November Dental Marketing Campaign: Celebrate Your Patients and Community

As we enter what many consider the holiday season, it’s a great time to run a dental marketing campaign focused on gratitude to your patients, team, and community.

Here’s how you can roll it out across multiple channels, including email, social media, in-office, and direct mail to make it memorable and meaningful.

November Dental Marketing Campaign Theme

Campaign theme: Gratitude to your patients and community

Even though this campaign can resonate with your entire patient base, you can also segment your patients into different groups and send personalized messages. Here are some ways you can segment them:

• Families with pediatric and adult patients
• Long-time loyal patients (5+ years)
• New patients (last 12 months) to accelerate relationship building

1. Use Your Website to Promote Your Campaign

Whether they’re prospective or returning patients, they’re more likely to go to your website first for information or to schedule an appointment. 60% of people who find a provider through search visit your website, so it’s always helpful to keep it up to date.

Here’s how to use your website for this month’s campaign:

• Update your homepage banner with a message like “Thank you for being part of our smile community. Join our November Appreciation & Community Care month.”
• Refresh your services page and/or create a blog post about “How we give back in November” or “Why our patients matter to us.”

2. Take Advantage of Emails and Your Newsletter to Share Your Gratitude

Even though your patients get a lot of holiday-themed emails, that shouldn’t deter you from sending your own. Email is still one of the most popular ways to get in front of your patients, and it’s an effective way to show your appreciation.

Here’s how you can structure your newsletter:

• Featured section: Highlight a patient story or use a quote with their permission. ‍
• Educational tip: Do a tip centered around how to care for your smile during the holiday season. ‍
• Community spotlight: See how we’re partnering in [local charity/food drive].
• Campaign offer: Book in November and receive our patient-appreciation dental care kit.

Treat this structure as a guide. If you want to keep your newsletter short, you can even remove one of these content ideas.  You can segment them based on patient groups, so your email is more personal for each group.

Here are some examples you can try:  

• First-time patients: We’ve missed you. Let’s get you back in. ‍
• Families: We’re grateful for your trust with your kids’ smiles. ‍
• Long-time patients: Thank you for 10 years with us — your loyalty matters. ‍
• Campaign offer: Book in November and receive our patient-appreciation dental care kit.

3. Consider Sending Direct Mail During the Holiday Season

Not all your patients may be active online or have easy access to the internet. Snail mail reinforces your message and reaches folks offline.  

If your budget allows, here are some direct mail ideas you can try:

• Send a thank you postcard: You can say something like “We’re grateful for you,” a brief note, and a call-to-action like book your year-end hygiene visit or refer a friend. ‍
• Combine mail & email: Send mail to patients who haven’t opened your emails; this multi-touch approach increases the likelihood of engagement. Include a unique code or QR for tracking. ‍
• Follow up mail pieces with in-office signage referencing the campaign: “Receive our recent postcard? Ask about your care kit!”

4. Do In-Office & Community Outreach

Many of your patients still value in-person connections, and for some of them, coming to the dentist is one of the few ways they might regularly get that face-to-face time with people. Celebrating your patients and community in the office is a fun way to stay connected with them.  

Here are some things you can do:

• Host an in-office appreciation event: Assign a day in November or early December where visiting patients receive a small gift (branded toothbrush, floss, dental care kit), enjoy a holiday-themed refreshment, and see signage like “Thank you for being part of our community.” Depending on how successful it is, you can make it a recurring day at your practice. Do what’s within your budget.  ‍
• Run a community service initiative: Partner with a local food bank, mutual aid group, toy drive, or offering free screenings for underserved populations. Encourage patients to bring a donation (if they have the means) when they come in.  ‍
• Launch a referral giveaway: Patients who refer friends/family in November get entered into a drawing for a prize (gift card, dental product bundle), and you publicly thank the winners on social media. ‍
• Install a “Gratitude Wall” in your waiting area: Patients write what they’re thankful for; you later share photos of it on your social channels/newsletter.  

Remember showing patients’ gratitude doesn’t have to be pricey. Do what’s within your budget. What matters more is being authentic and real with your patients. But these in-office celebrations or acknowledgments can be meaningful for patients who may not experience this with their other healthcare providers.  

5. Amplify Your Message on Social Media

Last but not least, is social media. This is a public way to show gratitude to your team and patients. This is also a great place to get creative with your content to show your appreciation for the dental community.  

Here are some ideas for different channels:

• Static post: Launch a Thank You Wednesday post series in November and December. Each week spotlight a patient (with consent, of course), team member, or community partner you support. A community partner could be a mutual aid group or non-profit you support or a small business you love.  ‍
• Reel: Use interactive features: Polls (“What are you most grateful for this season?”), Q&A (“Ask us your holiday smile-care question”), or user-generated content (“Tag a friend you’re thankful for & you could win …”). ‍
• Carousel: Showcase your community outreach: Post photos of your team volunteering, or a donation drive you’re running. ‍
• Video: Call out referrals: “Tag a friend you’re thankful for—if they book, you both get a little appreciation kit.”

You can always repurpose this content for different channels or use a different format. If you don’t want to do video, then create a carousel post instead. Stick to what’s realistic and what you’re comfortable doing.  

November is your chance to focus on meaningful connection celebrating your patients, serving your community, and reinforcing your practice’s role in both. Like any campaign you run, be sure to get team buy-in, so everyone is aligned on your dental marketing activities. Even if they’re not actively setting up the campaign, you can still bring it up during your huddles and send out a team-wide communication in case a patient brings it up or has a question about it.  

If you’re already thinking about what campaigns you can start running in the new year, we have you covered! Check out this 12-month content calendar. It’s broken down by channel, content ideas, and which audience to target so it’s easier to build your own campaigns and stay engaged with patients.