How many new patient appointment requests should you expect from your Internet campaign?

What can you expect from your Internet marketing investment? New patient appointment requests, of course! Each of your Internet Marketing Strategies has its own cycle for generating new patient leads.

1stDDS.com Dental Information Center Listings

IDA generates up to 25,000 doctor requests a month from the fifteen 1stDDS.com Information Centers You are in control of your marketing campaign’s target patient markets and geographic areas. The number of new patient leads you get from the program will depend on the volume of people searching for dental information on the Internet in your geographic market area. We provide you with a generous monthly credit to your account that usually more than meets your needs.

The first factor for a successful directory listing is to customize your profile with your photo or practice logo. This manual will give you all the details on how to get a great photo for Internet marketing.

The second factor for success is to geographically target your high-value new patients. Focus on your key zip codes or premium city listing. Your 1stDDS.com consultant will walk your through the program and give you suggestions.

You can access your 1stDDS.com account at any time. It will even generate a customizable ROI analysis based on the source of each new patient lead generated by the system.

IDANewsLetter.com Patient Communications Program

This email newsletter is your opportunity to communicate your dental expertise directly to your patients in a systematic, professional and extremely cost-effective manner. Further, it provides direct links to your Express Internet Scheduling Centerä for scheduling discretionary and continuing care appointments.

A consistent, long-term strategy of regular patient communications is essential as a unifying element for your total Internet marketing strategy. Because it is a cumulative strategy -- based on repetition – designed to keep you and your practice in your patient’s awareness, its results will be manifested over time in increased patient referrals, patient loyalty and better case acceptance by patients.

Local IDA Dental Practice Website(s):

The first factor for a successful local dental practice website marketing campaign is how quickly you customize your website(s) (i.e., send us your “Phase 2” information including your photo and completed Tab 4 - Customizing Your IDA Local Practice website(s) section from this Manual

The second key factor is how well you integrate your Internet marketing into your overall practice marketing.

The third factor for your Internet marketing success is how we position your website(s) with the primary search engines. Our goal is to get you listed on one of the first three search engine pages for your geographic area and target patient market, e.g. Cosmetic Dentist Libertyville, Implant Dentist Rochester or Sedation Dentist San Francisco.

Each search engine has its own standards and requirements for registration. Your IDA team works to “zero in” with the best tactics to get you listed as high as possible on each search engine. Oftentimes, it is tedious and time-consuming work, but it pays off! Accordingly, please allow four to six months to get your local practice website(s) properly registered and positioned with each of the primary search engines.

This means that you should not expect to receive new patients from your local practice website marketing efforts for at least six months. Are there exceptions to this? Absolutely! Many doctors receive their first Internet new patients within just a week or two of posting their websites.

Starting after the sixth month of service, you can EXPECT TO AVERAGE one new-patient email appointment request per month – our current average is actually 1.2 requests per month.

Since your IDA local practice website(s) are designed to encourage potential new patients to phone for an appointment rather than use the email request system, it is important that your receptionist determine the actual source of each new patient. Our research shows that for every new patient email request, an additional patient will call your office directly as a result of visiting your site.

Two things you should remember. One, the value of an Internet patient is generally significantly higher than a regular patient. People who use the Internet to find a dentist are buyers. They are actively seeking a quality dentist. They have visited one of your local IDA website(s) or your 1stDDS.com profile and have contacted you to schedule an appointment. Let’s face it; no one is searching for a dentist on the Internet for the fun of it.

Second, on average, it takes only three to four new patients a year to cover the cost of your entire Internet dental marketing campaign and turn a profit.