Tag: dental advertising

What Sets Your Dental Office Apart?

I have asked this question thousands of times through the years: What sets your dental practice apart from others? Funny thing is, most dentists (if not all) say that one-on-one attention and customer service make their dental practice better.

“Better” is a bad word when discussing dentists. I know that you have a respected peer relationship with other dentists in your area. However, you’re a dentist and I’m a dental marketing expert. One of us has to consider your peers competition. Let it be me.

My point is, the attention and service your team provide to patients may be head and shoulders above your competitors’, but: A) no one will know until they become your patient; B) so the only time it matters is in word-of-mouth or testimonial marketing; C) surely there is something else that truly sets you apart – something measurable or tangible. Find it. Show it off.

Ask yourself:

  • What training and certifications do you have that others may not?
  • What experience do you have (even life, not career, experiences) that others do not?
  • What training and experiences do your team members have that others may not?
  • What technology does your office offer that others may not?
  • Do you have before and after photos or videos for your marketing?
  • Are your labs extraordinary, or do you have an in-office lab?
  • What conveniences do you offer? (parking, online forms, payment plans, kids’ play area, etc.)
  • What comforts do you offer? (anesthesia, sedation, ergonomic chairs, sunglasses, iPods, neck pillows, paraffin hand treatment, etc.) Read More

5 Social Networking Tasks Dentists Can Hire a Teenager to Do

In a Biznik article, Sue Cartwright, Social Media Marketing Expert, tells us: “With 78% of consumers trusting peer reviews when only 14% trust advertisements, it is essential to be involved in your online community, to build a good reputation and know what people are saying about you. To do this effectively you need to engage in conversations, monitor the outcomes, join the debate, help others and show customers you care as a means to building a loyal network.”

Having been in dental marketing for years, I know that most dentists don’t have the staff or time to invest in an all-out social media marketing campaign. I do think, however, there are a few things your front office person can do to get your office engaged on Facebook. You can even hire your teenage daughter to do these things. Seriously, $10 an hour, 5 hours a week – not much of an investment. The return will show up, most likely, in patients being more loyal to you, giving you free word-of-mouth referrals, and remembering to keep up with recall visits and follow up with treatment. Why? Because you’ll be engaged, showing that you care!

You’ll need a human page and a fan page to make this work. Here’s how to do it: Read More

Investing in People is Investing in Business

What’s more precious, money or time? The correct answer is both. When Jill and I founded Modern Dental Practice Marketing, we decided that we would invest in people as part of our business. First, I’ll tell you what we’re doing and what we’ve learned, then I’ll give you some practical ways to get involved with– and get new patients from– your community.

MDPM is a proud sponsor of the North Texas Hispanic Dental Association, a local branch of the Hispanic Dental Association. We built and maintain the NTHDA blog, Facebook page, and newsletter. In addition, we volunteered at the NTHDA’s booth at the Southwest Dental Conference, and just last weekend, we lent a hand at Give Kids a Smile. The NTHDA is made up of a wonderful, dedicated, and very generous group of dental professionals who value people above all else.

MDPM is also involved with the North Texas Dental Association. Throughout 2011, we will publish the NTDA quarterly newsletters. We work with the North Texas Latin American Physicians Association and will soon become active in the American Academy Oral Systemic Health. Jill is looking forward to being on the board and membership committees of various philanthropic dental organizations this year, as well.

Sure, being a part of these organizations makes us feel great. We love helping people! It’s also a great investment in our business. We’re networking and building relationships with like-minded professionals who also value philanthropy.

What does this have to do with YOU? Well, let me ask you, how involved are you with your community? Sponsoring a sports team is great, but unless you go to the games and let the team (and fans) know who you are, it’s not a great investment. In this way, time is just as important as money.

There are essential marketing services you need, and your time is not required for these: website, blog, newsletter, print ads, radio, TV, etc. However, we are in Generation G, and you need to get on board. Gone are the days of writing a donation check and getting a good return in the office. Today, you have to engage, get involved, show your generosity in more ways than offering cold, hard cash.

I’ve spoken to many dentists who take on a charity dental case, but don’t advertise it. They’re afraid they’ll be inundated with people wanting free dentistry. And it can happen! Some dentists are involved in their church, but don’t allow that side of their life to cross over into their dental office. Letting people know about your generosity and volunteering should be done deliberately, but in the right way. It takes a seasoned dental marketing professional to spin it in the right way.

There is nothing wrong with being involved in the community in the name of your business. Generation G is defined by a generation of consumers who want to do business with companies that are giving and generous. If your nature is to be giving and generous, you’re one step ahead.

