The dental industry has become exceedingly competitive
due to a tighter economy, more educated patients and
the popularity of the Internet. Prospective and existing
patients often go online to make educated decisions when choosing
a dental care provider.
Digital marketing is a broad term that encompasses any electronic
market communications a practice presents to its existing
or prospective patients in its community. This includes cornerstone
channels like websites, search engine optimization (SEO),
social media management and review syndication, as well as online
advertising such as search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns.
Over the past decade a great deal of information has been published
about digital marketing. Ironically, the abundance of information
has often made it harder to determine the right strategy for
your practice.
The benchmark market research study
Let’s look at the findings of two benchmark research studies
on digital marketing in the dental space. The objective of the
studies was to understand the prevalence of each channel’s utilization
as well as overall dental professional satisfaction levels and
perception of value.
The first national market research study in April 2014 was a
blind study conducted to ensure objectivity and eliminate any risk
of bias.1
The study included 512 participants, of which 82 percent
were dentists and 100 percent had sole or shared responsibility for
selecting technology solutions for the practice.
The other study was conducted in March 2014. This study was
not blinded and the profile of participants was biased by the fact
that all have activated at least one digital marketing solution with
Sesame Communications. The objective of this study was to assess
perception of value for the activated digital marketing solutions.
The findings
Practice websites
With the transition of marketing to the digital world, dentistry
has shifted its perceptions of traditional marketing approaches and
clearly recognizes the power of the Internet. This is evidenced by the fact that 62 percent of dentists2 reported that print advertising
is not important to the success of their practice while 87 percent
of dentists stated their website is important to the success of their
practice.3 Interestingly, a research study from 2012 noted 95 percent
of dentists felt their website was important to the success of
the practice. The decline is perhaps due to the recognition on the
part of dentists that a website alone is not sufficient. In order to
be successful, a comprehensive online strategy with the practice
website as the foundation is required.
Of dentists with websites, a significant 76 percent had a degree
of satisfaction with their websites.4 This is a positive finding,
demonstrating the quality of websites improving over the past
years as well as that dentists have advanced up the learning curve
and are more discerning about their website requirements.
An interesting finding was the low level of loyalty on the part
of dental professionals to the developer and host of their current
practice website. A significant 19 percent stated they would likely
select a new provider for their future website project with 42 percent
being neutral.5 Considering that dentists tend to be brand
loyal, this may suggest one of three things:
- Working with their web developer was challenging
- The final practice website did not meet expectations
- The ongoing support from their web developer was poor
Search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO services target the prominence of a practice website’s
ranking in online searches. Considering 75 percent of users never
scroll past the first page of results, this is a very significant service.6
The study found that 53 percent7 of practices with an active website
have activated an SEO service — clear evidence that the dental
industry has embraced SEO.
Interestingly, 37 percent of participants noted they were not
satisfied with their SEO service.8 There are two likely reasons for
this. First, the industry has not done a great job establishing the
ROI and value proposition for SEO. Second, dentists likely were
led to believe they would rank first across all relevant search terms,
setting unrealistic expectations and unfulfilled promises.
Social media
Social media involves the active management of practice-branded
channels of communication with existing and prospective patients
and the local community. At minimum the strategy involves an
active Facebook page, YouTube channel, blog and LinkedIn profile
for the dentist(s) and practice.
The study found that 55 percent of practices have an active social
media channel.9 The challenge is the measurement of the tangible
effect and value of social media on practice performance. While some
impact elements are easy to measure (e.g., new patients contacting
the practice as a result of online social media engagement), others are
more challenging. For instance, the quantifiable value and benefit of keeping the patient base active and engaged with the practice. The
assumption this will lead to a stronger recare system and higher case
acceptance through connecting the dots in these areas is a challenge.
Review syndication
Online reviews are a critical part of an effective online marketing
strategy. A practice can have an incredible website, SE O and social
media presence, but unmanaged lukewarm or negative reviews can
be extremely detrimental to new patient acquisition efforts.
Dentists recognize the value of reviews and many have had the
unfortunate experience of finding a less-than-stellar review online.
The key to dealing with negative online reviews is to not shy away
from them. The best strategy to manage your online reputation is
to optimize the number of patient-qualified, positive reviews from
your practice. When a prospective patient finds a hundred great
reviews about your practice and one or two negative ones, they
will discount the negative ones and select you. By contrast, if only
a handful of reviews are published, each negative one will carry
greater weight.
As important as reviews are, the study found that most dentists
do not know how many reviews they have online.10 Only 5 percent
had more than 15 reviews online.11 The research results point
to a need for a more effective, proactive strategy to building your
practice online reputation with positive patient reviews. The issue
goes beyond the number of reviews and involves finding the optimal
channel for publishing reviews. While microsites house many
reviews, they rarely attract prospective patients looking for a new
dental care provider. By comparison, more than 20 million consumers
go to Healthgrades.com annually to schedule an appointment
with a new dental care provider. A research study found that,
on average, a Healthgrades Enhanced Profile drives more than 11
patient calls into the practice per month.12 An astounding 97 percent
of doctors with Healthgrades.com stated it is important to the
success of their practice.13
Final thoughts
In the digital age of dentistry, finding the right online marketing
strategy can be intimidating. The data in this article provides
insights into the trends in the industry. Evaluate where
your practice is, then select an online marketing company that
specializes in dentistry and can provide a comprehensive effective
strategy to drive results for your practice.
References
- Dental Products Report Study commissioned by Sesame Communications, April 2014
- Sesame Member Survey, 2014, Sesame Communications
- Ibid.
- Sesame Digital Dental Survey, 2014, Sesame Communications
- Ibid.
- Search Engine Journal, 2012, 24 Eye-Popping SEO Statistics
- Sesame Digital Dental Survey, 2014, Sesame Communications
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Ibid.
- Sesame Communications Research Brief, 2014, Healthgrades Enhanced Profiles™: Patient Acquisition
Performance Metrics
- Sesame Member Survey, 2014, Sesame Communications
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