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What Dentists Must Know Before Spending Another Marketing Dollar

by Naomi Cooper June 9, 2014

What Dentists Must Know Before Spending Another Marketing DollarSome dentists think of marketing as though it is a magical faucet. They believe they should be able to implement a new tactic, snap their fingers and get magically get 100 new patients through the front door. The truth is that marketing is a real faucet, and the laws of physics apply in that you have to exert a force upon the faucet to start the flow. Three forces in particular will turn on the new patient flow, and they are three of your most valuable and limited resources: time, money & energy.

Before spending your precious time, money and energy on generating new patient flow through new external marketing campaigns, take a look at your existing new patient flow. What happens to  the prospective new patients who are already coming out of the proverbial marketing faucet by contacting the office by phone or email? Do you have a nice solid bucket under that faucet catching every drop? Or does it look more like a sieve, resulting in missed opportunities to capture new patients?

If there are missed opportunities, then you have what I like to call holes in the bucket. These are issues such as:

  • Scheduling issues, such as new patients not typically scheduled within 1-3 business days
  • Not knowing how many prospective new patient callers you already get each month

 
  • Front desk turning away new patients because of insurance or cost concerns







  • A lack of comprehensive treatment planning and case presentation skills





 
  • The hygienist not co-diagnosing







  • The patient coordinator failing to schedule recommended treatment
  • Lack of existing patient follow-up for both recall and reactivation

Maybe you are already getting enough new patient calls, but you have challenges that are preventing you from turning your new patients into patients of record. If any of the above is the case, you may not need to spend as much time, money and energy on external marketing as you think – rather, work on correcting these outstanding issues and get solid internal processes in place so that when you are ready to turn on the new patient flow faucet, you’ll be ready to catch every last drop.

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Facebook for Dentists: Boosting Engagement through Contests

by Naomi Cooper June 4, 2014

Facebook for Dentists: Boosting Engagement through ContestsIf you are looking to spice up your Facebook dental practice page, think about running a contest. Facebook promotions are a fun way to increase your engagement with your followers and keep your dental practice in the minds of your patients.

Running a Facebook promotion isn’t difficult, but it does require planning ahead. A recent article from the experts at MarketingProfs, 6 Newbie Tips for Running a Successful Facebook Timeline Promotion, outlines exactly what you need to do to set up contest for your dental practice Facebook page.

If you aren’t sure this DIY approach to Facebook promotions is the right option for you, Sesame Communications could be the solution. They offer a Sweepstakes package for dentists which is a full-service management of Facebook promotions including design and execution of a campaign, marketing the campaign both online and providing marketing emails, newsletters for patient outreach as well as ensuring the contest/promotion is compliant within all Facebook, state and local regulations.

Whether you do it yourself, or you take advantage of Sesame Sweepstakes, a Facebook promotion will increase your online engagement, yielding positive results for your dental practice, including increased patient loyalty, patient referrals and even treatment acceptance.

Have you run a Facebook promotion for your dental practice? What advice would you have for a beginner? Share your experiences below!

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Making the Case for a Modern Dental Marketing Strategy

by Naomi Cooper May 27, 2014

Making the Case for a Modern Dental Marketing StrategyHere on the blog and in conversations with my dentist clients, I talk frequently about the importance of a modern dental marketing plan and the role it can play in reaching new patients and building loyalty with patients of record.

A modern dental marketing strategy includes:

– updating the practice website

– utilizing SEO tactics and e-communication tools

– engaging in social media

– gathering online patient testimonials

Sesame Communications, a dental industry leader in digital marketing solutions, recently conducted a national survey of dental care providers to find out what digital marketing efforts they feel are critical to the success of their overall marketing strategy, and the results have just been released.  Click here to see the full report, but here are a few highlights:

  • 82% of dental care providers surveyed state their website is important to practice success
  • 85.5% believe automated patient reminders are important to practice success
  • 96.9% regard their rankings on Healthgrades.com as important to the practice
  • 65.7% consider SEO important to their practice success

These are strong statistics indicating the growing importance of updating a traditional marketing plan by adding in modern tools.

Do you agree with the findings? What have you done to modernize your dental marketing strategy? Share your experiences below!

