Dental Relationship Marketing

Archive for the ‘Social Media Marketing for Dentists’ Category

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.

Popularity: 46% [?]

Have you begun marketing with YouTube?  Now is the time! Online video viewership is skyrocketing…

Before you start to shoot video and set up a YouTube account, it’s wise to spend some time considering what results you want. Read the three important planning steps in my recent “YouTube: You’re on the Air” DentalTown article.   Below is an excerpt:

If you feel overwhelmed with these initial planning questions, you may want to consider a professional’s help. A professional videographer can help you work through your camera jitters, develop an effective script and recommend the best location. Perhaps you’ve already made your video, but you’re stuck in the editing, tagging or uploading process. Remember help is available at every stage of the process.

Popularity: 52% [?]

Twitter continues to spark the interest of dental and medical practices.  Are you actively tweeting?  If so, learn how to make the most of your tweets in my special DentalTown social media focus article. Here is an excerpt:

Be social. Once you have successfully completed your profile, you are ready to begin tweeting. Remember the “social” in social media… you don’t have to tweet about dentistry [or healthcare] all the time. Begin to “follow” others. Try following waves of 25 people at a time, rather than instantly following 500. Focus on quality [building relationships] rather than quantity.

Read the entire article.

Popularity: 58% [?]

I often hear doctors and practice managers express concerns about Facebook security. While it’s important to be aware and vigilant, don’t let rumors keep you from marketing and networking on Facebook.

I recommend all practices and teams involved in Facebook marketing “like” Facebook’s Official Security Page:  http://www.facebook.com/security If you aren’t already a part of this community, like the Page. The Facebook Security Page will easily keep you updated about any concerns—and separate valid concerns and solutions from myths or rumors.   Stay safe friends!

Popularity: 39% [?]

Would you get into a car without knowing where you are going?  Seems silly, however many practices dive into social marketing without plans.   A recent informal poll of dental practices actively marketing in Facebook revealed that the majority, over 80%, had no plan in place.

A basic Facebook marketing plan can help you and your team to be organized, consistent, and most importantly effective. Here are five major plan components to keep in mind.

1.  Who – Who will be responsible for managing your Facebook efforts?  This person will monitor, interact and post on behalf of your practice.

2.  What -  What will your practice post about?   Will your focus be on sedation dentistry, cosmetics, dental implants or perio disease?  Remember, it’s also important to post non-dental, social, items from time to time.

3.  When –  When will your practice participate on Facebook?  Will you check-in “whenever you have time” or will you schedule specific days of the week to check for comments, interact, and post?

4. How –  How will you inform your patients about your practice Page?  What tactical methods will you employ to promote your Facebook community?  For example, you may decide to use email, incentives, or special business cards.

5. Why –  Why are you participating in Facebook marketing?  Is it to build a lively online community or simply push out dental messaging?  Either intention will deliver two totally different results …

It’s important that you determine what you want to achieve by establishing a presence in Facebook.  Hold a Facebook plan discussion with your team at your next staff meeting. Together you can create a basic, yet effective, one-page plan.  You’ll find a plan will make it easier for you to sustain your efforts in the long term, as well as to track and note successes.

Do you have a plan in place?

Popularity: 100% [?]

According to Nielsen, the average social media user currently spends about six hours per month on sites like Facebook.  As we spend more time working, networking, and now socializing online, I often wonder what all this time at our computers does for our minds.

Photo of one of Rita's favorite hikes in Boulder, Colorado

The New York Times article, Outdoors and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain shares a fascinating look at the way we’ve become attached (addicted?) to technology—and its possible impact on our brains.   The article stated, “The quest to understand the impact on the brain of heavy technology use — at a time when such use is exploding — is still in its early stages.”

In the end, there are no definitive conclusions on whether spending quiet time away from technology might benefit us.  I however feel a hike in nature, or a few minutes of meditation, clears my mind and allows me to be more engaged with my online friends and my work.  What do you think?

Popularity: 28% [?]

Many practices have already begun Facebook marketing.  If you are one of them,  have you considered how you will track your effectiveness? As with any marketing activity, social media efforts should be measured.  Below are several metrics you can use to determine how you are doing.

1.  Number of Quality Fans – note the word “quality”.  Huge numbers of people who like your practice Page are likely irrelevant if those fans live outside of your geographic area or if they are not genuinely interested in your practice (for example, people “liked” your Page as a favor to a friend, however they immediately hid you from their newsfeed).

A quality community consists of existing patients, family or friends of existing patients/potential new patients (people who live within reasonable traveling distance of your practice), alliances, referral partners, neighborhood friends or colleagues, and those with a genuine interest in you, your team, or your practice.

2.  Testimonials / Word of Mouth -  Facebook testimonials are more valuable than your average  testimonial.  For one, friends of friends may have witnessed the testimonial post via Facebook’s newsfeed.  Second, the patient’s testimonial rests adjacent to their profile photo—this gives life to testimonials in ways not possible in the past.

Avid Facebook users find Facebook a convenient—and meaningful—outlet to share both what they like and dislike about businesses.  I’m happy to report that I’ve already witnessed dozens upon dozens of highly complimentary patient comments and outright raving reviews about dentists and team members.  While you may not be able to put a dollar value on testimonials, they could be the deciding factor for a new patient weighing whether you are the best fit.

3.  Website Traffic – hopefully your practice is already using a tool like Google Analytics to determine where your website traffic is coming from.  This free tool can prove invaluable by informing you where web visit referrals are originating.  Talk to your webmaster about Google Analytics or a similar report that you can easily follow.

