MM4D Mailbag: Your Dental Marketing Questions Answered

Read Time: 3 Minutes, 28 Seconds

What's up! Kyle, back again.

This week, I'm switching things up. Instead of one topic, I'm answering five questions that hit my inbox constantly. Real dentists, real problems, real solutions. In a little longer format.

(Fake names, I subbed those out.)

Let's dive in.

1. "Google Ads vs. SEO - I'm Lost"

‘Dr. Sarah’ from Evansville, IN writes: "I know about Google Ads and SEO but I honestly don't understand the difference. Should I be spending money on ads or focusing on SEO? How much should I budget for each?"

Here's the deal.

SEO is the long game, optimizing your website to show up organically when people search. It takes 6-12 months to see real results, but it's "free" traffic once it kicks in. That’s big.

Google Ads is the short game, you pay to show up immediately when people search. You control the volume, timing, and spend.

Your Google Ads budget is insanely competitor-specific and location-specific. In Evansville, you might need $2,000+ per month to compete effectively. In a smaller town? Maybe $500 per month.

My Advice: Do expanded research BEFORE diving in. Look at local competition, search volume, and cost-per-click in your area. Then plan for a 30-90 day testing period before locking in any real strategy. Every market is different.

2. "How Do I Calculate My Patient Lifetime Value?"

‘Dr. Mike’ from Avondale, FL writes: "I'm trying to figure out if I should hire an agency or keep giving marketing to our OM. How do I calculate that LTV so I know what I can afford to spend on marketing?"

Man, I love this question.

Most agencies, consultants, or fractional CMOs can help you nail this down with pretty basic data points, below.

• Average Treatment Value Per Patient

• How Often Patients Return Per Year

• How Long They Stay With Your Practice

• Referral Rates From Existing Patients

Nationally, dental practices see $2,000-$10,000 annual value per patient. Regionally in Florida, it skews wildly based on your specific area. I know that’s a massive range, but it’s the truth.

Rule Of Thumb: If you can acquire a patient for 10-20% of their lifetime value, you're winning. So if your LTV is $2,000, spending $200-$400 to acquire that patient makes sense.

Any decent marketing partner should walk you through this calculation in the first conversation. But in the end, it takes a decent amount of practice buy-in to help identify this number.

3. "Will AI Search Kill My Practice?"

‘Dr. Jennifer’ from Warren, MI writes: "I keep hearing about AI changing search results. I don't really understand what it means or how to prepare. Should I be worried about falling behind?"

You’re not behind.

AI search is real and it's changing how patients find dentists. But here's the thing, a solid foundation tied to traditional SEO is still non-negotiable.

Instead of 10 blue links, patients get one AI-generated answer. But that answer pulls from the same websites that rank well in traditional search. Even in the early results of AI Mode, there’s a solid amount of overlap.

Your Action Plan?

1. Nail the SEO basics first, any (good) agency or department head will have this down.

2. Create content that answers specific questions, but make that content more conversational than before.

3. Focus on building authority through reviews and detailed service pages, and always be chasing backlinks!

Right now, the practices that are winning with AI search are the same ones that were winning with regular search. Good marketing fundamentals don't change, they just get amplified.

4. "What Should I Actually Post on Social Media?"

‘Dr. Tom’ from Owensboro, KY writes: "I know I should be posting on Facebook and Instagram, but I have no idea what to post that's actually worth the time. What actually works for dental practices?"

I'm going to give it to you straight.

Organic social media is becoming a pay-to-play game. Your posts reach maybe 5-10% of your followers unless you boost them. And that may be generous.

Patients aren't finding you through your posts. They're checking your social media AFTER they find you to see if you're active and legit. It's a trust signal.

What Should You Post?

• Behind-the-scenes team photos, which builds trust.

• Before/after treatment photos, with also builds trust.

• Educational content about procedures, which yes, builds trust.

• Community involvement stuff, which is just nice to post. Oh, and builds trust.

Consistency beats perfection. One post per week is better than five posts one week and zero the next three weeks.

Focus your real marketing budget on Google Ads and SEO. Use social media to build trust with people who are already considering you, which can often be done in-house without the need of paying an agency for that silo.

5. "I've Been Burned By Agencies Before"

‘Dr. Lisa’ from Bryan, TX writes: "I've hired multiple marketing companies and got burned pretty much every time. How do I know if the next one will actually deliver results? What should I be looking for?"

This hits close to home because I've seen this story too many times. Pretty much every client we have started their conversation with us with, ‘We’re not having a great experience with our current marketing company.’

Red Flags:

• They promise specific patient numbers without knowing your market, or at all.

• They want a 12+ month contract upfront.

• They can't explain their strategy in simple terms.

• They don't ask about your patient lifetime value, goals or current pain points.

Green Flags:

• They audit your current situation before proposing anything.

• They explain exactly what they'll do and the WHY behind it.

• They're transparent about reporting and results.

• They introduce you to the people that will be doing the actual work.

Questions To Ask:

1. "Can you walk me through exactly what you'll do in month one?"

2. "How will we measure success together?"

3. "What happens if we don't see results in 90 days?"

The right partner should welcome these questions. If they get defensive, run.

My agency has a 100% retention rate with dental practices, spanning over 10+ years in the industry. It’s because we’re radically transparent, partners that care and have no problem eating money while we solve problems. It’s not always rainbows, but we will always get you back to the rainbows as soon as possible.

And that wraps up the first ever MM4D Mailbag!

I didn’t get to most of your questions but if this is well-read, we’ll work in a mailbag edition once per month. We gotta keep it to 1-ish minutes, we already stretched that this week.

See you next week.

-Kyle

PS: Feel free to add me on LinkedIn! I post little nuggets that I come across and keep my feed updated on between-newsletter happenings in the dental world.

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