Whether you are a seasoned Smile Perfected provider or a new partner, these 12 marketing strategies can help elevate your practice.
Following these Smile Perfected marketing strategies will help dental practices successfully onboard the new Prophy-Plus™ system into their practice workflow.
In fact, using some of these dental marketing tactics can improve other areas within your entire practice management system.
Let’s be honest, for dental offices, chairside whitening can be a difficult process to integrate into the normal hygiene workflow.
Making the integration into your practice’s daily routine is easier when your team understands how Smile Perfected works.
Once offices see how the 20-minute whitening process works they must take the next step and try it for themselves. After that, they can use some of the teeth whitening marketing ideas below.
This is a list of the 12 techniques our most successful dentists and dental professionals used to make Smile Perfected a home run in their practice. Smile Perfected offices will boost teeth whitening to one of their top hygiene revenue generators and new patient acquisition.
Teeth whitening marketing should be a cornerstone for any dental practice since it is the #1 requested dental procedure. Follow the guide below and start implementing one of these tactics today.
Smile Perfected Marketing Strategies: 12-Step Guide
Jump to Section links:
Step 1: Whiten Your Dental Team’s Teeth for FREE
Step 2: Smile Perfected Marketing In-office Flyers
Step 3: New Patient Growth using Gift Cards
Step 4: Social Media Free Whitening Pen Promo
Step 5: New Patient Acquisition with Loss Leader
Step 6: Tips for Digital Advertising & Promotions
Step 7: How to Increase Reappointment Frequency
Step 8: How to Increase Appointment Spend
Step 9: Discover Our Free Marketing Resouces
Step 10: Dive Into Dr. Balanoff’s YouTube Channel
Step 11: Take Our Free Dental Course
Step 12: How to Connect with Powerful Social Groups
1. Whitening Your Entire Team’s Smile
Smile Perfected is a big believer in the “Learning is doing” strategy. That is why we will whiten your whole office team’s smile for FREE.
Why would we do such a thing?
Experiencing our whitening treatment is the best way to get the office members comfortable using the Smile Perfected system.
The office/clinical team will quickly understand the key elements for practice integration.
These practice KEY elements include
- Chairside implementation
- Timing for patients
- Appointment scheduling
- Setting patient expectations
- Good whitening candidates
- Cost & Pricing
The most important factor for the office team is comfort. Dental practices are very routine-driven. The only way to change that routine is to ensure the office is comfortable presenting a new treatment or service.
Making the dental team’s smile brighter and whitener is crucial to the success of Smile Perfected.
Once your team uses the in-office treatment kits, just call Smile Perfected. We will replace the in-office kits you used on your team members at no charge.
Now that the team is on board the next tool to bring whitening back to your office is in-office marketing.
2. In-Office Flyers Smile Perfected Marketing
Asking a dental office team to “sell” something is not a great strategy. We know that offering products or treatments to patients can be tough.
“Selling” may be an uncomfortable position to put a dental professional in. There is a huge amount of trust between the patient and their dentist/hygienist team.
To overcome the awkward patient / dental provider “selling” situation, it is very important to have patients ask about additional services.
Dental practice team members are very comfortable presenting teeth whitening and other add-on dental treatment options to patients who request the service.
This is where Smile Perfected flyers, posters, towelette displays, and brochures work best.
Flyer Marketing Strategies: Best Part…
Teeth whitening advertising material is FREE from Smile Perfected. Just call and request.
Reviewing each in-office marketing tool is helpful.
Smile Perfected Flyers
Great for the reception area, patient check-in desk & operatories. We have one for every occasion. Weddings, Back to School, Fall, Spring, Holidays, etc. We can even customize the flyer to your needs for FREE! Check out & download all our dental office flyers right here – CLICK HERE FOR OFFICE DISPLAY FLYERS
Smile Perfected Posters
Three In-Office posters came with the start-up system. Display these in key areas or even on the ceiling. The posters are 24″ x 18″.
