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How to Create the Best Social Media Post for Your Dental Practice Profile

by Naomi Cooper March 4, 2015

How to Create the Best Social Media Post for Your Dental Practice ProfileJust 10 years ago, no one had ever heard of Facebook. Now it’s the leading social media site in the world, and a host of other sites compete for users’ attention. From Twitter to LinkedIn to Instagram and beyond, there is certainly a social networking site to suit every personality.

When using social media as a marketing tool for your dental practice, it can be hard to determine what sites to engage on, and even harder to figure out what exactly to post on your practice’s profile each day. Not to mention the fact that a post that might be really engaging to Facebook users may not resonate on Twitter.

What to do? Check out this helpful infographic to learn what types of posts work best across various social media platforms.

Ultimately, your audience is the most important factor to consider when creating social media posts. Know what your patients like, their interests and even what social networking sites they use most often. Having a firm grasp on the types of content your patients like to see will help to make the best of your social media campaign.

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Dental Practice Success: Lessons to Be Learned from a Top Online Retailer

by Naomi Cooper February 25, 2015

Dental Practice Success: Lessons to Be Learned from a Top Online RetailerHave you heard of Zappos? You are likely aware of this online retail giant, even if you haven’t ordered any shoes or clothing from them yourself. The company boasts an annual revenue upwards of $1 billion dollars. Success on that level doesn’t come from doing what everyone else is doing.

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is quoted as saying “Zappos is a customer service company that just happens to sell shoes”, and that quote says a lot about the company culture with a committed focus on the customer experience.

Customer-friendly perks like free shipping, 24-7 customer service and a 365-day return policy have made Zappos one of the most liked and widely used retailers to date. A blog from the Productive Dentist Academy recently examined the customer-centric focus of Zappos and examined what exactly dentists could do to leverage the same type of culture in their practices.

Consider your own practice for a moment. How would you describe the office culture around your customer service? Dentists can offer the latest techniques & technology or build a shiny new office, but without top-notch customer service, patients will likely leave less than impressed. Shoes and dentistry may not have much in common at first glance, but when it comes to service delivery, there are certainly lessons we can all learn from one another!

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8 Essential Elements of a Dental Practice Website

by Naomi Cooper February 18, 2015

8 Essential Elements of a Dental Practice WebsiteWhat does your website say about you? After all, a dentist’s website can often be the first impression a prospective patient gets of the practice. When thought of in this way, the dental practice website is a very critical component of the dental marketing plan, so it’s worth the investment to have it done right.

Best practices indicate that a website typically has a shelf life of about 36 months, so if it has been that long, or longer, since your practice website was designed, it is probably time for an update. Here are 8 elements you need to consider:

  1. Responsive Design: ensuring the website loads properly across all electronic devices (computers, laptops, smartphones and tablets)
  2. SEO: helping to boost the website’s visibility in search engine rankings
  3. Branding: keeping the logo and identity consistent online and offline
  4. Social Media Links: making it easy for patients to navigate between your website and social media profiles
  5. On-Site Blog: contributing to the SEO plan and providing dentists with another method of patient communication
  6. Photos and Video: allowing new patients to get a feel for the doctor, team and practice through bio pictures and videos from around the practice
  7. Patient Testimonials: including a few positive reviews on the website gives prospective patients a glimpse into the overall patient experience
  8. Call to Action: encouraging patients to contact the office in a manner most convenient for them – telephone, email or online appointing

If you are thinking of updating your dental practice website, or if it has been a few years since you last did so, these are a few of the must-have elements to be aware of in order to make your new online presence as effective as it can possibly be.

Blog

Your Dental Patients Are Online – Are You?

by Naomi Cooper February 11, 2015

Your Dental Patients Are Online – Are You?According to a recent whitepaper from G/O Digital, 72% of online health seekers began their last search for a healthcare provider on a search engine. Patients utilize the Internet when conducting healthcare-related research now more than ever before. If patients are online, then dentists need to be too.

Have you Googled yourself lately? What comes up? If your website is not appearing on the first page of the SERP (search engine results page), that means you may be missing out on countless new patient opportunities.

Make sure that you have an online marketing strategy that includes a mix of SEO, social media and online patient reviews all anchored with a modern website.

Still unsure of the importance of having an online presence for your dental practice? Check out this infographic from G/O Digital to learn the top 6 e-marketing tools every dentist needs to know.

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Online Reviews: Find Out What Sites Your Patients Use Most 

by Naomi Cooper February 4, 2015

Online Reviews: Find Out What Sites Your Patients Use Most Creating a digital presence for your dental practice is a no brainer. Patients turn to the Internet when researching local dentists, and so it is important that your information is available online and giving patients a terrific first impression.

Online patient reviews, along with your practice website and social media, help patients learn about your practice before they make their first appointment, and are becoming increasingly important parts of their decision making process.

A recent blog from ReviewTrackers.com reports that the number of patients using online reviews to search for a doctor has jumped 68% from 2013 to 2014. The blog also says 61% of patients turn to online review sites before they select a doctor, reinforcing the importance for dentists to commit to getting more online reviews, especially if they don’t have many yet, or if it has been awhile since any reviews were posted.

With so many online review sites on the web today, it’s hard for dentists to know what sites to direct patients to. The study quoted in the ReviewTrackers blog shows that Yelp and Healthgrades are the most widely used and trusted of all the online review sites, followed by RateMDs, Vitals and ZocDoc.

Do you know what your patients are saying about your practice online? Take a proactive approach and build a collection of patient testimonials. Prospective patients are researching your practice online. Make sure what they see is an accurate and positive reflection.

Blog

Is Your Dental Practice Marketing a Waste of Money?

by Naomi Cooper January 28, 2015

Is Your Dental Practice Marketing a Waste of Money?Dental marketing is not limited solely to bringing new patients into the practice. In fact, it encompasses the entire patient experience from the moment they begin their online research, to their first appointment through follow up and beyond.

Many dentists initially fail to see a positive return on their marketing investment and over time begin to wonder if their marketing is a waste of time and money. So, before spending any more cash, it is worthwhile to take the time to review the following internal processes, which can ultimately make or break a practice’s marketing efforts.

  1. Verbal Skills Training – Every staff member who interacts with patients is part of the marketing effort in that they are all contributing to the overall patient experience.
  1. Appointing New Patients – A phone ringing off the hook is a good sign that the external marketing is working well. Keep that momentum moving by prioritizing new patient phone calls. Aim to schedule new patients within 1-3 days of their initial call.
  1. New Patient Communication – New patients do not yet have loyalty to the practice. Help establish a relationship with them by tailoring communication with them. Welcome new patients to the practice with an introductory letter or new patient package, avoid using too much clinical language when speaking with them, and start a two-way conversation to build trust.
  1. Tracking Results – It’s impossible to know if a marketing tactic is effective or not if no one is measuring its ROI, or return on investment. The front desk team should always ask every new caller how he or she heard about the practice, and record that information in order to find out what marketing efforts result in both phone calls and first appointments.

External marketing is important for practice growth, but don’t forget about the internal processes that support it!

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