(00:00):
It really needs to reflect who you are, both as a dentist or an orthodontist, and as a person, as a human, you really got to treat it as a checklist and start checking off those objections. When you’re doing anything in your marketing, it’ll just get you ahead of the game. Make sure that you identify with the type of patient that you really want to work with. He saw a 30% increase in appointment bookings within the first 30 days of us relaunching that website.
(00:26):
Welcome to the KNOW BS Dental Growth podcast, a podcast that helps dentists win in the online world of modern day marketing. Each week we cover the most cutting edge marketing tactics and strategies that are working right now across our client base to drive leads, phone calls and more new patients for dentists. Now, here’s your host and founder of No BS Dental Growth. Chris Pistorius.
(00:53):
Welcome back to the No BS Dental Growth podcast. I’m your host, Chris Pistorius, and today we’re going to dive into a topic that can really make or break your practice’s online strategy, and that’s the role of personality and authenticity in converting website visitors into actual loyal patients. The ones that come into your practice actually get into the chair and then they leave and they come back every six months or so. Those are really the ones we’re looking at, right? So in a world where patients have endless options really at their fingertips, standing out is absolutely crucial. There’s never been more competition in dental. Your website is often that first impression that potential patients have of your practice, and it really needs to reflect who you are, both as a dentist or an orthodontist, and as a person, as a human, because really people buy from people.
(01:45):
And at the end of the day, that’s what people are looking for. They want to relate to the person that’s going to be in charge of their oral healthcare. So why does this matter? Well, because authenticity does build trust and trust leads to conversions. If people know you like you and trust you, they’re way more likely to do business with you. Today I want to really explore how you can infuse your personality into your website and not only attract visitors, but also convert them into actual patients because clicks are great and people go into your website are great, but it doesn’t really matter unless somebody actually signs up. But before we jump in, I just want to make sure that you subscribe on this page to the No BS Dental Growth podcast, and that way you just never miss an episode when we drop one.
(02:31):
It’s just packed with actionable insights to help you grow your practice and stuff that you can really use as a dental practice owner or manager immediately to really help you stand out from the competition and drive more activity into the practice. So let’s talk a little bit about the importance of authenticity when it comes to really in all marketing, but specifically in website, in the dental and orthodontic fields, patients are really looking for more than just clinical expertise. They really want to feel a connection. One of the reasons they always say there are three top reasons that people don’t go to the dentist is because money, time, or fear or a combination of all three of those. So when you’re building your website and you’re creating your marketing, you know that those are real world reasons why people don’t go. And so you really got to treat it as a checklist and start checking off those objections.
(03:26):
When you’re doing anything in your marketing, it’ll just get you ahead of the game. Real world example would be like Dr. Smith will say it’s an orthodontist. He shares his journey on his website, he talks about why he became an orthodontist, his passion for helping kids smile and even shares a few personal antidotes about his own family. Now, this transparency creates really a relatable image that resonates with visitors. Now, an actionable insight here for you, for everybody watching this to enhance your authenticity, consider adding a personal bio section on your website and not just a normal one, but I went to school here and I was top of the class here and part of this association. Everybody’s doing that. Make yourself different. Share your story. Get personal with people, your values, what drives you in your practice. This not only humanizes your brand, but it also fosters trust with potential patients because they want to really relate to you and they want to know if you’re a good fit for them.
(04:31):
Some people want a more serious business approach, others want more of a laid back kind of fun of experience. And this will allow people to really understand what they’re getting into, if you will, prior to making that decision. And it really helps you because you already know who your ideal patient is and if you don’t call me, but it helps you make sure that you identify with the type of patient that you really want to work with. So you’re getting more qualified, for lack of a better word, patients coming into the practice. So let’s talk about showcasing your personality a little bit. I think a lot of dental practices miss this. Let’s really understand that the website really should reflect that unique style and approach to dentistry. It should really copy your culture. So are you that really business kind of serious type practice? And that’s fine if you are, that’s nothing wrong with that all or are you more like a jokester and you like to have fun and joke around and make people at ease more?
