Are you wondering how to attract more patients to a dental practice without spending over $1000/mo? Learn some free, one-time, or monthly strategies. Here’s a list of 25 that have been successful for our clients.
25 Ways to Attract More Patients to a Dental Practice Now:
- Update the photos on your Google Business Profile
- Get more Yelp reviews
- Buy little league jerseys
- Hire someone to write 2 SEO blogs a month
- Create a Do Good community outreach event
- Take the training and add Invisagline as a service
- Add dental implants as a service
- Stop posting before and after photos on social media!
- Become known for something specific
- Update your website homepage with StoryBrand
- Invest in Google Ads
- Create a family subscription plan
- Claim local listings
- Create 52 emails to send weekly to new patients
- Hire a social media intern
- Make sure nothing is broken on your website
- Make it easy to call your phone number when someone is on your website on their mobile phone
- Put your Google Maps info in the footer of your website
- Be a guest on a health podcast
- Identify your ideal patient
- Incentivize your front desk to get reviews
- Retarget your website visitors on Facebook
- Seek Business Referrals
- Offer 24/7 Online Appointment Scheduling
- Be as Flexible as Possible with Payment
We know a long list of things to do can feel daunting but commit to reading through this list and see what stands out to you or make you feel inspired. Then choose those one or two items to start. This will give you some momentum and help you and your dental practice be well on your way to accepting new patients that are ideal for your particular skills.
Read on for your inspiration…
Update the photos on your Google Business Profile
Aesthetics and your brand identity are important. You need to have quality images that reflect your brand in every business profile. Would you take a terrible picture to your printer to have them add it to your mailers? Of course not. The same goes for your online identity.
Customers respond when they see clean & well put together marketing images. So, get to updating that GB profile. While you’re at it, make sure all the information is up to date and that all the info is the same across all online platforms. Google loves consistency and even a period or comma that is inconsistently placed will cause a bit of an upset. Yes, Google is high-maintenance… please don’t tell them we said that.
Get more Yelp reviews
When someone gives you a compliment, ask them if they are a Yelper? If they are then they likely check-in weekly, write reviews monthly and have lots of friends on Yelp. If they don’t even have the app on their phone, DON’T ask for a Yelp review. Instead, text them your Google Business link.
If they’ve given a compliment already, it’s much more natural and acceptable to segue into asking them to write a review. Don’t promise anything in return for the written review. That’s a poor practice and not a great habit to get into.
Buy little league jerseys for your practice
Something like this is a great idea for a pediatric dentist. Kids love fun things and they don’t want to feel like they’re at the dentist when they are at the dentist. Frankly, most adults don’t either. Our client McGrady Dental did this and they got an .EDU website backlink. This boosted their website authority on Google and gave them more website traffic. Great little trick!
How to attract more patients to a dental practice, you ask? You’ll need more than the tools for the mouth. Specifically, tools that help with getting you noticed all over online platforms.
Hire someone to write 2 SEO blogs a month
Just off the top of my head based on my recent dental visits I can think of several things to write about. What would your patients find helpful? My hygenist asked me about the sensitivity. She gave me a printout with information for all the top toothpaste brands so that I would know which ones to stay away from based on their corrosive properties.
Do you specialize in something? What kind of issues do your particular patients (this would be your ideal patient if you do specialize in something), deal with regularly? How can you help them solve issues when they’re outside of your office? If they’re coming twice a year, that’s a lot of time away from you.
Think of the kids of things they’re dealing with and come up with some ideas for solutions. Who knows… you may just invent the next big thing!
Side note here… make sure you hire a writer who understands blog writing and the SEO that needs to come along with it. If they understand keywords then they can guide you with questions that will help you come up with ideas for them to write about. This one is collaborative!
Another idea for this one. My dentist has a front office full of phenomenal staff who are highly capable. Are there any staff members that are yearning to learn something new or tackle something creative? Maybe it would be helpful (and appreciated by them) if you’d invest in their learning to blog. You’d keep it in-office and boost their morale.
Create a Do Good community outreach event
A client of mine volunteers monthly through a non-profit to provide free dental exams at elementary schools around San Diego. What could you do for your community? What are you willing to commit to doing on a regular basis? It doesn’t have to be once a month. It could be twice a year or even just once a year. Depending on the kind of event, you’ll decide which frequency works best.
Take the training and add Invisalign as a service
If there is a service that can be added to your current menu it only makes sense to at least explore the possibility. You won’t lose anything by looking into it and it could end up being something your patient base would respond well to.
So, get out there and discover how you can boost your bottom line.
Add dental implants as a service
Many general dentists are nervous about adding this service and many quit after messing up the first time. I was talking to my friend’s husband who is a periodontist about this last week and he believes that only periodontists should be doing implants but he said patients are loving that it’s so convenient to get work done at the dental practice they’ve been going to for years and with the dentist they trust.
