Dentists – Get More New Patients

by janhill

Jan and Amy 2edited2 150x150 Dentists Get More New Patients

"Marketing Mavens"

Your dental practice depends on patients of record staying loyal and new patients coming into your practice every month. It’s an undisputed fact, and one I’m sure you agree with.

You need to be where your potential new patients are looking and you need to be current, state-of-the-art and easy to find.  Another undisputed fact is that more than 81% of the population uses the internet search engines when searching for a new dentist.

You’re website is your “receptionist” online.  It is the first thing your new patients see when they search  for you, and the first interaction they have with your office.  It is your only opportunity to make a good first impression.  Don’t leave your  internet presence to chance and of all things, don’t leave it in the hands of amateurs.

Online behavior is predictable. Think about how you use Google, Bing, Yahoo or your search engine of choice. Do you look through pages and pages of listings or do you pay attention to the top few? Who or what has the most credibility in your mind? The top listings, hands-down. If you’re familiar with paid listing vs. organic listings that are at the top because of ‘popularity’ you know that those ‘organic’ listings carry much more weight and value than paid listing ever could.
You NEED to be in the top of the listings under Dentist in your city. You need a solid online presence and it must offer value to your patients and potential new patients. That’s the culture and currency of the internet. It’s not mysterious, it’s downright formulaic. Right now you have an opportunity to dominate the listings in your city. Once a few other dentists in your city are aggressively pursuing this agenda, it will become harder for you to break in.

Our message: NOW’S the time! Don’t just take our word for it, talk to us, pick our brains; get some ideas from our years of study and wealth of knowledge. You can learn enough from talking to us to do it yourself, and we’re OK with that, because we know some dentists don’t want to do it themselves and will become our clients. Others won’t and we’re good with that. Really. The culture of the internet is give to get and we’re all about the giving part.

Here’s the skinny: We’ve got 20 years experience in dental practice management and marketing. We know the internet inside out and backwards and we can get you where you need to be and keep you there. We’re smart, we’re educated, we’re honest and we know our stuff. Meet with us for 15 minutes and you’ll walk away with a new understanding of why you need to build your online presence and capture that precious real estate in your city as soon as you can. The future of your practice may depend on it. Here’s to your success and our role in it.

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Does Your Dental Practice Need Yelp and Foursquare?

by janhill

smiling friends 150x150 Does Your Dental Practice Need Yelp and Foursquare?It is fair to say that for your dental practice to be successful you need two things to happen. The first is that you need your existing patients to stay loyal and return to your practice for their routine checkups and treatment. Secondly you need new patients to come into your practice every month, in order to increase your overall profits and keep your practice moving in the right direction.

The best way of increasing the number of patients you have and getting new people to come to your practice is by being visible in all the main places where people are looking. The simple fact is that you need to be noticed online and having a strong online presence is absolutely crucial if your dental practice is going to grow and become more successful.

It has been claimed by e-industry experts that over 80% of the population use the internet when searching for a new dental practice. Just think about that statistic for a moment, it’s quite staggering! I am sure this helps you understand and see the importance of having an online presence.

Yelp, Foursquare and Facebook ‘Places” Puts Your

Dental Practice on the Map

By signing up with online directories such as Yelp, Foursquare and Facebook Places you can help give your website the online presence you need.  These sites enable people to review and rate services they have received from a wide range of providers. Yelp and Foursquare are like a word of mouth for the online world and they are fast becoming the websites of choice for many people who are looking for new services that have been recommended by others. These websites have become the new online “word of mouth referral system” for your dental practice.

By registering with these sorts of sites you are giving the opportunity for existing loyal patients to rate, review and say great things about your dental practice so that anyone who is searching for a new dentist will see the good things that other people have been saying about your practice. Also, when your patients have treatment in your office and ‘check in ‘with Facebook Places all of their friends see where they are.  If any one of them is looking for a new dentist, they will know that their friend goes to your practice, which is an endorsement in itself.   A link to your contact details will help connect them to your website.