(05:28):
An example of that would be like for instance, let’s say Dr. Lee Lee’s practice. She uses friendly conversational tone throughout her website from the homepage all the way to the FAQs and the contact page. Now, instead of using jargon, a bunch of acronyms and really upper level educational terms, she really helps explain procedures in simple terms, making it really accessible for everyone. I mean, people say that with a website, you should really write most copy at about an eighth grade level so that everybody completely understands it and you shouldn’t have to worry about having to overexplain things. So here’s a suggestion on what you can do. Use engaging visuals. Use pictures. Don’t use stock images, please, please don’t do that. And a consistent tone of voice that reflects your personality, incorporate your culture. Incorporate videos. I love videos for this, and they don’t have to be professionally done and spend thousands of dollars to come in.
(06:24):
A lot of ’em can be done with your phone and just kind of off the cuff. Those typically perform better for us with clients than others. You introduce, you introduce your team on the video, and this not only makes your practice more relatable, but it also allows potential patients to see the faces behind the practice so that you can significantly increase their comfort level. They already know what to expect before they get there. I think it is so important to do things like this, and these are the little things that a lot of practices kind of forget. It’s more like a robotic process sometimes when you build a website or marketing materials,
(07:00):
Are you looking to grow your practice but are a little unclear on what the best way is? Let us help you out. We have over 13 years of experience in helping practices just like yours, increase new patient growth. Just go to kickstart dental.com and sign up for a free strategy session where we will give you some great insights on how to take your practice to the next level.
(07:26):
So now let’s talk a little bit about the most powerful tools in your conversion arsenal, if you will. Testimonials, case studies for you, implant dentists out there. You should be all over this. Every patient you do a video. One of the best performing videos that we’ve done for an implant dentist anyway was they blindfold the person after their procedure. They haven’t seen their teeth yet, huge transformation, and they videotape the moment they walk this person into the mirror and show her new smile. And it’s a raw reaction right now. Obviously you got to get permission from your patient to do this or you could be in all kinds of trouble, but that is very powerful. It’s very emotional. She started crying and you could tell it was authentic. It wasn’t a made for TV type moment. Authentic testimonials like that can really significantly boost your credibility.
(08:21):
And when potential patients see stuff like this, real stories from satisfied patients, it just builds that trust even more and encourages them to go ahead and take action. So think about doing it. Create a dedicated testimonials page on your website. Don’t make it just like everybody else’s where it’s, oh, we have the greatest, this, that, or everything. Put your online reviews on there. Everybody does that, right? And I’m not saying don’t do that, but try to stick out a little bit because honestly, who’s going to put bad reviews on their website? So you might as well put the good ones that really show the emotion of people there. And please, please encourage your happy patients to share their experiences and consider using video testimonials for just that greater impact. Make sure that these testimonials do reflect your personality and the atmosphere of the practice. And one tip I would talk about here is don’t shy away from showcasing a few challenges that you’ve helped patients overcome.
(09:16):
That dental implant case was an example of that. I think that kind of transparency can really resonate deeply with potential patients who may be facing very similar issues. They could be looking at that video and going, oh wow, my smile is terrible right now. And look at the joy that this person has through this. And when you start removing barriers like that, cost starts to go out the window because they want to feel like that. And if they have to spend a little extra money to do that, it’s worth it for them. So finally, let’s touch on user experience. A website that’s easy to navigate, it’s visually appealing, is important, and it can really enhance the authenticity that you’re looking to convey. So take a look at your website if you feel like it’s cluttered. If you’ve got too many pages, don’t do that. Don’t list every possible service that you could do.
