As a dental practice owner, you know that setting up shop is not a one-and-done deal. You’ll be making continuous investments in technology, treatments, service offerings, and even the approaches you take to stay in contact with existing patients and reach new ones.

That’s where organic marketing can really pay off. But what is organic marketing, and how do you measure results? We’re so glad you asked.

What is organic marketing?

To best explain organic marketing, let’s break down the term. Obviously, you know what marketing is. It’s all you do to promote your dental business—market research to understand patients’ wants and needs in your area, developing products and solutions (in your case, dental treatments), and getting the word out that you can help patients achieve a happier and healthier smile.

So then, if that’s marketing, what does the organic part mean? Well, when we think of the word “organic,” we think of all things that are natural. For example, organic foods are those that don’t use chemicals or fertilizers to grow. When you think of organic marketing, it’s about your strategies to build brand awareness and attract new patients using non-paid advertising tactics.

Here are some of the most common organic marketing strategies:

• Social media engagement and content creation.
• SEO (search engine optimization) for your website and blog.
• Content marketing, including blogs, ebooks, and white papers.
• Email newsletters and targeted email campaigns.
• Community involvement and local events.
• Patient referrals, testimonials, and word-of-mouth marketing.
• Online reviews and reputation management.

While these are absolutely integral to building awareness and reaching new patients, our clients continually ask us—how do you measure the impact of organic marketing?

Tips to Measure the Long-term Results of Organic Marketing

We get it. With any marketing initiative, whether it be paid or organic, you want to make sure your efforts are paying off. And while it may be a bit harder to measure the results of organic marketing, because, as the name implies, some of this just happens organically, there are things to pay attention to. 

1. Track Website Traffic

Monitoring your website’s overall traffic and analyzing the sources of this traffic are a must, and the best tool to use for this is Google Analytics. By understanding where your visitors are coming from—whether it’s from search engines, social media platforms, or direct visits—you can gauge how effective your organic marketing strategies are. This will help you see which tactics are driving the most interest and where you might need adjustments.

2. Analyze Engagement Metrics

Engagement metrics like page views, time spent on site, and bounce rate (the number of times visitors visit your site, but do not engage) will help you assess how well your content connects with your audience. A higher number of page views and longer time on site typically indicate that visitors find your content useful and engaging. At the same time, a lower bounce rate (ideally 40% or lower) suggests that your site’s content is relevant to visitors’ interests.

3. SEO Rankings

Keeping an eye on your SEO rankings in Google Search Console for targeted keywords is a must. These rankings will tell you how visible your website is on search engine results pages. A higher ranking means better visibility, leading to more organic traffic. Regularly tracking these rankings helps you understand the effectiveness of your SEO efforts and guides you in optimizing your content.

4. Social Media Insights

Utilizing social media analytics tools can provide you with a wealth of information about your follower growth, engagement rates, and organic post performance. These insights help you refine your social media strategy, ensuring you connect with your audience effectively and send out the right message about your brand.

5. Lead Generation and Conversion Rates

Yes, dentists need leads, too! Your leads are patients interested in receiving treatment at your practice. Conversions are when those patients actually come in and get treatment. It’s essential to measure how your organic marketing efforts contribute to those activities. Tracking these metrics over time helps you understand how well your organic tactics are working in turning prospects into patients.

To take this a step further, at Jameson Marketing, we track the number of calls you receive from your website. If you’re receiving plenty of new patient calls but failing to convert them to visits, it might be time to evaluate the patient conversion and onboarding process.

6. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Assessing customer lifetime value lets you understand the long-term value generated by your organic marketing efforts. This metric helps you determine how valuable a patient is to your practice over time, influenced by your organic marketing strategies.

7. Content Performance

Regularly reviewing your content’s performance helps you identify which topics or formats resonate most with your audience. In Google Analytics, you can see which blogs and pages have the most visitors, how long they stay, and so on. Whether it’s a particular blog post, video, or infographic, understanding what works best can guide your future content strategies and ensure you continue to engage and attract your audience.

Jameson Management & Marketing can measure your organic marketing results for you.

As a dental practice owner, you have a lot to manage. From back-office operations to ensuring the highest quality of patient care, we get it—you’re busy. That’s where Jameson Management & Marketing can help. We’re the best dental marketing company around and we work with dental practices all over the United States, helping them with their dental marketing strategies.

We can do that for you, too. Don’t leave your marketing up to chance. And don’t ignore the successes and failures you are experiencing in your organic marketing efforts. Contact us today for a free evaluation and let us help you build your online presence.