What Your Dental Website Needs
To Attract Millennials
As a dental practice owner there could be one group of people your dental marketing efforts are overlooking and that’s the millennials. According to the Guardian newspaper there are roughly 13.8 million people born between 1980 and 2000 in the UK and collectively they make up the group of people known as Generation Y. This group is also more commonly known as millennials.
Aside from baby-boomers (those aged between 51-69), millennials makes up the largest group at roughly 21% of the UK population. Therefore by not actively marketing to them, you’re missing out on a huge chunk of your client base. With this in mind, just how do you go about targeting millennials? It all starts with your dental website…
Millennials are undoubtedly the first true digital generation and as such are arguably more tech savvy than any other age group. As a dental practice looking to target this group, it stands to reason that one of the fundamentals is to have a great looking, professional website. Remember millennials spend an average of 14 hours a day online so they’ll know what a well laid out dental website should look like; but what should it contain?
Informative engaging content
A good dental website needs to be content rich with text that engages with the reader. It needs to be professional but patient-friendly with plenty of helpful information about procedures, answers to popular dental questions, and information and pictures about you and your team. In terms of dental SEO, content needs to be well-optimised but not to the detriment of the text. Pages should also contain a relevant call-to action.
Social media
It may come as a surprise but while 85% of UK millennials use some form of social media on a daily basis, only 30% of UK dental practices regularly carry out dental marketing using social media platforms.
If you want to attract the Generation Y’ers, then you really need to be advertising in the very places where your target audience are likely to hang out. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are a must, but don’t forget others such as Pinterest, Snapchat, and Instagram. By having relevant social media links on your dental website, it’s a great way to show people that you are active across a variety of platforms where they can connect and engage with you if they wish.
Good optimisation
Although dental office marketing should never be solely about optimisation, the benefits of having a searchable dental website are obvious.
For example the term ‘Dentist in Reading’ is Googled on average 2400 times per month. While not every searcher will be specifically looking for a dentist, potentially that’s 28,800 customers a year that could be attracted using a well-optimised website.
Okay, so those searching might not all be aged between 16 and 35, but it stands to reason that because millennials are the first true digital generation, they are far more likely to be searching for a dentist online than their parents or grandparents.
Video content
Did you know that over 80% of all successful internet traffic is now video-based? Videos are something that millennials tend to respond to, more so than content; so if you’re looking to attract this particular demographic, then videos need to be an important part of your dental website. So what do you make your videos about? Some suggestions include:
- Meet the team
- A tour of your dental practice
- Patient reviews
- Patient-friendly explanations of procedures
- Answering popular FAQ’s
So there you have it. By having a well-designed, well-optimised professional dental website, complete with engaging patient-friendly content, links to social media, and video presentations, you’re far more likely to grab a slice of the 13.8 million UK millennials than your competitors. Successful businesses never stand still; so in order to stay ahead of your competition, put the wheels in motion to implement the changes necessary and see the difference it can make to your dental business.
About the author:
Michael MacDonald (B Sc)
Michael has more than 20 years’ experience in the marketing industry including brand and marketing management roles for leading Healthcare, FMCG and Direct Marketing companies. Over the past 4 years, Michael has turned his focus to online marketing and has completed numerous international digital marketing certifications. His traditional marketing foundation enables sure-footed influence with integration of the latest digital tactics. His approach values data with the aim of maximising ROI.
Michael cross-trains for his quest to reach 100 years healthy and happy. So, chances are you’ll find him mountain biking, running or paddling a canoe when he’s not behind his keyboard.
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