Should Dental Clinics spend money on paid advertising?

Have you ever looked at the Google rankings and wondered how you can get to the top in the shortest time possible?

You might be in competition with some huge businesses and think that there is no way you could match their SEO. This is particularly likely if their internet marketing budgets are much greater than yours.

If this is the case, but you are still looking to develop a consistent and reliable marketing strategy to bring in clients and bolster the market value of your organization, you may want to consider an approach that leverages paid advertising.

Paid advertising is a way that you can promote your business at the top of Google or in the sidebars of the websites that your clients visit. This form of advertising works similar to traditional marketing and means that you don’t have to spend months or even years climbing through the search engine rankings.

There are multiple forms of paid advertising, the most common is Pay Per Click (PPC) whereby how much you pay is determined by how many people click on your ad.

If a prospective patient searches for dentist and your location, there is a high likelihood that they will visit your website if you are top of the search results. So as long as you make sure your website is professional and is able to guide the patient to make an initial consultation, the few dollars that you’ll pay for the click are worth every penny.

So what are the specific benefits of paid advertising for dentists?

Faster results. If you are in an uphill battle, such as if you have a new business or are dealing with some fierce competition, getting customers in the door as soon as possible is very important. Paid advertising is the fastest way to get your brand in front of a target audience, and generate new leads.

Less dependence on Google. Whereas SEO will often take 6-12 months before you start to see a decent ROI from your efforts, paid search can be almost instant. Also, when the Google search algorithm inevitably changes you can see drastic deviations in your rankings, which can impact your business, so it is best that you develop a balanced marketing approach.

Tangible and targeted results. Unlike many other marketing methods where you have to track the ROI over time and it can be difficult to gauge exactly what you are getting back from your investment, paid advertising allows you to set clear measurable goals for what you will spend on advertising per client and how much you’ll get back from that over time. With retargeting ads, you can also be sure that your efforts are reaching the right audience. You are able to target a number of factors including keywords, location, time, and even device.

Ultimately Paid Advertising should be considered part of a short to medium-term solution. Unlike organic search, paid advertising is not as sustainable and is dependent on your consistent investment. However, it can form an important part of a well-rounded marketing plan.

It is recommended that you start small, with a budget of a few hundred dollars to learn how to best target your audience.

Proof of a successful digital marketing strategy is a huge asset when looking to sell your practice. You may also want to consider hiring a marketing consultant to help you best approach paid advertising.