Using Dental Health Content to Reach More Patients
Nowadays, more and more people are relying on online research when it comes to finding their next dentist. In fact, according to a survey, over 40% of US citizens choose their dental clinic based on online reviews and top-ranked search engine results. Therefore, it’s obvious that dental health content marketing is a necessity for dentists all over the country.
However, since most potential patients focus on the top search engine results, it’s not enough to just put together a website and hope for the best. From engaging content to SEO strategies, dentists have a lot to do in order to increase their online presence. And with so many professional companies that provide SEO for dentists, it’s becoming even harder to stand out. Fortunately, we are here to unravel the mysteries of dental health content marketing and help you understand how it all works.
What Is Dental Health Content Marketing?
Dental health content marketing is a digital marketing strategy that focuses on educating and reaching people through online content. In other words, health content marketing provides people with reliable information about medical practices and insider knowledge. Those can vary from blog posts about dental extractions to infographics about the most common dental disorders.
But how can it help me as a dentist? To put it simply, the purpose of health content marketing is to increase engagement and raise awareness of your dental clinic. Ultimately, the goal is to entice future patients to visit your clinic and recommend it to other people.
The Effectiveness of Health Content Marketing
When it comes to results, most market studies show that over 35% of content marketing efforts are very effective. Not only that, but an additional 58% say that content marketing strategies are somewhat effective. Therefore, it becomes obvious that potential patients are basing their dental office choices on internet searches.
The Rules of Dental Health Content Marketing
Although health content marketing could seem simple at first glance, it involves a lot of research and knowledge. From finding a niche to learning about retention, health content marketing is a full-time job in itself. However, there are a few rules that most health content marketing experts use when designing their strategies.
Find Your Niche
Before you begin writing and posting content on your dental website, you need to research your niche area. Doing that will help you understand the needs of your existing and future patients. In fact, spending some time researching different niches allows you to create engaging and useful content.
So how should you find your niche? For starters, you should ask your patients about what area of dentistry interests them. You could look at other dental clinics and see what they are writing about. Additionally, social media and search engine tools like Google Trends are a great way to get an idea of upcoming trends. In fact, Google Trends provides you sub-regions where there’s an increased interest in the search topic, allowing you to further cater your content.
It’s also important to know how to use the information you just gathered about trends and topics. For example, statistics show that 36% of the population has dental anxiety and do their best to avoid dental clinics. As a result, you could write a blog post talking about dental procedures and how they advanced to the point where they are completely painless. By educating people that are afraid of dentists, you may make them get over their fear and choose your clinic.
Understand Types of Content
As previously mentioned, online content can take a variety of forms. These include blog posts, newsletters, pictures, videos, and many more. You will need to find the ones that best suit your niche and target audience. Therefore, it is vital to pick the right type of content and understand how they work:
- Blog Posts: Writing blog posts about different dental subjects requires you to know how to create informative and engaging posts. You can also use techniques such as mixing your blog posts with videos or images. But if you struggle with writing content, you could always rely on professional writing companies. Eventually, you will learn the ropes and start writing your own blog posts with ease.
- Infographics: If you want to share complex data with your viewers, you can use infographics to make it more accessible. By using the right fonts, colors, and shapes, infographics can transform even the blandest statistics into readable and engaging content. However, try not to overuse infographics as they could end up having the opposite effect.
- FAQs: Most people want to know exactly what to expect before and after any medical procedure. Therefore, you can use FAQs to provide quick facts about the procedures of your dental clinic. What’s even better is that you can add FAQs to other types of content, including newsletters, brochures, and social media posts.
- Videos: According to research, video content generates more engagement than most other online types of content. You can take advantage of that by creating short educational videos which focus on a variety of topics. Just remember that you need to have enough charisma and confidence to grab the viewer’s attention.
Include Your Credentials
One of the main goals of dental health content marketing is to build trust between you and your potential patients. To do that, you will need to prove that you know what you are talking about and that your content is reliable. But that’s exactly where your credentials as a professional come in. By sharing your certifications, areas of expertise, licenses, awards, and other accomplishments, your audience will have more confidence in you and your clinic.
However, it’s important to mention that you shouldn’t fake any of your credentials to impress your viewers. Be honest about your accomplishments, and never stop improving your dental practices. Eventually, you will build a reputation that will increase the reach of your content and brand.
Final Thoughts
All in all, health content marketing is an essential tool that is used by many successful dentists to promote their dental clinics. As a result, it is becoming more important than ever to create an online presence using a personal blog or social media page. And while spending time online writing blog posts and uploading videos could seem strange at first, it will definitely help your career in the long run.