64. Marketing That Actually Works: Beyond Social Media Hype

Speaker A: 00:00:06

Welcome to the Dental Business podcast, the show where we cut through the noise and talk about what is actually takes to run a profitable, sustainable dental practice. I'm your host, Phil Cole, CEO of KLAS Solutions.

And before we dive in today, I want to tell you about one of our own divisions here at KLAS, and honestly, one that I think is the most underutilized by the dentists we work with.

If you have ever felt like your marketing isn't working, like you're posting on social media and hearing nothing but crickets, or you hire someone to do your website and new patients still aren't coming in, that's not of you problem. That's a strategy problem. KLAS marketing was built specifically for dental and healthcare practices. We don't do cookie cutter campaigns.

We build custom marketing systems, SEO that actually ranks website designs to convert visitors into scheduled patients, and reputation management that turns your highest patients into your best referral sources. We're not a social media agency pretending to understand dentistry.

We're a dentist dental advisory firm with a marketing division that knows the difference between a crown and a cleaning and why that matters and how you talk to prospective patients.

If you want to know what a real marketing strategy looks like for your practice, then Visit klassolutions.com and just book a complimentary marketing consultation. So go to klassolutions.com all right, let's get into it.

Today we're talking about exactly what I just was talking about with the advertisement, and that is marketing. And not the version of marketing that gets sold to dental practice owners.

What I feel is on a daily basis, I want to start with something that might sting a little in a productive way. If I asked 100 dentists right now what their marketing strategy is, I'd probably hear some version of the same thing. Same three things, I should say.

I always hear we post on Instagram, we're on Google somewhere, and when I talk about ground marketing, we send out birthday cards. And look, those aren't bad things, but they're not a strategy. They're just activities. And so there's a difference.

When you set up a strategy, it has a goal, it has a target audience, it has measurable outcomes tied to practice growth, and it has a system that runs consistently whether you're in the chair for eight hours or out of the office for a week. So today's episode, I'm going to call it marketing that actually works, you know, beyond the social media hype.

And I chose that title deliberately because I think social media is where a lot of dental marketing Dollars go to die. Not because social media is bad. It's not. But it's because social media is, without a foundation is just noise.

Let me give you a framework I come back to over and over with practice owners. I call it the marketing stack. And I would say it has three levels. So let's look at that. First, the marketing stack.

What I would consider concept number one, foundation, visibility and engagement. I mean think of, think of your marketing like a building.

The foundation for your digital infrastructure is your website, your Google business profile and your patient reviews. The middle layer is now your visibility, how people find you when you're looking for a dentist.

And that top layer is engagement, Social media, email content, any content, community, presence, blogs. Here's where most dentists get it backwards. They build from the top down.

They hire a social media manager, start posting reels and before and after photos and wonder why new patient numbers don't move. And the reason is simple. If someone sees your Instagram post and decides they want to come in, what do they do? They Google you.

And if your Google business profile is outdated, your website loads slowly or your reviews are real thin, you've lost them. The top of the stack collapsed because the foundation wasn't there.

I had a client, a general dentist in the Southeast, been in practice for about 12 years who was spending nearly $1,800 a month. And just social media management. Good looking content, consistent posting, decent follower count, but new patient numbers were flat.

When we dug in, we found that his Google business profile hadn't been updated in over a year. His website wasn't mobile, optimized to the best of its ability. And get this, he had 11 Google reviews. 11 In 12 years.

We paused the social media spend, rebuilt the foundation, and within 90 days he he had over 60 new Google reviews. His local SEO ranking moved from page three to page one for his primary search terms and new patient calls went up 40%.

He didn't add a dollar to his marketing budget, he just redirected it properly. The lesson isn't that social media is useless. The lesson is that your foundation has to be solid before the top layers matter.

Concept number two is where marketing actually converts. And that's the new patient journey, I guess I would call it.

ing strategy was built before: 2020

Here's how most new patients find a dentist today. Step One is something triggers a need. Maybe it's tooth pain, maybe it's a New Year's resolution. Maybe they just moved into a new area.

Step two is they search. And I mean they Google. Not Facebook, not Instagram, not Google.

The data consistently shows that over 75% of new patient searches for a local dentist starts on a Google search. Step three, they evaluate.

They look at Google listings, scan your reviews, check your website, probably on a phone, and make a judgment call in about 30 to 60 seconds. And then step four, they act or they don't. If something doesn't feel right, they click back and go to the next result.

