10 Reasons Your Dental Ads Underperform (And How to Fix Them) - Sketch Dental

10 Reasons Your Dental Ads Underperform (And How to Fix Them)

Danny Hayes
Updated: October 3, 2025 • 2 Minute Read

10 Reasons Your Dental Ads Underperform (And How to Fix Them)

When a campaign isn’t landing, the issue usually isn’t the platform, it’s the approach. Here are the 10 most common mistakes we see in dental marketing, and how to turn them around.

1. Budgets That Strangle Data

⚠️ Starving campaigns with tiny daily spends keeps them stuck in “learning limited” and stalls momentum.

✅ Fix: Invest enough for 20–30+ conversions per campaign per month. Data is fuel.

 

2. No Clear Funnel

⚠️ Clicks alone don’t convert patients. Without a mapped journey, from ad to landing page to booking, it’s guesswork.

✅ Fix: Build a standardised funnel with clear CTAs at each step.

 

3. Leaky Landing Pages

⚠️ Slow, clunky, generic pages kill conversion.

✅ Fix: Mobile-first, fast-loading, with booking front and centre. Add FAQs, reviews, before/afters, and trust signals.

 

4. One Hook, One Bet

⚠️ If your opening 3 seconds flop, the ad’s over.

✅ Fix: Test multiple angles — pain points, outcomes, objections, proof. Scale what sticks.

 

5. Dentists Off-Camera

⚠️ Stock footage doesn’t build trust. Patients want to see you.

✅ Fix: Put clinicians on screen with short intros, walk-throughs, and FAQs.

 

6. Living on Discounts

⚠️Offers can drive leads, but also dilute your brand if overused.

✅ Fix: Balance promotions with authority content: expertise, tech, outcomes, stories.

 

7. Flat, Off-Brand Creatives

⚠️ A static image rarely stops the scroll.

✅ Fix: Prioritise short-form video, keep branding consistent, and design for sound-off viewing.

 

8. Leads Left to Go Cold

⚠️ Front desks are busy, and leads freeze fast.

✅ Fix: Use a dedicated follow-up process. Respond in minutes, not hours.

 

9. No Qualification, No Data

⚠️ Unqualified consults waste time, and missing data means you can’t optimise.

✅ Fix: Pre-screen leads and track the full journey so you can learn from it: lead, appointment, treatment, value.

 

10. “Set and Forget”

⚠️ Creative fatigue creeps in fast. If you’re not refreshing, performance dips before you notice.

✅ Fix: New hooks every month, rotate testimonials, refresh offers seasonally, review targeting.

 

Bottom line?

Most ad problems aren’t technical, they’re strategic. The practices winning right now are the ones testing consistently, refining their funnels, and treating marketing as an extension of the patient journey.

Written by: Danny Hayes

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Danny Hayes
Updated: October 3, 2025 • 2 Minute Read

10 Reasons Your Dental Ads Underperform (And How to Fix Them)

When a campaign isn’t landing, the issue usually isn’t the platform, it’s the approach. Here are the 10 most common mistakes we see in dental marketing, and how to turn them around.

1. Budgets That Strangle Data

⚠️ Starving campaigns with tiny daily spends keeps them stuck in “learning limited” and stalls momentum.

✅ Fix: Invest enough for 20–30+ conversions per campaign per month. Data is fuel.

 

2. No Clear Funnel

⚠️ Clicks alone don’t convert patients. Without a mapped journey, from ad to landing page to booking, it’s guesswork.

✅ Fix: Build a standardised funnel with clear CTAs at each step.

 

3. Leaky Landing Pages

⚠️ Slow, clunky, generic pages kill conversion.

✅ Fix: Mobile-first, fast-loading, with booking front and centre. Add FAQs, reviews, before/afters, and trust signals.

 

4. One Hook, One Bet

⚠️ If your opening 3 seconds flop, the ad’s over.

✅ Fix: Test multiple angles — pain points, outcomes, objections, proof. Scale what sticks.

 

5. Dentists Off-Camera

⚠️ Stock footage doesn’t build trust. Patients want to see you.

✅ Fix: Put clinicians on screen with short intros, walk-throughs, and FAQs.

 

6. Living on Discounts

⚠️Offers can drive leads, but also dilute your brand if overused.

✅ Fix: Balance promotions with authority content: expertise, tech, outcomes, stories.

 

7. Flat, Off-Brand Creatives

⚠️ A static image rarely stops the scroll.

✅ Fix: Prioritise short-form video, keep branding consistent, and design for sound-off viewing.

 

8. Leads Left to Go Cold

⚠️ Front desks are busy, and leads freeze fast.

✅ Fix: Use a dedicated follow-up process. Respond in minutes, not hours.

 

9. No Qualification, No Data

⚠️ Unqualified consults waste time, and missing data means you can’t optimise.

✅ Fix: Pre-screen leads and track the full journey so you can learn from it: lead, appointment, treatment, value.

 

10. “Set and Forget”

⚠️ Creative fatigue creeps in fast. If you’re not refreshing, performance dips before you notice.

✅ Fix: New hooks every month, rotate testimonials, refresh offers seasonally, review targeting.

 

Bottom line?

Most ad problems aren’t technical, they’re strategic. The practices winning right now are the ones testing consistently, refining their funnels, and treating marketing as an extension of the patient journey.

Written by: Danny Hayes