(10:07):
And you have a dropdown menu that goes like this. Far right? Don’t do that. It just causes confusion. Stay with the core of the website. Don’t make it difficult for people to navigate around. Or what’s going to happen is they’re probably going to leave before they even get to that sense of personality that we just talked about. Work with somebody. Invest in a clean user-friendly website on the mobile side too, because mobile, you have even smaller screen share, right? So you really can’t overdo it there for sure. Most of our clients have about 60 to 70% of their practices. Website visitors come from a mobile site. So it’s incredibly, incredibly important that the mobile sites optimized for this as well. But remove the clutter, get to your core points, combine some services into one page. You don’t really need to list out everything. Okay? Also, I would say ensure that you’re contact information is easily accessible, right?
(11:05):
I mean, that sounds like, duh, why wouldn’t I do that? But a lot of people miss that. Make sure there’s a way to reach out to you on every page of your website. I’ll give you an example. We had a dentist a long time ago, a few years ago, Dr. Johnson, we revamped his site with a very simple layout, very clear calls to action. He was one of these guys that had every page of everything he could possibly do, which is great content, but you don’t necessarily have to show all of that content in the navigation menu. You can still have it on your website so that Google can crawl it and it helps with SEO and it can show up in other places, but it doesn’t have to always be in that nav bar. Anyway, as a result, he saw a 30% increase in appointment bookings within the first 30 days of us relaunching that website.
(11:53):
It was incredible. It was one of the top I’ve seen in terms of that quick turnaround. And just remember, a seamless user experience compliments your authentic voice and personality, making it so much easier for potential patients to connect with you. Trying to wrap up here, let’s just kind of summarize some of the key points that we did discuss. I think we talked about authenticity builds trust, right? It’s more essential for converting website visitors into actual patients, right? Look different. Don’t be a robotic dentist, or everything looks cookie cutter. And your website’s just like somebody else’s. Show your personality, showcase it throughout your website, engaging content of videos of you blog. Really cool stuff that people can relate to. Testimonials we talked about. Very powerful tools that can enhance the credibility and authenticity and really encourage potential patients to choose your practice over your competition. And finally, a user-friendly website.
(12:53):
Don’t make it cluttered, right? A seamless user experience that really reflects the culture of your practice and your authentic voice. So I challenge you today, review your website this week. Take a look at it. Identify one area specifically where you can infuse more of your personality and authenticity, whether it’s updating your bio page, adding a video, or showcasing your testimonials. Take that step to reconnect with your audience. It will pay off dividends for years to come. And remember, continuous learning. It’s a big part of your jobs. It’s just key to growing your practice. Learning new stuff like this and putting it and taking action on it is really the biggest thing. Let’s just try to keep pushing forward together, take these advice, these tips, and if you’re going to implement just one thing out of everything that I produce, you’re going to be miles ahead of your competition.
(13:46):
So wrapping up, thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the No BS Dental Growth podcast. I hope you found these insights valuable and I really hope it does help inspire you to make your website a true reflection of you and who you are as a dental professional. And please don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss out on any episodes we drop. Sometimes we do it on different times of the days filled with practical tips and strategies to help you use to make your practice thrive. And for more resources and to connect with us, you can visit my website, kickstart dental.com or follow us anywhere on social media. We’re all over the place, and until next time, keep growing and keep it real.
(14:27):
Thanks for joining us this week on the Know BS Dental Growth Podcast. Make sure to visit our website, kickstart dental.com/podcast, where you can subscribe to the show in iTunes, Spotify, or via RSS, so you’ll never miss a show. While you’re at it, if you found value in the show, we’d appreciate a rating on iTunes or if you’d simply tell a friend about the show, that would help us out too. If you are ready to grow your practice, then you might want to schedule a free strategy session with us. Just go to kickstart dental.com and click the free strategy session button and give us 15 minutes of your time to change your practice forever. Be sure to tune in next week for our next episode. And thanks for listening to the No BS Dental Growth Podcast by Kickstart Dental Marketing, where dentists go to win online.