Smile Perfected Towelettes
Nothing says “ask me about this” like a lavender towelette. Refreshing and soothing, hand these towelettes out to patients before or after their appointment. This will prompt them to ask “What is Smile Perfected?” That is the office team’s queue to say the most successful presentation line we have – “Smile Perfected, it can give you a brighter and whiter smile in just 20 minutes with no sensitivity.”
Smile Perfected Brochures
Of course, we have to have the dental industry standard. Our patient brochure is an excellent dental treatment tool for patients. While the patient is waiting, hand them a brochure. Then, talk to your patients about your experience with Smile Perfected. Patients are more likely to say yes to whitening if they know you tried and recommend it.
Utilizing one or all of these in-office marketing display options can be very effective.
In fact, one office saw whitening revenue increase by $2,970 in just 21 days after using the display marketing strategy below!
The office placed the towelette display and a $149 promotional Smile Perfected whitening flyer stand at the check-out desk.
The office admin would offer a free towelette while the patient was waiting. Those patients interested in whitening would ask about the special and then add the whitening to their next appointment.
Increasing current patient revenue is of great benefit to the practice. The other important revenue generator is new patient growth.
3. New Patient Growth with Whitening Gift Cards
Dental companies spend billions of dollars each year on new patient growth marketing. There is no question this is an effective strategy that can increase an office’s patient base.
The downside is the high expense of this type of marketing.
One of the most effective tools for patient growth is practice referrals from current patients. Patient referrals are extremely powerful. Referred patients have a much higher retention rate.
Just asking patients for referrals is kind of awkward.
Dental professionals prefer to let their dental work do the talking. From a marketing perspective, however, no matter how good you are, this does not bring in a lot of new patients.
We can overcome this “referral ask” awkwardness by offering free gift cards to patients who have the Smile Perfected whitening. This teeth whitening promotion is a great way to get patients excited about referrals to friends and family.
Here’s how it worked for one dental practice…
Let’s say Mary had her teeth brightened with Smile Perfected. The office would then give Mary a Smile Perfected gift card when she leaves.
The practice asks Mary to give the gift card to refer her friend or family member to your practice.
Three things need to be done to make this promotion work.
- Tell Mary the offer is only good for new patient referrals. (They can’t use it for themselves or a current patient)
- Tell Mary she gets $50 off her next appointment if you get a new patient. (People need an incentive. Use whatever discount works for you)
- Tell Mary the new patient she refers gets a free Smile Perfected teeth whitening. (Everyone loves teeth whitening & the new patient can use the Smile Perfected gift card at their first appointment!)
This should be a targeted offer for patients whom you and your team feel would be the most successful at offering to friends and family.
The next question is always, “How do offices keep track of this?”
Every Smile Perfected gift card has a unique serial number. A note of the serial number should be kept in the patient’s record to ensure compliance.
The patient should write their name on the back of the card in the FORM / TO section.
For example:
- To: John Smith
- From: Mary Jones
- From the office of Smiley Dentistry
Is this marketing idea worth it? Great question. You have to ask yourself: “What is the value of a new patient?” ($1,000 – $3,000)
A small investment in this passive marketing strategy can grow your practice.
Of course, the gift cards can be sold to patients as well. Everyone loves the gift of a FREE smile whitening.
Patients love a free gift too. How about promoting your Facebook / Social media presence with a free whitening pen for your patients?
4. Grow your Dental Office Social Media profile with Post-for-a-Pen promotion.
Boosting your social media page’s content is a great way to get new patients and increase your practice’s brand awareness.
Amazing, fresh original content is needed to accomplish this. However, what is known as “user-generated content”, can be tough to get
How often do people love going to the dentist so much they want to brag about it on Facebook?
Smile Perfected takes some of the marketing burdens off your shoulders. You all have enough going on with running a successful dental practice.
Within the box of every single Smile Perfected in-office treatment kit, there is a “Post-for-a-Pen” promotion card for your patient. This is another amazing teeth whitening promotion you can give your patients.
