Dental web content that works

How to Create a Better Path to Your Services Using Informative Dental Content

Though I can’t remember the source or a few details – the story is still practical. Especially as it relates to establishing your authority and influence via well-timed, informative dental copywriting and dental content.

Here’s the story as I remember it…

A developer built a multi-story office complex on several acres. The general structure was in place. Now came time for sidewalks and landscaping.

His contractor was quick to plot out the location of various greenbelt and water features and sidewalks throughout the pristine acreage. The location of sidewalks would follow the predictable layout leading to all points of entry from an expansive multi-story parking facility.

The developer placed a pause on the sidewalk construction. He asked the contractor to delay for a few weeks.

The perplexed contractor pushed-back asking why, knowing that sidewalks are standard for such a facility. And noted that any delays would create problems for the already beautiful landscaping being placed.

The developer held his ground while offering his somewhat outside-the-box wisdom.

Being practical, it made more sense to him that the people using the facility on a daily basis determine where the sidewalks should be placed.

He noted that people predictably walk where they have the easiest and most convenient access to the facility. In his experience, sidewalks are best placed where the highest percentage of foot traffic travels to and from the facility.

His wisdom: let the people create the path then place the sidewalk where they routinely to walk.

Are you building “sidewalks” with your dental content that no one’s using?

Traffic is everything to your online presence as a dental practice or dental service provider. Patients and/or clients arrive, stay, and then exit your dental website for a variety of reasons.

As important as navigation and trendy eye-candy graphics are to many – they matter less to your target audience than you might think.

Why?

Everyone’s doing it or done it…countless times. What was once trendy is now numbing and a distraction to what site visitors come to your site looking for.

Investing thousands in a flashy, trendy, or otherwise templated website is like placing a sidewalk where no one’s walking – simply because it’s where you think a “sidewalk” should for all practical purposes be placed.

Your dental website visitors are looking for one thing!

Dental services? Yes, but something more.

State-of-the-art technology? A nice feature if you have it…but no!

Amenities like coffee and tea in the waiting area? Again, a nice touch…but again, no!

Contests, give-aways, a chance to be your 1000th “Like” or “Follower” on Facebook or Instagram? Really…?!

I think you get the picture (and if not, you will or your website will continue to be a “sidewalk” that few use).

So, what are your website visitors looking for?

Solutions!

Why?

Because they have a particular problem they believe or at least hope you can solve.

And they’ll find your website and stay on your website to the point of making contact with you if…and only if…you provide solutions to their problems and/or answers to their questions.

Gone are the days when you can throw up a templated, looks-like-every-other-dental-website up on the web, fill it with feature-heavy, industry-speak, technical, self-aggrandizing, flashy content and wait for the phone to ring or the contact forms to pour in.

How to create a path that generates more patient or client leads (without doing what everyone else does)

Know your audience…who’s your avatar?

“A dental patient,” you say.

Right, but who are they?

  • What are their health goals?
  • How do they view dentistry?
  • When was their last examination and cleaning?
  • Why haven’t they scheduled treatment that’s been planned?

Those are all dental related questions. But go a bit deeper.

  • What embarrasses them about their smile?
  • How will they finance treatment they know they need?
  • When is their next big social event (e.g. wedding, reunion, interview, etc) that they want to look and feel confident attending?

The latter questions probe a bit deeper. You’re getting to an emotional core when you ask and seek answers to these questions.

Transform your dental website from an “online brochure” to an information platform

This might “sting” a little.

Without consistent, informative published content (e.g. a blog, articles) your dental website is nothing more than an easily discarded online “brochure.”

To step away from you crowd it’s essential that you share your expertise as it directly relates to the “pains” and “desires” of your “audience.”

Realize, the dental seeking public search for your services for basically two reasons:

  • They’re in pain and want relief.
  • They have an emotional or physical motivation to repair or restore something about their smile.

Sure, there are more reasons but those are fundamentally what compels your “audience” or “avatar” to seek your services.

It’s essential that you position yourself as the “expert.”

How?

Through publishing (weekly is best, bi-weekly at a minimum) informative content that compels a person seeking dentistry (for whatever reason) to schedule.

So, you must “pour your sidewalk” where they’re walking…

  • Probe for questions and problems during every opportunity you have with a patient. Your current patients will provide clues to what the dental seeking public desire.
  • Keep a running list (spreadsheet, etc) of every seed thought, seed question, or verbatim question or problem you encounter from patients. This is a goldmine for content and copy themes.
  • Write conversational content that answers questions and solves problems. Few (really) are doing this. And you’ll grow your influence (and production) when you position yourself as a problem-solver.

Remember, sidewalks provide convenient access to a facility or they’re simply a place to go for a stroll. The easier the access the better.

The same applies to your dental website. Create an informative platform and you’ll make accessing your services easier.

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Use a Word-of-Mouth Marketing Mindset to Give Your Dental Content an Advantage

A recent conversation with a dental professional gave me a key insight. Here it is…

There’s a big disconnect about the wording of effective dental content.

Our back-and-forth discussion via email prompted my thinking about the clinical vs. conversational tone of dental copy in general. His respectable clinical expertise was somewhat toe-to-toe with my copy and content writing expertise.

I believe there’s a win-win to be achieved. But…the ultimate “win” is for those who consume the practice’s content…or at least it should be.

It’s not about you!

Your top challenge as a dental professional (specifically with your marketing copy and content) is taking the focus off YOU! It’s easy to throw down words touting your latest…greatest…state-of-the-art…cutting edge (shall I continue) innovation or procedure. Add to that the often used technical verbiage that’s more appropriate for clinical journals and colleague conversations.

