Dentaltown August 2016 - (Page 44)

corporate profile smartbox web marketing Attraction is a content-heavy proposition. It means producing social media posts, e-newsletters, blogs, videos, downloadable white papers and e-books, and more. Your website content must be fresh (or at least regularly updated), expert, authoritative and trustworthy. Google is by far the dominant search engine, and where the vast majority of your prospects will search. Google favors "great" content, but defines "great" by its own rules. Your website content-in fact, all of your online content-has to be great to be found. Even with great content, search engine optimization (SEO) is necessary to avoid being shunted off to internet limbo. But dentists make money by actually treating patients, not by doing SEO, so unless you've got huge amounts of free time and industry knowledge, the wiser choice is to contract this work to a professional. Pillar 2: CONVERSION Now it's time to provide the social proof that you're the dentist your prospects should choose. * Your own "doctor" videos help prospects know and begin to trust you, and patient testimonial videos can provide powerful social proof-as long 42 AUGUST 2016 // dentaltown.com * * as they're done well. Videos should be professionally produced and kept brief to accommodate today's shortened attention spans-1 to 2 minutes, at most. (Some dental-condition-specific videos could run up to 3 minutes.) Web pages with video are 53 times more likely to make the first page of Google's search results than pages with only text and graphics. Make sure your videos are on your website, as well as YouTube. Online reviews, whether on your website or other review sites, are the new word-of-mouth advertising. Making sure that reviews work for you requires constant online reputation management. Pillar 3: FOLLOW-UP It's important to stay top-of-mind with prospects until they're ready to choose you. Nurture the relationships by dripping relevant and useful information to them at regular intervals. You do not want to overwhelm-or drown-prospects with information. That requires segmenting your prospects by dental problem or concern. Why send denture information to many millennial or younger patients? Send the edentulous patients information on whole-mouth reconstruction, and gingivitis sufferers a brief piece written by you about treatment options and benefits. Because it's emailbased, follow-up can include articles and information produced by other people, with proper attribution. People want their questions answered, and patients need a high level of trust to move forward on large elective cases. You gain that trust by educating, nurturing and building it over time. Follow-up also has to be frequent enough to maintain patients' awareness of you-but not to where it becomes annoying. Pillar 4: TRACKING Tracking helps dentists manage their marketing return on interest (ROI). The vast majority of new patients still schedule their first appointment over the phone, but patients aren't always reliable about recalling how they found your practice. Tracking allows you to see at a glance which parts of your marketing are working best to attract more new patients. With that information, you can fine-tune your marketing investment for maximum return. Nothing is more important to a dental practice than phone calls and new patients in the chairs. ■ http://www.dentaltown.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dentaltown August 2016

On Dentaltown.com
Howard Speaks: You Don't Know COGS
Professional Courtesy: The Promise of Technology
Continuing Education Update
Industry News
Dealing with Parents Who Refuse GA Whose Children Obviously Need It
Class II Composite Technique
Best Alginate, Hands Down!
The Pillars of Attraction
Out-of-Pocket Collections: Mending the Holes
Dentists Playing Bankers: A new perspective on accounts receivable
Character Studies: Your financial tendencies likely depend on which of these nine archetypes fits you best
Quality Control: Five reasons you should purchase quality hygiene instruments
Practice Solutions: 3M
Opting Into—Or Out of—Typical Transitions
Treatment of Intraoral Infections
Service Profile: Gilleard Dental Marketing
Product Profile: Ivoclar Vivadent
Immediate Implants: Tips for improving the outcome in the aesthetic zone
New Products
You Should Know: Call Sumo
10 Strategic Insights for Patient-Producing Postcards
Monthly Poll: Pediatric Dentistry
CE: Oral Diseases Associated with Men
Dentally Incorrect

Dentaltown August 2016