If you’re looking for new patients, want to build your brand, have just brought on a new dentist or are in areas with competitive markets, pay-per-click advertising on Google can be a valuable component of your marketing strategy.
While your marketing partner is an incredibly valuable resource in helping you succeed, you need to do your part to truly see results and the new patient leads you want. Today, we provide an overview of your role as a dental practice when using Google pay-per-click advertising.
What Are My Responsibilities with PPC?
When properly researched, financed, targeted and tracked, a pay-per-click advertising strategy will generate strong, quality patient leads. However, you must work closely with your marketing partner to make these leads a reality. Here are your key responsibilities as a practice to make your PPC investment a success.
Have a Practical, Yet Generous Budget
While pay-per-click advertising is the quickest way to gain new patients in your digital marketing ecosystem, it can also be the most expensive. To make PPC worthwhile, you’ll need to invest an adequate amount of money. We recommend starting with a budget of $1,000 a month and adjusting from there depending on your goals over time.
Make Sure Your Staff is Prepared for New Leads and Calls
If you’re spending money to show up on the front page of Google when a patient searches for a “dentist near me,” you can expect a higher volume of calls and online form submissions when your PPC ads go live. Will your staff be prepared to handle this influx of work? Do you even have the appropriate number of team members to handle it?
Does Your Staff Know About Your Ads?
First, you’ll need to inform your staff about your PPC ads and let them know to expect an increase of calls and forms as a result. Communication is key here, as a lack of proper training and information can result in confusion and frustration.
Is Your Staff Trained to Answer Common Questions?
Second, provide your staff with the proper training in how to answer common questions they’ll receive. For example, if your ads are about a new patient special you just introduced, you’ll need your staff to know the details of the special so they can secure a new patient appointment.
Can Your Staff Close the Sale?
Third, your staff must have a good idea of their responsibilities as “salespeople” of your practice. This doesn’t mean your front desk staff needs to have a sales background, but they are the people who ultimately convert new patients to your practice by scheduling appointments and handling patient communication.
Say your practice doesn’t accept a form of dental insurance, but you do have a Patient Membership Plan for people who still want to come to your practice. Train your staff in how to suggest this option to patients and encourage them to sign up. A little soft-selling goes a long way, and providing additional training to your staff is a free investment for your practice.
When Are Patients Calling Your Office?
The lunch hour is the highest-producing time for new patient leads, yet our Whiteboard Marketing team consistently sees the most calls missed during this time. Is your staff available during all hours of practice operation and free to answer calls during your most common windows of time?
Provide Your Marketing Partner with the Essential Information They Need About Your Practice
Pay-per-click advertising allows you to closely target very specific populations. Maybe you don’t accept HMOs or PPOs, or you’re receiving too many calls from patients with insurance you don’t accept. Your marketing partner can block those terms so patients searching for them won’t see your ads. You can also target specific ZIP codes if you’re trying to get patients from a specific part of town near your practice.
If you want your marketing partner to target these populations, they’ll need this information. Communicate closely with them and provide any new, relevant information about your practice and patients as soon as you have it. The more information your marketing partner has, the higher quality your leads will be.
Track, Record and Listen to Your Office Calls
Calls to your office are an invaluable resource for getting to know your patients and developing training programs for your staff. Pay close attention to the requests and questions of people calling your practice, and how your staff responds. This helps you see which of your services are the most common, who you are attracting to your office and any areas of confusion where your staff may not be providing correct information.
Your marketing partner can also use a special call tracking number for your PPC ads so you can see just how many calls you’re receiving from the investment.
Develop Clear Goals and Desired End Results
If you’re investing in pay-per-click advertising, your goal is to get in front of new potential patients and generate leads like office calls and online form submissions. In order to drive new patients to your ad landing page or website, you need to know what kind of patients you’re trying to attract–otherwise, you won’t reap the benefits of detailed targeting.
Need a Marketing Partner for Creating the Best Google PPC Ads for Dentists?
At Whiteboard Marketing, we’re the experts in getting dentists in front of the patients they want in the digital marketing ecosystem. We work closely with our dental clients to build PPC campaigns that help them increase revenue and grow their practice. Contact us at info@whiteboard-mktg.com to get started.
Written by Anna L. Davies, Digital Marketing Specialist at Whiteboard Marketing, with assistance from Michelle Yeauger, Pay-Per-Click Specialist at Whiteboard Marketing.