As any dentist knows, patient acquisition is a competitive endeavor increasingly played out online. More and more, potential patients learn about local businesses online, reading reviews and comparing options before making a final decision. In light of this reality, dental branding is a more critical consideration than ever before.
Your dental brand is more than just a logo or a catchy slogan; it's the total experience you offer your patients and how you communicate it to them before they even walk through the door. A well-crafted brand can set you apart as the premier choice in your community, but where should you focus your efforts for maximum impact?
In this article, we'll explore five essential investments every dentist should make to create a powerful and appealing dental brand. Incorporate these five pillars into your digital dental marketing strategy to create a positive patient experience from their first online search to when they leave your chair.
1. An effective dental logo
Your dental logo is usually the first visual element patients associate with your practice, making it crucial to your dental branding and identity. A well-designed logo instantly communicates your professionalism, values, specialty, and the unique qualities that set your practice apart.
A strong logo is a lynch-pin in your marketing aesthetic, so it's essential to consider a few key elements in its design:
- Simplicity: A clean, uncomplicated design is memorable and versatile.
- Relevance: Your logo should easily communicate your industry and brand identity.
- Originality: Avoid cliches—how many swishy blue teeth logos have you seen? Incorporate universal imagery with an original spin to avoid blending in.
- Color scheme: Choose colors that reflect your practice and can be used in all aspects of dental branding. For example, a pediatric dentist might choose brighter colors than a cosmetic dentist.
- Typography: Resist the urge to use a fancy font that makes your logo difficult to read. Reflect your personality, but test the logo in different sizes to make sure it's still legible.
- Scalability: Ensure your logo looks good at any size, whether on a social media post, a business card, or a billboard.
The best logo will work hard for your brand. In a sea of options, a unique logo helps patients to quickly identify your practice, signal your professionalism and attention to detail, subconsciously communicates reliability and expertise, and connects your entire dental branding concept with a recognizable through line.
Your logo is an investment in your brand's future. While it might be tempting to use a generic template or skimp on design, a professionally designed dental logo package can pay dividends in patient trust and recognition that far surpass the initial investment.
Try this: Contact a reputable dental marketing company for a free logo design consultation.
2. A beautiful, fast dental website
It's difficult to overstate the importance of a well-designed, optimized dental website. 38% of people will leave a poorly designed website immediately, and almost 40% cite outdated or unappealing design as a reason to abandon a site.
If your dental logo is the first visual introduction patients have to your practice, then your website is often the first real interaction. A great dental website is a powerful tool to attract new patients, showcase your expertise and professionalism, and reinforce your brand identity.
To build trust and credibility, ensure that your dental website has a beautiful, user-friendly design that's simple to navigate and makes it easy to find important information about your services. Include clear CTAs (Calls-to-Action) directing patients to book an appointment, call the office, or sign up for a newsletter. Use high-quality visuals and photos and incorporate your dental branding throughout the website's aesthetics.
Work with a website designer who understands how to create mobile-optimized websites, how to tackle technical optimization, and how to keep your site running lightning-fast. These elements will keep users on your dental website and help you rank in Google Maps search results by boosting your SEO.
Try this: Contact a dental marketing company to learn how to revamp your website's speed and aesthetics without spending a fortune.
3. Online reputation management
Online reviews are digital word-of-mouth and can make or break your practice's reputation. A staggering 71% of online users say they wouldn't consider using a local business with an average rating below three stars (though the majority still expect a good business to have four or five-star averages).
Positive reviews (especially on your Google Business Profile!) heavily influence patient decision-making, boost your search engine rankings, and build trust in your credibility and standard of care. So, how should you manage your online reputation?
Just ask! After an appointment, ask satisfied patients to leave reviews. Make it easy by creating signs with a QR code linked to your Google Business Profile. You can also use automated reputation management tools to text patients a review link right after their visit.
An effective method to get new reviews fast is to implement an in-office campaign. Set a goal and offer a grand prize for your employees, encouraging them to request reviews.
Try this: Download a free ready-to-print review campaign kit with everything you need to set goals, measure success, and encourage new reviews.
4. Social media marketing
Dental branding extends to your social media marketing strategy. Social media is the perfect platform to showcase your practice identity through curated aesthetics, personable interactions, and content that establishes your expertise.
Successful dental social media marketing involves consistent posts with high-quality visuals that reflect your brand. Engaging with your audience boosts your visibility and promotes a sense of trust, and sharing your team's personality with behind-the-scenes photos humanizes your brand. It makes your practice seem friendly and approachable.
Different platforms offer opportunities to reach distinct audiences and share specific content:
- Facebook: This platform is perfect for sharing practice updates, patient testimonials, educational content, and building community on your page.
- Instagram: Before-and-after photos, team highlights, office tours, and short-form video content do particularly well on Instagram.
- YouTube: Longer-form content like educational videos, product demos, meet-the-employee interviews, and longer virtual office tours are great for YouTube.
- LinkedIn: Use LinkedIn for professional networking and posting articles that establish you as a thought leader in the dental community.
Social media is about building relationships, so an effective dental branding strategy focuses on providing value and positive interactions that support your brand identity. A dental marketing company offering social media services can help you curate your image, create tailored graphics, and provide you with effective ideas for dental social media posts and campaigns.
5. Custom content
You may have heard that content is king, and the adage holds in dental marketing. Regularly published custom content builds your brand identity as an authority in your field while giving your website and social media accounts a major boost in visibility and search engine rankings.
Blog posts are a huge opportunity to grow your practice's online presence and are often overlooked because of the perceived difficulty in writing regular content. However, blogging allows you to build your dental brand by sharing your expertise on relevant topics, which can be shared across your social media accounts to engage followers. A dental blog also allows you to write about services you'd like to rank for in Google search results, boosting your website's SEO.
While blogging is the top custom content option to support your dental branding, it's by no means the only option. Original infographics, e-books, newsletters, videos, and images with custom graphic design are all opportunities for patient outreach.
Try this: Download 7 free blog post templates to queue up multiple ready-to-go posts.
Investing in your dental brand for long-term success
Your dental branding is more than a visual identity; it's the total experience you offer patients during every step of their interaction with your practice. Creating a cohesive, professional image of your practice sets you apart from your local competition.
By investing time and care into these five pillars of dental branding, you'll encourage new and existing patients to see your practice as recognizable, trustworthy, and authoritative. Use your brand identity to support your efforts to offer exceptional care, and you'll attract new patients and enjoy a competitive advantage in your community.
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in DE Weekend, the newsletter that will elevate your Sunday mornings with practical and innovative practice management and clinical content from experts across the field. Subscribe here.