I will say… I am a total baby about the dentist. I’ve had a couple of terrible and painful experiences, so when I found my current dentist, I knew I’d hit the lottery. I feel safe with this one and that is worth its weight in gold.
Stop posting before and after photos on social media!
Most people are grossed out by ugly teeth and don’t want to see them when they are scrolling on Instagram. Just show smiling happy people (sorry not sorry that the REM song is now playing on a loop in your head).
Showing photos of what success looks like and how life can and will be once they come to you. If you do dental surgeries don’t make reels showing bloody surgeries, that grosses people out too! Okay… I know there is a faction out there that loves those Dr. Pimple Popper videos, but leave that to her.
It’s worth mentioning that in general, approximately fifty percent of patients fear the dentist. So then, why would showing bloody surgeries ever be a good idea?
Your marketing material and social media marketing will be much more effective if you paint that picture of success for your patients. Get to painting!
Become known for something specific
This is so important in every kind of business. When the public can identify you as the person who does { insert specialty here }, you’ve already won! You’ve branded yourself as an expert and have a leg up on the competition. This will help you to stand out. 
Is there a profitable procedure you love doing? Is there a new piece of equipment that’s getting clout on the daytime news shows? People Google when they learn about something that will make their life better. Even better for you if you already have a trained SEO website creator or blogger on your staff (or at least hired). They can stay up to date on these kinds of things and add the appropriate keywords to your online platforms.
Update your website homepage with StoryBrand
If you haven’t heard of StoryBrand yet, get ready… it’s a game-changer!
Simply put, the StoryBrand framework helps to bring clarity to your marketing so that you can put out the clearest message about the problem you solve for your ideal customer. This framework uses the elements of a well-told story while casting your customer as the hero of their story and you as the guide for them.
We dive deep into this framework in several blogs. Follow these links and have a look at what you can do to incorporate this method into your marketing.
Follow the link below to find out more about StoryBrand, how it works, and how you can add it to your marketing message:
How The StoryBrand Framework Helps You Get More Clients
If you’re feeling confident and want to tackle the StoryBrand strategy with a time frame, follow this link:
How To Apply The StoryBrand Marketing Strategy In 90 Days
Invest in Google Ads
A client of ours who we’ve done local SEO for 7 years recently wanted to change up his marketing strategy and heard Google Ads was really working. He thought he could save money on marketing. However, in San Diego dentists really need to be spending at least $3,000 on ad spent. He was shocked and thought he’d get results with just $500 a month in ad spend. He decided to stick with our local SEO services.
He’s currently dominating in his Google Maps for Invisalign and emergency dental.
Create a family subscription plan
Do you know who likes saving money? Moms! Well, guess who generally takes care of planning and scheduling for the family’s dental needs. Yup… moms!
Creating a subscription plan that benefits an entire family and helps these households save money will be well received and much appreciated.
It’s worth mentioning that there is generally no better advertisement than a happy mama!
Claim local listings
Google your business name, city, and reviews to see the list of all the review sites you are already on. Google your top 3 competitors and make a list of the ones they are on and signup for them too.
I can’t mention this next tip enough. Be sure that ALL your listings are exactly the same as far as the information you give. This includes commas, periods, and parentheses. It must be the exact same across all online platforms.
Follow this link to find out more about What Is A Business Listing In SEO? 4 kinds so that you can be sure you’re doing it right.
Create 52 emails to send weekly to new patients
I know… this is another one on the list that can seem insurmountable and just too much to think about. But, you don’t have to tackle this first thing. This can be something you accumulate ideas for over a period of time; a year or more even.
If you are interested in tackling this at any point, try the BMS courses.
Business Made Simple has online courses to help you grow your business. In the course Communication Made Simple you’ll learn the framework of how to write these emails in a way that people will enjoy reading them and learning from you.
Find out more by visiting Business Made Simple and get the training you need to tackle your marketing.
Just imagine… 18 months from now you could be sitting back with a glass of wine, reaping the benefits of having done this one. The great thing is that it creates residual benefits.
Hire a social media intern
Regardless of the size of your practice, you’ll want to have social media. There’s no better way than to engage with your patients when they’re not awkwardly chatting while open-mouthed in your dental chair. So, taking advantage of this tool is paramount.
Acadium touts itself as being the world’s largest community of marketers. You can find someone within that community to handle your social media. You’ll give them a list of around 5 of your competitors, they’ll research their websites and social media presence, and then come up with a social media plan that is similar, but better for you.
If it’s a larger practice, it’s likely they are working with a social media agency that did a deep dive to research and create their overall social media strategy.
Make sure nothing is broken on your website
It’s beneficial to audit your website regularly. Once a quarter is reasonable. You want to have confidence that your buttons and links are functioning properly.
