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Tips on Using Facebook in Your Dental Office

This is a special guest post from Patrick Toms, DMD, a Gainesville, Georgia dentist.

Nearly everyone these days is on Facebook and currently businesses are utilizing the ubiquitous social network site as a marketing tool. And as a business, a dentist’s office also has the potential to exploit the free advertising opportunities available through Facebook. By utilizing social marketing, you can effectively drive business to your office, increase your return on investment, and expand your brand awareness. Here are some tips on using Facebook in your dental practice.

1. Include the Facebook URL on business cards – When leaving the dentist, most people receive a reminder card for their next appointment. A good way to get the word out about your Facebook page is to place the Facebook URL on the card so patients will be reminded of your social site whenever they look at the card. Similarly, place the URL on standard business cards. Facebook URLs are becoming just as, if not more, important than phone numbers, and a well-placed URL on a card will work wonders for expanding your awareness. You can even customize these URLs to contain your practice name.

2. Promote new blog articles on Facebook – Have you ever considered hiring a communications employee who is primarily responsible for blogging, updating the Facebook page and contributing content? Social media technology moves quickly, so expanding the staff to include a ‘professional Facebooker’ is an effective way to stay ahead of the curve and promote your brand exclusively and consistently.

3. Introduce current and prospective clients to the team – When people move to a new city, they need a dentist. A great way to introduce your staff is through pictures, profiles, and short biographies on Facebook. You can even upload video tours of the facility or of the staff, and customer testimonials to increase your practice’s awareness in the community.

4. Use Facebook as a promotional tool – After you begin to acquire followers on your Facebook page, consider doing something promotional. Have a contest highlighting great smiles and give away things like toothbrushes and floss. One office that currently uses Facebook has previously held a drawing for an iPad. When patients donated winter coats for the homeless, they were entered into the drawing and a winner was chosen. Also, Facebook is a great tool for advertising specials. Consider offering deals like 15% off teeth whitening or other cosmetic procedures.
Communication is the key to solid marketing and currently Facebook is the premier way to communicate. It makes sense that any business, even a dentist’s office, would benefit from using Facebook as a marketing tool. Above I have outlined a few simple ways in which to get the ball rolling on promoting your brand via Facebook.

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Patrick Toms DMD is a dentist in Gainesville, Georgia, who offers a wide range of services within North Georgia. Dr. Toms is proud to be a leading sedation dentist in Georgia who also offers routine services like teeth whitening and dental checkups in Gainesville.

Dec 06, 2011 | 8 comments | View Post

How to Ask Patients for an Online Review

Online reviews can serve as a wonderful resource for attracting new dental patients. When considering which patients to ask to write an online review, we choose patients who have been coming to our office for an extended period of time and who are complimentary. Before sending an email requesting a review, our front office manager personally asks the patient while they are in the office if they would be willing to write a review so that this email is not unsolicited.


My dental office uses the following email script when asking patients to write an online review.

We have found online reviews to be a wonderful way of setting new patients at ease before they come into our office. Many people fear the dentist and are comforted by reading positive experiences from other patients. Since you are a valued, loyal patient, we thought you might be the perfect person to ask to help us in this way. Would you be willing to contribute a positive online review of our office?

 

This initial paragraph is followed with a link to the web page where a patient can write a review. The link takes them directly to our dental practice’s listing on whichever review site we are sending them to so that they don’t have to take any time to search around for our office. We also include simple directions as to how to fill out the review.

 

My dental office sends patient reviewers to a variety of review sites, but only one site per patient. If the patient has a Yahoo! or SBCGlobal email address, we ask them to write a Yahoo! review since they already have an account with Yahoo! If the patient has a Gmail account, we ask them to write a Google review on our Google Places listing. For all other patients, we divide the review requests between InsiderPages, CitySearch, MerchantCircle and Yelp. Our goal is to make the process of writing a review as simple as possible. 

 

Nov 09, 2011 | 3 comments | View Post

Social Media Trends in Dentistry

Wow, the social media world has been busy this month!  It’s hard to keep up with all of the changes being made by Facebook and Google.