For this discussion let’s say that dental marketing copy and content has two sole purposes:

  1. To inform and educate. This is perhaps where my recent conversation ran off the rails. It’s a mistaken notion that informative must equate to industry jargon.

Which leads to the second purpose…

  1. To compel a specific action – schedule, call, contact, click, reply, etc… This assumes that the dental-services-seeking public are interested in what eliminates their pain, improves their appearance and health, or both.

Dental content is about the reader (patient). It’s their “story” that matters.

So, who are you talking to?

This question must guide every piece of content you publish. It’s where I begin when I’m writing copy and content of any scope.

It’s essential that you create a copy/content “environment” where the reader is the focus. It’s THEIR problem that requires a solution or THEIR question that needs answering.

The result of your sensitivity to them and their problems and questions is where you make connections. And when your copy/content is the vehicle that delivers you could earn a patient or client for life.

Who’s talking?

Apparently tons of people are willing to talk about businesses that make an impression on them. Forester Research confirms that approximately 500 billion word-of-mouth impressions are created daily via social media.

Social interaction is making a difference on the economy. The big question: is it positively impacting yours?

Get this…McKinsey and Company, a management consulting firm, reveal that an estimated two-thirds of the US economy is fueled by word-of-mouth. fn

Let that sink in…

  • 500 billion conversational impressions
  • Two thirds of the US economy influenced by conversations

The “talk-is-cheap” mantra might best be repackaged as talk-has-extreme-value! Today’s “water-cooler” gatherings are vastly different than a decade ago…and enhancing those connections is helped by the tone of your copy and content.

How a conversational mindset can have a longterm…viral impact on your patient or client relationships

  1. “Talk” (write) about what matters…to your reader. It’s essential that you listen and then leverage what you hear into solution oriented content. Make sure your expertise (and the language you use about it) isn’t the focus as much as how it solves their problems and/or answers their burning question(s) of the moment.
  2. Use words that resonate and those that compel your reader. Again, avoid fancy, heady, intellectual, jargon-y sounding language. Find and use relevant synonyms that create culturally appropriate images in your reader’s mind.

Word-of-mouth impressions are powerful because they’re everyday and conversationally driven. Writing like you (and your patients and/or clients) talk keeps the conversation going…and that leads to longterm, healthy relationships.

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dental content clarity

How to Assure that Your Dental Content is Clear and Useful

I love it when clients “get” what I’m about to share with you! It’s simple really and it can add value to your dental content – online or offline.

I recently wrote the copy for a dental client’s website. The pediatric dental content was brief and to the point – as they preferred.

They asked for a minor revision. It involved copy on a somewhat obscure dental issue. Though pleased with the copy, the client recognized that the existing content could be a bit confusing to their “audience.”

It’s vital that your content connect on a compelling AND clear level with your reader.

I made a minor adjustment to the copy. All it involved was a simple tweak in the language followed by a clarifying explanation of the issue.

I’ll share the “language” I used in a moment.

Clarity first

I’ve written about what is called the “power of one.” It’s the principle that your copy/content is more compelling and useful when it focuses on one, clear idea.

It’s common for marketing or promotional copy/content to take on too much. Words carry weight but too many ideas all at once can weigh-down and confuse your reader.

Narrow your focus to one clear, compelling, big idea. And make sure that idea is clearly communicated (what my client gets).

How to Assure that Your Dental Content is Clearly Useful

1-Know your audience

This is Communication-101. Who are you talking, writing, marketing, promoting to? Dentistry is a technical, knowledge-based industry. As a dentist, your education holds esteemed value to your patients (and it certainly should).

Your audience “pays” for your knowledge and expertise. But that knowledge-base requires a clear explanation when it’s shared with those other than industry colleagues (i.e., your patients).

  • View your services through the “eyes” of your patient. Explain, promote, educate them with words they understand. This is a fundamental task of my dental content writing – clarifying and attaching benefits to what is otherwise obscure or irrelevant.
  • Get to the benefit level as quickly and clearly as possible. Remember that the benefits of your services must connect with your patient’s emotions. Features, on the other hand, appeal to their logic. Use both (features and benefits) but clarify what you provide around the benefit they will receive.

2-Paint a “picture.”

It’s useful to illustrate the “idea” you’re communicating. This is what I did recently with my client.

I used a few simple words to clarify the complex issue. Instead of using albeit accurate technical language I illustrated it by saying, “Think of it this way…,” then crafted a short connection to a relatable idea.

Those simple words shifted their thinking to something they could understand. When your reader makes the “shift” they inch closer to accepting what you’re communicating.

Art takes work.

Invest time creating clear ways to communicate your services. What can you compare it to? Is there a connection to something your patient(s) know and understand?

3-Tell a story.

This is about your core message. Those who read your content aren’t looking for a screenplay but they are looking for value in what your provide.

The more you draw them into your services the better your outcomes.

  • Help your patient see themselves using and benefitting from your service. It’s not about “whiter teeth” it’s really about confidence at their daughter’s wedding or feeling attractive at their upcoming high school reunion.
  • List as many plot-lines as you can think of for each of your dental services. By “plot-line” I’m referring to the path you guide them on from problem to solution. What ultimately does this “problem” cause if avoided and what would it look like if they accept the “solution?”
  • Mine your reviews, surveys, and patient testimonials for story themes. Patients tell you their story through their post-treatment comments. Listen chair side for clues to your patient’s story. What are they really wanting from the service you’ve treatment planned for them?

That’s story!

Simplify your copy. And remember that clarity adds value to the content you publish to promote your services.

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