Making sure you are the top listed dentist in your city will help to increase your patient base without any question and by signing up to Yelp, Foursquare and other social media sites you will be taking some important steps to driving your site to that number one spot and increasing the successfulness of your dental practice today and in the future.

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Ten Reasons Dentists Shouldn’t Ignore Social Media

by janhill

Social Media 150x150 Ten Reasons Dentists Shouldnt Ignore Social Media

Plenty of dental practices thought social media was a passing fad—something that would dazzle everyone for a brief time and disappear. But as the Facebooks and Twitters show staying power, many skeptics have come to the conclusion that traditional methods of attracting customers are no longer enough.

“They’ve noticed their mothers online, their friends using mobile devices to share YouTube videos, or even a co-worker circulating an insightful blog article about business innovation,” “They’re wondering how might this make sense for their businesses. Will it allow them to connect with customers?”

The answer is yes- here are 10 ways your dental practice can benefit from social media:

  1. You demonstrate to potential patients that you are human and care about their world.
  2. You bring to life an externally focused mindset.
  3. You to bring to life your otherwise static brochure-like website with a dynamic presence.
  4. You address in a public forum the questions and concerns your patients have about your products and services—which are being asked anyway without your participation.
  5. You participate in the conversations taking place that relate to your business, products, industry—and have the opportunity to shape the agenda.
  6. You manage your reputation.
  7. You build a patient community.
  8. You direct prequalified patients—with whom you’ve already established a relationship—to call your office for an appointment.
  9. You build your digital visibility and online presence.
  10. You remain relevant to patients.

The Po!nt: It’s really simple. If your patients use social media, you need to be there, too.

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Dentists, Video and Jennifer Aniston – 10 Steps to Creating Your Own Viral Vide

by janhill

Social Media and Dentistry – I realize that we want local response to our social media efforts, but with that being said what dental practice wouldn’t want to be seen by 1 million people?  Yes, I said 1 million, that’s what can happen when your video goes “viral”!

If you are a dental practice looking at going viral, here are 10 steps to help you create that video. My personal disclaimer here – the results are not guaranteed, in fact, including all of these could make for a confusing albeit interesting dental video!

10 Steps for Creating Your Own Viral Video

  1. A YouTube account
  2. Lip-synching (“Firework“)
  3. Beautiful female actresses/celebrity (see below)
  4. A great product (SmartWater)
  5. Animals (Puppies and Kittens work best)
  6. Babies (Dancing babies are even better)
  7. Rainbows (Double Rainbows for bonus points)
  8. #%#%  (Karate Accident)
  9. Slow motion scene (Slow Water Drop)
  10. A Great Title (World’s Largest Gummy Worm)

Smartwater decided to put together a video including all 10 steps with Jennifer Aniston.  This is absolutely hilarious and a must see if you are interested in creating the Ultimate Viral Video!

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Dentists: Creating Your Social Media Profile

by janhill

Welcome to Step 3 in this series of articles for Dentists and Dental Practices getting started with Social Media and Social Media Marketing.  If you missed Step 2,  Click Here .  In Step 3 we are going to talk about creating your profile page, and the “Do’s and Don’ts” of   interacting with your audience.    Let’s get started!

Creating Your Profile Page

Social Media Marketing takes planning and fore thought.  Before you launch into creating your personal profile – take a few minutes to search the profiles of other dental practices in your area.  What do you like?  What are they doing well?  What don’t you like?  Consider what your audience will prefer and respond to.  Now go back to your goals.  Try to maintain a consistent brand image and personality.

Profile Page Essentials

  1. Your Name.  This is particularly important if you are identified with your practice.   When people search for you, and they will, they need to be able to find you.
  2. Your Dental Practice Website URL.  This is second in importance to your name but only slightly.  The purpose of networking is to attract new patients to your website.
  3. Personal Information – This can include photos, videos and other relevant information.  Use this space to connect with people.  Talk about what you do and why.

