As a businessperson, you should be aware of the reasons why a person would reach out to your office and make sure that you are prepared properly to handle them. We learned this in dental school, but somewhere along the way, we forget and it can come back to affect our level of success.

So, what are the two reasons clients seek you out:

1) They have a problem and think you might have a solution.

2) They heard about a potential problem and they wish to avoid it in the future.

So, as a doctor, you were trained to treat problems. But, if new patients (prospective clients) can’t find you, how will they ever come to you to “solve” their problems? Branding a name can get expensive, especially if you are a small business. Therefore, you need to take advantage of every online resource that is available to maximize your presence online. It used to be the Yellow Pages 20-30 years ago, but these days, most people either look online for a dentist, or get a referral then look you up and check out your reviews online BEFORE they even call your office. Hiding your head in the sand and saying you don’t like a particular platform is NOT helping in building your brand awareness.

Did you know there are more than 20 different major dental directories online and chances are you are not listed correctly on all of them, or haven’t claimed your free profile, or verified the accuracy of the information. 75% of the dental offices we check either have discrepancies in their address, online business name, or phone number. In addition, there are several major free online directories that offer more than just making sure you address and phone number are correct.

If you don’t have a website in the year 2020 or later, you might as well not even be in business, unless you are a specialty and have a huge number of referrals consistently sending you client. But, is having a website, the ultimate solution? Again, not if no one knows the web address or you don’t put it out there (Stationery, business cards, letterhead, signs in windows or in any advertisement, or promotion.)

An easy to navigate, well-written website with unique authoritative information that shows why you are the person to go to is helpful for sure. But again, without marketing your website, you might as well have an inexpensive templated website that is a clone of 300 other websites.

Your website should not only demonstrate clearly the services and skills you offer, but also educate your viewers why seeing you preventatively would be beneficial. It can also teach them about services and procedures that may be considered elective or cosmetic to improve conditions that they weren’t aware could be corrected or that could improve their lives.

In this digital age, online marketing in the year 202 is mostly done via Google Ads, or depending upon your market Facebook ads. Other platforms are also available, but if you are still reading this, you probably haven’t maxed out the usage of these two MOST common areas for marketing first. With these types of ads, you can “target market” those people most likely to be searching for or interested in your services.

SUMMARY: Increasing your brand awareness in your community will help you get found. Making sure people can FIND you when they need your services is critical. Putting information out there, whether in infomercial format or videos or other marketing formats will stimulate interest in your non-emergency services. INTEGRITY DENTAL MARKETING has been doing this for over 20 years and can do it for your company as well! Contact us today for a FREE online digital marketing audit! (Limited time offer.)