- Dec 17, 2024
Marketing to dentists is no easy feat, as they hardly have any time to research the product or service you want to market to them. Even less time to converse with potential marketers and learn about the products/services. Making it extremely difficult for marketers to walk into the shoes of their potential clients.
On the contrary, the global dentist industry is projected to attain a market valuation of 95.37 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 11.8%, all due to rising dental and oral concerns. This booming market demand for dentists is the perfect time for healthcare and other businesses to reach the right dentist whose niche work, aligns with your business offerings.
So, even if marketing to dentists is not simple, we will share our wisdom gathered through years of industry experience.
So, let’s delve deeper into marketing to dentists!
How to Market to Dentists?
With a staggering 1.6 million dentists spread across the globe, the scale of the market can indeed seem overwhelming. However, the first step in marketing to this vast number of dentists is to discover your audience. The next step is to identify the most effective channels to reach them.
After the first two steps, the strategies that have been used to reach out to the prospective clientele on different channels have to be analyzed at regular intervals. To understand how impactful every outreach action was and address the gaps in the process.
Steps Involved in Finding your Audience:
As marketing to dentists involves a large and varied market, it is important for businesses targeting them to take a granular marketing approach to find the right audience.
Define What Problem Does Your Product Solve?
Many businesses focus on promoting their features; however, a more effective promotional tactic is to market the benefits that clients can achieve with the help of a business’s features. This approach instills a sense of optimism about the potential outcomes.
When the marketing approach focuses on specific business concerns a dentist might come across and how a product/service solves those concerns, it reaps better results. To implement this marketing approach, in-depth research is essential, and it helps you explore the type of dentist facing the same challenges. Hence, you are able to personalize your outreach efforts, increasing engagement by 20% as it focuses on specific pain points while marketing to the right professionals.
Find Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs):
Businesses, once you have finalized the type of business gap you address, you already have an idea about who can use these products. But, defining the ideal customer profile is essential. It helps you find multiple target audiences, which you might not have taken into consideration but can increase your company’s win rate by 67%. The table below shows some of the key characteristics that can help you map out ICPs for your organization.
Segment as One Size doesn’t Fit All:
After narrowing down multiple Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs), proceed by further segmenting your targeted dental professionals and channeling efforts to the most relevant prospects who are genuinely interested in your business offerings. This approach significantly increases the chances of successful engagement and likelihood, underscoring the importance of effective customer segmentation.
Parameters, such as age, gender, specific dental sub-specialty, gross pay and location, are more than data points. They are the key to unlocking meaningful segments within the customer’s profile, empowering you with the knowledge to make informed decisions. Snowballing, the chances of understanding your dentist’s challenges go up by 60%, promising a more effective and hopeful engagement with your prospective clientele.
The table below provides insights about licensed dentists listed in the American Dental Association, updated till the year 2023. These insights are current, making them ideal for any business aiming to market effectively to dentists.
Dentist in US by Gender
| Female | 37.7% |
| Male | 61.2% |
| Unknown | 1.1% |
Dentist in US by Age
| Age under 35 | 17.4% |
| 35 to 44 | 25.5% |
| 45 to 54 | 22.4% |
| 55 to 64 | 18.9% |
| 65 and older | 15.8% |
Dentists in the US Are Categorized Based on Practice, Research, and Administration Areas
| General Practice | 1,59,265 |
| Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery | 7,440 |
| Endodontics | 5,759 |
| Orthodontics and Dentofacial Ortheopedics | 10,904 |
| Pediatric Dentistry | 9,183 |
| Periodontics | 5,542 |
| Prosthodontics | 3,584 |
| Oral and Maxillofacial pathology | 428 |
| Public Health Dentistry | 782 |
| Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology | 204 |
| Dental Anesthesiology | 141 |
| Oral Media | 30 |
| Orafacial Pain | 53 |
Dentists in US by States
Dentists in US by Income/Salary
In 2023, the American Dental Association’s Survey of Dental Practice reported that General Practitioners, dental owners, and partners in private practices had an average net income of $228,220, and dentists employed by others earned an average of $177,110.
