Relationship-Focused Dental Marketing

Posts Tagged ‘facebook marketing for dentists’

Gone are the days of treating consumers like targets. Businesses are beginning to realize that it’s better to build trust first and sell second.  So, what does this mean for traditional dental marketing?

The most important thing to consider is the commodity of dental care available on the market today. It’s become easy to replicate digital x-rays, a modern reception room, flexible hours or cool staff uniforms—what’s impossible to replicate is your genuine self. Showing a bit of your personality can go a long way in building trust and relationships. The added bonus is you’ll give patients something easy to remember (and fun to talk about) when they refer to you.

Dr S. and Stella:)

Some of the most successful dentists I know have learned it’s okay to share a bit of their personality with patients. They may love dogs, fishing, golf, music, travel, volunteering, etc.  Whatever their passion, they confidently show a part of their authentic self. This in turn comes across to patients as genuine, real and trustworthy.

What better way to easily connect with someone than through shared interests? For example, over 3 billion dollars are expected to be spent on pet services in the United States alone this year––we Americans love our pets.  The love of dogs is just one example of a personal interest you might share with your patients.

Beep Beep!

Share your personality, interests, and authentic self with patients via newsletter tidbits, Facebook posts or tweets … weave it into your marketing communication.  Allow your truly unique traits to shine through.  By doing so, you’ll likely attract more ideal patients.  Remember, patients that find you genuine and personable are more apt to quickly build trust with you––which in turn affects case acceptance and referrals.

What does your marketing communication say about you?

Three hot online dental marketing tools are Facebook Pages, ratings, and video.  Consider for a moment how important photos, ratings and video have become in the travel market. If it’s that important for people to see a combination of interactive media to choose a hotel room, why wouldn’t we expect the same when shopping for a new dentist.

MarketTools recently revealed a study indicating affluent consumers (with annual incomes of more than $75K) are most likely to research products online before buying (43%). While the power of word of mouth and personal testimonials still reign king, consumers continue to expect a broader variety of information before buying anything from hotel rooms to healthcare.

Moving back to the travel market example, hotel shoppers not only want to see photos of the hotel they are considering, they also want to see comments from recent travelers, video, and they may seek out several other travel sites to compare information.

No one wants to spend their hard earned money on a vacation that doesn’t meet their expectations.  Likewise, if given the choice between two dentists, one with a testimonial-filled Facebook Page, practice video tour, and dozens of positive ratings on Google vs. a dentist with a static website and no other web presence, which one will seem like the safer bet?

The key to successful online marketing has always been the ability to be found.  For example, on Google (in the future it may be it’s new web traffic contender, Facebook).  It’s still important to be found, however once found, be sure you can accommodate the ever-growing research needs of patients today.

How broad is your online presence?

Social marketing is not for everyone. There are some individuals and businesses who don’t like Facebook and “don’t get” Twitter.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion.  However should a business still participate in social marketing even if they don’t like it?

If you don’t like Facebook and you think Twitter is a waste of time, perhaps you’ll still explore it … for business purposes. Let’s say you know your clients or customers are spending a lot of time in social media, so you decide you must explore it.  Do so with caution or consider enlisting the help of a professional to help you co-manage your efforts.

Here is a real life example of what not to do. This is an “active” Facebook Page that hasn’t been updated since 2009.  It belongs to a healthcare provider.  This message is posted in the bio section of their Facebook wall:

DISCLAIMER

WE DO NOT CHECK FACEBOOK OR TWITTER ON A REGULAR BASIS! SHOULD YOU NEED TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT, OR HAVE A QUESTION FOR ONE OF THE DOCTORS PLEASE CALL OUR OFFICE AT … THE PRACTICE RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DECLINE, DELET

The word delete is cut off.  Whoever set this copy up did not even take the time to ensure their entire message posted.  This Page represents what is probably a perfectly good healthcare provider in very poor light.  The message implies, “We’re here on Facebook, but we don’t want to be. Just call us if you need to.”

At the end of the day, if you don’t want to be on Facebook or Twitter, don’t.   Marketing is most effective when you invest time, money and energy in options you believe in.

Most importantly, social marketing is not a postcard, it’s not an ad in the newspaper, or a few sentences printed in the phone book.  Social marketing is a living document that offers you the opportunity to illustrate your practice essence—for better or worse.

