Dentaltown October 2021 - 68

On Dentistry
Uncensored:
Practice options
for new grads
Dr. Cyndi Blalock appeared on an
episode of Dr. Howard Farran's
podcast Dentistry Uncensored
to discuss practice options for
new dental school graduates.
To stream the interview, go to
dentaltown.com/blalock-du.
Pick your topic
Dentists just getting started with live
video always wonder exactly what to say
when they push the Go Live button. A lot
of strategy goes into making these videos,
but I recommend that novice broadcasters
get started by answering the most frequently
asked questions patients ask you in your
day-to-day practice. You say the same things
so often that you should have no problem
talking naturally about these questions! Two
of the highest-performing videos I've done
were " How To Care for Toddler Teeth " and
" What Happens When a Tooth Gets a Crack. "
Providing valuable content to your
audience does several things:
* It helps your video reach more people
because of Facebook's algorithm.
* It helps your audience learn
something that could benefit them
in their life, so they end up coming
back to you for more.
* It helps your audience get to know
you better, so they end up liking and
trusting you sooner. This helps patients
say " yes " to your treatment plans faster,
and you get to do more dentistry.
Where to do your video
Two main things will kill your video:
bad sound and bad lighting. If you don't
have video equipment yet, finding a quiet
place in your office that has a window that
is away from a functioning operatory is
crucial. Hearing the sound of a high-speed
drill in the background of your video could
cause more fear and anxiety for your viewers!
For the best lighting, sitting with the
light in front of you, and your phone or
webcam between you and the window, is
68 OCTOBER 2021 // dentaltown.com
your best bet. Let all of the natural light
illuminate your face! It will absolutely make
the difference between someone stopping
their scroll to hear what you have to say and
just scrolling on by.
The video reach doesn't stop
when the video ends
Once your live video has ended, the reach
of the video will continue. From that one
piece of custom content you just created,
you can extract shorter video clips, quotes
and content for longer posts that you can
use for the rest of the week. The idea is to
flood the news feeds of people within five
miles of your practice with quality posts, so
your practice becomes the place people think
of when they need a dentist. On average, a
person has to hear something seven times
before they commit it to memory. The more
often you post, the better!
Creating a library of different video
topics is very important. These videos will
constantly market for you, because different
messages will resonate with different people.
For example, a mom may see your video
about caring for toddler teeth, then come
to you as a new patient because she's so
glad that you were able to help her solve
that problem. Now she brings the whole
family to you-all from one video of you
explaining something that you explain to
parents every day in your practice.
When you have a video that you feel is
really good, you can increase the number of
people who will have the opportunity to see
it by using Facebook ads. This can be done
for just a few dollars a day. In my practice,
I'm currently sending traffic to a live video, a
post about my amazing hygienist and video
testimonials. This strategy is considered to be
an inorganic strategy of marketing, because
you're paying for video views.
The types of posts that get the most
attention are posts that involve photos of
the dentist and the team, community events
that the practice participated in, and before
and after photos. Remember, the goal is to
get the most attention and get potential
patients to know, like and trust you faster.
What I love about these ads is that they
are " set it and forget it. " I update my ads
only after I've created another really great
piece of content or when engagement on a
specific post has really gone down. Usually,
every three to six months is a good rule of
thumb to change out ads. I usually spend
about $2 per day on each post.
The thought of setting up ads may be
a bit daunting to some dentists who don't
consider themselves very " techy. " But the
truth is, if you can set up Gmail on your
smartphone, you can run Facebook ads. A
proper ad strategy can cost you less than
a Starbucks coffee per day and be highly
effective.
Conclusion
While going live on Facebook is a great
way to get your dental practice out there, the
most important thing you can do is create
quality videos. Your potential patients need
to know they are in good hands with you
before they commit, which means showing
them who you are and what sets your practice
apart from others. n
References
1.
2.
https://99firms.com/blog/facebook-live-stats/#gref
https://review.content-science.com/millennial-content-consumption-fact-sheet/
http://www.dentaltown.com/blalock-du https://www.99firms.com/blog/facebook-live-stats/#gref https://review.content-science.com/millennial-content-con http://www.dentaltown.com
Dentaltown October 2021

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