Have you started thinking about what your marketing strategies will look like for 2023? Savvy dentists know that having a plan is the number one piece of marketing advice! Beginning with a dental marketing plan helps busy dentists execute effective marketing with less effort. A plan also allows you to track your marketing and make changes when things aren’t working. In other words, a 2023 marketing plan will make sure you aren’t taking shots in the dark. 

Dental PPC is one of the most effective and fastest ways to get more new patients. 

illustration of a man pointing at presentation of a business plan

Refresher: What is Dental PPC?

PPC stands for pay-per-click advertising. It’s the most direct form of advertising, and it’s cost-effective. Here are the PPC basics:

  • You only pay when patients click on your ad.
  • You can target your ads directly to people who need your services.
  • Your ads can be text (search ads) or images (display ads).
  • You can target your ideal patients by using keywords, location, income, age, and gender.
  • The most common and effective PPC platform is Google. But there are others you may also want to consider (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.)

Do you already have a PPC campaign that isn’t working as well as you’d like? Learn how to fix it in this blog titled Common Problems Dentists Have with Pay-Per-Click.”

Do Dentists Really Need Google Ads?

Our opinion? Yes. If you’d like to generate more ideal patients for your practice, you want to use Google Ads. Google is the most used search engine on the internet, so you’ll get the most expansive pool of patients to choose from when you use Google ads. Another piece of marketing advice is to put your advertising where your target audience is looking. That means search engines which, for most people, simply means Google. 

Are you just starting out with Google Ads? This other blog, Google Ad Basics for Dentists, can help, for more on the best strategies for the upcoming year here are six tips to follow. 

1. Get Your Campaign Up and Running Before January 1, 2023

Alright, dentists, this one is important! You know as well as we do that your busiest months are January and February. So piggyback off these great dental months and take advantage of dental PPC. The fact that you experience more patients already tells you that more people are searching the internet for dental services. Make sure those people see your ads by having your campaigns up and running by January 1. 

This requires a little prework and planning, but when you get more new patients than ever, you’ll thank yourself for thinking ahead! Start planning your 2023 dental PPC campaign now, so you have plenty of time to get it running and avoid scrambling to do it during the holiday season. 

2. Use Location-Based Keywords

In setting up your dental PPC advertising, you’ll choose keywords that help to target the people who need your services. Think of keywords as topics. If you’re a TMJ dentist, you might use the keyword “jaw pain.” If you’re a sleep apnea dentist, you might use the keyword “CPAP alternative” in your Google ads campaign. 

Also, make sure you’re using location-based keywords. More and more, when people search for a service or product, they’ll type their location too. For example, “dentist Denver” or “TMJ dentist Chicago.” Make sure to specifically use those keyword phrases in your PPC campaign to target people looking for you. 

3. Use Negative Keywords

This one might seem odd, but aren’t there types of patients you don’t want to target? You can make Google ads even more cost-effective and stop wasting your front desk staff’s time by specifically avoiding certain keywords. Some examples of negative keywords you may want to use to avoid certain types of patients are

  • Low-income insurance 
  • “Dental implant grants”
  • “Free cosmetic dentistry”

This will help minimize people clicking on your ads (costing you money) who aren’t a good fit for your office. And your front desk team members won’t have to deal with low-quality patient calls. But there are other things you may want to use as negative keywords, too, like, the name of another dentist near your office, your office name, or your name. You don’t want to spend ad money on people who are already looking for you or specifically looking for someone else. 

4. Create Compelling Ad Landing Pages

When someone clicks on your dental PPC ad, it’ll direct them to a page on your website. So make sure the page is optimized for mobile, engaging, and has clear call to actions. At this point, the Google ad has done its job, and now it’s your website’s job to get that patient to call or schedule an appointment online. Here are some quick tips on making a great dental PPC landing page. Make sure

  • The page is easy to use and navigate on mobile.
  • It’s easy for patients to schedule an appointment.
  • Your page loads quickly.
  • The landing page quickly communicates pertinent information.
  • It’s visually appealing. 
  • Your ad’s landing page is on the same topic as your ad (don’t send people to your homepage!)

5. Track Your Data

Here’s another biggie! Make sure you are looking at your dental PPC data regularly, tracking what seems to be working or isn’t working, and making changes based on the data you collect. 

Try to avoid making changes on a gut feeling! That means that you’ll need to let your dental PPC play out long enough to show trends. If something doesn’t seem to be working for one week or one month, be patient enough to wait it out to see if things change. There are many factors that you can’t control in dental PPC that change regularly. Wait for a trend to emerge before making changes. 

6. Hire a Dental PPC Agency

Are you too busy to work on a dental PPC campaign for 2023? We get it, and we can help. A dental PPC agency like Pro Impressions Marketing can manage your campaigns so you can focus on dentistry. We set ourselves apart from other agencies because, in addition to an effective campaign, we offer

  • Transparent reporting 
  • Lead tracking
  • Dependable communication
  • Accountability

We’re a marketing agency you can trust. Call (970) 672-1212 or schedule a free strategy call online.