If you think that tallying your grand total of monthly appointments suffices as a strategy, you’ll have to think harder. Dental marketing in Australia is so much more than just statistics. If patient growth is something you’re serious about, you’ll have to strategize in other ways. Digital marketing, for example, is both the fundamental and all-encompassing way to fatten your appointment books.
There are so many ways you can promote your practice, we could write a book. However, let’s zoom in on a few of the more fundamental ways to get yourself out there—and bring the patients to you.
Promote yourself using Google Ads and social media ads
Whilst there’s nothing wrong with newspaper ads or directory listings, the reality is that most people consume advertisements either through Google searches or on social media. If your clinic doesn’t run ad campaigns on Google, Facebook, or Instagram, patients will make a beeline for a clinic that does.
Google and social media ads need a compelling graphic and some killer copy to hook the reader in. You can also use geotargeting to channel your ads to your audience—using factors such as location, age, or gender. Want a hand getting started? Contact 360 Dental Marketing in Melbourne on 1300 777 847 or book your consultation online.
Use location-based SEO
If you’re like most people, you’ve heard of SEO but don’t know what it’s about. SEO is a multi-faceted topic that deserves more than just a single section of an already-short blog post. Let’s focus, then, on location-based SEO, which is a large part of dental marketing in Australia.
What is location-based SEO? In a nutshell, it’s incorporating keywords in your web copy that pertain to a particular location. Let’s say, for example, that you want to open a dental marketing agency in Queensland. Not only can you incorporate the keyword ‘dental marketing queensland’ into your copy, but you can also target specific cities or suburbs. You can use keywords such as ‘dental marketing brisbane’ or ‘dental marketing gold coast’, for example.
Why use keywords? Because they match common search terms people type into Google. If your website corresponds with people’s search terms, it will fall among their top results—hence they’ll be more likely to use your service. This is the basic principle of SEO (search engine optimisation).
Take location-based SEO a step further
It’s all well and good to only use location-based keywords. You can, however, take your SEO a step further by creating landing pages tailored to your surrounding suburbs. This time, let’s say you want to open your dental marketing agency in Sydney. Not only can you use the keyword ‘dental marketing sydney’, but you can also add landing pages to your website appealing to the reader’s sense of locality. If someone were to Google ‘dental marketing surry hills’, they may find your website via your Surry Hills location page. The same principle applies to location pages for Barangaroo, Paddington, or whichever other suburbs you choose to target.
When taking this approach, it’s important to remember to paraphrase the content on each page. Although their messages should all be identical, their copy should not be. Google will pick this up as plagiarism and penalise your website with a lower SEO ranking.
Statistics trump numbers
As you can now see, dental marketing in Australia is a numbers game—but not in the way you think it is. Whilst counting your appointment total is an important way to track your efforts, it’s a way to monitor results rather than a strategy in its own right. Digital advertising campaigns and location-centric SEO are some fantastic ways to market your practice, but this blog post has not been an exhaustive list.
If you’ve read this blog post and found yourself overwhelmed, never fear. 360 Dental Marketing is here to take care of your digital strategy. If you want more patients to attend your dental practice, why not give us a call? 1300 777 847 is the number, or you can book your first consultation online. We want to find out what makes your practice tick and leverage that to drive results.
If you want to get ahead of your local competition, you know where to find us. Until then, remember that counting your appointment total is just one of the many steps to achieving your dream appointment numbers.
