Social Media Marketing Vs. Traditional Marketing – What’s Better For Dental Offices?
Are you a new dentist, a new owner, or just looking to build up your existing patient base? Wondering how to reach more potential patients without breaking your marketing budget?
You may be having a hard time choosing between social media marketing or more traditional marketing strategies. So join Incept Health in this blog as we discuss the benefits and drawbacks of both types of marketing strategies – and what’s right for growing your business.
Understanding The Benefits Of Social Media Marketing For Dentists
Social media marketing with platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok has some amazing advantages, particularly for dentists with relatively low budgets:
Relatively simple setup
Setting up a social media page is pretty simple, and platforms like Facebook and Instagram also make it quite easy to start buying ads. You can get started in just a day or two!
Cost-effective
Generally, you only pay for social media ads when someone actually clicks on them. Combined with the overall lower price of social media strategies compared to traditional marketing, and you’re looking at big cost savings. According to data collected by Lyfe Marketing, social media costs just $2.50 per 1000 impressions (views) – compared to $57 for direct mail, $28 for broadcast TV, and $16 for magazine ads.
Powerful targeting tools
When you’re paying for social media ads, you can target specific demographics like age, gender, marital status, geographic location, and even things like estimated income and specific interests. This means that you can reach out to specific groups of people who are more likely to be interested in your services – for example, if you run a pediatric dental office, you can display ads only to people who have kids.
Build an organic audience
Along with paid ads, social media offers you the opportunity to build an organic online community. Things like posting on your Instagram page, sharing a patient’s TikTok about their experience, or linking to a blog post on your website using Facebook won’t cost you a dime – and still offer you a powerful way to reach out with and engage with your followers.
The main drawback is that while the initial setup is simple, running large social media campaigns can be complex and time-consuming, especially since social platforms often change their tools and algorithms.
Traditional Marketing Strategies Have Their Advantages, Too!
Ready to go “all in” on social media marketing? Not so fast. Traditional marketing strategies still have benefits for dentists:
Appeal to patients who aren’t on social media
And while 72.5% of people use social media, there are plenty of people who don’t – or check social platforms very infrequently. Traditional strategies like billboards, flyers, radio ads, or TV commercials can help you reach these audiences.
Target hyperlocal areas
Traditional media can be really great for targeting a specific area. For example, when your dental office first opens, you could use a direct mail campaign to send a “New Patient Special” postcard to patients in the zip codes nearest to your office – and bring in a bunch of new patients right away.
Increase brand exposure
The “rule of 7” states that most people require at least seven interactions with your brand before making a purchase. By using multiple traditional marketing methods, you can increase the overall exposure of your brand and reach more potential patients.
Build trust and credibility
Compared to social media marketing, traditional strategies are expensive. That’s not great for your marketing budget, but it can actually work in your favor. Because things like big billboards or high-quality TV commercials aren’t cheap, they build trust and credibility in the eyes of potential patients.
Traditional strategies do have their drawbacks, though. These campaigns are expensive and complex to manage, and almost always require a partnership with a third-party marketing agency. It’s also somewhat harder to gather data about your marketing campaigns to measure your success.
Finally, it’s significantly more difficult to change your strategy if you don’t think it’s working – for example, reshooting a TV commercial takes a lot more time and money compared to revising a few Facebook or Instagram ads.
A Combined Strategy Helps You Bring In More Patients
So, what’s the best option for your office? At Incept Health, we recommend a “social-first” strategy, but incorporating traditional marketing methods like direct mail where it makes sense for your office. Interested in learning more about our approach to dental marketing, and how we can help your practice grow? Get in touch for a 100% free, no-commitment consultation.