It’s a new dawn and a new day in dentistry, a far cry from the mid-’80s when strict regulations prohibited advertising a dental practice. But is dental marketing a double-edged sword? Dentists are experts at clinical care; marketing is another story entirely. How is a dentist supposed to approach the giant, often intimidating world of marketing, make sound investments, and yield a great return?
In June of this year, the ADA announced a partnership with Intelligent Dental Marketing. The venture is intended to help dentists with branding and identity, external marketing, internal marketing, and case presentation. This just reinforces the idea that dentists need to market their services. (Read the article at
 http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/pubs/adanews/adanewsarticle.asp?articleid=2568.)
Marketing Made Easy
One of the easiest, most affordable ways to boost your advertising efforts is to get plugged in to the Internet. With a Website optimized for search engines (SEO), patients will come to you.
Instead of picking up the Yellow Pages to find a dentist, most of your potential patients probably turn to Google, Yahoo, or another favorite search engine. They simply type "dentist" and their hometown into the search bar (or a service they’re interested in, like teeth whitening). Google produces a list of relevant dentists who have Websites, and the patient then browses those sites to determine which dentist they will give their business to.
Will Internet Marketing Pay Off?
With an SEO Website, you can see every move your potential patients make on your site, from entering, to browsing, to leaving. It’s all tracked through a comprehensive reporting system. These reports allow you to monitor your return on investment (ROI), so you can know for sure if your Website is working for you!
Marketing your dental practice does not require a lot of hard work on your part if you turn to experts who have your best interests at heart and know the business of dentistry, as well as marketing. A custom Website that reflects your practice, explains your services, and attracts the patients you want requires little more than your input. TNT Dental has served patients with custom dental Websites for years. They know dentistry, and they know Web marketing. You can check out TNT online at www.tntdental.com.