Important Admin Role Facebook Security Update - PLEASE READ

For some time now there has been a major flaw in the way Facebook sets up business pages. The problem has been with Admins.

A Facebook page admin is the person that controls your Facebook page, one logs in to Facebook as a private individual then switches profile to 'use page as...' your Facebook page. These admins can then post to your page AS your page, add other admins, see the insight analytics, change the page design, delete comments and post as your page... a very powerful role.

The problem has been that these admins can add/remove other admins.

Think about this. You have a member of your team that does your Facebook for you, happily posting to your page. Something then happens at the practice and you have a disagreement. This person (if they are an admin) can then go to your page, remove everyone except themselves as admins and start posting negatively about your practice... and there is nothing you can do about it!

NOT ANY MORE.

Facebook have introduced Admin roles and my recommendation is now this. ONLY have the practice principal as a 'Manager' and have all other team members as 'Content Creators'. This way, should the worst happen, you will always have full access to the page and they can not lock you out or remove you as an admin.

To change admin roles
Switch profile to your business page then click on 'Edit Page'

Then click on the new 'Admin Roles'

Then add/edit admins as necessary selecting the new role they will have

For a full list of Admin Roles and what they can do click here

Another brand new feature of Facebook this week is the ability to schedule posts from your page, great for posting over the weekend, or for scheduling posts in one go at the beginning of the week. To do this, simply type your update as normal, then click on the new clock image bottom left of the post and select the time. Simple.

For a full Social Media Startup and Survival Kit for a low £25, please click here now. Immediate access available.

Drivers, Passengers and Hedgehogs

In dentistry there are 3 types of dental practice - drivers, passengers and hedgehogs.

Drivers lead a business and decide where they are going. They chose the destination and make it happen, navigating the route their own way. They decide on the method of transport to get to their destination and are in total control.

Drivers use online marketing because they understand it, they get it and they make it work for them.

Passengers follow other practices, they still get to the destination but only because the drivers take them there. They don't decide on where the destination is for their business, they simply go with the drivers as they have no other choice. They have no idea where they are going and just sit back and wait for it to happen.

Passengers use online marketing because they've seen the drivers doing it so figure it must be a good idea, they don't get it so it doesn't work for them.

Hedgehogs get squashed.

Which are you?

P.S. If you'd like a Social Media and Online Marketing Survival Kit, please click here now.

Social Media Marketing Doesn't Work

I saw a newsletter the other day that suggested Social Media Marketing doesn't work because it can not be proved with a spreadsheet in precise numbers & every new patient precisely allocated to that referral source.

That lead me to wonder, can we all precisely measure the exact ROI of

• A stunning dental brand & logo and the few grand it cost to design
• That drink in the pub one night with a patient that went on to refer all his friends
• The polite way the staff answer the phone and deal with enquiries so well
• The many thousands that practices pay to coaches each year
• The time and money spent to differentiate your practice from the one down the road
• Designing the outside of the practice for excellent curb appeal
• The Moulton Brown soap in the bathroom
• That clinical course you just went on
• The charity work you do
• Being part of the local community and helping others

Perhaps we should stop all those too unless we can exactly measure them?

Should You Run Dental Special Offers?

Crickey there's a hornets nest that might be left alone - but hey no, lets delve in and see what we find huh?

Is running a dental practice all about the marketing and business, or is it all about the patient? It seems that there are a few people out there that believe that this is a dicotomy and that it's impossible that one can do both. My belief is that most dentists (certainly all that I have come in to contact with) care 100% about the patient - however more and more dentists are now realising the importance of marketing.

Back in the Good Old Days not many dentists thought about the business and were 100% focused on the importance of the patient, my impression is that what has happened now is that that 100% focus has not changed, but along side it has emerged an awareness of the importance of The Business.

The 2 running together in tandem, hand in hand. A joint venture.

If a dentist does exceptionally great dentistry, with the latest equipment and with the skill care and attention that many others aspire too - but has no patients to help - I believe THAT IS WRONG.

A practice WILL NOT grow and prosper without marketing (just to be clear Word of Mouth is marketing too!) and to waste the skill of  a great dentist just because they don't focus on the importance of marketing too is a crime!

So, we are clear then. Marketing a practice does not mean there is less of a focus on the importance of great dentistry, it means the practice is working harder to reach the patients that need to be treated by the excellent clinician - better marketing means more patients receive better care!

