketing
You need to attract more new patients to your practice, but you don’t know
where to start. While creating and implementing a comprehensive marketing plan
does take time, there are many things you can get started on today. The ten
dental marketing ideas in the article will help you quickly amp up your practice
marketing so you can start attracting a steady ow of new patients.

The Bottom Line

Do you have a tip that was not included in the article? Let us know in the comments section below! We love
hearing creative dental marketing ideas.

Want to expand your marketing e orts but need some additional working capital? Read our article on dental
practice loans and nd an a ordable way to nance your next big marketing push.

About the Author

Anna Dizon

Anna Lynn Dizon is a sta writer for Fit Small Business, contributing to our sales, marketing, and real estate
sections. Her experience in business and nance led her to work for a US risk mitigation company in its regional
o ce in Singapore. Anna holds a degree in accountancy and is currently working towards her master’s in
language and literacy education.

Ask a Question

Related Posts

10 Worst Robocalls of 2019

15 Jul 2019

6 Best Press Release Distribution Services 2019

15 Jul 2019

Comments (12) • Likes (0)

Disclaimer: Reviews on FitSmallBusiness.com are the product of independent research by our writers, researchers, and editorial
team. User reviews and comments are contributions from independent users not af liated with FitSmallBusiness.com's editorial
team. Banks, issuers, credit card companies, and other product & service providers are not responsible for any content posted on
FitSmallBusiness.com. As such, they do not endorse or guarantee any posted comments or reviews.

 Like Ask a Question

Melissa Anunson December 21, 2018 at 6:01 pm

Although video was mentioned several times, (#10, #14, #16) I would add gold ole photography to
the list. Our agency (Asymmetric.pro) has seen a lot of success upselling patients to cosmetic
procedures (veneers, whitening, straightening) through before & after pictures with short stories
on our Drs’ sites.
 When I speak to new dental practice clients, I’m surprised to see how many of them DON’T o er a
gallery on their site. (My guess is that it’s around 50%).

Here are the keys to remember:

1) TAKE THE PHOTO. Seriously. The before photo is almost always in the patient’s le, but often
Doctors get so excited at the results that they forget to take the nal photo during the last check-
up. Why not put an assistant in charge of photography? She can check the schedule in the
morning to see if any patients are coming in that would need an “after photo”
2) SHARE PERSONAL DETAILS. Although some patients want to remain anonymous, the full-face
photo has the most impact. When describing the procedure, don’t talk about what you DID, talk
about what you did FOR THEM as well as why they sought you out in the rst place. “Brian T.
chipped his front tooth during a basketball game and it’s bothered him for several years. We
discussed his options and he chose porcelain veneers on his front four teeth to improve is bite, his
smile AND his marriage. They’re expecting their rst baby this fall.”
3) MAKE IT INTERACTIVE. When a prospective patient is interacting with your website by moving a
slider, clicking an “after” button, etc, they are much more likely to remember your practice than if
you have static side-by-side photos.

I’ve never worked with a practice that isn’t busy, but this is a very easy step to improvement since
you’re already doing the work and your camera is already in the o ce!

Log in to Reply

Laura Handrick April 11, 2019 at 7:44 pm

Great tips! Thanks for sharing.

Log in to Reply

Dental Hospital in Hyderabad May 21, 2018 at 6:31 am

Great article, resonated with me from start to nish

Log in to Reply

gw99 p2p May 11, 2018 at 3:02 pm

Good site you’ve got here.. It’s hard to nd high-quality writing like
yours these days. I seriously appreciate individuals like you!
Take care!!
 Log in to Reply

coastal-dental May 7, 2018 at 6:39 pm

Thanks for a huge valuable dental related article post. I use this list for my site. i believe that blog
comment is a strong tool for seo work.

Log in to Reply

John April 17, 2018 at 10:33 am

nice blog

Log in to Reply

Older Comments »

SUBMIT YOUR COMMENT

You must be logged in to comment. Click a "Log in" button below to connect instantly and comment.

LOG IN WITH LINKEDIN

LOG IN WITH GOOGLE

Learn More About Quick Links

Marketing Home
Business Financing About Us
Accounting & Taxes Press
Human Resources Media Kit
Business Law Blog
 Starting a Business Sitemap
Forum
Sales
How We Make Money
Real Estate
We're Hiring!
Retail Business
Sister Site: TheClose.com
Ecommerce
Vendor Login
Software & Services
Software Review Club

Social Contact Us
 Facebook  355 Lexington Avenue, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10017
 Twitter

 Subscribe
 info@ tsmallbusiness.com

Copyright © 2019 · FitSmallBusiness. All Right Reserved. Privacy Policy.

Disclaimer: We spend hours researching and writing our articles

and strive to provide accurate, up-to-date content. However, our
research is meant to aid your own, and we are not acting as
licensed professionals. We recommend that you consult with
your own lawyer, accountant, or other licensed professional for
relevant business decisions. Click here to see our full disclaimer.

Product or company names, logos, and trademarks referred to on this

site belong to their respective owners.