practice marketing
PPC
ADVERTISING
The best way to get a
bigger share of patients
in the research phase
When a potential patient decides to invest in highvalue dental procedures like implants or veneers, they
go straight to Google, search for a few minutes and
choose a random dentist on one of the first few pages
of their search. Sound too good to be true? It is. While
it would certainly simplify the process, it’s not at all reality and is usually much more complex.
Long before your potential patients decide they want to invest in
complex dental procedures to improve their smile, they can spend
weeks (and even months) in the “research phase” or information
gathering phase, instead of the “buying phase”, or choosing a dentist and booking their appointment, of their Google searches.
But that’s okay, if you’re doing all of the right SEO marketing
strategies, your site should show up in any type of search for dental
services in your area, right? Nope. Again, it would make your life
(and our life) simpler, but it’s not at all realistic. Your patients and
everyone making a large purchasing decision, frankly, are far more
complex than you think. Here’s a hypothetical story to show you
how people conduct the different searches at different phases of
the buying process and how it can affect your patient flow:
RESEARCH PHASE SEARCHES
Mary is a 62-year old woman, living in North Dallas who has never
been happy with her smile. She has several missing teeth and has
worn dentures for eight years, but has finally decided that they just
aren’t working anymore. She’s always wanted dental implants, but
hasn’t been able to afford them.