Right, back to the question Should You Run Dental Special Offers?  - as much as I genuinely hate to admit it, yes I think you should. 

In my experience new patients like offers, and here's why.

Going to the dentist is not like buying a computer, if I buy a computer my risk is low as I can evaluate the product before and take it back if I'm not happy - even if you buy a £100,000 car, the risk is still low as you can always take it back if it fails to perform as described.

Now think about your dentistry - the patient can not evaluate it before hand and they can't take it back after if is not right!

So RISK is HIGH for the patients - even if only spending a few hundred with you their risk is potentially higher than spending £100k on a new car!

Your marketing therefore needs to focus on reducing risk:

1. Testimonials
2. Videos
3. Photos of the team
4. Virtual Practice Tours
5. Before and After

All these reduce risk... and so do special offers. They are simply a reduction of risk to the patient, so they work - BUT...

...in my marketing with dentists I NEVER (if at all possible) give anything away for free, always look for something back from the patient if you do an offer. Make the exchange more equitable, rather than give things away.

Something like the following:

• Half Price Whitening (Your part of the exchange) If they bring a friend at the same time (The patients part in the deal which makes it more equitable for you)
• FREE Initial Assessment  (Your part of the exchange) If they download a voucher so you can send them further gentle marketing emails  (The patients part in the deal which makes it more equitable for you)
• Refund of Initial Assessment Fee  (Your part of the exchange) If they download a voucher so you can send them further gentle marketing emails  (The patients part in the deal which makes it more equitable for you)
• £X off Invisalign  (Your part of the exchange) If they download a voucher so you can send them further gentle marketing emails  (The patients part in the deal which makes it more equitable for you)

Start to see a pattern emerging?

By all means do a special offer (remember if the special offer is permanent then it is a price reduction NOT an offer, which is a whole different argument - DON'T confuse the 2!) but when you do make the offer and exchange more equitable.

So, marketing is vital in your practice, and so is making it equitable and fair for both parties and remember...

"Running a dental practice without marketing is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does"

What is Dental Marketing & Sales?

For me, Dental Marketing is simply the elegant joining together of people with a problem and people with a solution... in fact that is all any marketing should be.

When anyone buys anything they are solving a problem, it could be hunger, thirst, vanity, boredom or something else - the thing is, this problem is not always as obvious as it might seem.

Take a butcher for example, they sell meat, so is the problem they solve hunger or something else? I suggest it could be hunger, but could also be:

1. Relaxation
2. Enjoyment
3. Fulfilment
4. A relaxing time with friends
5. A romantic meal with a partner that ends in something a whole lot more than a meal!

You see, to think of your product itself as the solution to a problem is totally missing the point - so let's bring this back to dentistry.

NEVER did any patient ever buy veneers.

NEVER did any patient ever buy Invisalign.

NEVER did any patient ever buy Botox.

These people bought the emotions that these products/services gave them, it gave them youthful feelings again, it gave them confidence, it gave them happiness for their appearance again and it may even have got them a leg over!

Putting the smutty jokes aside, this is a really serious issue that needs addressing in dental marketing, if you stop promoting the product itself and start looking at what the patient is REALLY buying, then promote that instead, you will find a shift in your conversions and uptake of treatments as patients truly connect with your marketing. 

So ask your self now, what is that you really want patients to buy?

The Importance of Email Marketing for Dentistry

In this blog post I wish to explain the reasoning behind email marketing for dentistry, you see the thing is I see many dentists steering more and more towards social media (Social Media is great, and you must understand this) yet they are often ignoring the VERY powerful effect of email.

So, I want to explain WHY email is so powerful and how do people make millions... yes I said millions, out of email?

One of the golden rules of all marketing is segment, segment, segment then target, target, target. This means the more detail you have about a prospect, the more you can 'speak to them' using language that means something to them. In email marketing terms we call these 'lists'

Email markers around the world spend most of their time building lists, NOT trying to make money!

They build lists of people they know that are interested in a specific product or service, now if a prospect decides to buy that specific product or service, then hey, that's fine... but if not the email marketer will do everything to add them to a segmented list for future marketing.

