The digital marketing environment is always changing. Trends and algorithms evolve frequently. Consumer behaviors vary. It’s difficult to keep up with all of this. That’s why, in order to help you make 2022 a year of growth for your dental practice, we’ve updated this article to include the top 10 dental marketing tips you need to know today.

1. Improve Your Website’s Conversion

Website designs have a shelf life of only a few years. Trends and user behavior change quickly. Has your website passed its expiration date?

There are several dental marketing services that provide stunning website designs. However, your website is much more than simply beautiful. If you solely concentrate on the aesthetics, you risk overlooking the key elements that convert a website into a high-converting one.

Users don’t want to sift through lengthy blocks of text. Websites must load quickly and be simple to use. Our attention spans are short, therefore if someone can’t discover exactly what they’re searching for the instant they arrive on your website, you’ve lost them. And you’ll have most likely lost them to a rival.

It’s all about increasing new patient conversion. Taking a potential new patient on a digital journey that leads to a good real-world experience (i.e., a dental checkup) is important. It’s an excellent moment to think about updating your website in 2022 to improve user experience and attract more clients.

2. It’s All About The S.M.I.L.E.

The #1 tip we can offer going into 2022 is to focus on your S.M.I.L.E. S.M.I.L.E. stands for Smart Measurable Indicative Long Term Evaluation. It’s a crucial idea that binds your online presence (as a person) to you.

Google wants to make sure that the search results are trustworthy. Google is now more diligent than ever about website content in the health and wellness sector.

What can we do about it? Make yourself trustworthy. “Google is rewarding websites that demonstrate S.M.I.L.E well,” according to SEO Specialist, Jannell Howell. Even with an excellent website, business owners who are inactive with their web presence will have a difficult time keeping up, and may eventually fall behind the competition.

To improve your S.M.I.L.E., you should consider the following:

• Smart: Always be learning and investigating. What’s new in the world of dental marketing?
• Measurable: What kind of metrics are you tracking? How often do you assess your analytics? What’s working and what’s not working?
• Indicative: What are some metrics you can use to show that your marketing efforts are effective? How many new patients have you gained?
• Long-term: What’s your plan for the next 6 months, 1 year, 5 years? What’s your exit strategy?
• Evaluation: Evaluate your current dental marketing strategy and make sure you’re ticking all the boxes. If not, it may be time to consider making some changes.

3. Ramp Up Your Content Marketing

Is there still a lot of emphasis on content in 2022? Without a doubt. Website content helps prospective new patients understand your knowledge and experience. It’s what Google uses to rank search results. It feeds the SEO fire that burns inside you. So, whether you want to improve your rankings or not, keep producing content.

Of course, there’s a catch. Ineffective, irrelevant material will not suffice. It’s all about quality now. People want useful, relevant information when they Google search. What is Google’s aim? Serve the public what it wants.

If a searcher clicks your website for ten seconds only to bounce off, you have a quality issue – which, in turn, generates a Google problem (indeed, the Google gods are always watching).

In a nutshell, don’t just produce content for the sake of it. Put on your thinking cap and imagine yourself as a potential patient. “What is my ideal target patient searching for?” you might ask yourself.

You could give suggestions on how to deal with dental anxiety. Alternatively, you might answer a question like “How do I know if I have periodontal disease?” The goal is to figure out what they want and then deliver it to them.

4. Use Video To Engage Your Patients

Consider this: According to a recent survey, 45 percent of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos each week through mobile devices and desktops. To put it another way, video is a powerful tool for digital marketing. You may distribute videos on your website, post them on social media, and send out through other digital means.

It’s time to improve your LinkedIn videos. You’ll need a clear, compelling message that you can communicate in less than 60 seconds if you want people to watch them all the way through. It’s critical not just for search rankings, but also for gaining new patients and establishing relationships with existing ones. Today’s candidates must show they are more dynamic than

You could broadcast an event via Facebook Live. Interview a member of your team. Shoot a tour of your office “behind-the-scenes.” These types of videos allow current patients to feel included and offer prospective patients a taste of what it’s like to be one of your patients.

For a sneak peek behind the curtain… Smile Marketing does this all the time. A staff member’s personal video in an email demonstrates an important aspect: we’re actual people. We have goals and are concerned about what we do.

Remember, as consumer expectations increase online, potential patients crave genuine experiences. Dental practices that provide genuine experiences will always be on top.

5. Consider Digital Assistants

The use of voice search will become increasingly common in 2022. In fact, by 2022, it is predicted that more than half of homes will possess a smart speaker device, in addition to the vast majority of individuals who already have a digital assistant on their phone (i.e. Siri and Google’s smart assistant).

Our Google Ads team is finding more and more search terms that begin with “Okay Google” — the code phrase that launches an Android device’s digital assistant – as far as people using digital assistants for voice search are concerned. Furthermore, we have first-hand experience with Google, which has informed us that the search engine is beta-testing a feature to

What does this signify? You must modify your SEO approach to accommodate voice searches, not only keyboards and touchscreens.

