Do you recall when you first opened your Facebook account and made your personal profile? Your kids may have talked you into it after years of your objections. Perhaps you were one of the first to join Facebook, and you update it from your phone, tablet, and PC many times a day. Regardless of why you hooked up with this social media monster, if you’re a professional, you need to consider Facebook part of your public relations, or PR. Sure, you can have a private life, but Facebook is not private!

Gotta Keep ‘em Separated!

Your patients and potential patients can find you on Facebook, as can your buddies, parents, and children. The best practice, for teens and adults, is to keep everything light on social networks. Ideally, you shouldn’t say or post anything you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see. If you want to talk about old girlfriends with high school buddies, or you feel the need to post a risque cartoon,  you need to keep your professional and personal lives separate on Facebook. This does not mean creating a business page; that’s a separate issue. Instead, you should set up a personal page using your college nickname (and maiden name if you’re a chick) and a professional page using “Your Name, DDS.” Read More

How many new patients have you ever gotten from Facebook? LinkedIn? Twitter, Pinterest, MySpace? The answer is probably none, if you’re like most dentists. I’m disappointed in dental marketing companies who shout “social networking” from the hilltops just because dentists, by nature, are interested in new things.

At MDPM, we’ve helped dentists set up Facebook contests, we offer a daily social networking posting service, and we set up Facebook and Google+ Local for all of our clients. However, we do not believe that spending hours a week on social networking will ultimately yield more new patients.

The Purpose of Marketing is to Grow a Business

Website First: Dental marketing aims to get dentists more patients. A great dental marketing strategy can be targeted toward a particular demographic — say, those patients who need dental implants, smile makeovers, or sleep apnea treatment. While Internet marketing is absolutely essential for dental practice growth, social marketing is just one of many tactics savvy dentists should employ (and in moderation). All dental marketing should begin with a well optimized, visually appealing dental website that can be amended as needed, as the practice grows. Branding with a logo, signature color palette, and practice name will tie all of your marketing together. So, create a brand, then build a website. Read More

Well, we now have Timeline for individuals and businesses. If your dental practice has a business page, you may have noticed a pop-up that asked you to create a special offer this week — that’s new. But everyone has been talking about Facebook for a few years now. If you’re asking yourself how a dentist can use Facebook in marketing, join the club. I ask myself that question every day. Yes, I’ve seen, read, and heard other marketing experts share their advice. To date, though, I’ve not had a dentist tell me that Facebook brings in new patents and has a great return on investment (ROI). Websites do, blogs do, microsites do, but Facebook? Not so much.

Should we continue to do what’s not working? Absolutely not. That’s the definition of insanity, according to Einstein. We have to find an application that will make Facebook that serves us well.

I’m a problem solver by nature, so I’ve dived into the challenge of trying to determine how to leverage Facebook for dentists — without purchasing Facebook ads. Can it be done? I’m not sure, but here are some things I want to share based on the new boot camp video series that Facebook created and the feedback I’ve received from dentists over the years. Read More

Sure, you’ve heard of Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus. You may think that social media is just for keeping in touch with friends and family. While this is true, social media is also a powerful marketing tool for all types of businesses. In fact, the largest corporations in the United States use Facebook business pages and Twitter accounts to connect with consumers, market their goods, and determine customer satisfaction. Although a dental practice may not be a Fortune 500 corporation, dentists around the country benefit from utilizing social media, too.

Gaining Exposure with Social Media Users

By setting up a Facebook business page or Twitter account, you familiarize social media users with your name and services. For example, commenting from your business account on community pages and local groups will expose more people in your area to your name and your practice. As more people become familiar with your name and practice, you increase the likelihood of attracting new patients.

Managing Your Reputation

More than likely, you have read reviews on websites such as as Google Places or Yelp before you took your vehicle to a mechanic or visited an unfamiliar restaurant. Online reviews from actual customers and patients are extremely useful for consumers. However, reviews may also hurt a dentist’s reputation. One disgruntled patient can anonymously leave an unfavorable or untruthful review of your dental practice. Using social media helps combat anonymous smear campaigns and effectively manage your web reputation. A Facebook wall filled with glowing reviews of your expertise and concern for your patients will offset negative reviews on other sites. In addition, dentists have complete control of the content posted social media platforms. Read More

In addition to your dental website and your dental blog site, Modern Dental Practice Marketing encourages dentists to use social media —especially Facebook–for marketing. Did you know that there are over 800 million Facebook accounts? Now that a huge percentage of the population in the US has a smart phone, people are on Facebook all the time. Fortune 500 companies are using Facebook business pages to generate consumer feedback and market their products. More than likely, your local newspaper and coffee shop have a Facebook business page, too. If using Facebook for your dental practice seems like uncharted territory, the tips below are sure to help you navigate the murky waters of social media marketing.

Engage Your Fans

You want your patients to communicate on your page. The more communication and activity on your business page, the more likely it is to appear in your patients’ news feeds. Remember to post concise statuses that engage the reader. Posts that contain questions or updates that are less than 40 characters illicit a higher response from Facebook users than long, complex posts.

Avoid Posting Too Often

Posting too often on Facebook can cost you. If you post too frequently, your patients may see it as spam and “unlike” your business page. You should aim for four or five posts a week. Wednesday and Sunday posts tend to encourage more user interaction than posts on other days of the week.  If you decide to post to Facebook daily, avoid posting more than twice. Peak hours for user interaction are after eight o’clock in the evening. Posting at night tends to increase the likelihood for patient comments.

Use Facebook for Promotions and Discounts

Need patients in the dental chair? Keywords that include the word “coupons” or the dollar sign symbol attract users’ attention. For example, promote a special offer on teeth whitening or a free cosmetic consultation. If you don’t want to offer discounts or coupons because it would attract a clientele outside of your target market, offer a complimentary cosmetic dentistry consultation or a donation to Operation Smile for every teeth whitening kit you sell. Read More

If Facebook does indeed launch Timeline for business on Wednesday—which is the rumor—dentists should be prepared to update their business page ASAP. You’ll probably have three months to switch your page to Timeline voluntarily before Facebook takes charge and forces the switch.  How much cooler will you look, though, if your page has Timeline before other businesses in your area? Before you dive in, here are three things you need to consider.

The Look
Facebook Timeline features one large banner image, a small overlaid image in the left corner, and thumbnail collages of various things you’ve indicated that you like. You’ll need to determine what your large photo will feature, then plan something for the small photo. Your logo should might be the best option for the small square on the left, next to your page’s name. The banner image can be changed as often as you like – for seasons, holidays, special events, new products, team photos, etc.  Mashable created a sample gallery of potential brands on Timeline. Read More