It works like this, the email marketers will:

1. Use social media to drive prospects to a focused and targeted sales page 
2. Use Pay Per Click advertising  to drive prospects to a focused and targeted sales page
3. Use any other form of marketing, including offline to drive prospects to a focused and targeted sales page.
4. Provide an option to 'Buy Now' on that page
5. Provide a teaser 'Find out more...' facility on that page
6. Add prospects from the teaser to a list
7. Educate that list to a) Demonstrate that the marketer is THE best b)Educate the prospect about how much they need to solve their problem c) provide further opportunities for the prospect to buy

So, now let's 'dentalify' this process.

1. Use social media to drive prospects to a new focused and targeted sales page on your website  e.g.whitening, botox, implants, dentures, ortho
2. Use Pay Per Click advertising  to drive prospects to that same page
3. Use local leaflets, flyers, radio and magazine adverts to drive prospects to that page.
4. Provide an option to 'Make an Appointment Now' on that page - possibly a free consult
5. Provide a teaser on that page - e.g. 'Download Your Complete Guide to Everything you Need to Know About <>'
6. Add those prospects from the teaser to a list
7. Educate that list over the coming months with a series of dental health emails to a) Demonstrate that you are THE best local dentist b)Educate the prospect about how much they need to solve their problem c) provide further opportunities for the prospect to request an appointment

Email marketing works because it is scalable and automated, and there are some simple low cost options such as Aweber (this is the software I use) to enable ANY dental practice to set up a great online marketing system.

There are also some great email marketing tutorials to help you set up email marketing so it won't be a daunting process.

Once set up email can become an automated marketing machine that works in unison with social media and offline marketing and if a practice ignores it I personally feel they are missing a HUGE opportunity.

What do you think?

Will You End Up Missing The Most Important Event This Year - and What Might Happen if You Do?

Will You End Up Missing The Most Important Event This Year - and What Might Happen if You Do??

What is that event?

Why is it so important?

What will happen if you do miss it?

Hey, great questions.. so what is this blog post about? Well, 2 things:

1. The Tweetup at Dentinal Tubules Stand L41 at 1200 and 1500 each day
2. How to write a headline for your emails

So, first things first - The Dentistry Show

Each year I organise a Twitter Meetup, commonly known as  a 'Tweetup' this is an opportunity to say Hi to all those people you talk to on Twitter and Facebook yet only see occasionally. It's at these events that the relationships we create online truly become real.

There is a great support network of dentists on Facebook and Twitter, all sharing business and technical/clinical tips with each other - and I feel proud to be part of that network.

Also part of that network is the amazing Drhu Shah and Dentinal Tubules. Drhu has worked tirelessly (and way beyond the call of duty) over the past few years to build a website with a network of over 8,000 dental users - he has articles, forums and expert columns of people handing out free and useful advice for dentists.

So here's what I want you to do:

• If you are going to the Dentistry Show, come along to our Tweetups at 1200 & 1500 each day on stand L41- say hi and sign up to Dentinal Tubules for free
• If you are NOT going to the show, then please signup to Dentinal Tubules by clicking here

If you'd like free SMS updates about the tweetups at the show, then please enter your details here. (your details won't be used for any other marketing and will be deleted after the show)

SIGN UP FOR TWEETUP SMS UPDATES HERE

How to write a headline for your emails

The next thing I'd like to look at is headlines for emails, in fact headlines for tweets, blogs, Facebook updates and conventional marketing all conform to these basic rules.

So let's look at the headline of this post and break it down. "Will You End Up Missing The Most Important Event This Year - and What Might Happen if You Do?" 

'Will You End Up Missing...'

Generally speaking people are more motivated in to action by 'away from' motivations than 'towards' - people will take more action to avoid pain than they will to seek pleasure!

To take advantage of this fact, include an 'away from' motivation in your headline if at all possible.

'...The Most Important Event This Year...'

This section includes the word 'most' this is what is known as an 'unspecified comparative' we are comparing the event to others by saying it is the 'most important' yet we don't say why, or indeed what events it is more important than.

Other examples of this type of word are:

good	better	best
well	better	best
bad	worse	worst
far	farther	farthest
far	further	furthest
little	littler, less(er)	littlest, least
many	more	most

Using these adds more power to the title and makes people start to think about what is it more important than, and this thinking forces them to engage with your content, clever huh?

'...and What Might Happen if You Do?'

