Marketing Director, Luc Wade, outlines why you should include PPC in your digital marketing program for your dental business.

Luc Wade blogs:

As a Marketing Director at an award-winning digital entertainment brand, I allocated more than 50% of the annual marketing budget to PPC advertising (not an insignificant six digit amount) because we calculated that for every £1 spend it generated an additional £4 of new revenue.  I’m convinced PPC can deliver real results for all types of brands including dental businesses.

If you’re reluctant to dip your toe into the pay-per-click arena here’s some reasons why you should.

Day in, day out, I see how PPC campaigns are increasing revenue for our dentist clients. With the return on investment (ROI), in many cases, exceeding 1000% for those providing cosmetic and implant and other high ticket treatments.  You to should consider the very real benefits of PPC advertising.

The straightforward nature of PPC puts you in control (arguably more so than most other forms of advertising and marketing).

Here are 5 reasons why PPC marketing is beneficial:

1. You only pay when an interested person clicks. One of the reasons PPC is so straightforward is because you know exactly where your marketing budget is being spent, and you only pay when someone clicks on the ad. This is different than traditional advertising offline, where you spend your budget and you hope your target market engages with the ad. You never really know until after the event.  It’s not real time, unlike PPC.
2. You can set your budget and control costs. You set the budget according to the resource you have available. You can cap what you spend daily, and you have the flexibility to change at any time. That doesn’t mean you can expect to see huge results with a limited budget, of course; it all depends on how competitive the keyword and local market is. But PPC can be affordable as you don’t need a large budget and when managed well the acquisition cost can be relatively low. Yes, ROI can be measured with PPC.
3. You can reach your target consumer relatively easily. Want to target a person in a specific area, at a specific time, with a specific ad? Not a problem.  Location targeting, delivery options and device-specific preferences (tablet, computer, mobile) and other options make this very easy.  You can also buy more space on the search results page to double your real estate for keyphrases you rank well for organically, increasing your chance of a click.
4. Unlike organic search, PPC can show results fast. We all know how important organic search traffic is for long-term, website marketing; however, it takes longer to prove ROI. PPC can show results fast. You can start seeing results in terms of traffic to the website, conversions and calls into the practice on the same day.  Plus PPC campaigns can be easily paused and updated and budget reallocated, increased or decreased as you see fit.
5.  PPC data can help with other marketing channels. It’s very easy to understand if a particular keyphrase or set of keyphrases is converting well. You can also test new treatments or special offers using PPC in order to gauge demand and get an early look at uptake. You can even use PPC to promote special events held at your practice.  It can support other channels too including traditional offline advertising.

Have I convinced you yet?

If you think you’re ready to go and test the water, please read on.  Here are some further considerations:

1. PPC is not as easy as it sounds. Good PPC takes skill, a solid strategy and a thorough understanding of the rules and guidelines, investment in your website, plus a little creativity and marketing savvy. Beware of those that promise the world but don’t understand your sector or help you understand what results will truly impact business objectives.
2. PPC is collaborative. As much as you might like to hand it all over to the PPC experts, absolving yourself of responsibility, from experience, the most successful campaigns are born from a good collaboration between the business and the PPC expert. Work together, understand requirements, discuss strategy and measure performance from click to treatment plan and you will truly understand what it takes to increase revenue and profits.
3. PPC is ongoing.As long as you test, measure performance and adjust the campaign accordingly. When PPC is done right, you’re investing well and making a nice return. You can dial-up the activity because you now the true return as well as the areas that may be underperforming.

If you now see , PPC as a viable marketing channel for your dental business I urge you to throw caution to the wind and test it in 2016.  Like anything that is worth it, PPC takes time, and when set up and managed well, it CAN be a lucrative marketing channel.  Chances are that it will work for you.

If you want to find out more about how PPC could work for your dental business call us on 01872 300232 or email us at hello@hivebusiness.co.uk.