$25-$50 credit toward future treatment; or gift card
Incentive for new patient
$50-$100 off first visit; or free whitening with first exam
How to ask
Verbal ask at checkout; referral card in take-home bag; email follow-up
Tracking
Referral code or "how did you hear about us?" at intake
Timing
Ask after positive experience (post-cleaning, after successful procedure)
Programme promotion
In-office signage; website; email newsletter; social media
Community partnerships
Partner
How it works
Lead quality
Schools (dental health education)
Provide dental screenings; send home flyers with parents
Medium (builds awareness)
Local businesses (cross-referrals)
Exchange referral materials with complementary businesses
Medium
Employers (corporate dental days)
Offer lunch-and-learn or free screening at local companies
Medium-high
Real estate agents
Include in welcome packet for new residents
High (new to area; need a dentist)
Paediatricians / OBGYNs
Refer patients for dental care
High (trusted referral)
Orthodontists (if you do general, not ortho)
Mutual referrals between general and specialty
Very high
Assisted living / senior centres
Provide dental health education and screenings
Medium
Email Marketing for Dental Practices
Patient email types
Email type
Frequency
Content
Goal
New patient welcome
One-time (after first visit)
Thank you; what to expect; office policies; introduce team
Retention; set expectations
Appointment reminder
1 week + 1 day before appointment
Date, time, preparation instructions
Reduce no-shows
Recall / reactivation
Every 6 months (for inactive patients)
"Time for your checkup"; special offer
Bring back lapsed patients
Monthly newsletter
Monthly
Dental tips, office news, promotions, team spotlight
Stay top of mind
Post-treatment follow-up
1 day after procedure
How you are feeling; care instructions; contact info for concerns
Patient satisfaction; prevent complications
Review request
3-7 days after visit
"How was your visit? Leave a review" (link to Google)
Collect reviews
Birthday / holiday
On birthday; major holidays
Happy birthday; special offer
Personal touch
Referral request
After positive visit or review
"Know someone who needs a dentist? Refer them and get $X credit"
Generate referrals
Reactivation email sequence
Email
Timing
Content
Goal
Friendly reminder
6 months since last visit
"We miss you! Time for your checkup"
Gentle nudge
Value add
7 months
Dental health tip + reminder to schedule
Provide value
Special offer
8 months
"$X off your next cleaning" or "Free X with your next visit"
Incentive
Last chance
10 months
"We want to keep your file active. Schedule before [date]"
Urgency
Metrics
Channel
Cost per new patient
Patients per month
ROI timeline
Notes
Google organic (SEO)
$50-$150
5-20
6-12 months
Compounds over time
Google Ads (PPC)
$100-$300
10-30
Immediate
Controllable; scalable
Referral programme
$25-$75 (incentive cost)
5-15
1-3 months
Highest quality patients
Facebook / Instagram ads
$75-$200
5-15
1-3 months
Good for cosmetic; need strong creative
Insurance directories
$30-$100
3-10
1-3 months
Steady; price-sensitive patients
Zocdoc / Healthgrades
$50-$150
3-10
Immediate
Pay per booking; no long-term asset
Community partnerships
$25-$100
2-5
3-6 months
Relationship-dependent
Email reactivation
$5-$15
5-20
Immediate
Highest ROI (existing patients)
Consolidating Dental Practice Leads
When managing patient acquisition across multiple channels (website contact forms, Google Ads landing pages, Zocdoc enquiries, social media messages, event sign-ups, referral cards), export contacts from each source and upload to Email Extractor to extract and deduplicate email addresses. This creates a unified prospect list for your practice management system and prevents sending duplicate communications when the same person enquires through multiple channels.
