Modern Dental Practice Marketing

Are you puzzled by blogging and branding? Wondering how marketing evolved from Yellow Pages ads to search engine optimization? You aren’t the only one. The marketing world has changed dramatically in the past decade! But there’s hope. You can get on the modern marketing bandwagon and bring in new patients.

Just this evening, CBSNews.com released an article about blogging. In it, Robert Pagliarini provides “7 rules of successful bloggers.” I want to take Paliarini’s tips and evaluate how they relate to dentists and dental blogging.

We’re told to create valuable content. What is valuable, when it comes to content? That depends on who you are. To a potential patient searching for a dentist or an answer to a question, interesting information not found elsewhere online would be valuable. To a dentist, a blog that ranks high on Google would be valuable. To Google, a blog that’s original and informative would be valuable. So, ideally, a valuable dental blog has unique, informative content that’s keyword rich and well optimized. When this formula is used, everyone wins.

Focus on a niche and identify popular markets are tips two and three. Obviously, the niche for a dental blog is dentistry. However, you can be more specific. Perhaps your blog should be about sleep apnea, Invisalign, cosmetic dentistry, or sedation. Many of our clients have two or more blogs. This allows them to focus on general dentistry to attract bread-and-butter patients, as well as a specific treatment that they find profitable and enjoyable. Before you blog, consider which procedures or ideas (holistic, biomimetic, systemic health, for example) are most important to you. Read the rest of this entry →

What is self branding? Well, it’s just what it sounds like: branding yourself.

Why do I need to brand myself? That completely depends on what you want out of your future. Some common reasons for self branding are:

• You’re an associate dentist or partner who will go into private practice at some point.
• You hope to become a speaker, consultant, author, or celebrity.
• You want a personal following in case you move your practice to a new location.
• You are a dental student who will practice with a group, as an assistant, or independently.
• You are a professional and deserve a professional identity. Your skills are transferable, but make sure that your name is transferable, as well.

All too often, we see partnerships dissolve. Dentists who worked under a practice name move on to establish a private practice of a new name, and they have no history of publicity. No one knows who they are. Imagine being in this situation, but having 400 Facebook fans and 1000 hits on your blog each month. Now that would give you a great place to start.

It’s about being smart and staying ahead of the game. Read the rest of this entry →

When you become an MDPM client, you’re in for a new experience. Not only do we build and write dental blogs and websites, but we own DentalJunkie.co. At this online dentistry news website, we write and post articles about our clients, featuring them as experts. The current editorial calendar includes topics such as sleep apnea, dental implants, and dental consulting. We compose these search engine optimized articles, then promote them to brand the dentist as an authority and to boost the dentist’s website traffic by including backlinks.

Of course, we also create, distribute, and gather data on newsletter and email blast campaigns. There really are no limits to what we do for our clients!

In addition, MDPM helps dentists come up with news-worthy topics for press releases that we submit online and, if you so choose, to local media. We coordinate with our client dentists’ local newspaper to run articles and advertisements, as well. For those of our clients who prefer magazine articles, we offer complete writing services, or we can edit the articles before publication. Our graphic artists design print ads, direct mail, stationery — and, of course, logos and branding. Learn more about our services here.

Whether you’re a new dentist or have a longstanding reputation in the industry, Modern Dental Practice Marketing can move your marketing strategy to the next level, increasing your presence online and in your own neighborhood.

Call Jill today at 972-781-8861 or email [email protected] for a complimentary marketing evaluation and proposal.And, if you’re at the Southwest Dental Convention in Dallas or the Midwinter in Chicago, let us know. We’ll schedule a time to get together and discuss your dental practice’s marketing strategy.

We’re in the business to make dentists smile!

What is self branding?

Since you’re a dentist, you probably have some understanding of what branding is. In short, branding is the whole concept, idea, and image that a business conveys. Self branding, therefore, is the concept, idea, and image that you convey.

Isn’t my website enough?

If the website is for you, and not your practice, then yes, it is enough. Just enough. You would still do well to have a blog and social media presence.

Why do I need to brand myself?

Maybe you’ll always have the same job you hold today. Maybe you’ll live in the same house and see the same people and love your life forever. But maybe, just maybe (and in all probability) something will change at some point. Perhaps you’ll start a new practice or a new business. Who knows; maybe you’ll move across the country – or to another country. You might decide to become an author after you retire. At that point, will people know who you are? Self branding today gives you a head start on tomorrow.

Then again, maybe you’ve already written a book, spoken at national conventions, mentored young dentists, or started a new professional association. If so, self branding is essential right now. Without it, you’re limiting yourself. Don’t limit yourself. To quote Nelson Mandela, “We must all exceed our own expectations.” Read the rest of this entry →