Why Dental Practices Should Invest in Paid Ads after a Pandemic

The pandemic has greatly impacted global industries, markets, and consumer behaviors. As dental businesses reopen and grapple with the regulations that are in place at the moment, they must also come to terms with shifts in marketing strategies - specifically, paid ads. Dentists must understand the current nature of their marketplace and how paid ads could be beneficial to their practices, during this time. 

Over the next few minutes, as you read this, you will learn the value of investing in paid ads during this time. You will also become familiar with current Google Trends and dental-specific keywords that could be applicable to your marketing strategies. 

These are 6 reasons you should invest in paid ads in a post-pandemic world: 

You can beat your competitors and reach more patients, sooner

The American Dentist Association Health Policy Institute estimates that 95% of dentists closed their offices during the pandemic - with some closing completely while others were partially closed. These practices have had to scale back on their marketing efforts and budgets to balance their books. With several cities now past phase 1 of reopening, this is a great time for dentists to re-invest in marketing strategies and target old and new patients. 

Several small businesses are currently equipping themselves to ensure they have the necessary measures in place for their reopening, this has led to a lag and delay in the reopening process for these businesses. Many community members are not even aware of the businesses that are open and those that aren’t. With targeted paid ads, your dental practice could be ahead of the curve by informing a wide range of current and prospective patients that your practice is back in business and ready to support their dental needs. 

Cost-Per-Click marketing is cheaper than it has been in recent times

There has been a steady decline in cost-per-click (CPC) marketing since March. CPC advertisements work through a bidding system that charges you whenever someone clicks on your ad. Since there are fewer clicks on ads then there used to be, CPC ads have become relatively cheaper than they were three months ago.

The CPC bidding system allows you to compete with other advertisers or businesses for online ad spots. Since there aren’t many advertisers, businesses, or dental practices currently investing in CPC marketing, your CPC ad has a good chance of winning bids for good ad spots without costing you as much money as it would have in February. 

More people are searching for dental services online

Although CPC ads are cheaper nowadays, they are still very efficient if your CPC marketing focuses on the essential keywords and Google Trends that are being used at the moment. As businesses are opening up, people are beginning to search for the important personal services that they haven’t had access to over the past couple of months. This has led to spikes in Google searches for dental services and keywords. 

Google Trends reveal increases in searches for dental specific keywords - such as dentists, dental, braces, dental implants, Invisalign, orthodontics. There is also a rising trend in search queries like ‘are dentist offices open’ and ‘is it safe to go to the dentist’. These keywords and search queries highlight the increasing demand for dental services that can meet the immediate dental needs of patients. 

By focusing your paid ads on dental-specific keywords and search queries, you will be positioning your dental practice to meet this growing demand. More importantly, you will be promoting your dental practices to prospective patients who are ready to make an appointment now. 

You could save money in the long run

The cost-benefit of investing in paid ads now isn’t limited to the relatively cheap bidding price for ad spots. Spending money on cost-per-click ads now allows you to raise awareness for your services now so you can capitalize on internal marketing for reviews and referrals later. This way, your dental practice could save more money in the long run. 

Over 90% of dental patients, who are searching for a dentist online, will read reviews when deciding which dental practices to contact. You can expect this particular consumer behavior to remain unchanged over the coming months. By investing in paid ads now, you will be giving your dental practice a great chance of acquiring new patients who will in-turn leave reviews and make referrals for your practice. 

Over time - and in the near future - those reviews and referrals will become a key marketing tool for promoting your practice and acquiring even more prospective patients. The ROI for the money you will be spending now on paid ads will prove that this is a worthwhile investment. 

With Cost-per-click marketing, you won’t have to spend more than you make

Given the fact that cost-per-click advertisements are only charged when the advertisement is clicked, your dental practice has nothing to lose if the advertisement does not generate traffic or conversion. In other words, you won’t ever have to spend more than you make from your paid ads. 

More so, with paid ads, you can easily measure your results, test your marketing strategies, and improve your advertisements if they don’t get your desired clicks. This makes paid advertisement an attractive and effective marketing strategy for dental practices - especially in a pandemic where several practices have lost income and patients.

You can gain more prospective patients right now

We have established that several dental practices have experienced financial losses during this pandemic. The reality is many practices need the cash flow and may opt to not invest in external marketing strategies at the moment. However, if you want to be proactive and be on the offence, investing in paid ads is a great way to gain more new patients in the short term and save more money for your practice in the long run. 

We are already seeing signs of recovery and growth for dental practices that are reopening. Your practice can also thrive and experience sustained growth in a post-pandemic world. To achieve this, you must be strategic with your service offerings, budgets, and operations. Consider investing in marketing strategies - such as paid ads - that can raise awareness about your practice now, help you gather reviews and referrals, and lead to long term success.

Connect the Doc’s team of expert marketers can advertise your business in the right places at the right time. Contact us to start showing your ads to prospective patients who are searching for your dental services right now.