One of the questions asked often is: “I already have a Profile page on Facebook, do I really need a Facebook Business Page?”

That’s sort of like the question (in dentistry) “Do I really need to floss?” You know the answer ….Only the teeth you want to keep!!
Originally, Facebook was only for making connections, not for business, hence Profile pages. It was a profile of you, your personal information, likes and dislikes.

Then businesses begin to see the power Facebook held and started creating Profile pages for their businesses (which is actually against Facebook rules). So in true Facebook fashion…Facebook started making changes (imagine that!) and created the Business page portion of Facebook. Profile pages are very limited as to what can and can’t be done as far as a business is concerned. The most noticeable being viewers have to wait to be confirmed after sending a “friend request”.

Profile Page VS Business Page

To see how the two differ let’s look at PROFILE -vs- BUSINESS this way:

Your PROFILE page is really a personal page (and not to be used as a business per FB). It’s like your home. If someone comes to your door at home, they knock on your door and have to wait to be let in.

Your BUSINESS page is just that….your Business. When someone comes to your place of business, they walk right in (during business hours of course). They don’t have to wait to be “confirmed”. Remember we live in an age of ‘instant gratification’! With that said, think about people interested in doing business with you having to wait outside until you let them in (PROFILE: waiting for you to confirm their ‘friend request’). That could sometimes take days. By that time, you may confirm them, but they may have already found someone else to do business with. You’ve lost a potential client or patient.

With a BUSINESS page on Facebook, your visitors walk right in as soon as they “Like” you. The “Like” is just opening your door. No waiting for you to approve them. Come to think of it, when did you ever have to wait to be approved before you could enter a store or business to shop or receive services?

We also talk about branding and how important it is to brand our business. In fact we spend a lot of time…writing posts, uploading pictures, creating videos, posting our bios, responding to viewers…branding our business…to get viewers and potential clients and patients to come to our Facebook page….only to have them….wait while you approve/confirm their friend request!

That’s like finally getting a new prospect to call your office….only to be put on endless hold…and hope they are still on the line when you get back to them!
Why would you want to make a prospective new client or patient wait to see all you have available to them when they don’t have too?? You’ve spent and invested too much time in getting that prospect to your Facebook site to make them wait!

Then if you’ve seen the light and are thinking….”OK, If I create a Business page, will I lose all the people I’ve connected with on my Profile page?” Absolutely not! You still are connected to them, can market to them, and will point them to your business page. If you’re comfortable with creating Facebook pages, you can create your own business page (connected to your profile page) or outsource it to a social media specialist.

Bottom Line

So in answer to the original question: “…..Do I really need a Facebook Business page?” Answer: “Only if you’re in business!”
The point is, when you’re in business, you always want to put your best business foot forward. So unlock your doors and be “Open to the public”. Create your Facebook Business page and let your new prospects… walk right in!

Your Thoughts

Do you have a Facebook Business Page for your practice? If so, how has it impacted your practice?

Social media is here and whether you are utilizing social media in your practice/business or not, your employees are! It would be great if you could depend on posts being all positive and upbeat, but we know that’s not reality.

You know Social Media and implications it can presents to the practice/business . You know the importance of having some type of Social Media Policy in place for your practice/business, but… what areas need to be addressed?

The top 9 areas to address in your Social Media Policy:

1. Policy Statement: This is a generalized statement about participating in social media. Tie it in with your Office Manual and Personal Conduct. Also address/acknowledge what’s done on their time is their business, however certain activities at work or outside work that could affect job performance, theirs or another employee, or the practice/business interests are a proper focus for a practice/business policy.

2. Definitions: Reference the Social Media Channels and Social Media Networks you are referring to in your policy. Ex. Blogs, micro-blogs, social networks, social bookmarking, sharing platforms, etc. Also reference how these might be address. Ex. Internet, mobile, text, email, etc. Also reference the Social Media Account Ex. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Blogs, and any other Social Media Channel.

3. Objectives: Establish and include guidelines that employees adhere to and why you are initiating the Social Media Policy.

4. Guiding Principals: Address how you expect employees to use social media at work and outside work. Who can “speak” on behalf of the practice/business. What can and cannot be discussed while at work or on their own time. Assure online activities don’t interfere with job requirements or commitment to patients/clients.

5. Respectfulness: Interaction online at work or on their time, always careful of what’s posted. Ex. Don’t say/post anything you wouldn’t want seen on the front page of the local newspaper or your Grandmother to read!