Once you have your profile it is time to start interacting!

Interacting Do’s and Don’ts

Do Engage.  Social networking is about connecting with others.  Engage other members in conversation.  Respond to their posts and encourage participation in your posts.  Ask questions.  Provide polls or surveys as they relate to your dental practice.

Do Build a Community.  Link, find friends, and start building your following.  It’s not enough to have a presence on a social networking site.  You must connect and on most sites that means inviting friends to connect with you and following others.  However connecting indiscriminately doesn’t attract new patients to your dental practice.  You will want to connect with local businesses and people.  Remember more friends equates to more new patients!

Do Connect with Industry Leaders.  Find and connect with influential members in your community.  Be friends with the Chamber of Commerce – this could be huge for your new patient base.  Find people who match your target audience and have a large following and connect with them.  When you connect with people who have a large following you almost immediately receive the benefit by attracting some of their followers.

Do Update Frequently.  To build a community and make your social networking strategy work, you have to get involved.  Create a plan to interact and stick to it.

If your time permits, update at least once a day.  If you don’t have time to commit to updating daily, consider outsourcing your social networking.   We’ll talk about social networking time management tools and resources in the next post.

Do Behave Professionally.  Communicate with your audience as if they were already patients because they are potential patients.  What impression do you want to leave them with?

Do add a “Follow Me” button on your website and other relevant marketing tools.  In order to grow your community, make sure to integrate your social networking tactics throughout your marketing strategy.  For example, if you create a viral report, include a “follow me on…” link in the report to generate followers and build a connection with readers once they’ve finished with your report.

One of the best methods for attracting new patients to your website is to simply link to a new content.  For example if you’ve uploaded a new article, report or blog post, place the headline in your post or copy a teaser paragraph and then link to the new content.  Use headline creation tactics in your posts to generate curiosity and interest and motivate your potential new patients to “click through” to your website.

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Social Media – Which Sites are Best for Your Dental Practice?

by janhill

social media pic 300x212 150x150 Social Media Which Sites are Best for Your Dental Practice?

Dentists & Social Media

Welcome to Step 2 in this series of articles for Dentists and Dental Practices getting started with Social Media and Social Media Marketing.  If you missed Step 1,  Click Here .  In Step 2 we are going to talk about which Social Media Sites work best for your Dental Practice.  Let’s get started!

For all dental practices one key ingredient when to a successful social network marketing strategy is selecting the correct sites to participate in .  Not all are worth your time and energy, and there are some that may have value that you haven’t previously considered.

Though there are over 200 mainstream social networking sites, and when we hear the word “social networking’ we most often think of a handful of popular sites.  These include:

o   MySpace.com

o   Facebook.com

o   LinkedIn.com

o   Friendster.com

o  Twitter.com

But don’t forget the forums and membership sites in your local area.  In my area there are several online memberships for work at home moms, and moms of teens, moms of toddlers etc….  These forums can be a great source for new patients.

Ok, Let’s Compare Social Media Sites

Go back to your social networking plan and use your answers to guide you.  Visit both mainstream social networking sites and lesser know sites and evaluate them.  Take a look at:

Membership Statistics

Each site posts their membership data.  Use this data to make a determination if this site is for you.  Who uses the site?  What are their demographics?  Are they good candidates for your practice?  Also, how many members do they have?  If this data isn’t available you can browse the site for a few days to get a feel for who is on the site and what their interests are.

Features

Some social networking sites have a number of useful features.  They allow you to u0pload video, audio and to create amazing business building pages.  Other don’t.  They simply allow you a signature.  Compare features as they relate to your social networking goals and plan.

Profile Page

When you join a social networking website, it’s likely that part of your strategy will be to create a profile page.  This page will tell your friends and followers what you’re about.   Compare your options.  Some sites allow you to really customize your page while others give you little more than a URL.

Check Out Your Competition

What social networking sites does your competition utilize?  This can be very helpful when positioning yourself above them and it can help you track their activities.