 

 

 

I just wanted to take a minute to share the above video from Google regarding their current position on business profiles on Google+, as well as a great article from Social Media Examiner which outlines how the recent changes to Facebook may effect business pages.  Please comment below regarding your experience with the recent changes to Google+ and/or Facebook.

Sep 28, 2011 | 1 comment | View Post

Let’s Connect on Facebook and Twitter

Dentistry’s Business Secrets is active on Facebook and Twitter. We have found these social media venues to be a great source of information for growing and marketing our dental practice. We would love to connect with you there as well.

We are on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dentistrysbusinesssecrets and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ofallondentist.

Sep 15, 2011 | 1 comment | View Post

What Do Dentists Need to Know About Search Engine Optimization?

 

 

The importance of appearing on the first page of search engine results was highlighted in iProspect’s 2006 Search Engine User Behavior Study of 2,639 Internet users. The study’s results revealed that 62% of users stated that they do not look past page one for results. Over 90% of users reported that they never look past the first three pages for results. As this study bears out, if your website is not appearing on the first page of results, it is highly unlikely that it will be found by potential patients. Therefore, it is critical to maintain a high ranking with the search engines and this needs to be accomplished my putting in place systems to ensure maximal search engine optimization of your website.

 

First, let’s explain in simple terms what happens when a potential patient searches for a new dentist online. The patient will choose a combination of words, such as “Dentist in Austin,” and click “Search.” The listings which appear on the results page will generally be in one of three formats:

1.  Organic, also called natural listings,

2.  Local listings which are found on a map, as well as within the search results and

3.  Pay per click, also called sponsored listings.

 

Organic listings are those that appear in a search because a search engine such as Google determines their website content to be relevant to the words entered into the search query. Pay per click listings, on the other hand, appear because these companies have paid to have their websites appear high in the ranking for specific keyword search phrases. Local listings appear on a Google map, as well as within the list of results returned in a search query.  With a recent redesign in how Google delivers local search results, these local listings now appear higher on the first page in many cities.  Local listing ranking results from a variety of factors which I have discussed in more depth in an article on Google Local Search for Dentists.

 

A recent study by the website tracking company Eightfold Logic determined that for the 5,000 companies it monitors, people were 8.5 times more likely to click on an organic listing than they were to click on a sponsored listing. Despite this data, these same companies spent nearly 80% of their Internet marketing dollars on pay per click advertisements and less than 10% on increasing their websites’ optimization and visibility. This to me is a clear display of the backward logic being employed by the marketing factions of these companies. Therefore, if we know that the overwhelming majority of patients searching for you online will be drawn to the organic and local listings they find, it behooves us to market to this area much more than to the area of sponsored ads. We can conclude that making our websites relevant to search engines in a natural rather than a paid manner will provide us the greatest return on investment.

 

In order to help dentists understand what they need to know in order to maximize their appearance online, I have created a Search Engine Optimization Checklist. This checklist is one of the many items you will find in the Practice Management Resources for Dentists CD I have put together over time to help make life easier in my practice. I think you will find these gems quite helpful in your practice as well. Below you will find some of the SEO checklist which can help you start and maintain optimization of your website within search engines. Keep in mind that all applications on the checklist can be performed for you by a consulting company if you elect not to spend your time on these items. It is valuable to consider that many SEO experts agree that the most important aspect of optimization is the building up of quality links to your website.

1. Submit your website to the major search engines: Google, Yahoo! and Bing. Dentistry’s Business Secrets provides links to do so.

2. Submit your Sitemap to these search engines as well. Dentistry’s Business Secrets provides information on how to do so.

3. Sign up for local business listings on major search engines. Dentistry’s Business Secrets provides links to do so.

4. Research possible sites which can link to your website. Links from dental related websites are the most beneficial.

5. Research online directories such as www.TheDentistSearch.com, which appear high in keyword searches for a local dentist.