6. Disclosure and Transparency: Social media is all about trust and building relationships. Be aware of what you are posting, be honest, and disclose your true identity. Transparency and Authenticity (open and genuine ) are the two key elements in Social Media.

7. Privacy: Address you, the Employers, right to privacy and Employees right to privacy. As such employers and employees have the right to keep personal opinions, thoughts, beliefs, and emotions private and employees are prohibited from violating another employee or their employers right to privacy.

8. Confidentiality: Effectively managing and protecting confidential information is critical. Failure to manage and protect confidential information correctly and what that could result in. ALSO Employees can disagree but external blogs or other online social media channels are not to be used to air employee disagreements. **Note: Again, be careful of what’s posted. It’s going to be on the social networks for a long time. If in doubt, don’t post it!

9. Penalties: Failure to Comply with these Social Media Policies may result in: List what could happen if an employee does not comply. They could include: Warnings, No longer have access to certain information, Disciplinary action, up to and including termination, even Civil or criminal penalties as provided by law (depending on the situation).

Once printed, make copies for each employee. Then have a staff meeting introducing and going over the social media policies of the office. Then have each employee sign that they understand and have received a copy.

This is not an all inclusive list nor do all of these have to be addressed. Your practice/business will determine how involved you need to be with your social media policy.
However, whether your practice/business is actually using social media should not be the determining factor for whether or not you need a social media policy. The fact that your employees ARE using social media makes having your social media policies in place…critical!

If you have your social media policies in place, what area’s did you address not listed here?

***NOTE: This is not meant to be legal advice and I am not an attorney.

Your Thoughts

What, if anything, would you add to Livvie’s list? Have you experienced any negative effects as a result of failing to address any of these areas?

Many dental practitioners today have started to realize that, in order to build a stronger connection to their patients, social media platforms may now be the place to be. More dentists and medical groups are now reaching out beyond the doors of their practice to connect with patients in the world of social networking.

Social Media Increasingly Popular With Dentists

A growing number of dentists are using Twitter and Facebook to connect with patients and distribute coupons, special offers or giveaways, and promote events. By incorporating a prominent Facebook “Like” button on their home page, dental practices are able to market themselves as a community of people who engage and interact with common interests. Now that Facebook has exceeded Google as the largest visited online portal, a non-presence or non-active presence on these social sites is definitely a missed opportunity.

Practical Ways Dentist Can Engage With Social Media

New Image Dental is a practice that specializes in dental implants in San Diego. New Image Dental features their Facebook page prominently on their web site, where regular updates are posted on the practice’s busy schedule: health seminars, promotional events for special dental services, and local charity efforts that the clinic sponsors. Blended with patient reviews, before-and-after pictures, slide shows, discount alerts, and a variety of articles to help patients learn about and improve their dental hygiene, it’s a thriving network that engages via social connections and “Word-of-Mouth” marketing. Being present in social media has helped New Image Dental bring in more patients each month, as well as strengthened their ties to local “fans” on Facebook and “followers” on Twitter and they can deliver timely, relevant news to their subscribers, while continuing to build their network and their reach online.

Social media may seem like an unlikely marketing tool for dental practices, but it’s the community feeling and connection to local people that can make this technique so effective. Dentists are now able to be (virtually) at the forefront of the community where most people now spend their time online.

Your Thoughts

Are you engaging your patients via social media channels? Do you have tips for those just beginning to engage with their patients via Social Media?

But what about businesses with little to no foot traffic? Places where people go maybe once or twice a year? Like your local dentist for example. How (and why) would you get someone to check in multiple times at a place like a dentist’s office? If you are brushing and flossing like you are supposed to, you are probably only visiting the dentist’s chair a couple of times a year, right?

Try SCVNGR

SCVNGR (Pronounced “Scavenger”) is a game very similar to Foursquare but geared specifically for places like a dentist’s office that want to get in on the social media marketing boom. Playing SCVNGR is simple; you go places, complete challenges along the way and then earn points to unlock real world rewards. Opposed to simple check-ins, challenges engage customers on an entirely new level and provide a way for businesses to get their name out through fun activities related to their location.

If you’re the owner of a business where check-ins are more infrequent or maybe even non-existent, then SCVNGR treks may be a great social media option for you. On treks, players visit multiple locations and complete challenges along the way, therefore earning points towards a free reward. An important aspect of SCVNGR is that treks are not limited to the physical location of a business.