Sign Up

Once you have reviewed a number of social networking sites, you’ll probably find a handful that meet your needs.  Sign up for the top one or two on your list.  I would highly suggest that Facebook be your number one site, and then choose another that resonates with your practice, or that you know a lot of your patients are utilizing.  No more.  Focus your energy and attention on these two, you can add more later.  Signing up for more than two can leave you unfocused and overloaded.

Make sure you know the policies and procedures of each of the social networking sites you sign up for.  Making a small mistake can get your account banned, even if you did it unknowingly.  It is always best to review the rules before your sign up for your account.

Choose an appropriate username.  Your username represents you and your dental practice.  Most often you will sign up with the name your dental practice is known by.  For some offices, it will be the dentists’ name.  For others they will use their practice name, like Lakeside Dental Associates.  Make sure you consider this carefully because on most sites (like Facebook)  you are not able to change the name once you have saved it.

In Step 3 we will review how to set up your social media profile.  Getting this right makes a huge difference with the number of new patients that will decide they want to become a new patient at your office, so don’t miss it!    SM3 works with Dental Practices developing successful social media strategies.  For great tips and techniques visit us on Facebook – CLICK HERE and follow us on Twitter – CLICK HERE.  Don’t want to miss Step 3 and the rest of the articles in this series?  Sign up  HERE and we will automatically notify you!

We love comments and questions – make sure and leave yours below!

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Social Media and Dentists – Let’s Get Started!

by janhill

frustrated woman computer1 300x271 150x150 Social Media and Dentists Lets Get Started!

Frustrated With Social Media?

Social Media and Networking has become a primary marketing method for many online dental practices, both large and small. It is essentially using social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to connect with and grow your new patient base.  In this series of articles you will learn how to develop a bullet proof system for getting new patients without spending a lot of money on advertising.

Unlike some other marketing strategies, social media give you the ability to connect with your current patients and attract new patients.  There are more than 200 mainstream social networking sites.  Each one appeals to a wide variety of ages, interests, and demographics.  Chances are your ideal patients are present on one or more of these sites.

In the next several weeks we will be looking at the system you have in place and how to develop a system if you don’t already have one.  We will walk you through the steps required to make the most of this powerful marketing strategy.  Here is what we will cover:

Step 1:  Creating Your Social Networking Plan

Step 2:  Choosing Your Social Networking Sites

Step 3:  Creating Your Profile Page

Step 4:  Social Media Do’s and Don’ts

Step 5:  Managing Your Time Effectively

Sound good? Let’s dig in.

Step # 1 – Creating Your Social Networking Plan

Before you simply head over to the social networking site of the moment, spend some time deciding why you want use this marketing strategy.  What do you need it to do for you?  What are your goals?

Grab a piece of paper or pull up a new document on your computer and answer the following questions.  You can use your answers to these questions to keep you on track as you move through the remaining steps in these articles.

  • Who is your target audience?
  • What relationships are you looking to find and build?
  • What do you have to offer your patients and potential new patients?
  • Who will be responsible for posting and updating your social media sites?
  • How do you want your practice represented?
  • How often do you plan on posting/participating?
  • Will you create specific promotions and offers for you social networking audience?

In Step 2 we will look at which social media sites are the best ones for your dental practice.  SM3 works with Dental Practices developing successful social media strategies.  For great tips and techniques visit us on Facebook – CLICK HERE

Don’t want to miss Step 2 and the rest of the articles in this series?  Sign up  HERE and we will automatically notify you!

We love comments and questions – make sure and leave yours below!

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Find New Patients For Your Dental Practice Where They Live

by janhill

dentistpatient happy 150x150 Find New Patients For Your Dental Practice Where They LiveHave you noticed that the traditional methods of being found by potential new patients just don’t work as well as they used to?  Just putting an ad in The Yellow Pages under dentists, or in the newspaper, radio – none of it as effective as the internet. The web is where people go for information.  When your potential new patients want a new dentist, they go to Google and type in ‘Dentist’ and the location.   Fact is, most family health care decisions are made by women between the ages of 33 and 45. Guess who the biggest demographic of online users is? Those VERY WOMEN.

