Best Dental Marketing Strategies For 2023 from 5789 Dentists

I decided to send a survey to our 5,789 dental clients to find out what dental office marketing tactics they used in 2020, and find out what strategies they’ll be using to grow their practices in 2023.

Hint: if you dig color-coded graphs, you’re going to LOVE this article!

You know… like this one tracking yearly revenue growth as a result of our services, like this:

Below you’ll see the very best dental practice marketing strategies — according to my esteemed clients…

Plus:

You’ll see how two of my dental clients generated results like:

• 349% increase in new patients
• ROIs like 998% (in just ONE year of marketing)
• Dental office marketing stats like 212 calls
• And ad impressions of 1.2 million+

Ready to see what my dental clients said?

Here are the survey results:

1. Over 71% of dentists offer this in-office perk

Let’s be honest —

Most patients aren’t chomping at the bit to go the dentist (sorry, but it’s true!). So we asked what in-office perks our dental clients offered in 2023 to make their patients’ experience even better.

Survey said:

Share this image on your site:

I recommend your dental office marketing promote whatever office perks you offer…

It makes not canceling appointments much more likely if patients know their appointments will be pleasurable!

Next:

2. Almost 42% of dentists said the majority of revenue comes from this service

Want to know what service makes the most money for other dental practices?

Here you go:

Share this image on your site:

You want to invite in new patients in droves for their routine cleanings and X-rays and flat-out impress them with their care… so when they need those higher-level services, you’re the dentist they turn to!

3. 53.4% of dentists make their money from this age group

Why is this data helpful for your dental marketing plan?

Knowing which age group factually makes your practice the most revenue means you can target them…

Share this image on your site:

By purchasing a mailing list that targets age you’ll only reach people likely needing dental care with your dental office marketing!

Plus —

The best dental marketing also targets with other demographics, such as:

• Household income
• Specific zip codes
• New movers (new movers need new local dentists!)
• Birthdates to use for birthday mailers

Get a FREE mailing list count for your practice’s area and receive 1,000 records FREE.

4. Some dentists are receiving 100-200+ new patient inquiries every month

Take a look at this dental marketing game going on here:

Share this image on your site:

How are your new patient inquiries?

Here’s a free download to help you in 2023:

FREE report: Step-by-step dental marketing plan based on 5,789 dental clients

5. A slice of surveyed dentists bring in 50-99 new patients each MONTH

Your dental marketing plan ideas should be flowing right about now:

Share this image on your site:

My client Dr. Amit Khanna of Patuxent Dental welcomes about 2,000 new patients per year by adding Google ads to his monthly postcard mailings using DirectMail2.0.

You can view his case study video here to hear his strategy.

6. What NEW patients spend on their very 1st visit

Turns out —

You can put a price tag on a new patient:

Share this image on your site:

The key to a dental marketing plan that generates new patients comes down to being consistent with your dental office marketing — case in point:

The owners of Borealis Dental Studio in MN mailed postcards as part of a year-long dental office marketing campaign and generated a 143% increase in new patients in JUST their first year alone!

7. 19% of dentists reported that new patients spend $2000-$3999 their first year

Here’s what our dental clients said their new patients spend their first year:

Share this image on your site:

Here’s the next one:

8. The # of years dentist retain their patients

This is where the best dental marketing ideas pay off — longevity!

Here’s how many years our clients’ patients stay with them:

Share this image on your site:

Interesting, right?

A big part of being able to retain patients is knowing how to effectively present patient’s treatment plans — which I guarantee 90% of dental offices have trouble with.

We have heard every excuse in the book – i.e. “Insurance companies are the problem,” or “My patients have a low Dental IQ,” or “My patients can’t afford the treatment they need,” and any other “reasons,” we might wish to advance.

But bottom line for most dentists – this lack of communication ability and trouble with case acceptance is costing them hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost profit per year, not to mention potentially higher levels of career satisfaction by being able to do the treatment they enjoy doing most.

Ok, now we’re going to dive into my clients’ BEST dental marketing strategies AND results… here we go:

9. Over 40% of my clients use Google pay-per-click ads

Check out which other dental office marketing strategies my dental clients used too:

Share this image on your site:

The other biggest marketing tactic we found our clients using is Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. You can find dental marketing tips on how to maximize local SEO efforts here.

So now, let’s look at which dental marketing tactics produced RESULTS (my favorite part!):

10. Over 50% reported receiving GOOD results from this “old school” tactic

So long Yellow Pages, TV ads, and billboards…

And hellooo to online advertising and direct mail!

