Inbound Marketing 101 for Dentists and Physicians

What is Inbound Marketing?

In the traditional marketing model, we reach out to people in order to promote our practices and to drive new patients. A newer approach is a concept and set of techniques knows as “Inbound Marketing.” In a nutshell, inbound marketing is the process by which we use digital marketing to have potential new patients (leads) come to us.

Ways to Drive Inbound Traffic

There are many ways to drive traffic to your website, and some of the more common ones are listed below. In marketing terms, each of these sources of traffic is known as a channel or marketing channel.

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is the process where we use researched, highly-targeted keywords in an attempt to rank highly on search engine results - in order to drive traffic to your website.
2. Blogging: As the SEO market becomes more and more saturated, blogging becomes more and more important to get new leads. After all, there are only 10 spots on the first page of a Google search result, regardless of how many dentists or physicians are competing for those spots! Blogging drives traffic because the more articles you publish, the larger footprint you have, and the greater the likelihood that your practice will be found in search engine results.
3. Social Media: As we engage with our patients and potential new patients on social media, these conversations increase brand awareness, and help to drive people to your website. A common approach is to offer some type of coupon or incentive on Facebook to bring traffic to your website (where the user can schedule an appointment).
4. Pay Per Click (PPC): PPC is a great way to quickly drive new patient leads to your website. A PPC campaign, however, can get very expensive very quickly, so it’s critical that you keep an eye on your return on investment (ROI), and use a company that clearly explains the decision-making in your campaign.

Why Channels Matter

Every office is different – and every demographic is different. Thus, it’s important to use all of the above channels in order to see what channel(s) have the best ROI. You might find that social media is valuable for a pediatric office, whereas blogging is more valuable for a general dentist’s office.

Traffic vs. Conversions

Once you’ve driven traffic to your website via the channels above, the next step is to engage the visitors: to learn about their needs and wants, and then market to them directly about these specific interests. This task is easier said than done, and we’ll discuss it in the next article in the series, Converting Traffic into New Patients: Lead Generation and Lead Nurturing.

[box style="1"]Register now for free to join Dr. Wank on Webinar Wednesday to learn about Inbound Marketing and how it can help your practice generate new patient leads.
When: November 15, 2017 at 8:30pm EST.
Can't make it to the live event? Register to watch the recording after.[/box]