4.  Engagement / Interaction – a unique benefit of social media is the ability to interact and converse with your audience.  Many practices are successfully using creative programs to motivate interaction.  If your Facebook Page participation is low, consider what you can do differently to change this.  A huge benefit of social marketing is the flexibility it offers.  Explore various types of programs and posts to see what interests your community most.

5. New Patients – often times practices will say they are seeing the number of new patients “from the Internet” grow.  With the addition of Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube, it’s important to be able to distinguish exactly where on the internet you were found.

If you are actively marketing on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, add these choices to your patient registration forms.  This gives patients a convenient option to specify exactly where they found you, and it also serves as a reminder of your presence in these platforms. In addition you may consider a specific phone number to track where phone calls are originating.

Remember that interaction, consistency, and patience play a key role in social marketing.  It is not managed, nor can it be judged as quickly as a traditional postcard campaign.  In fact, consider social marketing a long term program.  Similar to word of mouth marketing, the movement of social metrics may be slow.  However the quality of new patient referrals via social media (conversational, relationship-focused) will be far greater than those acquired via traditional media (one-to-many, sales-oriented).

Which metrics are you tracking to measure your social marketing efforts?

Popularity: 49% [?]

You have a new patient sitting in your treatment chair.  What is the conversation you’ll have with that patient?   Masters at small talk will tell you they can use open-ended questions to open the door to trust with patients at their first visit.  While small talk still has its place, consider a new patient who found you via Facebook …

Rather than a new patient waiting for you to open conversation, the patient may say, “I saw on Facebook that you are an avid fisherman.  My husband and I both love to fish too!  Have you ever been to … ”.  Practices who use social media to share a bit of their authentic selves will begin to notice deeper relationships (that also grow faster) than those who do not.

Small talk has been defined as conversation for it’s own sake, or making comments about what is perfectly obvious.  Which has more meaning, conversation about the weather or sharing your favorite fishing spots with a fellow fisherman?   When practices (dentists and teams) share what hobbies they enjoy or what they are passionate about—outside of the office—they open the door to a whole new world of conversation, “social talk”.  Social talk is not only more meaningful than small talk, it’s also more fun—and more effective!

Will you and your team continue to rely on small talk or have you already ventured into the social world of Facebook?  Once you begin sharing what’s meaningful in your life, you will begin to rely less on small talk and experience more social talk, trust, and new—ideal–patient referrals.

Popularity: 38% [?]

Are you using discounts or free offers to recruit clients to “like” your Facebook Page?  Many businesses are—as well as dental practices.  While offering something such as teeth whitening for free or as a “special offer” may be fine in some instances, it pays to be thoughtful about offering these promotions over the long term.

A “special offer” utilized over and over again will eventually become “not so special” …  My friend, Kevin Rose, is a dental business consultant who explains this risk as “Sofa Sale Dentistry”. Kevin is a thought leader for the business of dentistry.  He is based in England, however his core principles apply in the U.S., as well as internationally.   Read Kevin’s article which he wrote and posted on his blog earlier this year:

Sofa Sale Dentistry

The natural reaction to the traditionally quiet first quarter in Dentistry and retail generally is to have a promotional offer. Right now many dental surgeries are offering promotions in order to attract new and existing patients through the door and this should be a win win for both parties.

However, whilst promotions have their place in the short term, have you stopped to consider what impact they have on your business in the medium and long term? Promotions should form part of an annual marketing strategy and contribute towards the overall direction that the business and patient message is heading.

Promotions inevitably involve reducing margins in the short term, so make sure that you consider what the over all payback will be. Buying market share is a proven strategy outside of dentistry, but it is not sustainable and can reduce business longevity if it is not carefully planned.

There are some companies that constantly market themselves on short term promotions. The TV adverts are full of them at the seasonal peaks such as Christmas and New Year. The “sofa sale” companies are very succesful but only because their pricing and strategy is designed around having a “sale”.

If you are looking to compete in the long term in the style of a “sofa sale” company then maybe that needs to be a conscious decision rather than a short term reaction?

Learn more about Kevin Rose here.

Popularity: 26% [?]

What is your primary objective for being on Facebook or Twitter? Are you interested primarily in link-building, solely for “SEO” purposes? Perhaps you are interested in acquiring as many friends and people who will “like” your Facebook Page as possible, because we’ve always been taught that more is better …

A traditional marketing mind-set was to acquire more.  Let the numbers show how effective our direct mail piece was.  How many patient phone calls we got from our phone book ad.  How many hits to our website.  However, without quality none of those numbers really matters.

It is our intentions that drive our actions.  If we intend to build up a certain number of fans, whether it be 500 or 2,000 fans, we are focused on the numbers. On the other hand, if we focus on winning the interest, praise, and appreciation of our followers, we are bound to win.

Remember that social media marketing is unlike any other marketing tool we’ve ever had access to.  Discard your old marketing mind-set.  Be thoughtful about your objectives.  Consider what is more important to you—a high quantity fan base or a high quality fan base.  I’m not saying you can’t have both, but in social media, typically numbers as a primary goal can sabotage quality.

Set your intention to first and foremost build trust and relationships with your followers.  Strive to make your social media platforms a place you can talk with your patients and followers. Imagine when patients come into your office.  What is the social conversation you have with them?  It is that type of exchange that can make your social marketing efforts a success.

It may take more time and energy to consider what your ideal social media community could look like.  The easy way out is to set a number as a goal and walk away.  A better objective—that will return more positive word of mouth and referrals—is to put interaction, authentic “liking”, and relationship building at the top of the list.

What are your social media goals and objectives?

Popularity: 38% [?]