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Utilize Your Audience and Enhance Your Online Presence

by Naomi Cooper November 30, 2012

Utilize Your Audience and Enhance Your Online PresenceSocial media and online marketing are big topics here on our blog. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or promoting your dental practice blog, we often talk about getting your message out there in the online world. Social media is about engaging, and let’s face it, being SOCIAL!

For dental practices (and other businesses), there is a fine line between engaging online and being too pushy. The goal is to interact with your patients and colleagues, to be authentic and honest, while keeping your dental practice on the tops of their minds. It’s important to remember that it is sometimes okay to leverage your contacts and friends and ask for their support. Here are just a few situations where it’s a good idea to ask for help:

  • Launching a new website: spread the word to your contacts through an email encouraging them to check out the new site
  • Asking patients, friends, and colleagues to like your Facebook business page, follow you on Twitter, or subscribe to your YouTube Channel
  • Implementing a practice e-newsletter and requesting your patients opt-in to automatically receive it

Recently, Facebook announced a new feature where they’re allowing users to sign up to automatically receive all updates from the users favorite business pages. For more information on this new development, and how you can make it work for your dental practice business page, check out this great blog on the topic from My Social Practice.

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Is Phone Book Advertising Still Relevant for Dentists?

by Naomi Cooper November 19, 2012

Is Phone Book Advertising Still Relevant for Dentists?Determining whether advertising in the phone book is a smart way to reach new patients is not as simple as yes or no.  Several factors should go into whether or not you continue to advertise. Here are 4 important ideas to consider:

  1. Consumers are becoming increasingly reliant on search engines (i.e., Google) and online review sites (i.e., Yelp) when looking for information about healthcare providers. Younger patients (those in their 20s, 30, and 40s) are more likely to find a dentist online. Senior citizens, on the other hand, may still prefer to use the phone book. 
  2. Generally speaking, residents in more urban areas are younger, more technologically savvy and are less likely to have a word of mouth referral to rely on, making them more likely to search for a dentist online. Those in more rural locations are more likely to turn word of mouth or to the yellow pages. However, in today’s world, regardless of where you live, the internet has absolutely become a ubiquitous resource for search and research.
  3. If your target customers are young families, the dollars allocated to yellow pages advertising should not exceed 15% of your marketing budget. If your practice focuses more on senior citizens, it might still be appropriate to spend 25% or more of your total marketing budget on yellow pages. But don’t forget that Baby Boomers are spending an increasing amount of time online, and that women over the age of 60 are still the fastest growing demographic on Facebook.
  4. Return on Investment: How much in production or many new patients do you have to receive to make yellow pages a cost-effective marketing tool? Have you achieved this threshold this year? Last year? How are you measuring success?

A recent study by The Wealthy Dentist found that only 25% of respondents still report getting new patients through phone book advertising. Do you advertise in the phone book? Why or why not? Please share your opinions below.

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Website Domain Names: What All Dentists Should Know

by Naomi Cooper November 14, 2012

Website Domain Names: What All Dentists Should KnowUpdating your practice website is a great way to modernize your practice, reach new and existing customers and to improve SEO. It is a smart decision to outsource the work to a website designer. They will do what they do best, and you can focus on what you do best – providing your patients with the best dental care.  However, before you sign any contracts, you must be aware of one crucial step to protect yourself and your practice – You absolutely MUST be sure you are the owner of your domain name.

If you are not already aware, the domain name is the page address for a website. For example, minoamarketing.com is the domain name for Minoa Marketing; ada.org is the domain name for the American Dental Association. The domain name is how your current and prospective patients find your website. Domain names are available for purchase, and it’s important to know that your domain name will expire after a given amount of time.

Why is it important that you own it? Consider this scenario: You are going through a major update of your practice website and are working with a web designer. In the midst of building the site, the web designer is registering your site and tells you that it’s easier if he registers the domain name in his name. You agree, and sign the contracts, and everything is fine.

Fast forward to the end of the contract term of your domain name…Of course you want to renew because over time you have built your practice site up and have a strong online following. All of a sudden, you can’t renew the domain because it was put in your web designer’s name. Most web designers are trustworthy and upstanding and will fix the situation so that you become the owner of the site. However, what if you cannot get in contact with your web designer? Or worse, what if the designer sells the domain to a competitor?

This is why it is imperative for you to register your domain name in your own name from the very beginning. You do not want to give control of such a crucial part of your dental practice to another person.

Dentists can go on Whois.com and check who the Domain Registrant is for your site. It should be YOU. A designer, vendor or agency can be listed as an administrative contact or technical contact, but you should always be the Domain Registrant.

Are you in the midst of redesigning your website, or have you just completed a redesign? Do you have any advice for fellow dentists either thinking or beginning a website redesign? Please share your stories below.

Blog

6 Reasons You Need a Social Media Calendar for Your Practice

by Naomi Cooper October 23, 2012

6 Reasons You Need a Social Media Calendar for Your PracticeTaking part in social media is becoming an increasingly vital aspect of dental practice marketing. However, engaging in social media can be overwhelming, especially if you are just getting started. There are numerous sites for dentists to choose from (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest to name just a few), and I often hear from my clients that they don’t know on which sites they should engage, and what they should be doing on each of the sites. Not to mention, finding the time to consistently log on and interact can be difficult to fit in an already busy schedule.

