Facebook and Twitter and Google+ … oh my!
Last week, social media made headlines as Google+ opened up to the public and Facebook unveiled a slew of changes. While new platforms and new features have certainly generated a lot of buzz, should you be marketing your dental practice through social media? … Maybe.
Yes, social media is revolutionizing the way many people communicate with the world around them. Yes, Facebook has reached 800 million users. However, unless your patients (or potential patients) are active in social media, you may be doing a lot more work or spending a lot of money, which isn’t really necessary. The thing to remember when implementing any type of marketing for your dental practice is to get back to the basics.
First, start off by identifying why you are marketing in the first place. What are your goals and objectives? Are you trying to get new patients or simply remind your existing patients to come in more frequently? Basically, what exactly are you trying to do?
Once you have decided that, it is time to develop a strategy. Your marketing strategy should be a way of achieving your desired objective. To develop this, you will need to understand the characteristics of the individuals you are trying to reach. Is your intended audience comfortable with the Internet and social media? Having a website and social media presence could be effective. However, if they are more comfortable with fax or mail delivered by the U.S.P.S. those channels will be more beneficial.
Finally, you will need to develop individual tactics. Tactics are the individual action used for accomplishing your overall objective. This could be the theme of the information included in your website: how you plan to engage with patients through social media, or what a direct mail piece will say.
One of my favorite quotes is by Albert Einstein: “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex.… It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.” Any fool can develop a huge marketing campaign. However, if it doesn’t provide any actual benefit to your dental practice, what was the point? There are numerous resources available to help you develop a solid marketing campaign and
we will be providing new ideas on Off the Cusp every Monday. Just keep in mind why you are marketing in the first place before you begin implementing any new tactics.
I just found your Off the Cusp blog – great name. I’m slowly getting into the social media angle of marketing and indeed am finding it a challenge. Thanks for these tips about the basics.
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