You want to be where they are. Imagine if you could go down to a (giant!) corner café and every potential new patient in your city was hanging out there and you could talk to each of them individually. They’d get to know a little about you, about your dental practice, about their health. You’d get to mention the special you offer to new patients to try you out, fall in love with your office, become lifetime patients and recommend all their friends and family. [click to continue…]

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Dentists – Why Your Practice Needs Facebook

by janhill

Facebook Dentists – Why Your Practice Needs Facebook

87298 facebook 300 2252 150x150 Dentists – Why Your Practice Needs Facebook

Facebook for Dentists

Recently we have gotten a lot of questions about Facebook – “Isn’t Facebook for kids? Isn’t it a social thing?  Isn’t it a personal website for social interaction?”  I want to clarify what Facebook is and what it can do for your practice.  Facebook is all of those things, but most importantly, with the correct strategy, it’s a tool for getting more patients into your practice than you could imagine in your wildest dreams.

Facebook is an incomparable tool for business marketing and here’s why: Facebook is the most visited site on the internet. Ask your patients if they have a Facebook account – I’d bet money that most of them do.  The “buzz” these days is all about social media – Twitter, Facebook, You Tube, Linked In and lots of smaller, but interesting sites you may not have heard of yet. .

Understand  Facebook is different than every other social media platforms. Facebook ‘like pages’ (formerly known as fan pages) are powerful. Think about it – everyone who “likes” your page has raised their hands and said “I want to know more about you and your dental practice.” – That is HUGE. Welcome to the two-way web.

What does this mean for your practice?  You are connecting with the people who have stated an interest in EXACTLY what you offer. These same people have asked you to market your services to them directly. This isn’t about trying to market to everyone and their brother, but rather patients and potential patients who have ASKED to know more.

Your Facebook page provides ‘social proof’. When your patients and potential patients see people “liking” your page, they see patient interaction and people talking about you – it adds a ton of credibility and reputation to your practice.  Facebook pages are testimonial generating machines.

Facebook also keeps your patients/potential patients updated about your practice in a place that they are already going.  This is a fundamental marketing principal – go where your potential patients are, don’t make them come to you.  It is easy to do this with Facebook because most of your patients are already visiting Facebook, many of them multiple times every day.  That means when you say something, they’re listening.

Current Facebook Statistics:

  • Facebook currently has over 500 million active users and this number is growing daily.  How many of those 500 million users are in your area?
  • 50% of our active users log on to Facebook in any given day
  • Average user has 130 friends
  • People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook

And lastly – Facebook is free – my favorite kind of marketing.

Does your practice have a Facebook page?  If you do, please click HERE and let us know how that is working for your practice.  (Don’t forget to “Like” our page!)  If you don’t have a Facebook page and need to get started but don’t know what to do first, we can help you with that.  Call 231-330-2368 today.  We can help you develop a successful social media marketing strategy for your practice.

If you would like helpful marketing tips every week for your practice, subscribe to our free weekly marketing guide.

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Does Top Ranking Really Matter?

by Amy Posner

Top 10 150x150 Does Top Ranking Really Matter? Yes. You bet it does. If you’ve ever used a search engine (google, bing, yahoo, etc.) think about your behavior. Say you type in: dentists in ‘my town’. What happens? Pages pop up – sometimes LOTS of them. Typing in dentists in my small city of 100,000 people pulled up 76,000 results. Sound crazy? I don’t know how many pages that equates to, but like most people, I’ll NEVER get beyond the first page.

In fact, in all likelihood, I won’t get past the first half dozen listings and probably won’t look any further than my screen is deep – on my laptop that’s about 7-8 listings. I’ll scan them all, but I’m inclined towards the ones at the top. Have you had this experience? Probably you have. What does it tell us? [click to continue…]

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