Tag: dental marketing consultant

Dentist Marketing SEO Piece by Piece

Part 2: METADATA for DENTISTS

Please note: We do not look like the nerds in this photo. We are much cooler.

This is part two in our series on dental marketing SEO.

Another important factor is metadata, thought it’s not quite as important as dental website content and blogs. There are three primary components to metadata: title tag, description, and keywords. You’ll hear some techies say that keywords are not important, and to Google, they aren’t. However, keywords are important to Yahoo and Bing. Sure, Google has 65% of the search engine market, but if you can please all the search engines all the time, why not?

What is a title tag? This is like a page title.

In the code, it looks something like this: <title>Modern Dental Practice Marketing</title>.

Your title tag should have your main business name and location, if you provide local service (which most dentists do).

What is a meta description? A description is the text that shows up in a search engine results page. Read More

Focus on ROI: Internet Marketing that Works… and Doesn’t

Just like you keep up with dental technology, research, and techniques by reading industry journals, I make a point to read the latest information about Internet marketing, dental marketing, and marketing trends. For a long time now, I’ve blogged about social networking having poor return on investment (ROI). Sure, subscriptions and participation are free, but time is money, and to build a successful social networking presence, you must invest time. By successful, I mean a presence that has a following – not financial ROI.

In Entrepreneur Magazine online, an article titled “Finding Customers” tells us that social media is not bringing retailers many customers. A report by Forrester Research, “The State of Retailing Online 2011: Marketing, Social & Mobile” shows that retailers are not happy with the results of investing in social marketing, like Facebook and Twitter. Now I know dentists aren’t online retailers, but there is something to learn here. The benefits to social marketing are wrapped around improving brand awareness.

Just this week, I advised a wonderful client of mine that a custom Facebook page will look great, but it will not improve ROI. It may not bring any new patients to the practice. This does not mean that a custom Facebook page is a poor investment. You have to consider your goals. For a high-end cosmetic dental spa, brand awareness and perceived value of services is essential to maintaining high profits. In this case, a custom Facebook page may be well worth the monetary investment.

But if you’re looking for hard, cold cash as a return on your marketing investment, according to the aforementioned report, “A whopping 90 percent of online retailers said search-engine marketing was the most effective source used to acquire customers last year…” Well, that’s great news for dentists! Read More

Dentists as Experts In the Media

Does your dental practice website have a page that features published articles, news clips, and books published by your doctors and team members? If not, it should! We are in the process of compiling archives for our own “Media & Publications” page here on the MDPM website. See our new page here. Along with patient testimonials, a webpage touting your published works is a great adjunct to any online dental marketing strategy.

Do you dream of being the Dr. Oz of dentistry? One of the advantages of Internet marketing is that you can quickly position yourself (and your team members) as an expert in your field of expertise. Adding a page to your website is just one way to start sculpting your expert status.

In addition to sharing a sampling of your published works on your dental website, blogging can give you expert status. Whether the purpose of your dental practice blog is marketing through SEO or providing information to potential and current patients, there’s not any reason in the world that you can’t also leverage your blog to promote yourself as an expert. MDPM writes and posts optimized blogs for our clients. As an adjunct to our SEO-focused strategy, we encourage dentists to send us their own posts. We can then translate the submission into an optimized blog, as well as an article to submit to online distribution sources. The blog post may be picked up by a large publication, local newspaper, or (at the least) read by your potential patients.

To add more power to your post, MDPM can send the text in an email blast to current clients (you provide the email list). We can further enhance your exposure by developing a press release about your expertise and submit it to local news stations and publications.

Don’t be shy about your accolades. In the professional world, those accolades can build your future — only if they’re marketed properly.

For more information, call Jill at 972-781-8861 or email info@moderndentalmarketing.com.

What Sets Your Dental Office Apart?

I have asked this question thousands of times through the years: What sets your dental practice apart from others? Funny thing is, most dentists (if not all) say that one-on-one attention and customer service make their dental practice better.

“Better” is a bad word when discussing dentists. I know that you have a respected peer relationship with other dentists in your area. However, you’re a dentist and I’m a dental marketing expert. One of us has to consider your peers competition. Let it be me.

My point is, the attention and service your team provide to patients may be head and shoulders above your competitors’, but: A) no one will know until they become your patient; B) so the only time it matters is in word-of-mouth or testimonial marketing; C) surely there is something else that truly sets you apart – something measurable or tangible. Find it. Show it off.

