What is the next major trend in Dental Marketing?

Over the next few years, video will become an integral part of dental marketing. Video attracts and holds customer attention and can contribute to a huge range of marketing ideas whether you are looking to attract new customers or engage current ones.

When we venture online, we are now seeing adverts that are similar to TV ads with the same quality and spend but they are appearing on the computer screen. Some evidence found here suggests that in June 2013, 183 million Americans watched more than 44 billion online content videos and more than 20 billion video advertisements. That is a lot of hours spent watching video! Video content has become increasingly important; in the last year alone over 38 million people watched video on their mobile phones. DG, one of the largest digital ad agencies in the world, point out that in-stream video advertising represents a huge opportunity for advertisers. It is believed that over 200 billion videos are viewed online every month worldwide. DG’s, recent survey results show that click through rate of video ads is on average nearly 2000% more than standard banners. This data suggests that video could be an extremely effective way to drive people to your website, increase traffic levels and ultimately convert sales!

Video ads often get included under the rich media umbrella. The term rich media was coined to describe a broad range of digital interactive media. Rich media can be downloaded but nowadays it is more likely to be embedded within a web page. Rich media is advertising that contains perceptual or interactive elements more elaborate than the usual banner ad. Today, the term is often used for banner ads with popup menus or videos that let the visitor select a particular page to link to on the advertiser's site.

Below is a video about the rise of rich media and its increasing importance in online advertising.

How can video benefit your dental business?

Below are 6 benefits of embracing rich media and online video. These can all be applied to the dental industry.  

1.   Show off your expertise

A video or interactive banner ad can be a fantastic way of showing the world what you know, this then builds credibility with potential customers. This means there has to be a focus on quality content and a well thought out video or advertising campaign.

2.   Make your customers the stars of the video

Colgate and Aquafresh often do this on TV adverts using dentists to endorse their toothpaste but a genuinely satisfied customer is even better, so where possible put customers in the spotlight and let them do the talking about how your product or service has been fantastic or a life saver. This then produces interactive testimonials that show customer satisfaction.

3.   Video becomes part of your overall advertising campaign

The majority of dental companies will have campaigns over multiple mediums. For example, a handpiece manufacturer is promoting their new ultra modern hand piece. They are likely to launch the new handpiece at a trade show, advertise the product in dental magazines and dental websites plus have their rep take it around dental practices, either to existing customers or even potential new customers. As part of this campaign the dental company could also produce a short video that will show how the handpiece works, what the benefits are and maybe some dentists talking about how excellent and easy it is to use. Video could be an exciting addition to a company’s advertising campaign.

4.   Impact on Social Media

The video can be shared across social media, so as well as having it available on a website as an online ad, you can also share the video with your followers on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest or Twitter. Pinterest for example is no longer just images it is now moving past the static images it was originally known for. Sharing of videos within the dental community get people talking and sharing. Video adverts account for 31% of all videos views, if your ad is interesting or different, it will get shared on social media.

5.   Measures Time

With TV we never know how long people are watching TV ads or how long they listen on the radio but with rich media we are able to measure how long the consumer is looking at the advert or content. It is estimated that consumers are 25% more likely to click on a rich media banner than a normal static banner.

6.   Create an engaging story

Create an engaging story, once the consumer is engaged and clicks on the rich media ad or video they want to learn more and like to see the outcome of the story. Increase interest and intrigue in your brand, consumers will start to remember the ad and reports suggest that branded searches will increase threefold. Below is a good example to a link of a dental company promoting a new product and I personally think they have used video brilliantly. What do you think?

So how could video work for the dental profession?

So we have seen the benefits but how could we use video? Video could be introduced in a number of areas of the digital dental world. You could put video on your practice website (many people already have this), introduce your product or brand on your company website through a quick video or instead of playing safe with a printed advert or online banner, why not invest in something a bit more innovative or imaginative and try the online video ad like the example we have viewed above. I am sure there are already many possibilities you have envisaged of how video could be used in dentistry, please share them below, we would love to hear your ideas.

GDPUK can now make rich media a reality, if you would like to discuss running a rich media campaign or publishing video ads on our website, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will be to discuss marketing opportunities with you. Alternatively please come and visit us at the Dental Showcase @ NEC on stand L06a from the 17^th - 19^th of October 2013.