August 9th, 2018
These dentists have leveraged digital marketing to create strong personal brands. See takeaways you can apply to your own digital presence.
Digital marketing in its simplest form means, achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies and media. Successful dental digital marketing strategies require creativity to reach consumers and when successful, can even go viral; like one of the top dentists in this list. These dental digital marketers utilize several channels such as social media and podcasts. Their strong personal brands are a result of many different combinations of digital tools, which ultimately increase awareness for their dental practices. Here are 6 examples of successful dental marketers you can learn from, in no particular order.
Raleigh Dental Arts in Raleigh, NC
Like the other dentists here who have strong personal brands, Dr. Argwal shares his expertise with fellow dentists. His personal website and social media accounts are branded consistently with his nickname, T-Bone. His nickname stands out from other Dentists who usually have Dr. in front of their name or DMD/DDS after there name. T-Bone's humor and "down to earth demeanor" are also consistent throughout his online activity, which connects with his audience. His personality shines through immediately when you land on Raleigh Dental Arts' Facebook page, where the cover photo is a candid shot of he and his team, while T-Bone appears to be asleep.
In addition to a podcast and blog, T-Bone, founded 3D Dentists in 2012. This dental education center of course has its own separate website and social media accounts, displaying Dr. Argwal more professionally, with no mention of T-Bone. 3D Dentists consists of other leaders in the dental industry, including, Dr. Elliot, who you'll learn more about. Across several social media accounts, T-Bone also promotes webinars and regularly posts humorous videos of himself and with other professionals in the dental industry. According to the T-Bone Speaks website, Dr. Argwal "represents the next generation of leadership for the dental profession. As a respected speaker, author and opinion leader, he is changing the way general dentists practice."
Sullivan Dental Partners in Brentwood, Tennessee
Host and creator of the Millennial Dentist Podcast, Dr. Sully is a 5th generation dentist and partner at Sullivan Dental Partners with his father, Dr. Rick Sullivan. You can find the millennial dentist promoting his family's practice through philanthropic Facebook posts offering free teeth cleanings for teachers, giveaways for Veterans, and sharing photos of his mission work in Ecuador.
Dr. Sully is very active on social media, especially Facebook as he seems to manage his own personal Facebook page, the Millennial Dentist Podcast page, and a Nashville Dental Study group. You can also find him in several other dental podcasts, events, and interviews on social media. Dr. Sully has also positioned himself as a leader in the dental industry through his own website where he runs a blog, promotes his keynote speaking, and media appearances.
Gordon J. Christensen - Practical Clinical Courses in Provo, UT
Dr. Gordon Christensen's social media following puts Millennials to shame, as they are known for being the majority users of social media. In 1981, he established his dental training program, Gordon J. Christensen - Practical Clinical Courses, years before social media existed. The dental instructor's social media following speaks for itself with 6,673 subscribers on Youtube, 2,256 followers on Twitter, and 5,000 followers on Facebook.
According to his website, "Dr. Gordon Christensen's background and the proven reliability of his dentistry presentations have made him one of the most admired speakers in dentistry for several decades." Even after so much success without using social media, Dr. Christensen has been a strategic marketer by leveraging social media to push his personal brand even further. He has helped initiate two new dental schools, delivered over 50,000 hours of continuing education, co-founded a well-known private dental research institute in the world Clinicians Report (formerly Clinical Research Associates), produced hundreds of multimedia dental presentations, and has written hundreds of articles and several books.
Post Falls Family Dental and Sleep Better Northwest in Post Falls, Idaho
Dr. Erin Elliot specializes in Sleep Apnea and is known as an expert in this niche of the dental industry. She is a national speaker and educator and has been published in many dental journals. Dr. Elliot is a dentist at Post Falls Family Dental and treats patients' Sleep Apnea at Sleep Better Northwest (these two practices are in the same facility). Her dental practice biography says "she loves to help general dentists extend this life-saving service to their patients."
The Sleep Apnea specialist's social media usage has recently increased especially because other dentists like T-Bone look to her for information about Sleep Apnea. She appears in several interview videos on Youtube and Facebook, including the T-Bone Speaks Facebook page. Dr. Elliot is also a Seminar leader for 3D Dentists in Raleigh, which is the dental education program T-Bone founded.
Horizon West Dental in Northern Nebraska
In 2008 Dr. Moody limited his practice to the field of dental implants by opening the first Dental Implant Center in Rapid City, South Dakota. The Implant Guru has made such a name for himself in Dentistry that he now lectures around the world and provides hands on training from his state of the art South Dakota Dental Implant Center in Rapid City. He is present on social media through his own personal page, as well as his Dentists, Implants, and Worms podcast page. He is the owner of Horizon West Dental group, which has multiple offices in western Nebraska, providing state of the art dental care and is also an adjunct faculty at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a Mentor at the Kois Center in Seattle, Washington.
His activity on social media is not as high as the other top personally branded dentists, yet you can find him on several interviews sprinkled throughout Facebook and Youtube. Dr. Moody is also present on a number of websites including the Dentists, Implants, and Worms podcast, Implant Pathway and Justin D Moody, DDS. His personal website displays the dental practice he owns, his implant centers, a study club, a blog, and implant courses.
Constantine Dental in Greenville, SC
If you have been on Facebook recently, you have probably seen the Dancing Dentist on your timeline. Posted by , his dental practice, The video was posted on Facebook by Constantine Dental, Dr. Constantine's practice, which now has more than 78 million views and counting. For a little background on the video, there is a recent American craze around Drake's song "In My Feelings." The song has sparked a dance off challenge called "the KeKe Challenge" that has swept social media. The Dancing Dentist has had recent fame because he took to social media to respond with a clever "In My Filling" video of him doing the popular dance in Mid July (watch one of his many below). Following an appearance on Good Morning America and the social media fame, a local YMCA sent him another challenge. To take this viral video further, Dr. Constantine went to the YMCA and faced off in a dance challenge against one of the campers at the YMCA summer camp. Even before all of the recent fame, you can find a photo from 2015 of Dr. Constantine dressed up as a tooth fairy with his team on Facebook.
This viral video wasn't created by a fancy camera crew and was probably recorded on someone's cell phone. Dr. Constantine's social media success came from being genuine, resulting in great PR for his practice within his community.
T-Bone, Dr. Sully, and Dr. Elliot are active together through Dentsply Sirona, the world’s largest manufacturer of professional dental products and technologies. The three dentists are speakers at Dentsply Sirona World 2018, the manufacture's annual, extravagant dental meeting. Along with speaking at the event, where they are perceived as thought leaders, they appear in videos and photos in front of Dentsply Sirona's large social media following. With several Dentsply Sirona social media accounts, its United States Facebook account has 330,000 followers alone. Dr. Sully, T-Bone, and Dr. Moody have also interviewed each other on their podcasts.
You may be thinking that all of these dentists are successful because they are outgoing and like to be in front of the camera or an audience. There are several ways to create your personal brand and they don't all include standing up in front of hundreds of people. You can start by connecting with your local dental association. Each of these dentists are involved in broad dental associations, as well as specialty associations like the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine, Dr. Elliot is involved in. Involvement in affinity groups can help you connect with others in your industry, stay top of mind, and stay up to date on industry trends. These dentists' strong personal brands have also thrived because of their willingness to share their expertise and collaborate with others in their industry. They are known as experts in their niche and continue to build credibility the more they share about Dentistry.
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Molly was the marketing director at SDT from October 2017 through November 2020. She is passionate about connecting with people, digital marketing, and serving her community.