The whole thing can happen in under two minutes. Two minutes that is. And social media has, the vast majority of dental practices plays zero role in that process.

Unless you're running targeted paid ads, which is a whole different conversation. And to me, a lot of money spent for not as good a results. So when I talk about marketing that actually works.

I'm talking about owning that two minute evaluation window. That means your Google business profile is complete. It's accurate. It has recent reviews.

Your website is clean, fast and clear communication who you are and what you offer. And your reviews tell a consistent story that builds trust before anyone ever picks up the phone.

Concept three would be the reviews, the most underrated marketing asset in dentistry.

ews are not a nice to have in: 2026

Think about how you make a decision. Make decisions. When you're looking for a service provider, I mean, think about it. A contractor, a restaurant, a new doctor.

You read reviews, your patients are doing the exact same thing. And here's what the Data tells us. 91% Of consumers say positive reviews make them likely to choose a business. 91%.

And the average consumer reads at least seven reviews before forming an opinion. That's seven reviews. So if you have 11 reviews like my client did, you don't have enough for most patients to feel even confident about you.

The benchmark I use is this.

For a practice generating 200 or more new patients a year, you should be targeting at least 100 verified Google reviews with an average rating of 4.7 or higher. That's not a vanity number. It's a competitive positioning number.

The challenge is that most practices either aren't asking for reviews at all or, or they're asking in a way that it just doesn't work. Handing someone a card at checkout and hoping they remember to leave a review when they get home, well, that's a 1 in 20 shot if that on a good day.

The practice that the practices that win at reviews have a systematic and systemized way to ask a direct text message with a link sent within an hour of the appointment while the experience is fresh. Some practices have automation built directly into their practices management software to trigger this.

Some ask have a QR code at the counter and ask for them to put in their review right there on the spot. It doesn't have to be complicated. It has to be consistent. Now, responding to reviews matters just as much as collecting them.

When a patient leaves a positive review and nobody responds, you've left a thank you on the table.

And when someone leaves a critical review and you don't respond thoughtfully, you're telling every future patient who reads that thread that you don't care. The way you respond to a bad review is actually one of your most powerful marketing tools because it shows your character. Never be defensive.

Never get specific about the patient's situation in your response. That's a HIPAA minefield. Acknowledge, thank them for their feedback and invite them to contact you directly to make it right.

Something simple, professional and human. That's all it takes. Okay, we've covered the marketing stack, the new patient journey, and why reviews are your most under leveraged assets.

We're about halfway through today's episode and after the break we're going to get the execution, specifically the four marketing channels that are consistent, driving real results for dental practices right now and how to think about them. Prioritize your spend. So stay with me. Once again, I just want to make a quick shout out to KLAS Solutions Marketing.

Please visit us for a complimentary klasssolutions.com so let's talk about execution. Because a framework is only as valuable as your ability to act on it.

I want to walk you through what I consider the four most important marketing channels for a dental practice in today's environment. These aren't ranked by glamour. They're ranked by ROI and reliability. And what I mean by reliability is this.

When you invest time or money here, you can reasonably expect a measurable return. These aren't what I would consider lottery tickets. Okay? These are real needs.

So the first channel that I would say is definitely your local SEO, the engine that runs while you sleep. Local SEO is the search engine optimization. At the geographic level. It's the single highest ROI marketing channel available to most Dental practices.

I'd say that with full confidence. When someone searches dentists near me or family dentists in your city, Google returns what's called the local pack.

That three listing box at the top of the result page with a map. You've seen it all. If you're in that box, you are capturing the highest intent prospective patient in your market.

These aren't people scrolling through Instagram who might or might not be interested in dental care. These are the people who have identified a need and are actively looking for a provider right now.

Getting into the Local pack comes down to a few key factors. Your Google business profile needs to be fully optimized. And when we say that, it's so often that we see it's not been touched for years.

But to be fully optimized, that's actual hours, service categories, photos updated regularly, and a cadence of fresh reviews. Your website needs geographical relevance.

That means your city, your service area and the specific services you offer need to appear naturally throughout your content. And your website needs to be technically sound with fast load times, mobile optimization, proper markup.

That last part is where most practices websites fall down. I want to be honest with you. Real SEO takes three to six months to show meaningful results.