ZipRecruiter provides the most recent updates on the average dentist’s salary by state. Check the below image for reference.
*** (These data insights are specific to the US, and depending upon the geographic location your business plans on focusing, gather appropriate data. As data-driven approaches are the only way to market to the dentist and grow your business.) ***
Take into account the Practice Settings of Professionals:
When it comes to targeting dentists, the approach varies depending on whether they have a private practice or are part of a dental service organization (DSO). Dentists with private practices can be enticed with personalized outreach that highlights the benefits of a product/service for their specific needs. On the other hand, dental service organizations have a more centralized decision-making process, necessitating a strategic approach that focuses on data-driven insights and demonstrable value propositions.
To effectively reach out to these professionals, a marketer must be flexible and adaptable, considering the unique needs and preferences of each group. So far, according to the Health Policy Institute of the American Dental Association, 72.5% of professionals are in private practice. It’s a good number, yet for your business to be successful, you have to target dentists from different practices, and while doing so, it is vital to personalize your marketing strategies to the differences between private practices and dental service organizations.
Key Differences between private dental practices and Dental Service Organizations (DSOs):
| Key Differences | Private Practices | Dental Service Organization |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Dentist owns the entire practice. | Dentists have contracts with DSOs. DSO takes care of the business operations and maintains clinical autonomy. |
| Services | Dentists with private practices have assistants to help them out in their respective jobs. | A DSO provides services like marketing, human resources, accounting, facility management, and compliance, taking these burdens off the dentist’s shoulders. |
| Decision-making power | A private practice dentist has full control over all business decisions and independently chooses vendors, products, and services based on their individual needs and priorities. Marketing strategies specifically focused on aiding the professional’s pain points. | Often need to get approval from DSO management for purchases, so marketing strategies need to highlight benefits that align with the DSO’s overall business objective (e.g., cost-effectiveness, streamlined processes). |
Collaborative efforts are rewarding:
Collaboration is critical for business success. Suppose you want to reach your audience faster than your competitors and find that researching your target audience is consuming a significant amount of time and resources. In that case, the healthcare marketing database can provide a fix. This database will save you time by efficiently gathering the necessary information about dentists and other healthcare professionals.
Prototype of healthcare marketing database
Study your Competitors:
When you research your target audience, you know better about whom you want to target. Whereas when you research your competitors, you understand who you are missing out on targeting. It will help you understand what more features your product/services can offer so that your competitors don’t stand out.
Almost 90% of Fortune 500 companies greatly value competitor intelligence to ensure they have a competitive advantage. The images below will show you how to carry out a competitor analysis and what you should do once you have completed it.
Continued Research:
The dental market is volatile, influenced by a myriad of factors. To stay ahead, it’s crucial to adapt to innovation, industry changes, and more. As the needs and preferences of your target audience evolve, your business should be inspired to innovate and change with them.
Regularly drive research and analysis programs within your organization to uncover potential new clients or demographics your business can target. By incorporating continuous research for marketing to dentists, your business can look forward to an expanding audience and unlock potential growth.
Five Best Marketing to Dentists Strategies
The five marketing strategies we’re about to explore have the power to propel your business to the top of the competition, positioning you as a market leader. It’s important to remember that dentists, like everyone else, have a lot on their plates. A survey revealed that younger dentists are particularly affected by mental health issues, while 84% of all dentists grapple with physical health concerns. Despite these challenges, a significant 76.6% of dentists report job satisfaction.
Be patient, as closing a deal with a dental workforce job takes longer than usual. This understanding and tolerance for the longer sales cycle is key to successful marketing in the dental industry. So, for every strategy mentioned below, carry out A/B testing at regular intervals to enable data-driven decisions that will consequentially increase your business conversion rates.
