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dental practice social media

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4 Ways to Keep Dental Patients Happy in the New Consumer Culture

by Naomi Cooper October 7, 2015

Happy dental patientTo paraphrase Chaucer, if “time waits for no man,” then it also stands to reason that time waits for no dental practice, either. Thanks to tech-savvy consumers and consumer rating sites like Yelp, Healthgrades and Angie’s List, patients now have a plethora of information about your practice, all just a click away.

Make sure what patients are saying online about your practice is positive, and it all starts with patient satisfaction. Since keeping consumers happy is often a game of “what have you done for me lately?”, make sure you’re continuously doing things that show patients that they’re your top priority.

Dr. Marvin W. Berlin discusses this “new consumer culture in dentistry” in great detail in the August issue of Dental Economics. Dr. Berlin dives deep into the “consumerism shift,” discussing its causes and many effects. There are many ways to successfully navigate the intersection of dentistry and today’s online world, but the following tips are at the top of the list.

  1. Be willing to do what others won’t. This may be obvious, but it is essential for your practice to try things that make you stand out from your competition online. Whether that means having a flawless, user-friendly website, shooting videos or generating chatter via social media contests, you always want to be sure that your practice is one step ahead of the rest by doing things that other practices in your area aren’t.
  1. Provide patient education. “Shopper culture,” as Dr. Berlin puts it, has given rise to more comparison shopping: consumers are always looking for the most cost-effective, time-saving option. Now that everyone has instant access to a world of information online, it’s important for your website, social media and online profiles to be a patient’s best resource for dental information. Not only should your content be informative and accurate, but it should detail the services you provide and why they’re important to short- and long-term health. Also, by utilizing online tools such as streaming video and slideshows, you can show patients exactly how you can benefit them, and not just tell them.
  1. Stay active online. Other than dispensing valuable information in a crisp, good-looking package, your website and social media pages should act as hubs for your dental community to interact. Spice up your online presence by sharing interesting articles, facts or even dental-related jokes. Simple posts like these don’t take much time and can help generate conversation and make your patients take an active interest in your practice.
  1. Provide modern accommodations. For many, a trip to the dentist’s office is considered a chore. Anything you can do to make your patients feel better about the whole experience the second they walk in the door is greatly appreciated. Providing free access to WiFi and charging stations for smartphones and tablets can go a long way toward making your patients feel at home and cared for.

With so many opportunities available to leverage technology to help grow your dental practice and keep your patients happy, there’s no excuse not to use them. Being unique, user-friendly and accessible online takes a bit of work, but it will all be worth it just to see the smiles on your patients’ faces – emoji or otherwise.

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The Secret to Attracting More Baby Boomers to Your Dental Practice

by Naomi Cooper September 21, 2015

What's your online marketing strategy?Did you know that the fastest growing demographic on social media is adults ages 55-64? While you might believe that online marketing is just for the younger population, it turns out that online tactics can be an effective method for attracting patients at or near retirement.

The first step to using social media for reaching the baby boomer population is to determine what site(s) you wish to use. Facebook is an obvious place to start, with more than half of all online adults 65 and older using the social networking site, representing almost 1/3 of all seniors.

Next, keep your profile updated with interesting content and informative posts that cater to the baby boomer population. You could write a blog with tips on preserving their smile, or post an article from an industry expert on the oral-systemic link. And it doesn’t have to be all about dentistry. Including non-industry content will help keep patients engaged while providing a well-rounded social media profile.

For more additional tips on how to use social media to reach patients of all ages, check out my recent Dental Products Report article.

Even if traditional tactics like telephone book ads are still apart of your Baby Boomer marketing plan, don’t be short sighted. After all, as the population ages, your strategy will eventually need to shift online. Getting started now will keep you ahead of the game in the coming years.

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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 Marketing: 9 Content Ideas for Social Media

by Naomi Cooper September 24, 2014

Dental Practice Marketing: 9 Content Ideas for Social MediaAre you thinking about getting started on a social media plan for your practice? Or maybe you’ve been posting for a while now but feel like your updates are getting a bit stale? Whether you are a beginner or you’ve been participating for years, it can be difficult to keep coming up with ideas of what to post.

Here are 9 types of content that work well on social media:

  1. Links to Articles: Posts about the practice, the doctor, the team, the community, or oral health in general always work well.
  2. Photos: Pictures of the practice, of the doctor and/or team, patient “before and after” shots, team events, or continuing education opportunities. Note: photos require a signed release, so be sure you have written permission from everyone in the picture before posting.
  3. Videos: Shoot videos on a smartphone of an office tour, a welcome greeting from the doctor and staff, patient testimonials, or even the doctor answering patient FAQs. Similar to photos, videos also require a signed release, so again, be sure to have written permission before posting.
  4. Facts & Figures: Consider relevant quotes, statistics, news headlines that you think would be of interest to your community.
  5. Seasonal: The various holidays and seasons are perfect opportunities to share holiday wishes, fun factoids about the holiday/season, or give a piece of dental advice to fit a specific time of year.
  6. Contests and Polls: Great for increasing engagement with your social media audience, you can set up polls just for fun, or offer a prize.
  7. Giving Back: If you happen to be a part of a local group, you can post messages about the cause or link to the cause’s website. Or, if you know of a patient who is very involved, you could ask them about posting their story.
  8. Lifestyle: Social media posts don’t only have to be about dentistry. Varying your posts with healthy recipes, useful technology tips, dental jokes, or info about local community events can keep everyone interested.
  9. Promotional: Social media is a terrific way of spreading news updates about the practice, special offers, info on new procedures, and referral rewards promotions.

No matter what you post, the most important thing to consider is your patients’ perspective! Avoid using overly technical language or posting articles only of interest to fellow dentists. Find out what gets your patients excited about dentistry – personal updates about team members, photos and videos are always a hit. At the end of the day, a clear focus on engagement with your audience – your patients and prospective patients – is the way to go with social media.

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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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Twitter for Dentists: Using Social Media to Grow Your Practice

by Naomi Cooper April 23, 2013

Twitter for Dentists: Using Social Media to Grow Your PracticeHere on the blog, we often talk about social media, with many posts have been geared toward Facebook.  We haven’t, however, talked much about Twitter. While not as universally used as Facebook, Twitter still boasts 500 million users. This social media site remains a successful method for dentists to reach new patients and connect with both the local and online communities.

What’s unique about Twitter is that every single word you’ve ever tweeted is public and searchable unless it was specifically marked private. That means anyone who happens to be searching for any of the keywords you’re tweeting about will find your tweets. This is an incredible way to build a loyal base of followers, regardless of whether they actually know you or not. And because about half of Americans don’t have a dentist, if your Twitter followers are in your local area, they certainly have the potential to become your patients when they’re ready.

I recently came across this informative blog highlighting Twitter from the social media guru Jeff Bullas. Click here to read the blog and discover his 40 ways to increase your Twitter followers.

Facebook is not the only option when it comes to connecting with your patients online. Twitter is a simple and quick way for dentists to distribute information and engage with followers within a matter of seconds.

Do you use Twitter in your dental practice? What has made it successful for you?

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