6. Continue to add quality content to your website through the addition of articles or patient case descriptions and pictures.

7. Post comments on dental related blogs and general answer forums, always providing a link back to your website. Some examples include www.DentalHeroes.com and www.Dentistry.AllTop.com.

Aug 22, 2011 | 8 comments | View Post

Does Internet Marketing Really Work for Dentists?

Over the past decade, the Internet has revolutionized dental practice marketing. An ADA study from 1999 reported the percentages of patients finding a new dentist by referral source. The study indicated that 55% of new patients to a practice were referred by other patients. The next largest source of referral was direct mail marketing, which came in at 12%. There was no mention of the Internet as responsible for providing any new patient flow. Contrast those figures with the present. Well over 50% of my new patients report first finding me on the Internet. Some 90% of my marketing dollars go toward Internet marketing and optimization of my websites’ visibility. An added benefit is that the marketing budget is greatly reduced because the return on investment is vastly higher with this form of practice promotion.

This is not to say that I do not continue to strive for patient to patient referral sources, as these can still be considered the best patients to have. However, we cannot neglect the overwhelming tendency for patients to search for their doctors online. By doing so, we miss out on the huge numbers of new patients that our practices could be caring for simply by establishing a highly visible online presence.

It has been estimated that less than 35% of dentists even own a website, and this says nothing about how many of those sites are actually optimized for greatest search engine ranking and visibility. Some estimates have the actual number as being much lower, at less than 20% of dentists having a presence online. The main question that comes to mind is, “Why would the overwhelming majority of dentists still remain on the sidelines with respect to the greatest marketing opportunity available to their practices?”

One thought I have heard expressed by dentists is the intimidation factor. They commonly do not understand a lot about website design or search engine optimization and feel as though they may be taken for a ride by their website designer. Most feel the cost is too high and they do not tend to value Internet marketing for what it’s really worth. The majority of dentists simply do not know where to start. Many dentists wonder “Does a dentist really need a website?” These are understandable concerns and I have made every effort in Dentistry’s Business Secrets to overcome all these obstacles by providing practical steps, written in non-techie language, which can be taken on Monday morning toward the development of any dental practice website. I hope you will take that first step and welcome the productive boost that Internet marketing can lend your practice!

Aug 03, 2011 | 1 comment | View Post

Free Email Marketing Option for Dentists

 

Email newsletters provide my dental office with an inexpensive and easy way to communicate with patients.  Gone are the days of paying a company to design, print and mail a patient newsletter.  With the varied templates and user friendly editing process provided by many email newsletter service providers, designing and sending an email newsletter has become a simple in office task.

 

In order to comply with spam regulations, email newsletter service providers require that your patients opt-in to receive emails from your office.  We handle this by providing our dental patients with a short form to include their email and signature verification that they are willing to receive appointment reminders and email news from our office.

 

Email newsletters allow us to share information on any current promotions or new features in the office.  These newsletters also provide a great way for us to remind patients to connect with us through our various social media outlets.  The patient is online when receiving the newsletter by email and can therefore quickly jump over to Facebook or Twitter to follow us there.

 

There are many companies providing this service now.  TopTenReviews has a recent comparison of email marketing service providers.  I dropped by MailChimp’s site and learned that they are providing a “Forever Free Plan” for businesses with less than 2,000 email subscribers.  If your practice hasn’t already begun to take advantage of email newsletters, MailChimp’s free offer might be a great way to start.

May 05, 2011 | 7 comments | View Post

Facebook Apps for Business Pages

I am looking into using several popular Facebook applications on my dental office and Dentistry’s Business Secrets’ Facebook pages.  Of particular interest are apps that would allow me to run contest promotions since Facebook’s promotion guidelines are so stringent.  If you have experience using a third party app or running a promotion on Facebook, please comment as to how it worked for you.  Also, please comment if you know of other Facebook apps that are useful for Facebook Business Pages.

 

While researching this idea, I came across two great resource articles that can be found below.