This includes the word 'might' - this is known as a 'Modal Operator of Possibility'. This includes words like:

• Could
• Would
• Might
• Maybe

They imply that there is the possibility of something happening, and this possibility is what drives people to take further action in reading the content of your communication - if we use modal operators of possibility we imply that there might be some loss for not taking action, this then invokes emotion and encourages people to take action and read further.

There are loads more words we can use in our headlines and over the next few blog posts I will highlight more ways to use words to get people to read your content.

What words have you found that work best?

Email Marketing - Does it Work in Dentistry?

Yes.

End of blog post.

-----------------

Tempting though it is to write a blog post of only 1 word, I thought a little expansion might be in order!

In my experience Facebook and Twitter are great at engaging with potential new patients and will often result in a direct conversion to new patient, however for me the magic happens when everything becomes connected... so, what do I mean by everything?

Everything means:

1. Social Media
2. Your Blog
3. Your Website

Each step down this 'conversion funnel' moves the patient one step closer to becoming a patient, once they visit the website (after chatting on Facebook etc) they can see you, your practice, find out more about you and take action.

Cool, so we know we need to have 'everything' connected, but there are 2 categories of prospective patient that visit your website:

1. YES - ready to go and will call or book online
2. NO - they will 'bounce' straight off the website
3. MAYBE - these are the by far the biggest group of people and it is to this group that email is so powerful

Email marketing allows a prospective patient to take a small step towards being a patient, a step that is safe and risk free - so how do we get their email address? Hand out something useful, relevant and free. A free guide to looking after their kid's teeth, a guide to all the various ortho systems out there... anything that will mean something to the prospective patient and demonstrate that you care... BUT, they will need to give you their email address in order to get this guide!

Then you can send them a series of gentle emails over the following days, helping them to trust you and take the next step... to contact you directly.

I've seen this work over and over, and how do I know? Well, I add a little piece of code to each link back to the dentist's website from the email, so I can see explicitly how many of those emails drive patients to the practice website, then what they do there.

You need to ensure that emails are not too frequent (about every 3 days) and that each one is genuinely useful to the recipient.

It's also then possible to link your blog in to this email list and send a broadcast email everytime you write a blog post (and if you are reading this via email that's exactly what I've done) - all done automatically... I love automating things!

Here are a few tips for setting up an email campaign:

• Offer something free and truly useful on your website in exchange for an email address
• Start the email title series with the same words so recipients can easily recognise that an email is from you e.g. XYZ Dental Practice
• Send the first email (with the guide) straight away
• Give the option to unsubscribe from every email with clear instructions
• Remind people on emails how you got their address e.g. 'You are receiving this as you subscribed on <<>'
• Don't try to sell, simply inform so much that the temptation to buy is overwhelming
• Be genuine and write in a personal style
• Keep email subjects engaging and inspiring so that people open them

Setting up an email system like this in the practice is pretty simple, I recommend Aweber as they have a low cost solution for around £12 per month ($19).

I strongly suggest you get started with an email program at the practice soon, you'll see some great results if you do I'm sure. I've also set up an Aweber Email Marketing Training Guide which you can purchase from my website for £45, this includes everything you need to set up an Aweber email campaign

Search, Plus Your Dental World - Google does it again.

Google Plus. Are you on it yet?

NO!

Why?

Ok, I got it, I go it... here's your list of reasons why you're not on it yet:

1. It's boring
2. You don't get it
3. You think "Good grief, not another social network"
4. You're shouting "My friends are on Facebook, why do I want to join another network?"

Now let me tell you why you need to get with the Google Plus beat... do you have a dental practice website? If you do then you need to get Google Plus sorted, and here's why.

Google's customers want answers to questions, these customers type their questions in to the Google search box 400 million times every day. So if Google is to deliver quality for it's customers, it needs to deliver the exact answer to the question asked.. got it so far?

If a website is old or outdated the answer to the searchers question could be old and outdated, so Google might ignore your site, or look for a more up to date one... that's why blogs rank so highly on Google, they are up to date and current by their nature, so Google says "Hey, I'll rank a blog high 'coz I know it'll be up to date".

Now, the next level is for Google to think "OK, how do I get en even more accurate answer to that question that person just typed? How about I ask their friends what they think?"

And BOOM, socially relevant searches are born - after all, it stands to reason, if you and I are friends then we are likely to be like each other, so if YOU are searching for something online, and Google sees that I like a website that contains a possible solution for you, chances are that the website will be more relevant to you personally... so Google gives that website that I like a little nudge up the search results for you.

