How to Attract More Patients to Your Multi-Location Dental Practice

Dental patients have a huge amount of choice when it comes to picking a practice. From independent, locally run dentists to NHS clinics, it's a competitive market out there, and one where it pays to have a strong marketing strategy.

As a multi-location dental practice, you have more opportunities than most to attract a wide and varied patient list. But where do you start?

In this guide, we'll explore essential dental practice marketing methods to attract, convert, and retain your patients.

Start With Your Branding

No amount of marketing can overcome poor branding. As a multi-location practice, in particular, you need a consistent identity that patients recognise and trust, no matter where they are.

When looking to attract more patients, be sure to audit your current brand image and optimise for your target audience.

Start with user feedback. Survey people in your target market, asking them useful questions about your branding, such as:

• Is our logo memorable?
• Does our branding feel professional and trustworthy?
• How does our practice compare to others you've seen?
• Does our website provide a seamless user experience?
• Is our messaging clear about the services we offer?
• What could we improve to make a better first impression?

These insights will help you identify gaps between how your practice is currently perceived and how you'd like it to be, giving you a solid foundation for your next steps in attracting more patients to your practice.

If you don't have an internal branding team, speak to a dental marketing agency. Most agencies offer specialist branding services so that you don't have to hire in-house, saving you time and money while developing an experience-led strategy.

If you don't have an internal branding team, it's worth partnering with a specialist rather than a generalist agency. Working with a dental marketing agency like MiSmile Media means you benefit from industry-specific knowledge, from patient behaviour to compliance and treatment-led messaging, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach to your brand's marketing.

This can save time and money, avoiding the need to hire in-house while still developing an experience-led branding strategy.

Develop a Strong USP

It's not uncommon for independent and private dental practices to have the upper hand in tight-knit communities, purely because they're small, local businesses. As a multi-chain practice, you need an angle to help you compete.

Start by developing your unique selling point (USP). Your USP should appeal to your target audience and give patients a genuine incentive to choose you over the local competition, levelling the playing field.

If, for instance, you have practices in heavily residential areas, you might highlight your child-friendly services as your USP, including accessible check-ups for children with autism.

Just as when testing your branding, pitch your USP to your target patients and ask for feedback. Use their insights to refine your offerings, ensuring that your services and approach align with patient demand.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Increasing web traffic is a core goal of marketing, and SEO is a strong approach to get you started.

SEO increases your visibility in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant user queries. It can help you rank well for targeted searches, like 'professional teeth whitening in London' or 'dentist in Brighton', bringing your target audience directly to your site.

In multi-location dental SEO, it's smart to implement a localised strategy for individual practices.

Start by creating a Google Business Profile (GBP) for each practice location. Once optimised, your profile should appear within Google Places, giving you an easier road to enhanced search visibility.

Google Places is often prioritised over AI Overviews for localised or service-based searches, making it a brilliant strategy for competing with AI. It's also a tool used by 42% of Googlers, creating the potential for a high increase in web traffic if you're featured.

Alongside your GBP, focus on keyword optimisation across your content, prioritising localised terms. If you're unsure where to fit localised terms within your existing copy, develop a new landing page for each practice location. Use these pages to focus on local search terms and queries, and to provide a useful resource for new patients.

You can also target keywords in long-form content, like blogs. This builds authority and establishes your presence in the area while feeding into your SEO strategy.

Social Media Marketing

As a dental practice, social media marketing is a smart way to increase visibility, nurture existing leads, and build long-lasting connections with your patients.

For multi-location practices, social media also plays a key role in maintaining a consistent brand voice while marketing across locations. It feeds directly into your branding and SEO, too, making it crucial for gaining online visibility.

In terms of content, focus on posts that bring value to your target audience. These might include dental hygiene tips and product recommendations, as well as insights into your services.

Social media also provides the perfect platform to show the faces behind your practice. It's found that using real faces in your content (specifically, early on in videos) can increase views by 175%, making this a smart way to boost engagement.

Showing off your team also makes your practice feel more credible and personable, giving potential patients a reason to choose you over a competitor.

Join the Community

When exploring local marketing for a dentist, you don't need to focus solely on digital techniques. There are plenty of traditional and in-person strategies that work just as effectively, including joining in with your local communities.

Show your users that, despite multiple locations, you're still invested in the area. Sponsor local sports teams, fundraise for local causes, and join community events. Rather than shutting your doors for late-night shopping, for instance, open them up to offer freebies and host a raffle, showing that you're present in the town.

As with highlighting your team in social content, being active in the community humanises your practice. It reflects your values and gives people a chance to get to know your team, all while ensuring your brand is recognisable to more people in your local area.

Offer New Patient Discounts

Discounts are a tried-and-tested way to attract more business. When you're competing with other practices, a sign-up offer can help swing a potential new patient in your favour.

Consider interesting incentives that your target audience will actually find useful, like a free dental cleaning with their first appointment, or a 25% discount for all new patients.

Limited-time offers are particularly useful when you need to increase patient numbers quickly. Make sure to budget wisely, though, and ensure you can afford discounts or free services across your practices before offering them.

Final Thoughts

As a multi-location dental practice, you need a strong strategy that balances localisation with consistency. Bear these tips in mind for your next steps, or outsource your campaign to a marketing agency for expert insights.

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