Promotions That Cost Nothing!
The best part of this promotion is it costs you and your patient nothing.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the specific details of this offer.
The process is easy for your patients as well…
How does it work?
- The patient gets a Smile Perfected whitening.
- Patients post a picture of their bright, white smile & tag the post to their dental office with Smile Perfected
- The patient will email Smile Perfected a screenshot of their post with their mailing address
- Smile Perfected will send a free Smile Perfected take-home pen to them for FREE!
The idea is to incentivize your patients to promote your office on social media. Giving you fresh content that boosts your social media presence and increases your social search ranking.
Here’s an example of what a post looks like…
Don’t miss out. Your dental team should be showing this card to every patient.
Explain to patients that they can get an additional free whitening pen if they help promote your office socially.
The marketing and advertising of your dental office should not stop here.
Once you start generating content directly from your patients, it is time to offer more promotional incentives.
5. Using Teeth Whitening as a Loss Leader New Patient Acquisition Promotion.
This new patient growth strategy is becoming more and more popular in dentistry. To the point now where is it almost expected by a new patient.
There is the expectation of free whitening and examination for new patients. Why offer this?
Understanding why dentists offer this for free is important. The reason is that patients associate a high value to teeth whitening and an exam, and the cost to a dental practice is low.
Any product or service that is of high value to a customer, and a low cost to the provider, is a great loss leader.
Most of our providers, like Augusta Orthodontics, will offer free whitening for every patient who signs up for braces or Invisalign™.
The best part is, when the patient is done with ortho, they get a WOW moment of a truly brighter and whiter Smile Perfected smile!
Let’s face it too, teeth whitening represents the highest level of dentistry a patient can achieve. A healthy, bright, white, and beautiful smile.
That is what patients want and it also is what dentists strive to provide. To accomplish this dentists need to advertise.
“Many a small thing has been made large by the right kind of advertising”
Mark Twain
By advertising a free whitening for every new patient you can get patients over the hurdle of calling your office or clicking your link.
Where to place your online ad?
Our most successful office promotes this free offer using pay-per-click (PPC) advertising with Google AdWords. They outsource AdWords management through a marketing firm.
Anytime a marketing firm is hired they will want to know what offers you have that are the most effective. Since patients love whiter and bright smiles a teeth whitening advertisement is a great recommendation for your agency.
Free whitening for new patients is exactly what you need to incorporate into some of your offers. Once the monthly ad budget is set you will be able to determine the value of the ad.
The second part of the equation is having your in-office team ready to express the value of an offer to any patient who contacts you.
Believe it or not, many companies spend thousands of dollars on advertising with no follow-up training for associates.
Once your ads are running and the dental team is ready, it is time to look at your website to ensure it is meeting your needs.
6. Do Your Promotional Offers Match an Optimized Dental Webpage?
Digital advertising for a dental office on Google (Adwords) or other platforms can be highly successful. Practices that use teeth whitening advertising within their paid marketing strategy see increased ROI.
Most digital paid ads are Pay-per-click (PPC) and take patients to a landing page when an offer is clicked.
The performance of this landing page is tracked by Google.
Are patients clicking your ad and leaving your page immediately when they arrive on the landing page?
Your time on the page is critical to a successful ad.
This is an important key performance metric with AdWords. For ads to perform well the landing page web traffic needs to match the offer in a teeth whitening advertisement for example.
If your ad is “Free Teeth Whitening” and your landing page is an “About us page” your ad will fail.
Driving patients who click your ad when searching on Google to your homepage can hurt your PPC rankings as well. Visitors expect to see something related to their search intent and the ad they clicked.
Digital Marketing Strategies to ensure your website rankings stay high.
Here are two dentists should be aware of:
The first is to use multiple landing pages that match each ad offer. This is ideal, but not usually in the scope of a dental practice’s marketing budget. Your PPC marketing agency should be doing this type of testing.
