11 Reasons Blogging Is An Effective Dental Marketing Strategy
I’m always impressed with the clarity of Mark Schaefer’s blog, Business Grow.
For any dental practice marketing maven, his blog is a strong recommendation. Mark has a tremendous grasp on marketing’s human side and 90% of his posts have direct application to a practice’s social media marketing.
A little while back Mark published a well-written infographic entitled “10 Reasons To Blog”. I slightly modified it for dental practices to include the 11th reason.
#1. Ranking Higher on Google
SEO is one of the least expensive ways to find new patients. And, guess what? It’s heavily weighted on great blogging. Original and fresh content is required for dental SEO optimization.
#2. Improved Dental Marketing Skill Set
The E.A.T. principle (Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) that Google and other major search engines are using now is positively influenced by dental blogging. Effective dental marketing strategies will increase your E.A.T. rating inside of the search engines ranking alogirthims.
#3. Personal and Practice Growth
Blogging helps you to stay on top of current trends and advancements in the dental industry, especially when your blogging content is service specific.
Obviously, research done to improve your blog posts helps you to learn about new trends, products, and services being offered in the dental industry. It also forces you to speak clearly about the benefits of your dental services.
#4. Inbound Calls and New Patients
Dental blogging is a marketing strategy that drips information over time to your website. Doing so keeps your database apprised of what’s going on in your practice. Updates, events, new services, or specials are easily blogged about and encourage your patients to reconnect.
#5. Your Mission, Brand, and Culture
In the day-to-day management of the dental practice, it’s easy to lose sight of the purpose of your office. When you lose sight of your purpose you lose control. When you lose control you start making very big mistakes.
When you blog you’re forced to get very clear on what your practice is all about. You have to actually verbalize your practice intent, mission, and purpose. Keeping your feet solidly placed on the mission of your practice will make all the difference when it comes to finding new patients with digital marketing.
#6. Develops A Content Library
Blogging is a way of creating an R&D lab where you’re able to get specific about certain topics.
The next time a patient asks about how a dental implant works, why not send them a blog article that you wrote that includes a short video answering the most asked questions?
How much more valuable is that than a link to a generic article about a dental service?
#7. Newsletter Content
Behind texting, email is still one of the most effective dental marketing strategies. Open rates on email are much higher than most forms of dentist marketing.
There is no reason to have two sets of content, one being your blog and the other an email newsletter. All content should start as a blog and then be distributed through each marketing channel.
Rather than write an email newsletter about an upcoming event, write it as a blog post and send it out as a newsletter.
#8. SEO Benefits That Last Forever
Potential patients are going to find your blog content in the search engines long after you’ve published. Anything that you write today will be benefitting you in years to come.
#9. Dental Practice PR
When you write a blog post it acts as a Public Relations piece. It’s not like a press release or an email newsletter. Blogging has a massive upside opportunity for reach, especially when you distribute your blog content across multiple platforms and social media.
#10. Provides Positive Impact vs. Numbers
How many local persons are reading your blog? How many of them were affected positively by the content? Is it one, two, or a hundred?
You really don’t know how many potential patients (and current patients) you’re touching with your blog content.
Bonus #11. Blogging Breathes New Life Into Your Practice And Career
There’s a quote from Clarissa Felts, Lowe’s VP for Collaboration, Diversity & Inclusion, that is often used by self-appointed social media pundits who (in my opinion) don’t really understand social media marketing OR dental blog content… “Social media doesn’t change culture, it reveals it.”
Having worked very closely with thousands of practices around the world for the last 10 years I can unequivocally say that nothing could be further from the truth in a dental, orthodontic, or eye care practice.
Social media marketing changes the culture of practices—and blogging is the cornerstone for those changes. Social media is a catalyst for improvement. Social media reinforces to everyone on the team that what they do each day matters… That thoughtful, remarkable health care makes a difference in people’s lives… That the practice they’re so privileged to work in is a valuable part of the community fabric.
Social media marketing brings a generous, honest, giving spirit into the practice. Social media marketing is a constant, consistent reminder and reinforcer that you’re treating people first. These things change cultures.
If you’re a leader in your practice—regardless of whether or not you’re the doctor—I urge you to blog. If you need help getting started, we can help you. If it sounds overwhelming, we make it simple. If you don’t know what to write about, we will guide you. If you think it will take too much of your valuable time, it won’t with our assistance. But even if you don’t harness our help, setting up a blog only takes a couple of minutes. Blogging helps grow practices.
Just do it, be consistent and patient, and begin reaping the rewards in your practice.
About the Author: Adrian Lefler is a dental marketing expert and a key member of the dental marketing team at My Social Practice. My Social Practice is located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Adrian is passionate about helping dental practices grow through transparent and effective dental marketing services. If you have any dental marketing questions, give us a call at 877-316-7516. And, don’t forget to read our Google My Business reviews.