Example: Rather than focusing solely on keywords like, “Dentists California,” also incorporate long-tail keywords like, “Find a dentist in California.”

6. Invest in Paid Search Campaigns

The most valuable real estate in the Google search results is filled with ads.

The importance of organic SEO has lessened. While it is still critical to invest in organic SEO for longer term search result exposure, topping the ranks means that users must scroll past numerous advertisements to view you. This might be why your website traffic or new patient counts are down.

You have the ability to target local residents in your area who are searching Google for a new dentist with pay-per-click advertising (PPC), such as Google Ads. You may pick and choose which search terms you wish to target, develop unique advertisements, and include links to a specialized landing page on your website. Digital advertising can increase your website traffic by as much as PPC can be a bit tricky, but it’s worth the investment to hire an expert. The Google Ads platform is ever-changing, so you need someone who knows what they’re doing to get the most out of your budget.

It’s a great method to boost web traffic, get more exposure in a fiercely competitive market, or run a New Patient Special. Just make sure you have an expert manage your PPC efforts so that your cash is being spent effectively.

7. Get More 5-Star Online Reviews

The value of positive internet feedback isn’t new. However, in 2022, as more and more individuals rely on them to make commercial judgments (or in your case, a medical decision), reviews will take on even greater significance.

According to research, 91 percent of people read online reviews and 84 percent believe them as much as personal recommendations. To put it another way

Google also takes into account review ratings in its search engine results, giving it a significant edge (or disadvantage) over your competitors. For example, if you have an average 3.2 star rating on Google and a competitor has a 4.7 rating, you’ll find yourself lower down the page than they do.

8. Break Through The Social Media Noise

There are several advantages to using social media (building communities, increasing retention, and so on), but there are also several challenges. The rivalry among companies is as fierce as ever, and users are becoming increasingly weary of “marketing noise.” So, in 2022, how can you break through the confusion to make social media work?

Make it personal. The most active Facebook pages are those in which physicians and employees discuss workplace events. What’s most essential to them. What they’re doing for their community. What patients have to say about them

Using interactivity to break through the clutter is another method to employ. Organize a poll on your Facebook page, do an opinion survey (e.g., “What’s the most pleasurable thing about going out with pals?”), or anything else that will pique your fans’ interest and inspire them to want more.

9. Send Email Campaigns

Email automation enables you to deliver time- or activity-triggered emails to your patient list. For example, you can automate a monthly newsletter using email automation. Alternatively, after a patient’s first appointment, you may automatically send out a new patient survey using email automation.

During the epidemic, we’ve supplied various email campaigns to our clients in order for them to interact with patients while avoiding any potential dangers. This has been critical in maintaining revenue and remaining firm over the last two years.

While you must be more creative with email (due to inbox competition and message fatigue), it is still one of the most productive dental clinic marketing methods. It also has a high return on investment, to mention nothing of the fact that it’s a lot of fun!

STATISTIC: For every $1 spent, email marketing generates $38 in ROI.

Going through your patient list and sending personalized emails one by one isn’t practical any longer. That is why, by 2022, email automation should be a part of your marketing arsenal. You can use the appropriate software to automate new patient surveys, birthday emails, holiday emails, as well as targeted promotional campaigns to help you keep your patient schedule full. The greatest news is that if you’re a client of ours, we’ll take care of it all for you.

10. Consolidate Your Marketing

There are several digital marketing solutions and software technology firms to select from. Knowing the intricacies of the digital marketing space and determining an approach that works for your clinic. You could have an SEO (search engine optimization) consultant, a freelance writer, a website designer for your dental website, a PPC vendor, and so on working on your digital marketing efforts in isolation. This has presented substantial problems for organizations during the years.

The first issue is dealing with many vendors. Second, each vendor has its own interests, making it challenging to identify the problem when things go wrong. When your new patient numbers decline, you might be subjected to a great deal of finger-pointing.

The truth is, if your digital marketing strategy isn’t working together, it’ll fail. This leaves you with a slew of concerns: Do the content writers understand my target audience? Was my site appropriately optimized for Google by the SEO consultant? Is my PPC agency wasting money on ineffective campaigns?

It’s time-consuming and inconvenient. It’s why more and more organizations are switching to a full marketing suite. One point of contact to manage your whole internet presence. It’s what you need to win in 2022.

Conclusion

By now, you understand the critical role social media will play in dental marketing in 2022. You also know that to be successful, you’ll need to break through the clutter, make it personal, and use email automation and interactivity. And finally, you understand that a consolidated internet marketing strategy is essential for success.

If you’re not already a client of ours, we invite you to contact us and see how we can help you take your dental marketing to the next level. We’ll be happy to provide a free consultation and show you how we can help you win in 2022. Thanks for reading!