Ask yourself:

  • What training and certifications do you have that others may not?
  • What experience do you have (even life, not career, experiences) that others do not?
  • What training and experiences do your team members have that others may not?
  • What technology does your office offer that others may not?
  • Do you have before and after photos or videos for your marketing?
  • Are your labs extraordinary, or do you have an in-office lab?
  • What conveniences do you offer? (parking, online forms, payment plans, kids’ play area, etc.)
  • What comforts do you offer? (anesthesia, sedation, ergonomic chairs, sunglasses, iPods, neck pillows, paraffin hand treatment, etc.) Read More

5 Social Networking Tasks Dentists Can Hire a Teenager to Do

In a Biznik article, Sue Cartwright, Social Media Marketing Expert, tells us: “With 78% of consumers trusting peer reviews when only 14% trust advertisements, it is essential to be involved in your online community, to build a good reputation and know what people are saying about you. To do this effectively you need to engage in conversations, monitor the outcomes, join the debate, help others and show customers you care as a means to building a loyal network.”

Having been in dental marketing for years, I know that most dentists don’t have the staff or time to invest in an all-out social media marketing campaign. I do think, however, there are a few things your front office person can do to get your office engaged on Facebook. You can even hire your teenage daughter to do these things. Seriously, $10 an hour, 5 hours a week – not much of an investment. The return will show up, most likely, in patients being more loyal to you, giving you free word-of-mouth referrals, and remembering to keep up with recall visits and follow up with treatment. Why? Because you’ll be engaged, showing that you care!

You’ll need a human page and a fan page to make this work. Here’s how to do it: Read More

How to Design a Profitable Dental Practice Marketing Strategy & Effective Campaigns

You know you need a blog, a website, a Facebook page; and you probably know that you should have a newsletter and email blast campaigns, host local events, and participate in local sponsorship opportunities. You might also advertise in the newspaper or in magazines, submit press releases, or send direct mail.

Question is, which of these is profitable?
What’s the key to getting new patients,
closing bigger cases, and earning more profit?

First of all, determine what’s lucrative. Don’t keep investing in marketing projects that have little or no return. And, don’t let anyone tell you that something does not work. While I truly believe that phone book advertising is useless for most dentists, some practitioners in small communities may still see new business from a yellow pages advertisement. Likewise, newspapers across the country are filing bankruptcy, yet I still see quite a few dentists, usually those that cater to people 55 and older, who see new patients as a direct result of regular newspaper advertising.

Measuring return on investment, or ROI, can be difficult unless you ask all new patients how they heard about you, then log the information for future reference. The best way to accomplish this is by giving your front office team the tools and training to ask for and accurately record “How did you hear about us?” responses. Your records must reflect ALL new patients, and they must be maintained year after year to truly measure responses. I’ve seen new clients call businesses as a direct response to an ad that was placed over a year before. Read More

Aligning Generosity with Dental Marketing

Have you heard the term Generation G? It’s the marketing strategy that experts claim is highly effective in our faltering economy. Generation G stands for generosity and giving. The philosophy is, a business should show that it is interested and involved, loyal to the community that supports it. To a dentist, this type of marketing involves volunteering and community service.

Many dental practices participated in Halloween Candy Buy Back this past week. Just today, I read that Operation Freedom is weighing all the loot (candy) to send it to the troops. It’s great!

But I want you to think for a moment, what volunteer activity will appeal to your target market? If you see families and children, or if you provide orthodontic services to kids, Halloween Candy Buy Back is a great way to get local families to see your commitment to American troops. Your event could pull in new patients, families who need a general dentist. Another good opportunity for family dentists is to supply the area schools with free mouthguards for their athletes. You could speak on oral health at neighborhood schools and day cares, as well.

But what if your target market is cosmetics or implants or sleep apnea treatment? An event that draws young parents and children won’t be much help to your marketing strategy.

It’s time to regroup and think outside your little box. Read More

How to Get More Fans (Likes) for Your Dental Practice Facebook Page

Okay, we’ve established that you need a Facebook page for your dental practice. We’ve discussed the importance of blogging and how your blog should feed to your Facebook page so that you have current content. You know that you and your team need to become your own fans, then post comments, pictures, and join in conversations.

A Facebook business page is different from a Facebook personal page, though. People you may know don’t automatically pop up in the right sidebar. There’s no Friend Finder. So how can you get more folks to “like” your dental practice’s Facebook page? Here are 10 suggestions. Let’s count ‘em down…

1.       Send an email to all of your patients. I recommend you have a professional dental copywriter compose it for you. The copywriter can also provide a blurb for you to post on your personal Facebook page, inviting friends to become fans (likers).
Modern Dental Practice Marketing has dental copywriters who can help you.

2.       Put your Facebook logo and link on every page of your website, in plain view.
MDPM sets up Facebook business pages for our clients. We always include the Facebook link on the client’s blog and website.

3.       Put your FB link in your email signature.
The MDPM copywriters can write a new email signature for you, if you like.

4.       Display a poster in your lobby that says “Like Us?” with your Facebook username* (short URL).
Where do you get the poster? MDPM can help with that, too!

5.       Put the Facebook logo and your username on your business cards and collateral, right next to your email address.
MDPM does business cards and collateral. Come now, you should not be surprised! Read More