I talk with a lot of dentists about growing practices using social media and their websites. While many dentists are recognizing the power of social media and their websites, I’m often surprised by how many don’t think they work. Almost without fail, those dentists have been burned before. They’ll say they work hard to build a good-looking website and Facebook page but see no results. Nobody’s booking appointments. Nobody’s liking, commenting on, or sharing their posts. No patients come in.
For example, someone recently told me they spent $20,000 for a marketing company to brand their website and social media channels, but they saw no results. That gets me pretty frustrated and upset because I know exactly what happened as well as the results they could have received by using that $20,000 more effectively.
The truth is, effective online marketing doesn’t have to cost that much money. I’ve seen it happen time and time again where practices spend less than $500 a month and regularly attract new patients. Practices regularly attract 50, 100, or more patients per month on a $500 budget.
That $20,000 could have lasted more than three years on that budget and delivered dozens of new patients per month along the way. Instead, they feel like they got ripped off and think online marketing doesn’t work.
The Problem with a Branding Approach
There is a problem with taking only a branding approach to social media and your dental website.
A large amount of misinformation is out there about online branding for dentists. Because of that, a lot of people think if you’re intentional about your branding, you’ll get more patients. So they spend thousands of dollars building a beautiful website nobody visits. They post on their Facebook and Instagram pages highly produced videos that nobody watches. They spend lots of time and money posting consistently on social media channels.
What they don’t understand is none of your branding matters if nobody sees it. Your videos don’t matter if nobody watches them. Your social media content doesn’t matter if it doesn’t reach anybody.
I liken it to investing in traditional marketing strategies. Imagine spending thousands of dollars to rent a billboard nobody sees or to design a beautiful ad for a magazine that nobody reads. Nobody in their right mind would do that. They’d look for billboards or magazines they know will be seen by ideal customers. It’s the same thing with social media. A beautiful profile and great content is a waste if nobody sees it.
The same is true with dental websites. Too many dentists spend thousands of dollars building beautiful websites that have no way to convert visitors into patients.
A Better Way to Approach Social Media
When I work with people, I make sure to tell people the truth. And the truth is, you need to invest in getting people to see your content. That means investing a few dollars in advertising for your website and social media posts.
People I work with can get dozens of new patients per month because they invest in showing their posts to people, and the right people. Their content is great, but their money is directed more toward boosting their posts on Facebook or paying to promote them on Instagram and less on expensive branding.
I’ve seen many people spend less than $500 to advertise and get dozens of new patients per month by running targeted ads. Dr. Shaina Holman gets more than 100 patients per month using social media on a budget of $500 per month.
If you’re doing great things online, invest a few dollars in targeted ads to go from branding to converting. Boost your posts, and run ads for Instagram. It’s easier than you think. Both platforms allow you to get very specific with your targeting. Here are three high-impact Facebook ad targeting audiences to help you to get started.
A Better Way to Approach Your Dental Website
When setting up your website, a clean look is important, but a conversion focus is key. Have calls to actions on there to give visitors the ability to create an online appointment.
You could give visitors a way to take a quiz and see if they’re candidates for high-revenue procedures such as Invisalign or dental implants. If they qualify, help them make an appointment right away.
You could incorporate chat bots using Many Chat or Chat Fuel to answer common questions from patients using automated responses. For example, if someone asks a question about crowns, you can set up an automated response to ask if they want to see images of crowns you’ve done, the process of the procedure, the cost, or something else. If they select one of the three, you could show them an automated response you’ve designed. If they select “something else,” you can ask them to enter their question and contact information and have someone reach out to them directly.
Connect and Convert
Are you using social media and your website to actually connect with more people and convert them into patients?
Switching from a branding to a conversion approach can quickly transform your practice. If you want help, check out Dental Profit Academy. There, you will find my best training, systems, and strategies to build and motivate your team.
You can also join my free Dental Marketing and Profits Facebook group, where thousands of dentists and I help each other build better practices.
Finally, if you want even more personalized help, sign up for my next business bootcamp session, where I work directly with you and a small group of other dentists to improve your dental practice.
This article originally appeared on DeliveringWow.com.