In order to drive new patients to your practice, you’re going to need a dedicated dental advertising strategy. There are many different types of dental ads to choose from these days, and it can be difficult to determine which ones will reach your patient base most effectively. Ultimately, you’ll need to identify which types of ads resonate most with your client base and invest in them. In this article, we’ll talk about the different types of advertising available to dental practices and why they’re effective.
Word-of-mouth recommendations aren’t enough to draw in a full base of patients. You’ll need to take a proactive approach and build a targeted advertising strategy. Ads will build name recognition quickly and pull in new leads that might not have otherwise found you. While all dental practices need an advertising strategy, it’s particularly important if you’re in a competitive market. Well-written ads will make your practice stand out from others.
While there are many different types of advertising that dental practices can use, digital dental ads are particularly effective. 77 percent of patients use search engines to look for healthcare information and find new practices. Additionally, the average American spends 38 hours per week on their phone - and that’s not including time spent online using other devices. Since potential patients are spending so much time on the internet as part of their routines, digital marketing and dental ads are often the fastest way to attract new patients.
There are many different types of dental advertising to choose from, all of which can be very effective when done well. When selecting the type of advertising you want to use, you’ll need to think about who your average patient is and what type of media they respond to.
For example, if your patients tend to be young adults, you might reach them faster with Instagram or YouTube ads than Facebook ads. This is because Facebook tends to have an older user base. Age is just one demographic factor to consider - you’ll also need to keep things like location, socioeconomic background, and type of dentistry in mind.
Here are the best dental ads to use as part of your marketing campaign.
High Competition | High Learning Curve | $
Facebook may no longer be hip and trendy, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it. It remains the largest social media platform in the world, with 2.9 billion monthly active users. This huge volume of traffic makes it an excellent place to advertise your practice.
In addition to having a Facebook business page for your practice, you can also launch a targeted ad campaign to reach potential customers in your area. When creating a Facebook ad, you can select the location you’d like to advertise to, so you can specifically target patients in your area. You can also target viewers based on a wide variety of other demographic criteria, such as age, gender, interests, and more. Facebook also offers many different ad formats, including static text, video, photo carousels, and more.
Instant Traffic & Leads | Easy To Get Started | Made for Dentist | $
teethtalk ads is a dental advertising platform designed for dental practices. The platform places your practice in front of potential patients looking for dental work near your dental clinic. Your dental practice will be visible on teethtalkgirl.com, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and +3,000 popular news site.
What makes teethtalk ads different is that it's 100% managed by a dedicated ad manager. You can create the perfect dental marketing strategy with retargeting and high-converting dental ads within minutes.
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High Competition | High Learning Curve | $
Instagram is another one of the world’s leading social media platforms. Instagram is owned by Meta, which also owns Facebook, and the process of creating an ad on the platform is very similar. The platform allows you to get very specific with your targeting to make sure you’re reaching the right audience.
Ads on Instagram blend seamlessly into the algorithm, so they create a more authentic connection with your potential customers. Instagram is also a very visual platform and is an excellent place to build a strong brand identity using splashy graphics and high-quality photos. Facebook and Instagram advertising is a bit tricky to get right so make sure to checkout our Social Media Advertising Guide!
High Competition | Requires a Video Ad | $
YouTube is the second-largest social media platform in the world, behind Facebook, and has grown into a massive entertainment hub. In fact, many people will turn to YouTube for relaxing video content rather than turning on the TV. YouTube appeals to a very wide audience that spans generations and demographics.
There are many different ways to advertise on YouTube. There are static ads that display on the headers as well as video ads that play before or during user-generated video content. Video ads are a very effective way to build an authentic connection with prospective patients. The video format allows you to really showcase your personality in a way that’s difficult to do with other mediums.
High Competition | Complex User Interface | $$
Many people turn to search engines to find a new dentist, and Google ads are an easy way to reach them faster. Google ads use a pay-per-click (PPC) structure and target specific keyword searches. There are also many different types of Google ads - in addition to ads that run in search engine results, you can also create display ads and video banner ads through Google. Google even offers click-to-call ads, which allow smartphone users to call your dental office directly with a single tap.
With PPC ads, you’ll only be charged when someone actually clicks on your ad. Because of this, PPC ads tend to generate a very strong ROI. You can set a maximum daily budget for your ads, as well as a bidding strategy based on your marketing goals.
