Why You’re Getting Less From Your Dental Marketing

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Patient Attraction Episode 1064

Dentists as a rule spend a fair amount of money marketing their practices. There’s no hard-and-fast rule, of course, but a good average would probably be 3 to 4 thousand dollars a month. Now, we all know that money doesn’t buy what it used to, but when it comes to dental marketing, dentists are getting less return than they should be. I’ll be right back to tell you why that’s happening and what you can do about it. Stay tuned.

– Thanks for watching the Patient Attraction Podcast.

– I’m Colin Receveur.

– When it comes to dental marketing, there are only 2 metrics that matter.

– Those are new patient butts in chairs, and the average case value of those new patients.

– There are several factors driving down both of those numbers for a lot of dentists.

– Dental insurance reimbursements have been decreasing for a number of years.

– And that trend shows no sign of slowing down.

– Delta Dental has been a major driver of the dental insurance squeeze.

– Not long ago, Delta cut dentists’ reimbursements in Massachusetts by some 30 percent.

– When insurance pays less, it shifts the burden of payment onto patients.

– But since worker incomes haven’t nearly kept pace with rising costs, patients are increasingly reluctant to spend on dental care.

– You might have the best marketing in the world, but large out-of-pocket costs are a major deterrent for dental prospects.

– When those prospects do look for a dentist, their main motivation is price.

– If that statement outrages or offends you, there are 2 good reasons for that.

– One is that you probably make a good 6-figure personal income per year.

– You’re probably not clipping coupons for the grocery store.

– The second reason is that all dentists today are seen as being competent.

– That’s both a blessing and a curse for the industry.

– It’s a blessing because overall, people are probably less reluctant to visit a dentist than in years past.

– It’s a curse because your prospects have no reason to choose you over any other dentist … except for price.

– That leads to dentists’ cutting their rates to attract more new patients.

– So, you’re getting fewer new patients, and the ones you get are looking for the lowest cost possible.

– When it comes to the 2 metrics that matter, you’re batting 0 for 2.

– But there is a way to up your batting average.

– That’s to change the prospects you target with your marketing.

– There’s a significant group in your market who aren’t motivated by price.

– They’re willing to pay more for a dentist they relate to, one they view as a dental expert and can trust.

– If you want to get those better patients, the ones who will stay, pay, and refer, you need to become that dentist in their minds.

– Your better prospects have to come to view you as the best and only logical choice to solve their dental problems.

– That’s not something you can accomplish overnight or by using the traditional dental marketing channels.

– 90 percent of your dental prospects begin their search for a dentist online.

– Your website has to appear high in the Google search engine results page.

– Very few people will continue to page 2 and almost none to page 3.

– That means you need state-of-the-art search engine optimization for your website.

– The website itself has to contain content that’s designed for patients, not to impress other dentists.

– At SmartBox, our writers aim for a middle school reading level, and they clearly define all technical terms.

– The content has to be of high quality, by Google’s standards.

– Content has to be expert, authoritative, and trustworthy.

– That kind of writing isn’t easy, and it takes a lot of [...]