Manipulative? Hell yeh, but what else do you think the search results are anyway? It's only Google's idea of what they think we should see rated number 1 isn't it.

Now, the way Google knows who are friends is via Google Plus, you will have seen +1 buttons appearing all over the internet...

Here's a video that Google recently made to demonstrate what will happen when you search



Click here to watch on YouTube

The result of all this is that if you have a +1 button on your dental practice website and people click it, and if their friends do a search for say 'dentist ' your dental practice website site will get a little nudge up the rankings for those people on Google - powerful stuff.

To add the buttons to your site, hop on over to the Google website   to grab the code - or if you want more advice on the online marketing gunship then book on a course with me. The next course is on 7th February and we'll go through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Optimisation, Email AND the whole Google Plus thing.

Please visit my website today for more information on this course

Book your place now and don't get left behind in the Google Plus Your Dental World Searches

6 Traits of The Successful Social Media Marketing Strategy

Over the years I've found there are a few traits that set the successful marketing strategy apart from an unsuccessful one - and if you want to avoid failure then I suggest you read, absord, understand then do!

Trait 1 - Think Holistically

Social Media is not the 'be all and end all' of your online marketing, it should form part of a comprehensive online marketing strategy that includes as many marketing channels as possible.

In my opinion this should include:

1. Google Plus
2. Google Places
3. Twitter
4. Facebook
5. YouTube
6. Blogging
7. Email
8. Your Website

It may also include Facebook adverts and Google Pay Per Click (No, PPC is not dead.. only doing it wrong is dead!)

The sequence of these is important and social media only seeks to widen your sales funnel. The goal should always be to drive potential patients down the sales funnel and down the list above.

Trait 2 - Use Social Media to Drive Traffic to Your Website

Your website is an integral feature of your online marketing strategy and should include visitor data capture mechanisms (like email) and the facility to request appointments online.

You can then drive traffic to your site from social media by suggesting people book online or download information - and in return you get their email address and the ability to continually build relationships with them.

Trait 3 - Engage

The clue is in the title here, it's SOCIAL media, not BROADCAST media, so engage, be personable, chat and help others. This will build rapport and trust and enable the local people to feel like they know you, making the decision to come to see you a logical one.

The key is a 2 way conversation, not one way. We buy from people we like, so help other to like you!

Trait 4 - Reduce Risk for Patients

Dentistry is not about shifting products. It's about delivering a service.

Products marketing is different, as products can be evaluated before hand and returned to the supplier if you don't like them or they don't work as you thought. Think buying a TV for example.

Services on the other hand can't be evaluated before hand and can't be taken back. Think listening to a lecture.

Product marketing often requires a shop to encourage people to make a quick snap decision - buy one get one free, buy today and save ££ss, special offer today only etc etc

Services marketing often requires a provider to reduce the risk for customers, after all they can't evaluate the service before hand (their new teeth) and can't take them back.

So shift your marketing focus on to reducing risk for patients, NOT shifting products!

Trait 5 - Know The Answer to This Question - "WHY YOU?"

When I see a new client I always go through a full marketing audit ( I majored in marketing on my MBA) and ask this question - "WHY YOU?" - it's amazing how many dental practices can not answer that question.

So layer in the things that are unique to you, this could include:

• Unique products and services you offer
• Your education
• Your training courses
• Your materials
• Your gadgets
• The way you treat patients
• Trademarks
• Special Techniques you use e.g. Wand, Sedation, Hypnosis etc

Then come up with a simple phrase or statement that encapsulates that and have everyone in the practice know it. 

You MUST be totally clear as to why YOU are the best in your area and be able to convey this message on Social Media

Trait 6 - Patience

I find social media is slow burn marketing and often take time to build 'traction'. But once traction is achieved there really is no stopping it. So you do need to commit to the project and be prepared to look at it in the long term and keep going.

Gently hand out great advice, reduce risk for patients, help them like you, engage, drive them to your website, think holistically and I know it will work for you.

-----------------------------

So there you have it, my top 6 traits for a successful social media campaign, if you feel you'd like more guidance then why not book on my latest Social Media Kickstart Course.

James Russell - The London Smile Clinic said "Mark really knows his business! This turns social media into something really powerful - not just for playing with."

