Dental Relationship Marketing

Archive for the ‘Social Media Marketing for Dentists’ Category

Online reviews are all the buzz in dental marketing today.  However, will the relevancy of reviews still hold power a year from now?

I just watched an undercover investigation report about fake online reviews on the Today show.  The investigation focused on hotels and resorts that are being scrutinized for fake reviews or misleading website advertising.

One of my favorites sites (until now), Trip Advisor, was also mentioned.  The investigators interviewed a gentleman who said he was paid to post phony good or bad reviews about various hotels or resorts. Further, some advertising agencies were also facilitating fake reviews as a service.  What does this mean for the future / relevancy of online reviews?

Although the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is to regulate reviews and prosecute those for false ratings, it’s evident the issue of fake reviews is growing rampant.

So what has this got to do with dental or healthcare provider reviews?  The dental industry has followed many other industries (such as travel, book, or restaurant) review marketing trends. However with more information revealing how trickery is behind many online reviews, will the power of all online reviews be deflated?

In the end, what we can all certainly rely on is the recommendation of a trusted friend.  Perhaps this is what Facebook already knows… The only real reviews, recommendations and “likes” we will be able to trust in the future will be those of our trusted friends. It all comes back to good old word of mouth—whether in person or online it is only our network of real friends, and real Facebook friends, that we may be able to ultimately trust.

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A common concern I hear dentists voice about Facebook is, “I want to keep my private life private…”.  I often explain to clients that it’s possible to be personable in social marketing, yet still maintain your privacy.

With that said, should dentists friend their patients on Facebook?

Here is an excerpt from my recent interview with DrBiscupid.com:

“The mushrooming popularity of social media such as Facebook makes it an effective marketing tool, but experts warn dentists that sharing too much personal information can affect doctor/patient relationships in negative ways…”

Visit DrBicuspid.com and search “Should you ‘friend’ your patients?” to read the entire January 31, 2011 article.

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Early this month I had the pleasure of presenting several seminars at the Rocky Mountain Dental Convention.  William Walters, a Denver attorney, also presented at the conference and spoke about social media marketing risks.

Note, I’m not an attorney myself.  The following article is written based on my understanding and perspective of Mr. Walters excellent presentation …

Whether you are marketing on Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter, read the small print/terms of service.  Yes, they are often pages long and change regularly, however you should be informed.

Be sure to have verifiable, signed consent from patients—and employees—to use their photos, video, etc. in social media platforms. The signed release should make mention of “perpetual use”, and include the fact material will be used in social media (Facebook, etc.).

Set limits for team members posting.  Include expectations for behavior in your policy manuals. In addition, monitor your platforms regularly.  For example, check on your Facebook Page on a regular basis. Be aware of what both staff members, as well as patients and the public, are posting on your Page.

Be thoughtful about what you are posting and be careful about defamation in public areas, tweets included.

Read more about Mr. Walters statements regarding advertising regulations, the FTC, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, as well as HIPPA in the January 20, 2011 DrBicuspid.com article entitled “ How social media can help — and hurt — your practice.”

Social media is a new dental marketing frontier—with unprecedented opportunities.  It’s often seen as fun, casual and spontaneous… However it’s important to be informed, compliant, and thoughtful about what we say and how we manage our social marketing.

What are your thoughts?

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There’s been a slew of articles published the last few weeks about alternatives to Google search and traditional SEO.  Potential search replacements are being motivated by user behavior and the desire for more relevant solutions. Consider, “social search”, how businesses may be found, for example on Facebook, based on the number of people who like them (fans/relationships) vs. a Google algorithm.

In this article, entitled “Why We Desperately Need a New (and Better) Google“, the author said, “Google has become a jungle: a tropical paradise for spammers and marketers.”  The article goes on to say that most Google searches now take you to sites that will make them money or to sites created by unscrupulous companies that know how to manipulate Google’s page-ranking system …

What does this mean for the future of your web marketing? It doesn’t mean you abandon your current online strategy if it’s working for you.  At this moment, Google search is still king—although the throne is being scrutinized and spurred.  Hopefully Google will take note of the evolving wants and needs of more sophisticated web searchers.

In the meantime, establish and grow your online communities where people are spending more time (Why You Must Focus on ROR ‘Return on Relationships’ in 2011).

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Have you heard a team member or colleague say, “I don’t get all this Facebook stuff”. It’s sometimes followed up with, “I’m old and that’s why I can’t do this”. Success in social media is not an age issue people, rather it’s an attitude or state of mind issue .