The advantage of using this is you can discover the perfect ad/landing page combinations through optimization.
Dental practices will invest heavily at the beginning of this strategy just to figure out the highest-performing combination. Then dental office managers or owners can focus the entire marketing budget back on successful ads.
Optimized Homepage for PPC & Organic Traffic
The most popular and least expensive solution is an optimized homepage that offers site visitors what they are looking for.
This can be done with pop-up ads when patients arrive on the site or a clickable link.
Pop-ups can work great but should match the offer a visitor clicked.
BE CAREFUL. Homepage pop-ups can have a significantly negative impact on organic search traffic if done wrong.
Two general rules for site pop-ups.
- Pop-up ads should not appear immediately on homepage visits. The pop-up ad should only appear when visitors scroll down about 50% of your page.
- Pop-up ads should be easily dismissed if needed.
Other digital techniques
A clickable link can work too. It should be placed in a “hot area” of the home page and be above the fold so users see it.
“Above the fold” is the most valuable real estate on your home page. It does not require any scrolling. Your most valuable offers and messages should be displayed here.
The home page button should contrast the rest of the page and be easy to see right away.
In either case, a simple and easy-to-use contact form should be present. The more information you require a patient to enter in, the less likely they will use the form. Name, phone, and email should be all that is needed for a conversion.
Doctors and office managers will have to work closely with their digital marketing team to successfully integrate this marketing tool.
For some practices online marketing is not something they can afford. If this is your situation incentivizing current patients is key.
7. Increase Current Patient Reappointment Frequency & Spend
Online advertising is expensive and some offices do not have the budget or desire to do it.
When this is the case, marketing to your current patient base is extremely important.
Recently, a Smile Perfected office shared an amazing patient marketing idea with us. The goal was to increase hygiene revenue and patient oral health at the same time.
Third Hygiene Appointment Driver Technique
Common knowledge in the public is you should receive two dental cleanings a year for optimal oral health.
Unfortunately, this is not true. The public perception is based on an old, outdated marketing campaign.
The general public is not the only place where this idea has taken hold. Many dental insurance companies only cover two cleanings per year.
Ideally, patients should receive hygiene cleanings every 3-4 months to help combat decay and periodontal disease.
The biofilm that causes disease typically forms in 3 months. Removal of the destructive biofilm is critical to a patient’s oral health.
The third appointment driver is designed to encourage patients to do exactly that.
Here is the offer – For every 3rd and 4th hygiene appointment scheduled within a year, patients receive free teeth whitening.
Similar to the classic buy 9 sandwiches get the 10th free marketing idea so many restaurants use.
With this offer, yearly hygiene reappointments increased by almost 30%. As a result, patient oral health must also rise.
Make your offer your own. Free whitening is just the mechanism.
Give patients different offer options. Fluoride treatment, varnish, exams, x-rays, etc can all be used as giveaways. When patient insurance coverage is not available beyond two yearly visits offer visit discounts.
Rule #1 in dentistry – keep your patients healthy. Nothing works better than frequent hygiene visits.
Now that you are prepared to offer this additional free service, it is time to let your patients know. Besides email marketing, the best place to do this is at the reappointment desk.
8. Increase Reappointment Spend
We discussed how one office increased hygiene by revenue of almost $3,000 in just 21 days by showcasing Smile Perfected at the patient check-out area.
We made it sound very simple but to make this work you need to get the details right.
Marketing Steps for Reappointment Whitening
Step One
First, the patient should already have some knowledge of Smile Perfected whitening provided by the hygienist or dental assistant.
Clinical team members do not have to “sell” in-office whitening, but they should let patients know of the options available.
Train your team to use statements like the one below to increase patient awareness. All they have to do is create a spark.
Your smile is in great shape. You are a good candidate for teeth whitening.
Presentation line for dental team
Step Two
Secondly, the office administrator responsible (or the person setting up appointments) for reappointing patients must be trained and comfortable offering additional services to the patient.
