Do Paid Ads Work for Dentists?

Pay-per-click is a major source of revenue for all kinds of businesses. It’s a cost-effective avenue that provides access to an immense audience while enabling brands to convert leads into buyers and a steady stream of traffic into regular income.

But does PPC for Dentists work?

In this article, we take a look at the role and potential of paid ads for dentists.

What Dentists Should Know About Paid Ads

Pay-per-click (PPC) is a type of digital advertising that enables dentists to feature higher in the results on various search engines. Advertisers only pay for every time someone clicks on a PPC ad, and a preset budget ensures there is no overspending.

PPC ads show up next to the results page on search engines, and advertisers can bid for keywords/phrases to be included. The most popular keywords are more costly, but it’s possible to find lesser-known phrases that provide a good return on investment.

There are also three different types of PPC ads that most businesses will use, and marketers recommend, directing patients to a call-to-action within these adverts:

Search Ads – Text based PPC ads that show up in the results page on search engines. These types of ads look like a sponsored link or the shopping banner results.

Video Ads – Video ads that show up before or during content on YouTube.

Display Ads – Image-based ads that an audience will see when they visit a website that works with affiliate advertising. These images will usually show in the sidebar, header, or footer, and most websites allow for this kind of advertising.

Why More and More Dentists Are Using Paid Ads

Many dentists decide to invest in PPC ads because they simply do not feature on page one for certain keywords. However, many dentists also use PPC ads to ensure their page-one listing is not overlooked or missed due to the ad section above.

While social media and traditional advertising are still important, studies show that paid adverts and organic search is responsible for more than 65% of all website traffic.

This statistic by itself should be enough to encourage any dentist to use paid ads. But just so you know, digital advertising has been growing fast in recent years, while television and print advertising pretty much collapsed during the Covid-19 pandemic!

Still not convinced?

     1. Casting a Wide Net for New Patients

PPC ads provide access to a huge audience because dentists can use filters to target different locations, demographics, and keywords. This wide net can help nurture an incredible return on investment and create a great deal of awareness for the practice.

     2. Producing Instant Results

Paid ad campaigns can produce results in a matter of hours and do not require dentists to wait for the process to have a desired impact. That is to say, SEO and other types of marketing can take weeks, months, or even years to produce a return on investment, but paid ads are instantly visible to the target audience!

     3. Converting Leads Into Patients

Qualified leads in the latter stages of a marketing funnel are looking for results as opposed to resources. This means patients in the late stages of the buying process are likely to click on ads that provide a specific solution. Dentists can use PPC ads to capitalize on this intent and convert quality leads into new patients for the practice.

     4. Generating a High Return on Investment

You can limit the extent of spending with paid ads, which provides dentists with full control in terms of managing the budget. The cost of entry is also low, and metrics enable advertisers to ensure each campaign is providing more than it costs. As if that’s not enough, as already mentioned, the average return on investment is high.

Now, let’s finish with more benefits and reasons for dentists to consider paid ads...

5 More Benefits of PPC Ad Campaigns for Dentists

     1. Easy To Manage & Easy to Measure

PPC ads are easy to manage, and most platforms provide access to a simple dashboard and metrics to help track progress. This means you can quickly identify what works, what needs to be changed, and the return on investment for each ad.

     2. PPC Ads are Cost Effective 

Dentists can spend what they want with PPC ads, which means they will never go over budget. Traditional advertising is also expensive and often underwhelming when it comes to the return on investment, but paid ads are known for being cost-effective; and even Google says most advertisers receive $2 for every $1 they invest in PPC ads!

     3. Unmatched Timing and Accuracy

Targeting enables dentists to reach precisely the right people at exactly the right time. This is because PPC ads can target specific individuals, and the nature of the process means they get to see the ads at the moment in which they are ready to take action.

     4. Using PPC Data To Improve SEO Strategy

Data is easy to extract from a PPC ad campaign, which enables dentists to test keywords and strategies that might be used as part of their long term SEO strategy.

Unlike organic keywords, there is no restriction with paid ads, so advertisers can determine exactly what keywords are working or not. This means dentists can use data from PPC campaigns to improve how they optimize their website or content.

     5. Easy To Get Started

It’s easy to get started with PPC ads, and the learning process is relatively short. While some will try to navigate this process alone, most practices employ the services of a reliable marketing agency that knows how to get the most out of PPC for dentists.

Final Thoughts

Dentists are guaranteed to reach a specific target audience with paid advertising and can use these ads to increase traffic, leads, and sales. PPC ads can also kick-start promotions and improve brand authority and online visibility for any dental practice!

However, not every dentist has the time or experience to manage a PPC campaign, and it’s always best to speak with a marketing agency to achieve the results you desire.