I think this is one of those big problems once again that, that we see people expect when we do SEO, that it's something that you click your fingers because it's technology and it automatically should just appear.

Anyone telling you that they can get you to page one in 30 days is either selling you paid ads and calling them SEO or they're using tactics that will eventually hurt you. True SEO is definitely a long game and that's exactly why it's worth investing in early. Because once you have that position, it compounds over time.

The practices I see dominating local search in their markets have been building their SEO foundation consistently for 12 to 24 months.

Not because it takes that long to work, it starts working in three to six months, but because the compounding effect over a longer Runway becomes a nearly un. You know, it becomes just an unbelievable competitive advantage.

Your competitor can't shortcut their way past two years of consistent high quality SEO investment. It's just not possible. Channel 2 is targeted page search, the shortcut with the price tag.

So Google Ads specifically pay per click search ads, they're the fastest way to generate new patient leads for a dental practice. That's just there. The downside is that it costs money every single time someone clicks. And, and when you stop paying, the leads stop immediately.

There's no compounding it's just a faucet, not a well, it's a faucet.

That said, Google Ads don't done well can be incredible effective, especially for high value services like implants, your invisaligns, your full mouth reconstruction and cosmetic dentistry. These are services that a single new patient can generate 3 to 30 thousand dollars in revenue.

The math on a well run Google Ad campaign for implants, for example, can be pretty extraordinary. If you're spending $1,200 a month on ads and converting to implant cases, you've generated anywhere from 12 to $40,000 in production from that spend.

That's a good return to your portfolio. The key word is done well.

The number of dental practices I've seen running Google Ad campaigns that are either poorly targeted, poorly structured, or sending traffic to a generic homepage instead of a dedicated landing page. Well, it's a lot. Those practices are just burning money. The ads might be running, but they're not converting.

So if you're going to invest in paid search, here are just a few things that matter most. Number one, you know precision targeting targeting. You want to bid on high intent service specific keywords, not just dentist.

Number two, I would say a dedicated landing page for each campaign. Someone clicking on an implant ad should land on a page about implants, not your homepage.

The disconnect between ad and landing page is the number one conversion killer in dental practices. And number three, consistent optimization. Google Ads is not a set it and forget it channel. It needs monthly, sometimes weekly management performance.

Channel three is email marketing. The channel that you have and you're probably not using it.

I want to take a minute on this because it I think it's genuinely the most overlooked channel in dental marketing. Every established practice has a patient email list. Most of them are barely using it. Your active patient base is your most valuable marketing asset.

These are people who already trust you.

They've already said yes to your practice and they have friends, family and coworkers, people just like them who may not have a dentist or who are looking for a new one. That's called your referral base and you can activate it with a well constructed email sequence.

Think about what a consistent, value driven email newsletter could do for your practice.

Just once a month you send a short email, maybe four to six paragraphs, that educates your patients on something relevant to their oral health, shares a success story or a patient spotlight with permission, reminds of an upcoming seasonal promotion and includes a referral. Ask if you love your smile and you have a friend who needs a dentist Send them our way. We'd love to take care of them too.

That's not aggressive marketing, that's relationship maintenance. It keeps your practice top of mind so that when someone at dinner mentions they need a dentist, your patient immediately thinks of you.

The data on email marketing is remarkable. The average ROI is around $42 for every dollar spent. That's not glamorous, but it works if you're a larger practice or a multi location group.

Email also becomes a powerful internal channel for reactivation, reaching out to patients who haven't been in for more than 18 months. A simple personalized message. We've missed you. It's been a while since your last visit.

We'd love to get you back on schedule and catch up on your oral health. A reactivation campaign done right can fill your hygiene schedule for weeks. And then you have the fourth channel. Referral systems.

The marketing that costs nothing.

I saved this one for last because it's the most foundational, it's the least sexy, and it's the one that practice owners most often treat as an afterthought. Referrals are not a passive thing. They're a system. Here's the reality. The majority of new patients at a well run dental practice come from referrals.

Not social media, not Google Ads. Referrals, word of mouth, someone telling someone else, you need to go to my dentist.

And yet the average practice does almost nothing to actively cultivate that channel. Ground marketing, I call it. What does a referral system actually look like? Well, it starts with the patient experience.

Because no amount of referral incentives or clever campaigns will make up for a mediocre experience in the chair. So if your patients aren't raving fans, your referral pipeline is going to be thin no matter what you do. The patient experience is your product.