Places are booking fast, so click here to reserve your place today.

We'll go through everything above plus a ton more useful stuff too.

"This course will open your eyes to the inifinte possibilies regards social media marketing"

Martin Cox - Forndale Dental Clinic

Book your place today

How to get the new Facebook Timeline Profile

Have you heard about the new Facebook timeline?

Have you seen it yet? No well pop over to my profile and you'll see the new design. (add me as friend while you are there if you like)

Here's how the new design looks.

This is what Facebook says about their new timeline

"Back in the early days of Facebook, your profile was pretty basic – just your name, a photo, where you went to school…stuff you'd cover in the first five minutes you met someone.
Over time, your profile evolved to better reflect how you actually communicate with your friends. Now you can can share photos of what you did last weekend, and updates about how you feel today.

But since the focus is on the most recent things you posted, more important stuff slips off the page. The photos of your graduation get replaced by updates about what you had for breakfast.

Say you're catching up with an old friend – would you rather find out that they had eggs this morning, or hear about their new dream job?

The way your profile works today, 99% of the stories you share vanish. The only way to find the posts that matter is to click "Older Posts" at the bottom of the page. Again. And again.
Imagine if there was an easy way to rediscover the things you shared, and collect all your best moments in a single place.

Introducing timeline – a new kind of profile"

So how do you get the new timeline?

Simply visit www.facebook.com/about/timeline at the bottom of the page there is a green link which says "Get Timeline" all you need to do is click it!

If you don't see the 'Get Timeline' button then sorry dudes, but Facebook is making you wait just a little bit longer... sorry!

Speak again in 2012, until then stay sharp.

Mark

P.S I recently made one small change to my Facebook page that enabled me to reach a load more people, click here to find out what it was.

Is your website found on Google? The art of SEO

A large part of the work that I do is getting dentist's websites found, after all, you can have all the email/Facebook/YouTube/Twitter integration you like, but if no-one visits your website then it's all going to amount to not very much huh?

Your website should be the hub of your online marketing - this is the place that we bring it all back together and the central portal for reaching the local people - if it's not found it's like winking at a girl in the dark, you know what you're doing but no-one else does!

So how do we get the lights turned on?

How do we get a light shining on your website and optimised so that people find it?

One small word. Google.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process by which we get your website found in the search results - mainly on Google!

I've written before about 'onsite' SEO, so this post is about 'offsite' SEO, or link building.

Google sees Link building as a referral, you know how powerful a patient referral to another patient is right? Well if another website links to yours then Google sees it as a virtual referral... lot's of links = lot's of referrals = you must be important = higher search engine results - quite simple really.

There's one more thing that we need to consider and that's link juice... WHAT I hear you cry... Link juice!

Link juice is a virtual soup of 'website power' that sloshes around the internet, think of it like this, if you place  a link OUT of your website, say to an implant company for example, your website 'leaks' link juice to that site. If you have a link TO your website a little bit of link juice flows your way. Get more link juice and your website rises in the search results. Simple really.

So, you need someone that understands optimisation to manage your online marketing to ensure as much link juice flows your way. Here's a VERY simplified diagram of a technique.

Think of your website as the centre of a target, we want as much link juice to flow in to the  bulls eye where your website sits. A technique is to link some Outer Tier (or Tier 2) websites to some Inner Tier (Tier 1) websites. This could be done by uploading articles, blogs, documents etc to the sites. The outer tier squeezes some link juice to the inner tier. And when the juice has built in the Tier 1 sites it's possible to link them through to your website with more articles, blogs and documents.

This has the effect of 'concentrating' the juice at the outer level, so by the time it hits your website it is really valuable link juice - this is a time consuming process but fairly simple to do, although one needs to be careful as there are a few pitfalls to be aware of.

Getting your website to number 1 on Google is not a case of hoping or wishing, it needs a structured approach that uses Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, Articles, Directories plus others.

If you think your website is not performing as well as you'd like give me a call and I'll give you an honest appraisal of what I can do for you 0845 259 1232

Stay sharp,

Mark

Patient Testimonials - What to Ask For

Patient testimonials are a brilliant way of demonstrating to potential customers that you are good at what you do. They provide something we marketers call Social Proof - and we all like proof of what we are reading, don't we?

