Smile Designer enjoys big jump in new-patient calls with Google Mobile Ads

Everyday consumers use their mobile phones to find local business information, to get directions, contact information or reviews. Research shows that 95% of smartphone consumers have looked for local information on their phones and 61% call or visit a business afterwards. Mobile advertising can provide a huge competitive advantage to local businesses to be discovered and preferred. 

Ask Dr. Rania Saleh, who founded Smile Designer in Arlington, Virginia, in 2010. The success of her dentist practice in metropolitan DC, shows how running Google Mobile Ads can help a small business grow by driving more calls and attracting new customers.

Dr. Saleh is a general and cosmetic dentist. She was joined in the dental practice by an orthodontist and a periodontist. These three specialists take pride in creating a first-class experience for patients. The trio aims to attract patients who value good dentistry and want the best treatment they can get.

Once the fledgling practice had created an attractive website, which included links to starred reviews on Google and elsewhere, Smile Designer immediately launched an AdWords campaign. Although largely inexperienced in digital advertising, Dr. Saleh and her husband found AdWords easy to use. They added keywords and tested ad copy they wrote themselves. Google AdWords today constitutes about 95 percent of the practice’s advertising.

Following up its initial success with Google AdWords desktop campaigns, Dr. Saleh created a mobile-specific AdWords campaign. The ads were specific to the various practice areas and included keywords chosen especially for mobile users, mobile-specific calls to action, and text that included phone numbers.

“Mobile lets us reach people whenever and wherever they are,” Dr. Saleh says. “Patients with emergencies see our ad and use the click-to-call feature to call us right away. Others might discover our mobile ad when looking for a local dentist, then call us later from home after reading about our services and seeing the positive reviews on Google Places. Mobile helps us create a seamless experience.”

The AdWords campaigns raised Smile Designer’s competitive profile. The practice can now determine the number of people coming in through AdWords and other sources, and track clicks for keywords such as “orthodontist,” “dental implants,” “teeth whitening,” etc. The number of hits on the website jumped, as did the number of phone calls. In addition, the click-through rate (CTR) on mobile devices increased 74 percent, while the cost-per-click (CPC) dropped 34 percent. 

All of this gave the dental professionals at Smile Designer something more to smile about.

To download the full Smile Designer case study, click here.

Posted by: Nabil Haschemie, Product Marketing Manager