How Dentists Can Use SCVNGR

This is where the dentist’s office comes into play. A trek can be set up with any kind of teeth-related or dental hygiene theme in mind, like “The Top Places in Los Angeles to Keep You Smiling”. All you have to do is incorporate the name of the dental business into the questions and challenges along the trek. Now you’ve gotten your name out there and the customer is thinking about your business without ever stepping inside the door!

SCVNGR is proving to be an invaluable marketing opportunity for businesses that have, until now, been unable to utilize location-based services. SCVNGR is more fun and engaging for customers than other location-based tools and is also more business-friendly because it allows customers and business owners, alike, to add content and customize the challenges. No business size or type is left behind with SCVNGR since all businesses can benefit from SCVNGR’s services.

So, download the free app for your iPhone (preview) or Android phone and start trekking with SCVNGR!

Your Thoughts

Are you currently using SCVNGR to reward your customers? Please share your tips and overall experiences with us in a comment below. Thanks!

What is Yelp?

In this post, we’re going to provide some quick tips for doing the same with another major player in the local search market, Yelp. If you’re not familiar, Yelp is similar to the online version of the Yellow Pages. However, it takes things a step further by allowing visitors to post reviews about local businesses. Businesses are encouraged to post photos, detailed business descriptions, company histories, specialties, upcoming events, etc. to provide an in-depth look at your business to potential customers.

With nearly 38 million visitors a month, you can see why Yelp is a great opportunity for you to take advantage of.

Yelp’s Features for business owners

• Communicate with your customers– privately and publicly
• Track how many people view your business page
• Add photos, a detailed business description, up-to-date information, history, and specialties
• Announce special offers and upcoming events
• Recommend other businesses

How to unlock your business page

Unlocking your business page on Yelp is easy. Watch the following video to claim your Yelp business page:

What to do once your business page is unlocked

Now that your practice page is unlocked, you have access to the business owner dashboard. Here you can update your business information, post announcements and upcoming events, communicate with your patients and more.

yelp-dashboard

Tips for making the most of Yelp

1. Let people know you’re on Yelp – Instead of soliciting reviews, simply let people know you’re on Yelp. As the reviews mount, you may very well notice that your Yelp profile is climbing in the search engines as a result.

2. Add your website URL – If you have a website make sure to include your url with your listing. This allows prospective patients to learn more about you than your Yelp page can provide.

3. Don’t skip the “Specialties” or “Business History” sections – These sections are often overlooked, but present you with a great opportunity to provide keyword-rich and compelling content for the search engines.

4. Show off – Trust is a critical component of the dentist-patient relationship. You can start to establish this trust by displaying professional and inviting photos of your practice for potential patients to see. Sometimes a photo alone is all it takes to bring a new patient through the door.

5. Advertise – If you live in a highly-competitive area, you may want to consider one of Yelp’s advertising options to appear higher in Yelps’ listings in your locale.

6. Handle negative reviews appropriately – Luther Lowe, Business Outreach Manager at Yelp provides some valuable tips for handling negative reviews in a professional manner in the following audio interview:

Handling Negative Reviews

Get started

You’re now armed with a handful of great tips for making the most out of Yelp. If done properly, you should start to see your Yelp profile rank higher in the search engines and a few new faces walking through the door.

Your Tips

What have your experiences been with Yelp? Do you have any tips for optimizing your business listing? Please share then in a comment below.

Social media allows for something that’s never been available to businesses using traditional marketing in the past. Social media allows you to connect…to talk…to create…an ongoing dialogue with your target audience!

Unlike print ads and direct mail outs that are static and limited in their information or even networking events that are one time meetings…social media allows you to “talk” with your audience…24/7.

This creates incredible opportunities to be visible and responsive to your market! But if you’re not careful, social media can be very overwhelming and distracting. There’s the social platforms, the tools (applications, widgets, plugins, etc), social media etiquette, connecting and engaging with viewers, and the time involved…time can be a big factor!

One of the biggest mistakes practices make when starting in social media is they just jump in with no clear objectives or strategy. They aren’t sure about what they what to do and how they’re going to do it.

They’ll set up their social sites, Twitter – Facebook – LinkedIn, and maybe even a blog, but they don’t know how to connect, how to listen, and more importantly…how to engage effectively. Then after a few posts, their sites just sit there and begin gathering virtual dust (I’ve been to many dental sites on twitter and noticed the date of their last tweet was months ago).