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Dental Marketing: The All-Important First Phone Call

by Naomi Cooper May 21, 2014

Dental Marketing: The All-Important First Phone CallOften when consulting with my dentist clients, the focus is on attracting new patients, which of course is an important part of dental practice growth. But I caution my clients before they ever spend any money on external marketing efforts, they need to be absolutely sure they and their staff already have solid internal processes in place.

Simply put, the dollars spent to attract new patients through external marketing efforts can end up going to waste if effective marketing processes and strong verbal communication skills are not in place. After all, why go to all the trouble and expense to make the phone ring if the person answering the phone doesn’t have the ability to turn a caller into a patient?

Often a new patient’s first contact with the dentist and the practice is during the initial phone call to find out about the practice, and possibly to make an appointment. The front desk team needs to be able to effectively communicate with new patients and address all questions and concerns, as well as schedule appointments in a timely manner.

The first phone call is a critical time: the prospective patient is sizing the practice up, and this interaction needs to be handled delicately. So what can the front desk team do during the call to ensure success?

Find out in my most recent article published in Inside Dentistry: Growing the Dental Practice Through Patient Communication.

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E-Communication Tactics for Dentists

by Naomi Cooper May 12, 2014

E-Communication Tactics for DentistsOne of the major advantages of a modern dental marketing plan is that patient communication and education don’t have to be limited to the two or three times a year a patient comes into the office for their hygiene appointments and annual exam.

Keeping in touch with patients consistently throughout the year will keep the conversation flowing between appointments. Dentists have the unique opportunity to truly build long-term relationships with patients. Communication is the foundation of these relationships, and with good communication, the chances of increased case acceptance and patient retention are exponential.

Here are 4 ways to utilize e-communication methods you need to know about:

  1. Implementing a practice e-newsletter
  2. Using electronic appointment reminders
  3. Creating social media profiles on sites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter
  4. Including a blog on the practice website

All of the above serve to reinforce the fact that dentists are their patients’ partners in continually thinking and learning about their oral and overall health.

Vendors such as Sesame Communications, DemandForce, and My Social Practice can be incredibly helpful in leveraging technology for practices that don’t have the time or expertise to do it on their own.

Today, dental patients are looking not only for a competent doctor, but also for a dentist who educates them about their oral health — and above all, someone who demonstrates that they truly care. Whether through verbal skills or electronic mediums, ongoing and effective patient communication is one of the keys that unlocks a prosperous future for every dental practice.

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Twitter for Dentists: Update Your Profile Now!

by Naomi Cooper April 30, 2014

Twitter for Dentists: Update Your Profile Now!If you regularly use Twitter for your dental practice, you may have noticed the remarkable changes to your profile page. Twitter has been rolling out an update to user profiles, with an emphasis made on visual content. They’ve made images a huge focus of the new profile page, reflecting the current trend of visual content across the Internet. If you haven’t yet signed up for Twitter, now is as good of a time as any to jump in! Keep your profile looking its best by updating the following:

Profile & Header Photos: They have made the profile photo larger. This is the image that appears in the feed next to your tweet. The header photo is also now more prominent, spanning across the width of the page.

For dentists, the Profile & Header photos are terrific branding opportunities. If you have an icon feature within your logo, that works great for the profile photo. Twitter has made it easier than ever to upload an image for the profile by automatically resizing any image to fit within the parameters. As far as the header photo, the practice name often works best but whatever you choose, make sure to keep it consistent with your existing branding. They recommend keeping the size to 1500×500 and a maximum size of 5MB. If you are unable to resize on your own, your graphic designer (who designed your logo) should be able to assist you.

Practice Info: The changes also include a shift in the placement of the location, website address and bio. This information used to be at the top, within the old header, which often made it hard to read. It has now been moved to the left side of the page, under the profile photo. Be sure to completely fill out this information, including the brief bio section where you can describe your practice in 160 characters or less.

Pinning Your Tweets: Users can now “pin” their favorite tweets to the top of the page. So if you have a previous tweet that garnered multiple retweets, or maybe a patient tweeted a positive comment about your practice, you can now highlight these individual tweets so that they appear at the top of your page, making it easy for users to see when viewing your profile.

Overall the information is more organized, with the ability to pin top tweets as well as having all photos and images easily accessible. Some users like the new layout; others aren’t as criticizing it for its strong similarities to Facebook pages.

What do you think? Have you updated your dental practice profile to the new layout?

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