If you think you are too old to understand how Facebook works, take a look at Katherine Eitel’s belief and power statements concept… As Katherine points out, are you disempowering yourself through limiting beliefs?  The most important component to succeeding in social marketing is being open and adopting a new mindset.

Further, understand that social media does not require vast technical knowledge.  Facebook and social marketing are all about people skills and relationships. The technology (how, what, and when to post) can be taught.  It’s an open-mind that is difficult to change—you either have an open mind or you don’t.

If you are opposed to social media simply because you think you are “too old to get it”, you are cheating yourself out of new experiences and opportunities. Read through Katherine’s questions and suggestions.  Consider that perhaps you don’t “get” social media because you make a conscious decision not to—and that’s okay too.

Everyone deserves a chance to learn and grow.  No matter what age you are, I hope you never stop learning. Most importantly, remember there are always teachers and coaches to help you. All you need to succeed in social marketing is an open mind.  Keep learning!

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Facebook’s recent interview on 60 Minutes revealed what could be a tsunami in the world of search … Imagine a search engine that feeds you results based on relevant, meaningful, social proof rather than some algorithm Google suggested.  What would this mean to you?  It means that people would find you in search based on what people in their Facebook network think of you.

Search results would be based on those businesses, services and products connected to people in our network.  This is quite profound, because rather than trying to crack Google’s latest algorithm, you’d instead need to ensure that you have many raving fans.  Social capital will become extremely valuable in this situation.  It’s then all about how many people know AND like you.

So, what can you do in preparation for this potential search tsunami?  First and foremost, be sure you have excellent patient relations skills.  Remember people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  Consider getting an “outside set of eyes” to observe you and your team in action.  Now is an ideal time to engage a coach or consultant to help you fine tune and enhance your systems, environment and customer service. Most importantly, coaches hold us accountable for things that we are sometimes too busy to follow through with.

If social search takes off, it’s likely that patients may become even more vocal about what they like—and dislike.  We’ve seen this already, when Facebook recently released their new profile layout … in turn, people began to expand upon their profile information.

With that said, now is the time to get as many quality fans as possible to like your practice Page.   Do you have a strategy or plan in place to help you engage patients on Facebook in 2011? If not, take time to consider what you will continue to do or do differently.

The world of search is moving more toward honest marketing.  Social capital and ROR (Return on Relationships) will become more important than how optimized your website is for Google search.  Those practices who regularly exceed patient’s expectations and who take time to promote their Facebook presence could very well dominate in social search.

Will your practice be found near the top of social search?

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Is Facebook marketing beneficial for specialists as well?  Absolutely.  Specialty practices will often ask what they should post about …  The answer is a blend of dental and social posts.   Remember this is “social” marketing.  As with any type of business in social media, it’s important to share a bit of personality with your community.

So, what should specialists post about?  Specialists may have a more varied community than general practitioners.  Their communities may include patients, referring doctors, colleagues, friends and potential new patients.  Be sure to share something for everyone—while at the same time being sensitive to each segment of your community.

For example, if you are an oral surgeon, you (unlike a general practitioner)wouldn’t want to post solely “layman” dental implant information.  You certainly could include a bit of these types of posts as the patients in your community may find this beneficial.  However be aware of the amount of this type of information you are posting so as not to bombard your referring practices with information better suited for patient education.

Posts your audience may find interesting include:

• Photos - share about a volunteer effort that you and your team recently participated in together.  For example, Habitat for Humanity efforts or participation in a holiday “Toys for Tots” campaign.
• Events – seminars or continuing education events that you are hosting make for excellent posts.
• Value adds -  share about special perks you provide for your patients, such as a photo of the gourmet coffee, paraffin treatment, or aromatherapy you offer.
• Personality -  photos or updates about your doctor or team member’s participation in a marathon, new scuba certification or birth of a baby are “social” posts that add human interest to any Facebook Page.  These posts can also open the door to a whole new world of conversation (and relationship building) with referring practices and patients alike.

In addition, be sure to include your referring practices in promotion of your Facebook Page. Make a special Facebook themed marketing delivery to your referring practices.  Remind them you are on Facebook via leave-behinds, e-communication and snail-mailers.

Just as a general practice would market on Facebook, so too can specialty practices …  Social marketing is all about growing relationships. Make one of your main goals to create a thriving community abundant with engagement.

As a specialist you can reap double the benefit of word of mouth referrals from both patients as well as referring practices. Are you on board yet?  What are you waiting for?  Keep me posted on your progress!

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One of the primary indicators of Facebook marketing success is engagement.  In other words, how many interactions (likes, comments, etc.) you regularly receive.  If you notice that your Facebook community is a bit flat, check to see what your posts look like aesthetically.