In using social media, to be effective in attracting and engaging quality followers, you must have these elements in place:

Know your target market and which social networks they are using the most.
Let’s put this into perspective: If you work out of 3 Treatment Rooms and your patient is seated in TR 3 and you’re seated in TR 2 waiting for that patient, you aren’t going to get anything accomplished, you’re not where your patient is.

So if you’re on Twitter and your target is on Facebook…see the importance? Go where the “eyeballs” are…know and be seen where your target market is.

Know and be clear about your objectives – goals – or outcome you want from social media
What are you wanting social media to accomplish? Do you want to gain your targeted audience’s attention? Drive traffic to your practice, blog, or website? Enhance your practice’s patient services? Maybe you want to grow your practice’s email list

What are your objectives – what is it you want to accomplish with social media?

Create an engagement plan for using social media
Once you’ve determined and joined the social network sites your target uses, you’ll need to determine how you are going to connect, engage, and communicate with your viewers. How often will you “tweet”, post, or update. What are your core messages you will deliver?

Create a social media policy for your practice
How will you and or your employees handle social media in your practice? What’s the right way and wrong way for your employees to use social media? Who is going to be responsible for managing and overseeing your overall social media marketing?

Whether handling in-house or outsourcing to a third party, you need a social media policy in place.

One last point to bring is Safety Online: Remember:
Once you’ve said it on the Internet, there’s no taking it back. A few good rules to follow:

• Never post anything you don’t want your Grandmother or children to read
• Never give out sensitive information like account numbers or social security numbers
• Never spam – you’ll be un-followed and dropped like a hot dental instrument

By creating and having your social media strategy in place first, you’ll know:

• Your social media objectives
• How you’re going to achieve your objectives
• An overall plan for implementing your social media strategy

Your Thoughts

These are the top elements needed in creating a winning social media strategy. What additional elements have you used in your strategy?

It will come as no surprise to dental professionals that people who have a good experience with a product or service will want to tell their friends and colleagues about it.

Word of Mouth is Critical

Word of mouth is a critical driver in generating new business, and the traditional methods of enabling this in the offline world are much slower than in the online world. The key is how to employ it in a way that can get the biggest bang for the buck.

A blend of social media and search engine optimization using free resources linked to your central online presence can work together to generate buzz, as well as drive curious or interested potential patients back to a central place where they can find out more and take action.

Twitter Works

During the first week of March, the word ‘dentist’ was tweeted on Twitter, the short-form blogging platform where people share everyday experiences and recommendations (or negative comments), nearly 4,000 times, according to Topsy. In the past month, the word ‘dentist’ was mentioned nearly 21,000 times. There’s something about going to the dentist that brings out the emotion in people! Twitter can be an incredible resource to both search for new patients and reach out to them cost-effectively, and also a brilliant platform to get existing clients to tweet about their experience, post pictures and engage with their peers. Ask your patients whether they’re on Twitter, get on there yourself, and don’t forget to research potential customers thinking about whether or not to make a visit in your area.

Other Social Media Tools to Consider…

In addition to Twitter, other social media tools such as Facebook fan pages (which now come with analytics tools), free listings in social recommendation sites such as Yelp and free blogging platforms that can be updated by email or text messaging (such as Posterous) can provide your practice with multiple cost-effective sources to get your messages out and crucially engage with your patients, even if they change home addresses or telephone numbers. Updating this content provides good material for search engines to index, and therefore drive results in search – the number one entry point for Americans on the Web.

Link it up with a .tel page

Optimizing search results can be achieved by simply cross-linking all of these places to one simple-to-manage domain that you own. Previously, this may have been tricky and time-consuming. But with the new .tel domain, you can have a simple presence online that links to all of the above resources, and enable people to quickly access information about your practice on the Web. Perhaps more importantly, the .tel page is optimized for use on smartphones, so new and existing patients can direct dial or email your office to book an appointment wherever they are. There’s no coding or Web site building involved, and it can be managed from an iPhone and costs from around $20 per year all-in.

As busy professionals, investing your teams’ time in the above will help you engage with clients without having to commit to time-consuming and costly ventures. Let your service do the talking through your patients.

Your thoughts?

Which online marketing tools have you seen results with? Do you have a .tel page?

