What makes Apple’s marketing so effective? Apple sells sleek, sexy products and has a world-class digital marketing team creating memorable advertisements. But there’s something else at work here. Something you can use to create a successful digital marketing strategy for dentists.
Apple has a reputation for selling some of the best phones, computers, and tech accessories available today. So when Apple announces a new product, you wonder, “What is it about this new device that will be transformative to my life?”
Sure, creative advertising undeniably helped shape Apple’s reputation as a leader of technology. But what this company is really known for is innovation.
As a dentist, you may think being innovative in your field happens only in a lab or a classroom. But you’d be wrong. Your practice can live right there on the cutting edge of ingenuity, too.
Why Innovation Should Lead Marketing
As crowded as the internet has become, people are tired of companies peddling the same old thing in the same old way. Today’s clients are looking for dentists who are taking the lead with dental treatments that are new and exciting. A successful digital marketing strategy for dentists will expose potential patients to products and services that actually improve their quality of life.
Right now, there are six dentists for every 10,000 people in the U.S. And with so many dental practitioners in the field, competition for new customers is fierce. And all those potential patients want to know what makes you—out of those six—the dentist for them.1
Considering your prospective patients see about 5,000 ads per day,2 you can’t just stick to what’s always worked. Your digital marketing strategy needs to work toward setting your practice apart. For many businesses, this means more content creation. In fact, 72% of marketers say content creation is their most effective SEO tactic.
Why? Because almost everyone is tired of ads. The movement toward a new form of marketing is underway—one that feels less like advertising and more like entertainment. And content marketing fits the bill. With the right drivers, you can inspire advancements in the dental industry, too. You just need to learn how.
How to Market Your Innovations
Start by getting the word out about what makes your practice extraordinary. Because even though there are many dentists in the world, no two providers are the same. So identify your standout features and share them with your audience. Here’s how.
1. Determine What Makes Your Practice Distinct
Every dental practice is unique. Each office is composed of diverse people, serving different clients, in disparate communities. As a result, there are features about your practice that don’t apply to any other. You just need to figure out what they are.
How do you help people? How do you make your patients’ lives better? What makes your practice special?
You might participate in Operation Gratitude, work with a local charity to provide free dental care, or give care packages to new patients as a way of thanking them for visiting your practice. Perhaps your practice is already innovating, and you just didn’t realize it!
2. Highlight Your Individuality
Spreading the news about the creative initiatives your practice supports is up to you. Send a Halloween email reminding patients that you’re collecting candy for the troops. Or, if you’re offering reduced-rate or no-cost dental care at your clinic to celebrate National Dental Care Month in May, create a Facebook event.
When in doubt, check out what other dentists are doing to spark your imagination. Pearline Health,3 a Los Angeles-based practice, does a great job showcasing the latest trends in dentistry in the “How We’re Different” section of their website.4 This particular practice identified what the people in their service area want from regular dental care. Their ideal patient wants no-hassle internet-based scheduling, affordable and transparent pricing, all-natural products, and appointments that start and end on time. They took that information and transformed their office into a modern, innovative dental practice that more directly appeals to the patients they serve.
3. Share Your Story
Get the word out about what makes your practice one-of-a-kind by following your plan. Make sure you have buy-in from your staff, too. Your employees are often your best marketers.
Create digital media content that focuses on how you’ve innovated to serve your patients better. Then share that content on social media, your website, and anywhere else you know your ideal patients will be.
Now is the time to innovate, and we can show you how. Schedule a strategy session by calling 888.307.7304 to get started.
For a list of references, please contact us.