4 Ways To Build a Stronger Local Brand And Why It Matters

Showing up in Google search results can be difficult. There are so many factors that affect the way your site ranks that it can appear overwhelming. When coming up with a strategy to improve your site’s SEO, you might want to start by thinking locally!

While ranking organically is certainly important, ranking locally might be what ends up bringing your practice more business. In this blog, we’ll go over a few things you can do to make your brand stick out in your community and improve your local rankings!

Trust From Other Local Businesses

Establishing rapport with your community is one of the best ways you can locally improve your brand. There are a handful of organizations that can help build trust between your brand and the community you serve, such as:

• Chamber of Commerce
• Industry Groups
• BBB

Organizations such as these help display your positive standing in the community and also that you’re a tried and trusted practice in your area.

Community Engagement

Another way to improve your local brand is through community engagement. We recommend you "get out there" and get people talking about you and noticing your practice's brand. This can be done in a number of avenues but should be unique to your specific area.

Since you can engage with your community in a number of different ways, this presents an opportunity to be creative and think outside the box. Anything from sponsoring a little league team to having a booth at a local festival can dramatically raise brand awareness in your area. The idea is to expand the reach of your brand within the community but, more importantly, do so with a personal touch.

Local Media

Local media groups don’t come up as often, but they can really help promote your brand. Generally, this goes hand in hand with community engagement, because the local media outlets are likely to report on local events that are relevant to the readers in that market. If you’re providing quality dental care in the community, there’s a possibility they’ll notice and write about you. That being said, they won’t always notice on their own so it’s worth giving them a call and letting them know. Don’t be afraid to ask if they’ll link to your site as it can really help your SEO.

Additionally, if you’re holding an event and want to raise awareness, write a press release to give to your local news outlet. That being said, these days you often have to do more than just a press release. Reaching out via social media to local reporters who cover these sorts of stories, or sharing information on your own social media and tagging them can be an effective way to get them writing about your practice. Be sure to give them your web address so websites can link back to you, as well.

Word of Mouth

Finally, the most tried and true way to locally promote your brand is by word of mouth. Though this marketing tactic may seem obvious or even a little outdated, it still works very well.

While asking for referrals is never a bad idea, the best way to attract new patients via word of mouth is by being professional and letting your work speak for itself. If patients feel respected and receive quality dental care, that word will start to get around to more people.

Final Thoughts

In an industry like dentistry, marketing can be tricky. We’re not advertising candy or hot tubs. At the same time, because you’re working on people’s mouths and teeth, they are going to be very particular about where they have that work done. This makes establishing yourself as a trustworthy dental care provider in your community that much more important.

A bad reputation can be extremely detrimental to your practice and revenue. The strategies you use to strengthen your local brand will most likely depend on your area and the size of the city in which you work. Some strategies may work in very competitive markets, but won’t in smaller, more rural markets.

Along with that, strategies for smaller markets might not work in larger ones. The important thing is getting to know your area and what works for you. Through time and some trial and error, you will begin to figure out what methods work the best in getting your community to start recognizing your practice. At the end of the day, nothing gets the word out better than simply doing great work.