Dentist and her two Stellas (Stella the Bernese Mountain Dog and Stella Scooter)

Are your posts plain text or simply accompanied by an automated feed symbol? Remember that every post you make is competing for attention with your audiences friend’s posts—those posts of friend’s Hawaii vacation photos, cute kids and pets, or announcements of engagements or pregnancies … This means that your posts often need a photo or interesting graphic image in order to garner attention.

In fact Harvard Business School research about understanding social networks found, “The biggest discovery: pictures. ‘People just love to look at pictures,’ says Piskorski. That’s the killer app of all online social networks. Seventy percent of all actions are related to viewing pictures or viewing other people’s profiles.”

You’ll often hear marketers recommend using a photo instead of a logo in profiles, which I agree with.  However equally important is being aware of what your posts look like before sharing.  Experiment with fun, unique photos and track the difference in attention you receive.

If you’ve already been posting with photos, test different types of pictures to see which motivate the most interaction.  Marketing successfully in social media requires one very important component—a new mindset.  Remember the “social” in social media (don’t post about dentistry constantly).  The “social” aspect is what allows you to build relationships with Facebook.  Explore which photos or images work best for you, have fun, and keep me posted on your progress!

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There’s a common reason many dental practices aren’t seeing a return from their tweets.  Some people have the impression that social media is about technology.   The tendency then is to think automation or streamlined marketing … However Twitter, like all social media, is all about people and building relationships.  What does that mean exactly?

I like to use the analogy of attending a local Chamber of Commerce meeting.  Let’s say you and your team agreed to attend Chamber meetings with the goals to network, meet new people in the community, and increase new patients (note, these should be the same goals for using Twitter).  Imagine you or a team member attended the Chamber meeting, walked in, left a bunch of business cards on the table and then walked out—that seems ridiculous right?  How would you expect to get new patients from that exercise? You wouldn’t.

Likewise you will not receive new patients from tweeting your heart out without interacting or talking with people on Twitter.  If you want to see results from using Twitter, you must commit to “attending” on a regular basis. Remember that doesn’t mean walking in and leaving business cards on the table (tweeting without interacting).  Rather it means, taking interest in others.  Asking other business owners in your community what they do, how you can help them, what type of referral works best for them and so on…

Too often I hear practices say, “We just don’t get Twitter”.  It’s impossible to “get” Twitter if you are simply posting tweets (walking in and leaving business cards). You must interact with others or your tweeting efforts will be worthless.

At this point, if you are thinking you just don’t have time for this.  If you don’t feel you have time to interact, network and talk with people in your community, then perhaps Twitter is not an ideal strategy for you. While I’m passionate about social media, I fully understand it’s not for everyone.  I see it as a benefit to know what you enjoy—which often leads to what you are good at.

Do you enjoy Twitter?  If not, I hope you’ve found a new perspective here to boost your Twitter strategy.   If so, I hope to connect with you there!

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Do you have a Facebook Page for your practice?  If so, are you aware how to access it?  As more practices begin marketing with Facebook, a new generation of issues arises.  Don’t let potential issues prevent you from using Facebook, however follow a few precautions now to prevent headaches later…

First and foremost, know how to access your Facebook Page.  Note, you should have a Facebook Page and not a Personal Profile to represent your practice.  Understand it’s against Facebook’s guidelines to use a personal profile to represent a business (dental practices).  Facebook profiles are for individuals. Your practice should use Business Page to market with.

If you have a Business Page, you should be an “Administrator” of your Page.  Pages can have multiple administrators.  Know that administrators have the ability to delete other administrators and can delete the Page entirely as well.

I recently ran across a situation where a doctor’s Facebook Page was essentially kidnapped.  The doctor had no idea how to access the Page and the well established practice Page was taken under the ownership and direction of a disgruntled ex-employee…

Speaking of ownership.  The only way to completely “own” (in other words access or control to the extent Facebook allows) your Facebook Page is to have sole access to your Page.  Sole access is typically not feasible for a doctor, as they often have a team member or vendor who is handling this aspect of marketing for them.

At some point, Facebook may implement more control over administration controls. For now, all you can do is:

1. Know how to access your Facebook Page.
2. Know who else has access to your Page (co-administrators).
3. Have trust in those who co-administrate your Page—and know how to delete those administrators if you no longer want them to have access.

In this case, knowledge is power.  Don’t assume you have control over your Page—know exactly who has control/access.  As practices invest more in Facebook and their Pages become more valuable, knowing how to keep these assets safe has become even more critical.

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