What do you want your Facebook Page to say about you and your practice?  What does it really say?

A growing base of patients who “like you” is another indicator your efforts are working.  This means you have a population of patients who are likely seeing your name and face on a regular basis in their Facebook newsfeed. You and your practice are sandwiched among your patient’s friends and family’s posts.  When done well, your posts can build trust and nourish relationships (and referrals) over time.

Don’t expect your Facebook community to grow on it’s own. Many practices have an influx of admirers when they open their page. There is excitement, and the team may ask family and friends to join … However, in order to keep your patient base growing over time, you’ll need a plan in place.

What is your strategy? Are you posting willy-nilly “when you have time?” Do you have a plan in place for inviting patients to participate? According to Facebook, businesses that promote their Page off-Facebook tend to see a 20% or greater increase in connections.  In fact, Facebook itself is said to have recently issued window decals to select local storefront businesses.

There is benefit in coordinating your offline marketing to Facebook. Be creative in your efforts.  Include your Facebook links on signage, hardcopy newsletters, postcards … consider events or a “Facebook Friday” in your office.  Wear special Facebook t-shirts or buttons and have fun with it (only if “fun” suits your practice branding and personality of course:)).

What are you doing to make your Facebook marketing fun and effective?

How will you know if your Facebook marketing efforts are paying off?  This is a question many people are beginning to ask.  One obvious indicator  would be new patients entering your practice and saying they found you on Facebook …

Have you already had several, or many, new patients come into your practice and say they found you via Facebook?  Or, do you think people just say they found you “on the Internet”.

Now is a great time to check your patient registration forms and add Facebook to your “How did you learn about us” section.  In fact, if you are tweeting, or using video, you could also add Twitter and YouTube to your intake forms.

If you have replaced your phone book ads with efforts in social media, it makes sense to update your questionnaires as well.  The first step in successfully tracking any marketing effort is to make it easy for you or your team to monitor over time.

This week’s featured social media mistake is “Pretending that social media is free” …

It’s often said that time is money.  Whether you, your team, or a trusted service provider manages your social media efforts, it’s important to understand that social media does require time, effort, and therefore money.  Be prepared to set aside a budget before diving into social media.  Many practices have already made the decision to transfer their yellow page advertising budgets to social media.

Consider the time involved and whether you want to maintain a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube or if it makes more sense to begin with just one account.

There will be time involved to plan “what to post” on your behalf and “how to maximize the benefits” of your social programs. You’ll also want to think about how often you’d like to post.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can “wing it” or “it’s free”… unless you or your team have free time to spare on a regular basis.

Have you read the article 10 common social media mistakes? The article is written by Patricio Robles, tech reporter at Econsultancy. Several points in the article are so important, I’ve decided to review several key “mistakes”, one at a time, and recommend solutions.  Excerpt:

“Signing up for a Twitter account and Facebook Page, for instance, may not cost any money, but managing them (and managing them well) doesn’t magically happen without an investment that can be quantified in dollars and cents. Social media will always require somebody’s time and may require that certain corporate resources be allocated differently. Businesses can’t ignore these costs when planning their social media strategies and evaluating what they’re delivering..”

Skip this article at your own risk.  Patricio Robles, tech reporter at Econsultancy, wrote an excellent article “10 common social media mistakes” that describes many challenges dental practices (and other businesses) face today.  The article is so well done and relevant, I plan to review one “mistake” at a time and recommend a solution.

Patricio’s mistake number one is “Overfollowing”:

“Social media is called ’social’ media for a reason, but there’s nothing ’social’ about following an ungodly number of users, especially in a short amount of time. Success with social media is just like marketing, sales and PR: results are achieved one victory at a time.”

The jig is up.  If you are new to Twitter or Facebook and follow or friend 500 people in 24 hours, chances are you’re not looking to make genuine connections …  Don’t worry about establishing a huge following overnight.  It’s the quality of your relationships that matters—not the quantity.

Follow or friend only those people that you’re sincerely interested in. Whether you want to learn from someone or build a relationship, connect with others for a sincere purpose.  Participating in social media is most successful when you put people first, not numbers.

Read Patricio’s entire article “10 common social media mistakes“.

How much value do you derive from a referral?  If you’ve long dismissed relationship marketing, you may want to reconsider.  A few major shifts have occurred, creating the perfect recipe for referral and relationship marketing to deliver higher returns than ever before.