Make it easy to call your phone number when someone is on your website on their mobile phone
I can tell you from personal experience that if a business doesn’t make it easy for me to press a link to call them, I’ll likely be skipping that call. That one-finger magic will help you grow your patient base.
Put your Google Maps info in the footer of your website
Anything you can do to make your patients locate you as easily as possible… do it!
Be a guest on a health podcast
If you get yourself hooked up with this kind of opportunity, they will most likely write an SEO blog to go along with your podcast episode and you’ll get a backlink to your website. If they don’t then you should hire someone to write an SEO blog for you and put it on your website.
Another good reason to have an in-house staff member with this skill, am I right?
This gives you more content to post on social media and it shows the local news stations and magazines that they should interview you too.
Identify your ideal patient
Do you know who your ideal patient is? This one goes along with identifying your particular specialty. If you have one, that’s great, and identifying your ideal patient will be easier. If people are coming to you for a particular service because you’re the expert, that’s a win!
Cha-ching!
Incentivize your front desk to get reviews
Here’s an idea… Once a year, one of our dental practice clients does this around the holidays. They give $25 for every Google review.
A hygienist of theirs who needed new tires. She was able to make Christmas special for her family and buy the new tires from the review bonuses she got. This increased employee morale and made it fun around the office.
We all enjoy being incentivized.
Retarget your website visitors on Facebook
Retargeting! Think about it… how many times do you see an ad pop up on your phone or laptop after you’ve been to a website and left without clicking that ‘buy now’ button? It happens to me constantly. Some call it stalking, but those in the marketing world refer to it as a ‘retarget’.
To-may-to… to-mah-to… po-tay-to… po-tah-to! That’s what we say. Of course, we’re a bit biased.
But seriously… what it really means is that someone, who is already interested in what you’re offering, has visited your website and just not committed to you yet. You already know they’re interested so it’s just a matter of flirting a bit in order to get them to commit.
Facebook will display ads for your business right in peoples’ news feeds or in the sidebar on their desktop.
For a bit more info, here’s a video about Retargeting Ads, and check out this Digital Video Ads one while you’re at it.
Seek Business Referrals
Referrals from friends and family are another great way to grow your business. Develop a relationship with local businesses and you can work together for referrals.
If you’re working with someone who has a similar business to yours, such as a dentist or orthodontist for example, then you’ll be able to get the most relevant and valuable referral sources. You can also partner up with unrelated businesses and display their fliers in your office.
If your office is in a building with other businesses, offer to provide dental services for your neighbors. It’s important for people who work 9-5 jobs to be able to get their work done quickly If you have extended office hours, that can be an ideal solution for them to address their dental needs. Ask one of your staff members to personally deliver a letter of invitation to some of the businesses around you.
Keep in mind, just because other businesses are close to yours doesn’t guarantee they’ll be a good fit for this business growth hack. If you do use this approach, make sure to offer referrals to your referral partners. You may want to consider offering them something in return.
Offer 24/7 Online Appointment Scheduling
One of the biggest blunders dentists make with their websites is placing obstacles in the way of potential patients who might be interested in making an appointment. Even when your office isn’t open, you can still provide excellent customer service by allowing patients to book appointments at any time and on their own schedule.
The good news is you can easily fix this problem. Practice management software usually comes with a patient booking feature that you can add to the practice website. Patients can book appointments by clicking on a link. Your staff can then confirm them as needed.
If you make it easy for patients to choose you as their dental provider, they’re more likely to give you good reviews. A positive patient experience begins when someone visits your website for the first time.
And last, but certainly not least.
Be as Flexible as Possible with Payment
Many people worry about their ability to afford necessary dental services and treatments. Some companies offer dental insurance, but many don’t. For people who haven’t been able to afford dental care, the idea of booking an appointment may seem overwhelming.
If you want to get more patients into your practice, one thing you can do is be willing to work with their payment schedule. There are several different options, including:
- Working with an outside financing company allows patients to borrow what they want and pay it back gradually.
- Be willing to accept credit card payments.
- Offer an in-house payment plan allowing patients to pay for their treatment in installments after making an initial deposit.
- Offer discounts for patients who pay upfront and/or with cash.
You’ll need to weigh the potential for ongoing delinquencies against the flexibility of payment options. Your staff may have some extra work after they’ve sent out invoices for scheduled payments. There are ways to solve this problem. For example, you can set up an email list so that when patients agree to pay their bill, they get an automatic reminder to pay.
Being empathetic to the financial needs of your patients will go a long way toward building a happy patient base.
Schedule A Call now and I’ll help you determine the number one thing on this list that will work best for YOU to attract more dental patients to a dental practice TODAY!
Drop a comment below to tell us what you’re doing either from this list or your own. We want to know!