To help streamline your social media activity, I recommend implementing a social media calendar. It is a strategic tool that will help you in the following 6 ways:

  1. Plan your communication – For most dentists, engaging in social media is a new habit you need to form. If you don’t take the time to develop a plan for your social media posts, it will most likely fall to the bottom of your to-do list.
  2. Keep you organized – If your social media is organized, it will be easier for you to implement on a consistent basis.
  3. Personalize your content – Planning your social media ahead of time allows you to personalize your posts, instead of relying on generic content you may randomly come across.
  4. Simplify social media – Social media shouldn’t take a lot of your time, so the easier it is to implement, the more likely you will continue to use it.
  5. Create accountability – When you have a plan down on paper, the likelihood of getting it done increases exponentially. Having the calendar is a great way to hold yourself, and your team, accountable.
  6. Build momentum – This is one of the most important results of the social media calendar. When you have a plan to post relevant information to your audience on an ongoing basis, you will increase your audience and reach more and more people.

Creating and using a social media calendar will help you to build a strong online presence for your practice. Remember – marketing is a process, not an event! Take the time to develop a strategy for your social media and integrate it into your existing marketing plan.

If you would like more in-depth information on creating your social media calendar, click here for my free webinar to learn step-by-step on how to implement one in your practice.

Do you currently plan your social media strategy? How do you believe a social media calendar would impact your practice? Please share your thoughts below.

Blog

Dental Practice Websites and ADA Compliance: What You Need to Know Now!

by Naomi Cooper October 5, 2012

Dental Practice Websites and ADA Compliance: What You Need to Know Now!Having a website for your practice is an essential business and marketing tool in today’s internet-savvy world. Dentists understand the need for a professional website in order to reach new patients and market their practices. However, be aware: since your website is a marketing tool, it should abide by the ADA’s guidelines for marketing and advertising regulations.

Whether or not you have generally thought of your site as “marketing the practice”, it is vitally important that you are aware of these possible pitfalls.

Check out this informative article from Modern Dental Practice Marketing on this very subject. In it, they caution readers that less reputable SEO (search engine optimization) companies can bury unethical text within your website for the purpose of increasing your online visibility by essentially tricking the search engines’ algorithms into thinking your site is an authority on a given topic or for a particular geography.

Why should this matter to you?

  • Any dentist found in violation of the ADA guidelines may face significant fines and possible suspension of their dental licenses.
  • Not only do these so-called “black hat methods” violate ADA guidelines, they also violate Google’s terms of use, which can result in a suspension of your site’s ranking, or even a complete blackout of your website in terms of search engine visibility.

What should you do?

  • If you are currently building or redesigning your practice’s website, be sure to speak frankly with vendors you are working with and make them aware of the ADA’s guidelines and ethics.
  • Read through your existing website with your online marketing vendors (such as SEO and online marketing companies, marketing consultants, web designers, etc) to be sure there are no unethical statements, hidden or visible.
  • Only work with vendors you feel are professional, competent and trustworthy, are familiar with these guidelines and who have extensive experience working with dental practices.

Of course, most online marketing vendors do not employ these types of underhanded practices, and few dental practices would do so knowingly. However, this is a critically important issue to be aware of, since you would never want to compromise your dental license, nor your reputation.

Be proactive in your online marketing, choose your vendors wisely, and continue to use your website as a strategic tool for growing your practice. Most importantly, remember that the ultimate goal of your marketing efforts, including the ongoing development of your website, is to be not only well-known but also well thought of.

Blog

3 Communication Tips to Build Patient Relationships

by Naomi Cooper October 3, 2012

3 Communication Tips to Build Patient Relationships“Of course I floss everyday”…”I thought I called you to cancel my appointment”…”No, I don’t smoke”.

Sound familiar? These are just a few of the comments that my clients report hearing on a regular basis from their patients. I recently came across this great blog from Dental Products Report on the “13 lies your patients are telling you”. It is an entertaining read only because there is so much truth at the heart of the matter.

Patients want to present themselves to you in the best light possible; however it is quite another thing when they get in your chair and you see what is really going on. The blog got me thinking about patient communication, and how you can foster a trusting relationship with your patients to help minimize these little white lie situations. Here are a few ideas:

  • Make small talk. You might not think you have that much in common with all of your patients, but certainly you have something in common with each of them. Find that mutual interest.
  • As you are making small talk, whatever they say, write it down in the file so you have something to talk about on their next visit. It will start to seem like you always remember little things about your patients, and they’ll feel like you really care as a result. That feeling is the first step in building a trusting relationship.
  • While you are making the effort to build a relationship with your patients, be sure to keep them informed and updated on your office policies. This can be done verbally, at the front desk, as well as included in patient newsletters, emails, e-newsletters and through your practice website. When the payment policies, or the cancellation policies, are well known, it is harder for the patient to be anything less than honest with you.

What are some of the common or memorable excuses you’ve heard from your patients? Do you have any best practice tips on handling those little white lies? Please start a conversation below!

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