Having set blocks of time is the standard operating procedure in dental, but schedules should be flexible enough to allow for additional services patients want.
Smile Perfected is only 20 minutes, with no prep time and after cleaning. A great add-on.
Plus, there is very little interaction needed between the team member and the patient during the whitening treatment. So, chart updates, room preparation, breaks, and other tasks can be completed at the same time.
Step Three
Third, is the patient appointment reminder and whitening service add-on technique. If you are not overly stacking appointments there should be room to add on a 20-minute chairside whitening for patients who want it.
Remember, by now your patients should know about Smile Perfected whitening from their last appointment thanks to your team members mentioning it.
Instead of just reaching out to patients right before their appointment, set up an additional one-month reminder for patients via email, text, or call.
Ask them about the health of their smile and that you have some additional time available if they would like to add Smile Perfected whitening to their appointment.
See the dental appointment reminder marketing email/text template below:
Hi Mrs. Jones, Our office is looking forward to brightening your smile on your next visit to Dr. Smith's on July 15th! Just found out that we have some extra time available & a special on teeth whitening for only $149 when you visit. Are you interested in adding this to your appointment? Please call or email me to set-up...555-555-5555 Thank you, Jennifer
If you are just doing the normal reappointment reminders the day before, you are doing nothing more than every other dental office.
Being decidedly and distinctly different will improve your practice and patient follow-up. It is a great place to start.
More to that point, many dental associates do not take full advantage of all smileperfected.com has to offer. To set your office about and above the competition, every team member should visit our marketing resource page.
9. Free Dental Marketing that Fits Your Office’s Needs
Part of Smile Perfected’s mission is to help dental offices with marketing and advertising for FREE.
Visiting the Smile Perfected customize resource page is a great place to start.
Displaying and promoting Smile Perfected to your patients quickly becomes the next goal once the office team is comfortable with the in-office treatment.
Our marketing team is here to help. Most offices do not take advantage of all we offer. Here are some examples.
- Customized in-office display flyers. We customize our display flyers with your office’s logo and price point. Want to offer a whitening sale to your patients for $119? We will add the sale price, graphic design, print and mail the flyers to you for FREE!
- Facebook promotion. Have an idea for a social media post to drive patients to the office? Great! Take a look at our standard FB post – click here. If it is not exactly what you’re looking for let us know. We can customize it to your needs.
- Need reception room video? We have it. CLICK HERE Feel free to use as needed.
Even if your marketing ideas are outside the resources and products we normally offer, we are here to help.
We offer these marketing services for free because Dr. Balanoff (our founder) never wanted our providers to feel abandoned after they purchased the Smile Perfected whitening system.
Support after the sale is so important for success in dentistry. In furtherance of that, we go beyond marketing support to offer dentists and dental professionals guidance through our Smile Perfected YouTube channel.
10. Smile Perfected with Dr. Balanoff on YouTube.
Helping our fellow dental professionals is part of Smile Perfected’s mission.
Our founder, Dr. Balanoff, has been working in dentistry for over 37 years.
His knowledge and experience are now available right on our YouTube Channel for free.
Check it out…
Our dental vlog is primarily focused on practice management and office improvement.
Watch video guides on effective techniques like:
- Afternoon Debriefing Tactic
- Avoiding Stressful Procedures
- Multiple Practice Expansion
- Botox in Dentistry Success
- and more!!
Getting the clinical team and front office team working together seamlessly can be a challenge.
There will always be challenges throughout the day. Appointments stacking up, late patients, emergencies, and team member issues are just some examples.
A plan to deal with any of these situations is key to running a stress-free and highly efficient dental business.
Many times we see offices that are slaves to putting out fires. It can seem like running in place.
Positive change can happen by using new “tried and true” methods. Methods that others have used before you with great success. It is time for you to benefit from their experience.
The correct mindset in dentistry is important. Try to always remember that:
Dentistry is a Business and Patients are Customers
Dr. Balanoff
This quote was the name of a dental course taught at Nova Southeastern Dental School by Dr. Balanoff.
