As a freelance dental writer, I understand the real benefits that content marketing for dentists brings, and in the competitive world of dentistry, clinics need to do everything they can to avoid patients from walking through someone else’s door.
Yet despite this, according to a report carried out by Demand Gen, less than 30% of UK clinics are actively using written content as a primary marketing strategy.
This might seem a little strange as according to that same report 67% of patients surveyed are now searching for information about treatments and procedures online. In reality, if you’re not supplying that information to them, then chances are those potential patients (A) won’t even know you exist and (B) are likely to be sitting in someone else’s dental chair.
This is all well and good but what exactly is content marketing?
In a few words, dental content marketing means ‘consistently creating helpful information and putting it directly in front of relevant people who might want to use your services’. In this case – your potential patients!
Whether this is a blog post, a tweet, or a helpful guide, the end goal is the same – to entice people to use your clinic the next time they have a dental problem, emergency or are in need of a check-up.
Aside from this, well-written content and ultimately content marketing has other benefits too. With this in mind, here are some other ways that content marketing can drive results for dental practices.
Gives your brand a massive boost
One of the main drivers of successful content marketing is consistency. If you’re continually publishing fresh, meaningful content such as blogs or regular email updates sent out to your database then it creates growing opportunities for people to see your name. Over time your brand becomes familiar to them and the next time they – or anyone else they know – needs a dentist, you’re likely to be top of the list.
Builds trust
Let’s face it, if there’s one type of business we really need to trust – it’s a dentist. So if there are say 10 dentists in town, but only one is actively giving out helpful hints, tips and advice in the form of meaningful content, then there’s a greater chance that this is the dentist that patients are going to trust.
It’s like the law of reciprocation. If a person helps another of their own free will, without wanting anything in return, then there’s likely to be a strong element of trust by the receiver for the giver, and that’s how great content marketing works. So to coin a rather over-used phrase ‘It really is all about adding value’.
Encourages action
Procrastination is only natural when patients are looking to have dental treatment (unless of course, it’s an emergency). So for procedures such as dental implants or orthodontics, which are first, a big commitment, and secondly a big expense, people are more likely to weight up all the options first, before taking the plunge.
With this in mind, by producing patient-friendly procedural guides that address all their questions, concerns and fears, you’re more likely to persuade the patient to (A) have the procedure done and (B) come to you for treatment. In other words, helpful, patient-centred content encourages action.
Shareable content – a great vehicle for gaining more patients
It’s a well-known fact that many marketing tactics that might already be in place such as Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, Search Engine Optimization, banner adverts and other public relations marketing techniques, simply don’t work as well without content to promote. The reality is that they need something to link to, or to talk about. By publishing unique, relevant and meaningful content, the reader has a reason to click through.
The bottom line is that creating content that people will enjoy reading and above all share will attract more traffic to your website.
Search engines love updated content
We’ve already mentioned that according to one survey around 67% of all new dental patients in the UK are searching for a dentist or a particular dental treatment online. This is where your website comes in as it’s likely to be a potential patient’s first impression of your business.
A stagnating website that hasn’t been updated is arguably less interesting and could also be regarded as less professional than one that has regularly updated content. What’s more, Google loves websites that have fresh updated content and will generally favour them over a website that hasn’t been updated for a while.
So if you want a website that’s both professional looking and one that the search engines are likely to rank higher, consistent blogs and pages are key.
So there you have it – Well written informative and engaging content is ultimately here to stay and by engaging in this type of marketing, you’re more likely to be one step ahead of your competition and who doesn’t want that?
As experienced dental writers, we write informative, engaging and patient-friendly content specifically for dentists. If you have any questions about how we can help your business, then we’d love to hear from you. You can drop me a line at dale@dentalwriters.com or alternatively, if you’d like to take a look at the services we offer then visit our website at www.dentalwriters.com.
