Keeping patients’ teeth healthy is your specialty but keeping your calendar filled with patients? That can be more challenging than giving a toddler a check up without causing a tantrum! With over 200,000 dentists practicing in the USA, standing out from the crowd can seem like an impossible task. Sure, you’re not going to attract a client from across the country but how can you have patients from across town fill your chair if you’re competing with 330 other dentists (looking at you, Lake County, Illinois)? There’s social media and paid advertising, which are intrinsic to having a successful practice, but they can be at the mercy of the Algorithm Gods.

What if there was a way to position yourself as the “go-to” dentist in town so that YOUR name was the first one everyone thought for all things dental? There is, and it’s a proven method to increase visibility, credibility and authority.

It’s publicity.

The Public Relations Society of America defines public relations as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.”

In other words, publicity allows businesses, like yours, to communicate with your audience, usually through a neutral third party organization, such as radio, newspapers, television, podcasts, magazines and blogs. It’s a highly effective way to connect with your target market in a deeper, more meaningful way - and it should be part of your marketing strategy for success.

Here are five reasons why dentists need publicity to grow their practices with ease:

Visibility - The Marketing Rule of 7 states that a potential client needs to be exposed to your marketing message at least seven times before they’re ready to take action. However, that was true back in the 1970s, when the average consumer saw 500 ads per day. Fast forward to 2020, and people are seeing 7,500 ads per day on average! Your audience needs to see you more than seven times but…how? The media is the answer! Being featured on local TV or in an article in the community paper exposes you to tens of thousands of people in your town, the very people who are likely to use your services. And thanks to the internet, these appearances are searchable for years to come, popping up whenever someone Googles your name. There’s also the added benefit of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for your website by having these higher-ranked sites backlinking to yours.

Credibility - While ads and social media are important marketing tools, they lack the credibility of a third party singing your praises. Your ads say you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread but if a television or newspaper reporter says you are, then people are far more likely to believe it.

“The idea is the believability of an article versus an advertisement, says Michael Levine, a well- known publicist and author of the book, Guerilla P.R. “Depending on how you measure and monitor, an article it is between 10 times and 100 times more valuable than an advertisement.” Forbes 2014 Now that’s a huge ROI, especially when you consider this is “earned” media, meaning you’ve not paid to be featured, but you’ve earned the spot because the media felt your message was of importance to its audience.

Authority - Imagine a television reporter turning to you for dental advice as thousands of viewers watch, waiting for your expert answer. Who do you think those folks at home are going to call the next time they need a check up - some random dentist from the phone book or Google…or the dentist the trusted media presented as the local expert? When you are viewed as the master of your craft, you have no competition.

Content Marketing - Being interviewed by the media offers you the opportunity to deep dive into information to showcase your knowledge, confirming your position as an expert and a thought leader. It’s also a great way to introduce problems and procedures to the public that they might not be aware of, opening the door for your practice to provide more services to patients. You’re also reaffirming to current clients that they are in good hands with a trusted professional who knows their craft.

Value - Quite simply, publicity gives you more bang for your buck (plus.. it’s free). There’s no algorithm to fight against, no ads to spend money on and it’s the gift that keeps on giving for years to come with SEO and Google indexing. Thanks to all the reasons we’ve looked at above, it’s no surprise that a 2014 Nielsen study found that “PR is almost 90% more effective than advertising.” Take for example being on television. A 30-second spot can cost thousands of dollars to run just once, plus all the money required to produce that commercial. But if you’re a guest on the morning program, being interviewed for upwards of four to five minutes, you don’t spend a dime because you’re providing valuable content for the station’s viewers. That one interview is worth tens of thousands of dollars and all it costs you is a trip to the local TV station. Imagine if you could leverage becoming a regular contributor to your local media outlets - how could it affect your practice?

Being featured in the media is the fastest way to increase your status amongst the community and patients, be seen as a trusted advisor and an experienced professional while boosting your SEO and differentiating yourself from the hundreds of other dentists in town. If publicity isn’t part of your marketing strategy, there’s no time like the present to start getting visible in your local media.