You want to do more online marketing for your dental practice – but what kind of results can you expect? And how long will it take? What are realistic expectations for your investment? All these are important questions when considering an online marketing strategy for your dental practice.
It’s important to clearly know what you want to gain from marketing your dental practice online, and focus on that throughout the process. Also, know that it takes time to see results when you are starting a new strategy. Lastly, it’s important to know when to adjust your strategy to achieve your desired results.
Goal Setting for Dental Online Marketing
The 1st step to seeing results from an online marketing strategy for your dental practice is to clearly define your goals.
Do you want to grow your production?
Do you want to bring in new patients to your dental practice?
Would you like to engage with your current patients?
Are you looking to improve your Google ranking?
Every practice is in a different place of its business life cycle. Based on where your dental practice is and your growth goals, you can set goals for online marketing results. For example, in a newly purchased dental practice, establishing a strong Google ranking might be the #1 priority. In an established community dental practice, perhaps the goal is to connect with patients and educate them about their dental care. For a practice that has hit a growth plateau, the goal might be to bring in new patients.
It’s important to not only clearly define your goals, but also to narrow down to your most critical goals and focus on those. Whether you’re doing your own online marketing or contracting with an SEO agency, write down your goals and clearly communicate them to your partners so that you can achieve them.
Results Timeline for Dental Online Marketing
A big question on most dentists and orthodontists’ minds is – how long will it take for me to see results from my online marketing activities? Part of this depends on what kind of goals you have, and where your marketing is now. If you’re building a new website, or changing your URL, your timeline will be longer. If you’re simply looking to build engagement on social media, you may see quicker results.
A good rule of thumb is that it will take at least 6 months to fully establish an online marketing strategy for your dental practice. And then it will likely take up to 12 months to start generating tangible growth results. Marketing can be a slow process, and it’s important to give it enough time to catch your target audience. Even though it takes time, a solid online marketing strategy is essential to the health of any dental practice where business growth is a key goal.
What If I’m Not Seeing Results from My Online Marketing Strategy?
Dentist and orthodontists can become frustrated if they don’t see results right away from their online marketing strategy. How do you know when to change your strategy? While it’s important to remember that a dental online marketing strategy takes time, it’s also good to know when and how adjust your strategy.
The 1st thing to consider is – have you given your current strategy enough time to produce the results you’re seeking? And have you clearly defined goals for your online marketing efforts? If you answered “Yes” to these, and still feel like you’re not meeting your dental practice goals, it might be time to adjust components of your strategy.
If you’re working with an outside online marketing agency, communicate with them about the results you’d like to see versus what you’re actually seeing. You may want to change your content so it’s more engaging to your target market. Or maybe it’s time to add paid advertising to your organic content strategy to attract more engagement. You may need to implement a strategy within your office to get patients more involved with your online presence. While it’s important to give your online marketing strategy time to work, it’s also critical to know when to adjust to get the results you’re seeking for your dental practice.
We’re here to help you build an awesome online marketing strategy for your dental practice! Contact us today to get started meeting your business goals.