I want to give you a few examples of engaging with your community through giving. Read More

Common Questions about Modern Dental Practice Marketing

We’re often asked if we’ll do projects for businesses outside of dentistry. The answer is: Heck Yes! Take a peek at our portfolio, and you’ll see that half of MDPM’s clients aren’t dentists at all.

While we specialize in dental content because of our experience in the industry, our clients’ businesses range from home improvement to medical consulting to property management to religious instruction. Yeah, that’s a pretty wide range of clients. Few companies offer what MDPM does, and even fewer offer similar services for such a great price.

We’ve been asked if we host websites. The answer is no. We use the trusted resources available on the internet. WordPress, which we use for our blog websites, is free source software. Anyone can use it at no cost. WordPress offers 100 design templates, great add-ons (widgets), multiple pages, and customizable features. In addition, with WordPress, we can provide our clients with visitation statistics, as well as a free smart phone version of their blog. MDPM blogs are hosted with WordPress, as well.

Some folks want to know the difference between a blog and a custom website. This article explains the answer in detail. Check it out.

Why we recommend new blogs. To keep your costs low, and to take advantage of WordPress’ search engine optimization benefits, we prefer to create new blog websites for our clients, rather than just provide content for an existing blog. This allows us the freedom to do what we believe is best for your practice’s Internet marketing strategy. We’re in control of the blog’s success. We’ll purchase a good domain name, set up the blog website with a blog on the main page, and add other pages to describe your practice, team, and services. We always recommend that our clients keep their main website if they have one. A blog is great for SEO, but it is not a showcase site. It’s a workhorse. We’ll recommend that your blog’s visitors go to your main website for more detailed information about your office.

Will MDPM write blog content for my existing blog? Yes! We can’t promise that you’ll receive the same SEO benefits if we provide content for an existing blog. If your current blog is not on WordPress, and we provide content to your web company, they have to do some backend work to ensure the blog is indexed properly on search engines. In addition, if we only provide you with blog content, you’ll miss out on the extra promotional efforts we provide with the Extreme Internet Presence Package.

What else do we offer besides blogs? A lot. Visit our services page for more info. In short, we offer full-service Internet marketing, as well as community marketing. Branding, logo design, event planning and management, press releases, social networking, team training, and more…  You might also want to complete our free assessment while you’re here. It will help you, us, or a consultant analyze your current and past marketing program.

Facebook & Social Networking Tips for Dentists

  • The Facebook movie, The Social Network, will be in theaters this October.
  • America Has Talent is doing a show on the best of YouTube.
  • Tosh.0 has almost 1.5 million Facebook fans.
  • Half of all Americans use Facebook.

Listen, Doc, I don’t want to bring you down, but if you don’t see that social networking is deeply embedded in our culture; if you think it’s a fad that you’ve chosen to avoid; if you will not leverage social networking to market your dental practice…you are putting big steel walls around your practice’s potential growth.

And, thing is, just having a Facebook page won’t do the job.

On the Modern Dental Practice Marketing fan page this week, I’m sharing daily tips and insight about social networking and social marketing. I’m not sharing the tips on the MDPM Dentists page because I want to draw people to the fan page. Why? Read More

Writing a Dental Practice Mission Statement & Tag Line

I sell blogs. You sell dental services. Who do we sell to? People. Who pays us? People. Who do our services help? People.

We should never, ever forget that business is about the people, and people want excellent service for their hard-earned dollars. From the initial phone call to the proactive follow-up to the warm personal welcome to the unparalleled treatment in your office, every patient who experiences your dental practice should be chomping at the bit to share the story with all of their neighbors and friends.

Think about what you do that makes your practice different than the one down the road.

When I used to interview dentists before writing content for their websites, I would always ask, “What sets your practice apart from all the rest?”

The answer, ironically, was the same—all the time!

Dentists said, after some thought and hesitation, “You know, it’s our personalized service and wonderful team; it’s the real one-on-one that we give the patients that makes us different.” Read More

Dentists, Websites, Blogs, and RSS Feeds

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Technology is not as intimidating as wild animals, and neither is dental marketing. On the contrary, with a good safari guide, you’ll  enjoy the hunt and the trophies.

Today I want to talk with you about RSS feeds. You’ve probably seen that little orange icon and wondered, What’s that orange thing?

It’s the RSS icon.

What the heck is an RSS icon, and why should a dentist care? Let me explain.

  • RSS stands for really simple syndication.
  • An RSS feed provides an alert when new content is added to a blog or website.
  • Anyone can add an RSS feed to their Yahoo, Google, or other homepage, or they can bookmark the feed for quick access.
  • To subscribe to an RSS feed for a blog or website you like, look for the orange icon, click it, and follow the instructions.

Pretty simple, huh?

Let’s take it a step further. After all, you have a doctorate degree. You like learning! Read More