Social Media Examiner: “Top 75 Apps for Enhancing Your Facebook Page”

Mashable: “5 Essential Apps for Your Business’s Facebook Fan Page“

Apr 25, 2011 | 1 comment | View Post

Social Media Must Be Social

Social media is becoming a bigger player in dental practice marketing, but many dentists don’t understand the need to utilize it differently than other forms of marketing.  While most marketing revolves solely on getting your marketing message out, social media demands engagement and interaction.  It is not enough for dentists to simply set up Facebook Pages and Twitter accounts, follow local users and post updates or tweets that only focus on sharing a marketing message.  Social media requires social interaction to be effective.

 

On Facebook, this involves making sure to comment whenever someone leaves a note on your wall, seeking local businesses to “like” and commenting on their pages and seeking opportunities to share about local events that would benefit your followers.  Facebook provides applications that can be used to help your followers engage more, including contest and opinion poll apps.  Facebook’s recent revamp of the Facebook Page business profile makes it easier for businesses to be interactive.

 

On Twitter, a dentist cannot simply post tweets with a marketing message seeking new patients.  Some time must be taken each week to interact with tweets from other local users.  The reply and retweet features make this possible.  Social media offers a great opportunity for dentists to decrease the fear factor many new patients face by demonstrating their compassion and personality through these interactions.

 

While social media is “free,” there is certainly a time commitment that must be made and your time is not free.  Some dentists seek to involve their staff members in helping to expand their social media presence.  It is certainly a good idea to have all staff members participate in brainstorming information that would be good to share through social media avenues.  For instance,  a dental hygienist or dental front office manager may have a great idea for a local event to share about which was discussed with a patient in the waiting room.  One should proceed with caution before turning over the entire administration of social media to a staff member however as the final reflection is on the dentist.

Mar 29, 2011 | 3 comments | View Post

Facebook Page Changes for Dentists

If you are unfamiliar with Facebook Pages, this is a function created to allow businesses to have a Facebook presence. A Facebook Page is different than a Facebook personal profile. With a personal profile, users “friend” other users. With a Facebook Page, those who wish to follow a business’ Facebook updates must choose to “like” the Facebook Page of the business. My Facebook Page is located at www.facebook.com/ofallondentist if you want to see an example of a Facebook Page for a dental office.

Facebook has recently revamped their Facebook Pages layout. Page owners were able to test the new features in the past month and all Facebook Pages will be converted to this new format on March 11th. The new features make using Facebook Pages much more user friendly and provide a better layout.

Facebook Page users are now able to switch from their Facebook personal profile to their Facebook Page with ease through the Account tab in the upper right hand corner. Simply click on “Account” and choose “Use Facebook as Page,” then click “Switch.” This will allow you to post straight to your Facebook Page with your business identity rather than your personal profile. You can set a default to always post to your Facebook page as your business page, rather than your personal profile. To do this, choose “Edit Page” in the upper right hand corner and then choose “Your Settings.” From there, check the box that indicates you will always post on your Facebook page as your business page even when you are using Facebook through your personal profile.

Facebook now allows Pages to “like” other Pages. This feature provides the user the ability to follow what local businesses and other dentists are promoting on their Facebook Pages. Updates from businesses that you “like” will appear in a stream of updates on your news feed. Facebook Pages are now able to comment on other Facebook Pages as well. In the past, there was no ability for a Facebook Page to comment anywhere. However, you still cannot comment on an individual user’s Facebook personal profile wall.

With this update, Facebook now provides email notifications to Facebook Page users whenever someone interacts with your page by leaving a comment. This feature is helpful in alerting Facebook Page users to check their page for interactions. The layout of Facebook Pages has also been adjusted slightly. Facebook Pages now have the ability to display a photo area at the top of the page similar to those found on personal profiles.

These improvements are a great step in the right direction of making Facebook Pages more useful to businesses. There are still some limitations that I would like to see adjusted, but this is a good start to making Facebook more user friendly to businesses.

Mar 03, 2011 | 5 comments | View Post
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