Share this image on your site:

If you ever though direct mail was dead, read this:

My client Dr. Kevin Tanty had wasted over $9,000 on Yelp ads — with ZERO results — in his dental marketing plan until he thought he’d give direct mail “a try.” Well…

Not only did he try mailing postcards, but he integrated the following digital ads to his monthly mailings, automatically, using our Everywhere Small Business product:

• Google ads
• Facebook ads
• Instagram ads
• And call, click, and mail tracking features

His results?

• Tracked Calls: 212
• Google Ad Impressions: 1,131,000
• Google Ad Clicks: 377
• Facebook & Instagram Ad Impressions: 102,000
• Facebook & Instagram Ad Clicks: 238
• AND — a 349% increase in new patients!

Plus — he didn’t have to lift ONE finger to pull it off.

You can watch the Everywhere Small Business video here.

However, there is something else to consider to ensure your marketing efforts have impact…

95% of people will visit your website once they see any dental office marketing you employ — But…A staggering 96% of your prospects will LEAVE your website WITHOUT taking action!

So your website isn’t just a place online to put your office’s logo, it’s a MAJOR part of your dental office marketing tools.

It just needs the following:

• To be attractive and easy-to-navigate (ours start at $495)
• A professional logo that makes you look legit
• Your phone # in the upper right hand corner on EVERY page
• Lead-capture forms that make it EASY for prospects to contact you online

Pro Tip: 92% of consumers love using live chat on a website (Zendesk Report), and 77% won’t contact or even buy from a business without live chat. Definitely worthwhile to look into some affordable companies.

11. Here’s how 2023 projections look for the best dental marketing

Share this image on your site:

Notice: NO ONE is planning to increase the following marketing expenditures:

• Yelp advertising
• Yellow Pages
• Or billboards

Let’s check out which dental offers my clients use to attract new patients…

12. Over 51% of dentists use this attention-grabbing special offer

If only I had a nickel for every time I heard a dentist say, “I can’t discount my services.”

And really, you don’t have to —

But you DO have to ensure that patients FEEL like they are getting a great value for your services.

Consumerism is on the rise across all health care practices, and it’s likely here to stay, like it or not!

According to the CDC, 47% of persons under the age of 65 with private health insurance are enrolled in a high-deductible health plan…

That’s almost HALF, and up 88% since 2010.

For more and more Americans, they’ll be spending more out of pocket before dental benefits kick in. And even for those enrolled in a PPO plan, benefits usually top out at around $1,000–$1,200, which is hardly enough to cover extensive work.

This all means that patients and prospective patients are much more savvy when it comes to dental decisions.

So, YOU need to get competitive in this new consumer-centric dental marketplace if you want to grow your practice.

Many of my dental clients offer a $99 new patient offer which includes an exam, cleaning, and X-rays.

Share this image on your site:

Here are more special offers my clients have used in their dental marketing plans:

• A discounted new patient exam in the double digits (~$69–$99)
• A free second opinion
• Money off crowns or implants

Now:

While I agree that it’s problematic for patients to treat dental care like a new TV purchase, it’s important to remember that most dentists (42.55%) are able to retain a patient for 6–10 years.

So providing added value for patients, along with excellent service and care, a good offer can only add to your overall marketing and practice success.

Pro Tip: Pop-ups aren’t anything new in dental online marketing, but they do work to capture more leads from your website —

Specifically when you use a super enticing special offer in your dental marketing!

13. Here’s the average overall monthly marketing expense for other practices

What do you think?

Share this image on your site:

We designed a plug-in-your-numbers dental marketing plan budget calculator you can use here.

Seriously — it’s SO easy and will help you especially if you’re not sure where to start!

14. Over 44% of my dental clients reinvest this amount back into their marketing

Forty-four percent of our dental clients reinvest 1-5% of their monthly revenue back into their dental practice marketing… where do you fall?

Share this image on your site:

Pro Tip: Whether or not you decide to invest in these good dental marketing ideas (which we highly recommend you do), here’s 3 completely free results-producing marketing efforts:

1. Starting an SEO keyword-loaded blog is completely free, and generates up to 4.5 times more leads than businesses that don’t. Check out our Beginner’s Guide to Business Blogging for more tips!
2. Implementing a satisfied client referral system, since 92% of people trust referrals from people they know.

Research your competition’s dental marketing — act like someone that is interested in their services, testing out their website features and calling in to see what they say.

Once you take note of what everyone else is doing, find out what makes your practice special— this is called your unique selling proposition.

15. 77% of dentists use text messages for patient reminders

Here’s how else dentists remind patients for their upcoming appointments:

Share this image on your site:

Phone calls as #1 doesn’t surprise me, but even busy office staff can forget to remind — or fail to reach — patients for reminders.