20 More Great Dental Pros I Follow on Twitter

1. WealthyDentist
2. DentistIdentity
3. VisibleDentist
4. Madowgroup
5. GetDentistJobs
6. DentalOffice
7. DentalCPAS
8. DLPlive
9. ADANews
10. JoeNeedsDental
11. Etukee
12. Top3dentists
13. DentalTools
14. AAOrthodontists
15. Twentist
16. Dental_News
17. dentistsos
18. Sherryblues
19. DDSBrand
20. edokeefe_2009
31. Oh yeah, don’t forget to follow Dental Heroes as well. dentalheroes

Add to the List

I know there are many more dental pros out there using Twitter. Please leave the Twitter username of any dental pros not on this list in a comment below.

The following are 5 mistakes dentists should avoid on Twitter:

1. Doing Nothing

Sounds obvious, right? Well, not to everyone. In fact, an estimated 20% of Twitter accounts held by dentists or other dental professionals are empty. This is clearly the most damaging mistake you can make if you want to use Twitter successfully. Beyond that, consider how this looks to your patients or potential patients. An empty Twitter account says to them, we’re lazy, uncommitted and unfocused. In short, if you’re not going to use Twitter, don’t sign up. Similarly, if you signed up already, and don’t tweet on a regular basis, you’re better off calling it quits and deleting your account.

2. Too Much Self-Promotion

A little self-promotion can go a long way. In fact, nothing will get you un-followed faster than constant self-promotion. Frankly, I don’t want to hear about your low pricing in every one of your tweets. I get it, you have good pricing. Now, tell me something I don’t know.

That’s the secret. If you truly want build a steady stream of new followers, focus on providing value. Engage with your followers by connecting with them on a personal level and providing them with information that can impact their lives in a positive way. Do this consistently, and you’re followers will return the favor many times over.

3. Failing to Connect with People

Many dentists perform a monologue instead of engaging in a dialogue with their followers. Get to know your followers. Show that you’re interested in what they have to say. Asking questions and utilizing the retweet function are great ways to do this.

4. Using One Twitter Account for Both Personal & Business Use

Do you want your friends and family to know when you’re brushing your teeth or bathing the dog? If so, then who am I to tell you to stop? But, do your patients or potential patients want to know about this? Probably not – wait, definitely not. I recommend creating separate Twitter accounts – one for personal use and one for business use.

5. Tweeting Too Much

Most dentists don’t have this problem, but enough do that it warrants mention. Tweeting too much, even if you’re following the above recommendations is not a good thing. Not only does too much tweeting dilute your message, but it’s downright annoying for your followers to see your avatar every time they sign into Twitter. Like most things in life, moderation is key.

Your Thoughts

Do you agree with these tips? What would you add to the list?

Whatever the reason may be, Twitter’s reach is undeniable. Some companies have replaced their corporate website address with their Twitter address on advertising materials. Major news networks are engaging with viewers via Twitter live on the air. I’ve even had a number of people provide their Twitter username in their e-mail signatures. I could go on and on.

If you have not yet taken the leap to join Twitter, I would caution you to evaluate whether doing so will be beneficial for you. Many people reluctantly sign up because everyone else is doing it. That’s not a good reason to get involved. You’ll just end up frustrated and abandon the service within a couple of days. Why waste your time?

However, for those of you who are already actively engaging with other people on Twitter, I’ve compiled a list(in no particular order) of 30 great dental pros I’m following on Twitter (You should too).

30 Great Dental Pros I Follow on Twitter

1. drbicuspid
2. SteffanyMohan
3. OralHealthcare
4. jablow
5. AnastasiaRDH
6. DentalProducts
7. DentistryIQ
8. Dentrix
9. practiceworks
10. DPRlive
11. Identalhub
12. TheAACD
13. nicedentist
14. webdental
15. Dentra
16. GetDentistJobs
17. markoborn
18. dentalcompare
19. therabreath
20. Dentistnet
21. dentalinsider
22. AboutDentistry
23. DenTek
24. teresaduncan
25. PERI_Educates
26. top3dentists
27. jflucke
28. kgh23
29. 1800DENTIST
30. dentaladvisor
31. Oh yeah, don’t forget to follow Dental Heroes as well. dentalheroes

Add to the List

I know there are many more dental pros out there using Twitter. Please leave the Twitter username of any dental pros not on this list that you think should be in a comment below.