Your dental practice needs new patients to succeed and grow. This means finding potential patients and converting them to loyal patients. The best way to do this is by developing a robust lead generation strategy that leverages every available opportunity.
So, what does lead generation for dentists entail? Here are six tips to get you started on finding and converting quality leads:
Focus on SEO for Dental Lead Generation
The majority of people looking for dental services start their search online on search engines such as Google and Yahoo. They identify the best dentists based on the information they find online before proceeding to book an appointment. This is what makes search engine optimization (SEO) an integral aspect of dental lead generation.
SEO entails optimizing your website and other online platforms to rank high on search engines. It is necessary for two reasons: first, there are thousands of other dental practices with websites, and second, most people only focus on the first three websites on a search engine’s results page.
SEO involves several aspects, including website design, mobile optimization, indexing, keyword research and ranking, and more. To this end, SEO goes beyond improving your website’s rank on Google – it improves virtually every aspect of your website. This multi-pronged approach ensures that benefits last, effectively securing your website’s long-term competitive edge. Some of these benefits include:
- Fast loading speeds
- A neat and easy-to-navigate interface
- Compatibility with mobile devices
- Competitive ranking for organic results
- Improved brand awareness
- Organic marketing (save money on PPC campaigns)
SEO is a major undertaking, and you cannot afford to make mistakes. This is why it is advisable to choose the best SEO agency for the task, preferably one that specializes in dental SEO services. Fortunately, you don’t have to look further than MiroMind for the best SEO services customized to your practice.
Project Authority via Dental Content Marketing
Potential patients will trust you more if they view you as an authoritative figure in your field. The best way to do this is by answering patients’ queries through robust, accurate, and informative content.
Content marketing mainly entails writing informative and easy-to-read blog posts on various topics – ideally as many topics as your potential customers’ questions. Besides articles, you can also create content in the form of videos – videos are 72% more popular with internet users than articles. Other popular types of content include images and audio files.
Most people don’t read dental websites for fun. The people reading your content likely need dental services. You are the first dentist they will go to if your content inspires confidence – it is an ideal example of dental lead generation and conversion.
Use Social Media for Getting Dental Leads
Social media is the best digital marketing platform because the billions of users worldwide are real people. Additionally, most of these people spend significant amounts of time on the platforms. Some of these people may be looking for dental services, and they will consider you if they are used to seeing your brand on their social media feed.
There are many ways to use social media to generate leads for dentists. For example, you can engage in influencer marketing by getting a popular personality with good-looking teeth to post themselves smiling on Instagram and tag your brand. This would inspire the celebrity’s followers looking for a perfect smile to consider your services.
Social media is also ideal for interacting directly with clients. For example, you can chat with your audience in the comments section. You can also give your past clients a platform to post their reviews, essentially enabling word-of-mouth marketing.
Refine CRO to Get More Dental Leads
The ultimate goal of dental lead generation is to convert the leads to paying clients eventually. Tactics such as creating informative content only serve to draw the clients to your brand – you need to go an extra step to get them to book an appointment. This entails engaging in conversion rate optimization (CRO).
There are many creative ways to convert dental leads to clients. The most popular is including a call-to-action prompt trying to get the person to book an appointment or subscribe to your newsletters. You can also include appointment forms for visitors to fill if they have already decided to book an appointment. It is advisable to test these tactics and focus on the most effective one.
Follow Up via Email
Most of your dental leads will not book an appointment after one interaction with your brand. They require more convincing and coercion, which is why it is advisable to follow up via email.
Following up via email doesn’t imply prompting your dental leads to sign up repeatedly. This would feel invasive, and it will have a negative impression on the leads. Your emails should be appealing, or else the recipients will treat and mark them as spam. As such, considering sending educative newsletters and other helpful content and then adding call-to-action prompts subtly within the content.
Sending your leads regular emails makes them feel that your services are within their grasp. Ideally, you will be the first person they contact when they need dental services.
Manage Your Dental Leads
Most of your dental leads will not book an appointment after one interaction, as explained. However, they are still potential clients, and you should retain their details and continue reaching out and trying to convert them. This requires a robust lead management solution.
The ideal lead management software will automatically collect and store all of your dental leads’ information, including their names and contact information. Some advanced solutions also analyze each lead, identifying important details such as the platforms they are most likely to interact with your brand. Most solutions will also track your leads’ buyer’s journey in relation to dental services, enabling you to prime your brand when they need dental services the most.
Would you like to learn more about dental lead generation? Better yet, would you like a fool-proof lead generation plan? Look no further than the best SEO agency for answers on how to get new dental patients: MiroMind! We have digital marketing and lead generation solutions customized for dentists, and we will personalize them to suit your unique needs and preferences.