About two months ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with John Luginbill of The Heavyweights about social media strategy for dental practices. He brought up a rather simple concept that I really hadn’t given much thought to before: What is the dental practice’s capacity to grow?
We went on to discuss how some offices are looking to fill open appointment times. While for others, their only way to grow is to offer new procedures (like one visit dentistry) or take on a partner. I’ve contemplated this a lot over the last few months, but the major theme that keeps coming up is that it is absolutely essential for the practice to assess their current state and decide what the ultimate goal is for their practice.
Having an objective in mind before you start to make further investments in your practice will help you spend your time and money more efficiently. It doesn’t make any sense to invest in technology or marketing activities if they don’t support the overall goals of your practice. Establishing your objective first, can alleviate any uncertainty you may have about “making the right decision” for your practice.
This concept is not only essential for physical items you purchase, but also the time and dollars you spend on marketing your practice. Is it really smart to spend thousands of dollars on mailings to new potential customers when your appointment calendar is completely booked for over eight months? Probably not.
The same is true for social media. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to try to attract thousands and thousands of followers, if most of them will never visit your practice. How you interact on social media should closely align with the objectives of your practice. It may make sense to attract new followers (potential patients), but it also may make sense to focus on strengthening the relationship you have with your existing followers (current patients). Having an objective will only help ensure you are focusing your resources on where you will see the biggest impact for your practice.
If you are in the Indianapolis area and would like more information on social media strategy from The Heavyweights, they are hosting an event at their office in conjunction with our Indianapolis branch this Thursday (July 26). Contact your Patterson rep or Kathy Olsen at The Heavyweights (317-684-7777) for more information.