Teaching has always a passion for Dr. Balanoff. Offering a free course for dentists and dental professionals is another amazing tool Smile Perfected offices can take advantage of.
11. Smile Perfected Academy: Free Practice Improvement Course
Ready to elevate your practice today? Take our free guided Patient Wow! Dental Course.
You ARE a great clinical dentist but don’t struggle with things other dentists have already labored hard to learn.
Employ your time improving your practice through Smile Perfected Academy and you will gain easily what Dr. Balanoff has already labored hard to achieve.
Sign up for Smile Perfected Academy below…
This is not just for the practice owner. We invite all dental professionals to watch.
Our free Patient WOW! course is for dental hygienists, dental assistants, practice administrators, office managers, and associate dentists as well.
Be the star of your next morning huddle or management meeting with some of these amazing strategies and tactics.
The entire office team has watched and reviewed the course together.
Some of the course materials may not apply to your situation, but imagine even a 20% improvement in practice revenue or one technique that improves practice morale. That would be worth your time.
Course Sections include:
- Patient Experience Begins
- Patient Clinical Journey
- Patient Hygiene Experience
- Elevate Your Practice
Basically, you will work your way through your patient’s journey to elevate your practice. Without a loyal and happy patient (customer) base you are doing no better than every other dentist out there.
Improving your practice takes work. Connecting to and seeing what other dental offices are doing is a great place to start. The best places to accomplish this are on Facebook & LinkedIn.
12. Get Connected to other Dentists: Facebook & LinkedIn
Connecting online has never been easier than today. Social media groups and professional networks are growing faster by the minute.
If you are not networking with these groups are in danger of getting left behind. It happens quickly.
In fact, some dental practices have abandoned the expense of a webpage together and live exclusively on Facebook!
This is a drastic step but shows the power of connection.
One of our busiest providers connects to every dental office and dental practice they can. Once connected they share shorties of success and failure with different marketing ideas.
Taking advantage of this opportunity is easier than you think.
First, do not start searching out fellow dental colleagues on Facebook or LinkedIn individually. This can be very time-consuming.
You want to do is join groups. Here are some great examples.
American Academy of Clear Aligners
https://www.facebook.com/aacaligners
Smile Perfected with Dr. Balanoff
https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-balanoff-3b9a2718/
Nifty Thrifty Dentists
https://www.facebook.com/NiftyThriftyDentist
Dental Peeps
https://www.facebook.com/DentalPeepsStrong
Mommy Dentists in Business
https://www.facebook.com/groups/mommydentistsinbusiness
Dental social groups continue to grow. Membership in these groups is typically free.
Social groups within dentistry are even leveraging their member’s buying power to provide discounts on dental products directly to practices.
These groups also have a faster and more comprehensive response to developments in the practice of dentistry. Discovering what’s trending in dentistry is much easier here.
Instead of waiting for outdated and top-heavy organizations, like the ADA, to make decisions. Dentists can find help and answers right away with these networks.
Beyond just clinical issues, help in other areas of dentistry is available through these networks. Information about marketing, management strategies, hiring, advertising, meetings, events, and technology can be found.
Becoming a Better Dental Practice with Smile Perfected
These 12 Smile Perfected marketing strategies quickly transcend teeth whitening to become an entire practice management philosophy.
Perfecting all of these tactics within a year would be a lofty goal….even unrealistic.
The best way to incorporate these ideas is quarterly. Pick one or two, and over 12 weeks make it part of your practice’s DNA.
After a year, your practice will be on its way to happier patients, staff, and success.
Dr. Balanoff is always available to dental professionals. His cell is 954-683-2693. Please reach out to share your experience in dentistry.
Want to learn more successful tactics and strategies for your dental practice?
Sign up for our FREE dental practice course hosted by Dr. Balanoff. Discover secrets from his 35+ years in dentistry.