By sending postcards on a set-it-and-forget-it schedule, your prospects can receive tangible postcards in the mail to remind them of their appointments with you!

You can see our patient reminder postcard designs here.

16. How often are inactive patients contacted

Inactive patients can still be a source of potential appointments and revenue!

Where do you lie on this graph?

Share this image on your site:

When it comes to contacting inactive clients for their regular hygiene checkups, for some reason, a poorly organized reminder system is ubiquitous in dentistry. It’s difficult to understand why.

It’s easy to fix, and if you were to ask the average American consumer, “How many times are you supposed to get a dental checkup every year?” the majority would say “two.” (Of course, this does not account for three and four month recalls – but whatever.)

The point is, letting people know about the need for regular hygiene checkups will create some urgency to get in your practice for a much-needed cleaning!

17. Here’s the method they used to contact inactive patients

Share this image on your site:

Our clients have mailed postcards to their customer base to remind them, say, to use their year-end benefits before they expire as just one idea.

18. Number of Google reviews online

Here’s how many Google reviews our dental clients have online:

Share this image on your site:

Good news —

Generating more 4- and 5-star Google reviews for your practice online is EASY:

FREE report: How to get more Google reviews online

If you’re lacking any reviews, the first step is to be listed on Google Maps (via your free Google Business Profile account). It is an effective way to reach prospects who are searching for dentists on their mobile phones!

Since Google Maps results show up FIRST whenever people search for “best dentist in [your city name],” you need dental marketing tips and strategies that put you there.

Pro Tip: Outside of Google, ensure your practice is listed and up-to-date with the correct info on all of the major review sites:

• Yelp
• Angie’s List
• Yellow Pages
• Expertise

Otherwise, you’re letting your competition win without a fight!

19. 83% of our dental clients are all over this social media giant

Yup, Facebook… and here’s what other social media sites our dental clients are using:

Share this image on your site:

So what did you think? Were you surprised by these results?

The time to act is now, so if you need help with your dental marketing plan, let us know. And if you asked me what my 2022 marketing advice is for dentists and small business owners alike, here’s my two-pronged suggestion:

• Market consistently no matter what
• Market your practice across multiple channels as a coordinated campaign

My most successful dental clients market consistently — this is SO important!!!

When my clients Sean and Becky Goolsby, owners of Borealis Dental Studio, initially purchased their practice, they were only receiving enough leads and new patients to coast along in their practice. However, they wanted to expand the practice and bring on another associate… so here’s what they did:

• They started mailing 6,000 postcards/month
• They saw 48 new patients in just 3 months directly from their postcards
• So they doubled their postcards to 12,000 postcards/month
• And they added matching Google ads to their postcard mailings with 0 to amplify their practice’s marketing reach

Here’s their postcard design:

After 1 year of mailing every single month no matter what, here were their results:

• 143% increase in monthly new patients
• 759 prospect calls (using 0’s call tracking feature)
• Google ads seen 1.2 million times all over the internet
• A return on investment (ROI) of 998%!

Those results happened within their first 1.5 years of opening their practice’s doors, by the way!

Talk about FAST growth.

Here’s one more case study…

I mentioned Dr. Tanty above (and how he wasted $9k on fruitless Yelp ads), but here are more details to his successful campaign…

His practice, Tanty Family Dental, was only generating 8 new patients per month but wanted to ramp up that number, so he contacted us for help.

Using our Everywhere Small Business product, Dr. Tanty’s dental office marketing was shown in these places — all 100% automatically:

• In prospects’ mailboxes with postcards
• On hundreds of websites using Google ads
• In prospects’ Facebook newsfeeds
• And in prospects’ Instagram feeds on mobile devices

You can see his postcard design here:

This multi-channel dental office marketing approached helped Tanty Family Dental generate a 349% increase in new patients.

Plus — with Everywhere Small Business, all the lead tracking is taken care of for you.

Everywhere Small Business automatically provides a lead dashboard that shows the following:

• Who called
• Where they live
• Their age demographics
• And it even records the prospect call (so you can re-listen to it later)

You can watch the 1-minute Everywhere Small Business video here to see how it works.

I hope you found this information useful. If you need any assistance with your dental marketing plan and growing your practice this year, do not hesitate to contact one of my expert marketing consultants at 800-628-1804.

They are trained to help you find the best dental marketing strategy for your practice based on marketing campaigns from our 5,789 dental clients.

Or, you can email me directly at Joy.Gendusa@postcardmania.com.

Best,

Joy