Requires Dedicated Management | Advanced Dental Advertising | $$
Retargeting ads help to increase your website’s conversion rate. These ads are served to people who have already visited your website or interacted with your practice in some way. These ads can push someone who was already considering your practice to schedule their first appointment, or subtly remind an existing patient that it’s time for a checkup.
There are two different ways to use retargeting ads. The first is to put a retargeting pixel on your website. A pixel is a small piece of code that uses cookies to track who visits your website. The retargeting service then uses those cookies to display your ad to the visitor on social media or other websites across the internet. You can also use list-based retargeting, which is where you provide the retargeting service with a list of contact emails. The service will then use these emails rather than cookies to determine who to display the ads to.
Low Results | Large Postage Expense | $$$
While digital ads are very important, there are also a few old school forms of offline advertising that can be effective in the dental industry. Direct mail is one strategy that is particularly great for small, local businesses like dentists. With direct mail, you’ll send out physical print ads mailers to existing patients as well as prospective new ones encouraging them to make an appointment.
Direct mail is a bit of a dying ad format and is quite wasteful. But this can be a way to target patients that aren’t particularly web-savvy or who might have missed your ad online. The novelty of receiving something in the mail can also be very attractive, as many people receive most of their communications via email these days.
Teethtalk ads are a great alternative to direct mail ads since they have the ability to follow the potential patients online. teethtalk ads uses retargeting ads which increases bookings by 70%.
Low Conversion Rate | Large Capital Investment | $$$$
If you want to really make a splash in your town, consider putting up billboard ads. Location is everything when deciding where to place your billboard ads. Ideally, your billboards should be in a space where potential clients can’t avoid them and will see them frequently. This is why billboards near highways and on subway platforms are so common - it ensures that hundreds or even thousands of people will see them during their commute.
You don’t have long to make an impression with a billboard, so eye-catching dental care graphics and snappy copy are a must. It’s also important to make sure your practice’s name and phone number are very clearly visible so there’s no confusion about who the ad is for.
Low Competition | High Learning Curve | $$$$
For many consumers today, one of the best ways to relax is by tuning into a show on a favorite streaming service. The popularity of streaming services today makes them an excellent choice for dental advertising. Each platform has its own unique approach to ads, but most have options for both static display ads and video ads that play before or during the show.
Not all streaming platforms are ad-supported. Some of the ones that are include Hulu, HBOMax, Paramount+, Peacock, and PlutoTV. Not all viewers will see your ads, as almost all streaming services have ad-free subscription options available as well.
Software Implementation | Dedicated Management | $$
Encouraging patient referrals in office can help turn your existing patients in your dental practice advertisers. Word of mouth is very powerful dental marketing strategy. Incentivizing existing patients to earn points or discounts for their dental services can create a viral way to get new patients.
Low Competition | Large Time Investment | $$$
As a dental practice, you’re an integral part of your local community. Building trust and goodwill with people in your area boosts your reputation and can help you land new patients. A community-specific advertising campaign is an excellent way to do this.
There are many different types of community advertising that you can do both on- and offline. A popular approach to online community advertising is to post in neighborhood Facebook groups. This is an effective way to inform local residents of your services and answer any questions they might have.
A popular form of offline community advertising is to sponsor a local event, such as a street fair or community fun run. As a sponsor, you can set up a booth to connect with potential patients in person and even offer exclusive new patient specials. These are just a few examples of community advertising - there are so many dental marketing stargetys to promote your practice locally.
Don’t afraid to be daring and do something different with your dental ads. While you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, a unique approach can help your practice stand out. Experiment with different mediums like teethtalk ads or video advertising to see what your patients connect to. You may also want to use multiple types of ads in your campaign to reach different segments of the market to attract new patients.
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Zach Westerhoff is a dental marketing expert. Join Zach and over 5,000 dentists to learn how to scale your dental business like a tech startup. Zach managed digital marketing teams & campaigns for large SaaS companies and retail giants. As co-founder of teethtalk ads, his goal is to help dentists advertise their practice to patients looking for treatment.
Built for every dental team no matter the size, teethtalk ads boosts local visibility while driving procedure-ready patients.
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