Market the product first, assuming the experience is excellent. And for most of you. You listening? I believe it is. The referral system has a few special or specific components, I should say.

One, you ask explicitly, not in a pushy way, but in a natural, warm way. Your front desk team, your hygienist, even you as the provider. We really love taking care of your patients. Like you.

If you have a friend or family member who's looking for a dental home, we'd be honored if you'd send them our way. That's it. Simple, genuine, human. Two, you make it easy. A referral card, physical or digital, with a clear value proposition for the new patient.

Maybe it's a complimentary exam or X ray for new patients. Maybe it's a modest discount on their first service. The point is to remove the friction for both your existing patients and your new patients.

They're referring and three you acknowledge and you appreciate when a referral comes in and you know who sent them. You thank the referring patient a handwritten note, a small gift card, a personal call from you.

If it's a particular, meaningful case, people refer where they feel valued. When you close the loop and you say thank you, your referral just became a patient you've created.

Referral advocate for life and 4 this is where the KLAS marketing team spends a lot of time with our clients. We build referral relationships with our providers. Your primary care physicians, your pediatricians, your oral surgeons, your orthodontists.

Strategic professional referral networks are one of the most powerful and most under built assets in dental marketing. A single pediatric dentist referring adult patients to your practice can be worth $100,000 in annual revenue or more.

Those relationships require cultivation, lunches, collaborative case management, genuine professional respect, but the return is substantial. Putting it all together your 90 day marketing reset I know this has been a lot, but let me land the plane with something practical.

It's a 90 day marketing reset where any practice can execute regardless of your current state. Day 1 through 30 Fix the Foundation audit and update your Google business profile. So important.

Identify your your five best recent patients and personally ask them for a review. Not through an automated text. Just personally audit your website for mobile performance and load speed.

If it's failing, put web optimization at the top of your investment list. Days 30 Systematize reviews.

Implement a simple automated review request process text message with a direct link send within one hour of appointment completion. Get your team trained and aligned on asking verbally at checkout and then set a goal. Five new reviews per week.

days. Days: 6090

Include a referral ask, Train your team on the verbal referral invite, identify your top two to three professional referral opportunities in your market and schedule introductory conversations. That's it. No new platforms, no complicated technology, no astronomical new budget. Just focused execution on the fundamentals.

And the fundamentals executed consistently beat the hype of every other company out there with all the latest and greatest every single time.

Now if you want to go deeper on any of these channels, the KLAS coaching program includes a full dental marketing module that walks you through implementation in detail with templates, some scripts, some step by step framework Tailored to your practice size and market.

If that is something that you want to explore, reach out to klasssolutions.com or mention this episode when you call and we'll make sure that we get you connected to the right person on our team. One more word from our partners at KLAS Marketing before we sign off. You just spent 30 minutes learning about what good dental marketing looks like.

The question is, do you have time, the team, the expertise to build it yourself? For most practice owners, the honest answer is no. Not because you can't, but because you're a dentist.

Your job is to deliver exceptional patient care. Our job is to make sure people know that you exist. The KLAS Marketing division offers full service dental marketing.

We provide custom website design, local SEO, Google Ad management, reputation management, email marketing, and strategic consultations. Everything integrated, everything focused on your goal. Getting more of the right patients through your door. See, we're not a vendor.

We're an extension of your practices team. And because we sit inside a firm that also handles transitions and coaching, accounting and real estate, we see the whole picture of your practices.

Financial health. That's a perspective I can say no standalone marketing agency can offer.

So once again, I would say visit klassolutions.com call me, schedule A complimentary marketing strategy session and tell us where you are, where you want to go, and then we'll show you what it takes to get there. So that's a wrap for today's episode on the dental business podcast. I really want to thank you for spending 30 minutes with me.

I don't take that lightly. And I hope that you're walking away with at least one thing that you can actually use this week.

If today's episode, you know, hit home, do me a favor, share it with your colleague, a dentist, you know, who's frustrated with their marketing results. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can do for someone is to hand them the right information and hand it to them at the right time.

And leave us a review. On Apple Podcasts, you know, your Spotify or wherever you get your information. It helps more practice owners find it the show.

And it takes about, you know, 45 seconds of your time. I read every single one of your reviews, so please leave a review as well. Next episode, we're going back to the numbers.

Specifically, we're going to talk about buyer advocacy. And we hope to see you there. Have a great one.