What dental marketing actually covers
Dental marketing is everything a practice does to attract new patients, keep existing ones and grow the treatments it delivers. That covers a wide range of activity, from how your website ranks in search to how the front desk handles a phone call from a new patient. Some of it is digital, some is not. Some requires a budget, some just requires consistency.
The problem with a broad term like 'dental marketing' is that it can lead a practice to spread effort across many channels at once, do none of them well, and find it hard to know what is actually working. The more useful starting point is understanding where your new patients come from now, what treatments you want more of, and which channels are most likely to reach those patients. From there, the sequence becomes clearer.
This page is a guide first. We cover the main channels, what each one does, and what to realistically expect. We also cover the parts of marketing that happen inside the practice, because good external marketing is undermined by a phone that rings out or a booking process that is harder than it should be.
Where new dental patients actually come from
Word of mouth is a valuable source of new patients for an established practice. A patient referred by someone they trust often arrives already inclined to book, and may go on to refer others in turn. It cannot be bought directly, but it can be influenced: the quality of care, the experience of the appointment, and how easy it is for a happy patient to leave a review all feed into it.
Search and the map pack
Online search is where many new patients start when they do not have a personal referral. 'Dentist near me', suburb-specific searches and treatment searches are where these patients start. The map pack and the organic results beneath it are both worth targeting, because patients scan both and click on different parts depending on whether they are looking for a local general practice or researching a specific treatment. This is covered in detail in dental SEO and local SEO for dentists.
Health fund networks and directories
Patients with private health cover sometimes search through their fund's provider finder or through health directories. Being listed accurately in these places contributes to local visibility and is worth keeping current, but it rarely drives high volumes of new patients on its own. It tends to be most useful for general dentistry and check-ups rather than high-value elective treatments.
The website as the hub, and search as the engine
Every external marketing channel, digital or otherwise, eventually points back to your website. A patient who sees your name in the map pack, finds you through an ad or hears about you from a friend will usually look at your website before they book. If the site is slow, the treatment pages are thin or the booking process is cumbersome on a phone, the marketing spend that brought them there can be wasted.
SEO and local search
SEO for a dental practice focuses on ranking the map listing for local searches, building treatment pages that rank in organic results for specific procedures and suburbs, and making sure the technical foundations of the site do not hold the content back. The mechanics are covered in detail at dental SEO. For the Google Business Profile specifically, local SEO for dentists goes through how the profile is built, managed and kept accurate over time.
Google Ads
Google Ads can put your practice at the top of search results for specific treatments while organic rankings are still building. They are particularly useful for high-value treatments with a clear return on an advertising spend, and for a new practice that needs enquiries quickly. Ads and SEO are not alternatives: they work well together, with Ads covering the gap while organic visibility grows. Google Ads for dentists covers how campaigns are structured, what good measurement looks like and when it makes sense to run them.
Reviews, reputation and what AHPRA allows
Google reviews are one of the more visible parts of a practice's online reputation, and they influence both rankings in the map pack and the decision a patient makes when comparing two practices. A profile with a recent, steady flow of reviews from real patients looks more active and trustworthy than one with a batch of old reviews and nothing since.
Asking for a review is straightforward: a follow-up message after an appointment, a card at reception, or a link in a confirmation email can all prompt a patient who was happy with their visit. The timing matters more than the channel. The request should come shortly after the appointment, when the experience is fresh.
AHPRA's advertising guidelines do not allow practices to republish patient testimonials on their own website or in advertising. Reviews on Google sit on a platform the practice does not own, which is a different situation. Responding to reviews professionally, without disclosing patient details or describing treatment outcomes, is within the guidelines. We draft responses that acknowledge the patient without creating a compliance risk, and we do not republish reviews elsewhere.
A poor review should be responded to promptly and calmly, not ignored. A professional response that acknowledges the concern and invites the patient to contact the practice directly tends to be read by prospective patients alongside the review itself. Arguing publicly, or discussing treatment in the reply, can do more damage than the original review.
Social media, and the front desk as a marketing channel
Social media
Social media is primarily a trust channel for dental practices, not a direct acquisition channel. Patients who find you through search or a referral often look at your social profiles to get a sense of the practice before they book. Consistent, genuine content, photos of the team and the space, information about new services or hours, demonstrates that the practice is active and approachable.
Paid social advertising can work for some dental treatments, particularly those where the audience is broad, such as general check-ups or family dentistry. For elective cosmetic treatments, it can drive top-of-funnel awareness. The conversion rate from social traffic tends to be lower than from search, because the intent is different: a patient scrolling social media is not actively looking for a dentist. The expectations and measurement need to reflect that.
The front desk as the close
Every channel points to a phone call, a form submission or a booking. What happens at that step determines whether the marketing investment converts. A phone that rings out, a voicemail that is not returned promptly, or a front desk team that is not briefed on which treatments you are actively promoting can undo a well-run ad campaign. We look at the enquiry handling process as part of the audit, because it can be the simplest fix a practice makes.
Recall, reactivation and measuring what works
Recall and reactivation
Bringing an existing patient back for a recall appointment is typically less expensive than acquiring a new patient from scratch. A well-run recall system, whether automated through your practice management software or handled by the front desk, keeps the patient base active and reduces the proportion of revenue that depends on a constant flow of new patient acquisition. Patients who lapse for more than a year often need a more personal outreach than an automated reminder, and the message matters: it should feel like the practice has noticed their absence, not a bulk mailout.
Measuring enquiries by treatment
Knowing how many new patients enquired last month is useful. Knowing how many of them enquired about implants, how many about Invisalign, and how many about a general check-up is more useful, because it tells you which marketing activities are generating the patients you actually want. We track phone calls, form submissions and online bookings from each treatment page where possible, and your monthly report breaks enquiries down by treatment rather than by traffic source alone.
Attribution is rarely perfect in dental marketing. A patient who found you through an ad, visited the website, read the treatment page and then called three days later may not be captured cleanly by any single tracking tool. What matters is having a consistent method and a baseline so that changes can be seen clearly, rather than a perfect attribution of every enquiry.
Sequencing channels and getting started
A common mistake in dental marketing is running too many channels at once before any of them are working well. The more productive approach is to get the foundations right first. That typically means the website and Google Business Profile before anything else, because they underpin every other channel: SEO, Ads, reviews and social media all point to or depend on them. A detailed guide to the website is at dental website design.
Once the website and profile are in good shape, the sequence depends on the practice's goals and timeline. For a practice that wants enquiries quickly, Google Ads alongside SEO is a common path. For a practice that wants to grow implant or cosmetic work specifically, targeted treatment pages and local SEO are usually a sensible starting point. Social media and recall are easier to run consistently once the more important channels are set up and measured.
The free audit is the clearest starting point. It covers your current rankings for priority treatments and suburbs, your Google Business Profile, and the state of your website, and it gives a plain-English view of where the gaps are and what to address first. From there, we can outline a sequence that fits your goals and budget. Start at the free audit.