Direct Mails:
Direct mail is an impactful marketing strategy that involves mailing physical material to the target audience; this particular strategy is impactful throughout the customer lifecycle. For instance, if your goal is for a particular dental professional to book a demo for your product or service, then direct mail marketing can be one of the key strategies to drive brand awareness.
Direct mails have an average engagement rate of 95%. So when you send out a mail to introduce your brand with a personal touch, the chances of hitting the “book a demo” button go up when the next follow-up email is sent to your prospective client.
The goal of direct mail marketing has always been to enlarge the direct marketing; it can used for sending personalized mail, postcards, and newsletters. But you can always go a little above and beyond by gifting your prospective client timeless gifts.
Email Marketing:
Dentists are bombarded with online search engines, social media, and website advertisements, and as a marketer who wants to reach out to dentists, it is best to bypass this commotion. Rather, sending out a personalized email with an appropriate call to action button and an engaging subject line is a sensible marketing approach.
Did you know the average healthcare email has an open rate of 37.39%? The particular average open rate falls under the mid-to-high range category. Therefore, a clear, concise email is a great way to market your business to the dentist. Apart from that, 66% of the doctors personally prefer email communication. So, suppose you don’t have email pipelines and strategies ready for onboarding emails, nurturing emails, promotional emails, content-based emails, customer-testimonials emails, feedback emails, and more. In that case, it’s time to start your work on it.
Search Engine Marketing:
Search engine marketing is not just a tool; it’s a strategic cornerstone of your business. It’s the process of systematically advertising your brand to dentists to enhance visibility. When businesses are able to rank high in the search results of your target audience, the chances of increasing your website traffic go up.
With 63% of internet users clicking on Google paid search Ads, these ads play a crucial role in search engine marketing. They are a “must-use” strategy for your business to reach the right audience. These paid advertisement models allow your brand to focus on specific keywords that bring in the most traffic and easily personalize the campaign toward the right audience.
Telemarketing:
Telemarketing isn’t dead; in fact, it’s an impactful strategy that is quite effective for maintaining a good relationship with your client. One reason could be that so much of marketing today is automated. Yet, the human touch cannot be completely avoided. Moreover, 50% of clients believe that having proper human interaction is essential before making a big investment.
Secondly, there are two facets of telemarketing: inbound and outbound. In today’s marketing dynamics, inbound telemarketing is quite relevant. Once your dentists are aware of your products/services through your personalized website content, email, and mail outreach, they will be willing to learn about your products/services personally.
Indeed, telemarketing alone won’t cut through promoting your products and services to the fullest potential. However, it works really well in combination with other marketing strategies, bringing in a return of $13.80 for every $1.25 spent. You can also strategize an impactful outbound telemarketing strategy; all you will need is a reliable dentist database with all the right contact details.
Social Media Prospecting:
Social media prospecting is a procedure of utilizing social media platforms to find out and engage with potential customers. For businesses wanting to reach dentists, social media is an ideal place for you to learn about the company and the employees working within the organization.
With the right prospecting strategies and businesses utilizing the best social media channels, i.e., LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, can achieve tremendous success with prospecting. According to one of the studies done by LinkedIn, 78% of businesses utilize social media to outperform their business objectives. Additionally, one out of three salespeople confirm that social prospecting has increased the number of leads they work with.
Whichever online community your targeted dentist is a part of, your business needs to be a part of that, too. This will help you expand your audience base by finding like-minded people. Optimize your social media website in alignment with your client’s taste and ideas and resonate with their needs and requirements. All of it together will help you build meaningful connections with the dentists whom you want to target.
Conclusion:
In the sea of options, it is easy to get lost among numerous options that dentists have to explore. However, our unique approach to marketing, which combines simplicity with a modern touch in the mail and email outreach approaches, is sure to pique the interest of dental professionals. Therefore, start leveraging our one-of-a-kind strategies to market dentists.
Our marketing strategies are not just about standing out; they’re about achieving your business objectives. By reaching out to dental professionals in a way that resonates with them, you can significantly increase your client base and conversion rate.
