In my profession, I get to see a lot of dental copy. Some of it is good and some of it is not so good. So what makes for the best dental copy? Here are my thoughts…
- Posts or pages that are engaging, insightful, and knowledgeable
- Posts that position the client as an authoritative industry voice and most importantly
- Posts that build trust.
If you manage to achieve all of those components, then as a copywriter or content marketer, it’s fair to say that you’ve nailed it.
The trouble is that ‘nailing it’ depends very much on knowing what you’re talking about and even though a writer may be experienced in their trade, it isn’t always enough. Here’s why…
Passionate audiences in any niche can smell fakes a mile off and in most cases, they won’t be afraid to let you know when you’re well off the mark. The issue is that in the dental niche, being off the mark often results in misinformation. Ultimately, this can be damaging for both the patient and the practice owner.
So the question is… How do you as a dental practice owner ensure the content written isn’t at best, the same boilerplate stuff that’s been written on countless other websites; or….at worst, lands you in a whole heap of trouble?
The answer?
You should ensure that it’s written by a subject matter expert!
Of course, you could always write it yourself and this is what some practices do but then again, that would be defeating the object of outsourcing your content needs in the first place.
So what the heck is a subject matter expert anyway and more importantly where do you find one?
According to the US office Of Personal Management, a Subject Matter Expert (SME) is a person with bone-fide experience in what it takes to do a certain job within a certain industry.
In an ideal world this should mean that any web-based content is written by someone who has either worked in the dental industry; or has extensive experience in writing in it. In theory, this should make for the best dental copy.
In essence, an SME will know
- How to write in your brand’s voice, positioning you as the ‘go to‘ dentist in your area,
- How to take complex industry-specific material and break it down into subject matter which can be easily understood by your readers; and most importantly will know…
- How to talk to them.
Sounds good in theory – but how do you find one?
Ask around
Do you have a part-time hygienist who happens to be a dab hand at writing? What about that dental nurse who has written the odd blog for your website? You may even know of a clinician who already runs a popular dental blog. Why not ask them? At the very least they’ll politely refuse and at best, you’ll have a bone fide expert who just so happens to work in your industry.
Check out freelancing sites
Many people think that popular freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Freelancer.com aren’t the places to go to hire quality, industry-specific writers, but they’d be wrong. Do a search for dental writers and you’ll find dental technicians, dental nurses, dental clinicians, and even dental surgeons all willing to write dental-related content.
Top tip – Start by posting a project for a paid test article with the view to more work and invite candidates to apply. Also, ensure you pay a fair price as this will attract the right type of writer. Look to give them as much information about your project requirements. Once you have a decent amount of proposals, then go through them carefully. You might want to:
- Ignore boiler-plated responses that don’t address your specific needs
- Ignore those written in bad English
- Ignore anyone with multiple feedback or ratings that are low
For those that are still in the mix, look at their previous work (they should offer samples) and eventually their price. By now you should have your shortlist… Next, contact those people and get them to do a paid test. This is where you can really get a feel for their writing style and of course their dental industry knowledge. From this, you should be able to make your selection.
Finally… and I guess you could say that this is a shameless plug.
Look to hire a dental writing team
As opposed to your common or garden digital media company, a dental writing team only deals in your niche. What’s more, they only have writers who have extensive knowledge of the dental industry or have worked/or are working within it.
What’s more, because you’re not going directly through a digital media agency that then outsources their content needs to someone like us, it will cost you less money, So ultimately not only do you get the best dental copy, you get it at a great price.
Here’s the takeaway……
Although trying to find a subject matter expert may seem like a lot of hassle and time you can’t really afford, the fact is that with so much emphasis being placed on the quality and relevance of dental content, you really need to ask yourself if you can afford not to.
To find out more about how we can help you with your dental content needs, pick up the phone and contact us.