The first shift is how consumers are dissecting information.  A quote from a recent New York Times article entitled The End of Newspapers said, “Young people judge the validity of information by the network of friends which passed it on, rather than by which media outlet broadcast it.”  The power of relationships has always been strong, but who knew it would reach the strength to dissolve the power of traditional media.

The second shift is Facebook now surpassing Google to become the most visited website in the U.S.  Hitwise, a web analytics firm, also reported the market share of visits to Facebook.com increased 185% in 2010 from the same week in 2009. Google also grew, but only 9%. While most of us aren’t yet using Facebook as a search tool, it’s time to pause and consider if that is one of Facebook’s future goals …

The third (potential) shift is that Facebook may in fact surpass Google as a search tool.  Facebook has aggressively enhanced their search technology.  In fact, a recent post from a Facebook representative was entitled, “Delivering More Search Results as You Type”.  This move will essentially facilitate word of mouth among “friends” even more.  An excerpt of that post is shown below:

“Now as you’re typing in a query in the search bar, you will instantaneously see results not only of the people, events, groups and Pages you’re connected with but also the connections of your friends and globally relevant results.”

What this means is that if your patient is a fan of your practice and one of their Facebook friends types in a search for ie:  “Dentist” or “Orthodontist” they are likely to see your page as one of the top search results.

The ROR or return on relationships has become a more powerful force than ever before.  Expect the return you get from loyal fans, who are happy to share you with their network of friends, to become even more valuable.

What are you currently doing to increase your ROR (return on relationships) with your patients?

Your Facebook success is a reflection of how much you talk about it. It’s important to note that Facebook is not a “build it and they will come” marketing tactic—social media marketing is more like a garden that requires continuous nurturing.

With that said, the number of fans you get, and the testimonials and comments you receive on your Facebook page are often a direct result of invitations and promotion done within the dental practice …

One doctor recently said, “Asking patients to become my Facebook fan is just as hard as asking for referrals”.  (Over the years, asking for referrals is one of the most common roadblocks I hear practitioners and teams complain about).

Once the shiny newness of having a Facebook page wears off, it’s time to consider how you can keep the momentum going.  Here are a few tips to help boost your Facebook participation.

1. Will the doctor invite patients to join your Facebook community, or will it be another team member? Whoever is talking to patients about Facebook should be intimate with your page, and the page’s activity.  Discuss this with your team in advance and decide who is best to handle this.
2. Plan what to say when you talk about Facebook. I’m a fan of scripts. Many years ago, I resisted scripts and thought they’d make you sound like a robot.  However with personalization, scripts can be customized to your authentic voice and they can prove invaluable.
3. Determine what you want the “purpose” of your page to be. Will you put root canal videos in your patient’s newsfeeds every week? Or will you be sharing fun news about you and your team, such as the photos of your recent team outing.  When you feel good about your posts, it’s a lot easier to invite patients to join you.

An additional benefit of a Facebook page is to use it as a barometer to show how well you are promoting the page offline (talking about it with patients in your office).  If your page has no recent activity and the fan base is flat, chances are you need to step up the conversation in your practice.  Now, if only there were a tool to determine how often doctors and teams were inviting patients to refer as well: )

Relationship-focused dentists get it.  Last week at one of our social media marketing seminars for dentists, a doctor said, “I don’t think social media will work for practices who don’t make patient relations a priority”.   Duh, you may say.  However you’d be surprised at the number of people still under the impression that social media is a “build it and they will come” marketing tactic …

In fact, social media is like maintaining a garden—it’s a living thing that must be nurtured and taken care of, again and again.  Your Facebook page will ultimately be a reflection of your patient relations.  The more you delight patients, and invite those delighted patients to participate with you on Facebook, the better social media will serve you.

Dentists are not only beginning to see new opportunities in social media, they are starting to see how social media, word-of-mouth and patient relations interconnect.  In other words, without excellent patient relations, good word-of-mouth cannot exist.  Likewise, without good word-of-mouth, social media will not work.

Social media marketing is a buzz phrase right now.  It’s a hot and exciting topic, however it will never compare to the powerful benefits of simply making patients happy : )

Michael McClure pre-seminar preparation ...

Rita Zamora, Social Media Marketing Seminar For Dentists.