It's simply not good enough to say you are the best dentist in town, or that your crowns are the best - you need to prove it, and the best way to do this is for a satisfied customer to prove it for you!

What I have laid out here is a summary of the questions I think you should ask your patients. Questions 1-3 are to do with 'motivation' if a potential customer can identify with the motivation for solving a dental problem they will feel more 'in tune' with the testimonial and it will be more powerful.

Questions 4 & 5 are to do with the 'decision' itself - we all use different strategies to make a decision, again this will help the reader to feel more at ease with the testimonial.

Question 6 & 8 are to provide comparisons between the emotional state before and after treatment - we make purchasing decisions based on emotion, then justify with logic - so eliciting some emotion in the testimonial will help the reader to make a decision.

Question 7 is to do with the treatment itself.

Question 9 latches on to the 'post purchase' feelings, people often have what we call 'buyers remorse' - with products one can take it back, but with services like dentistry one can not do that, so the purchase decision is much higher risk. If we can demonstrate that a previous patient had no remorse and could do more things afterwards it shows the reader that the decision to buy was a good one.

Question 10 Is a simple command telling the reader what to do - this ought to be a 'call to action' along the lines of "I would suggest anyone that feels like I did contact the practice straight away"

Here are the questions I suggest you ask your happy patient:

1. What was your initial dental problem?
2. What did this dental problem prevent you doing?
3. What made you decide to do something about your dental problem? In other words, why do it now?
4. How did you chose which dentist to go to? In other words, what selection criteria did you use?
5. Why did you pick XYZ Dental Practice?
6. How did you feel about your teeth before you went to XYZ Dental Practice?
7. What treatment did you have done?
8. How did you feel about your teeth after treatment?
9. What have your new teeth allowed you to do now?
10. What advice would you give other patients in a similar situation to you?

Using a structure like this will allow you to get better testimonials that are more useful to you and your business.

What would you add? Or indeed take away?

Facebook Phishing - You Are Full of Crap

This email was sent to a client of mine this week, it looks like an official Facebook email and implies that someone has made a comment "you are full of crap" on their wall.

Yet if you click on either the 'See this comment thread' link or 'Unsubscribe' link in the message it does not go to Facebook but to a phishing/virus site.

I suggest that whenever you click on any link that is sent to you in an email that you ensure it is genuine - most email programs allow you to hover over a link and see the destination and this is a good habit to get in to in order to protect yourself.

Have you seen this email, or similar?

A Facebook Experiment - my Results

People say that you need to post on Facebook pages frequently in order to build your fan base, but is this true?

I've no idea, so I decided to run an experiment.

For the first 2 weeks of November I posted relatively frequently, typically 2 posts per day to my Facebook fan page. Then on 9th November I stopped altogether and didn't post anything until 21st November - you can check these dates out by scrolling down on my page to see when the posts were made.

Now, if you have a proper business page on Facebook you can check your stats (with a personal profile you can't do this), and here's my result.

You can see a MASSIVE drop in total fans reached, right up to the point where I started posting again and fans started to be reached again. It's kind of obvious really, if you don't post anything people won't see it, but these are all missed opportunities to build your brand and create exposure for your business.

This also seems to show that people don't go visiting your Facebook pages after they have 'liked' them (or fans reached would remain constant) - so it's not like a website where people might go back time and time again - the only way on Facebook that you keep fans interacting and seeing your page is by posting content - period.

So, based on these findings I've introduced a new Auto Managed service for dental practices on Facebook and Twitter to help you guys out with content - it's an automated service that will keep your content fresh and relevant. Please do visit the page now and take a look through what is possible.

You've seen the results of what happens when you don't post, so it's vital that you do - so take action now!

Twitter Followers

Are you on Twitter yet?

If you aren't then get yourself an account, follow @markoborn (that's me) and join in the fun - there are hundreds of dentists on there supporting each other in their daily life, plus millions of potential patients ready to be chatted up! (oops sorry, I mean they're ready to be engaged with!)

If you are on Twitter how many followers do you have? And does it matter?

My answer to that is NO it doesn't matter a jot.

I've been looking at some other social media management companies today and their clients have thousands of followers from all over the world, this looks impressive, but who gives a fig if a dental practice has followers from Russia or the USA?

What matters is relevancy, so a dental practice needs to have followers that fulfil 2 criteria:

1. They are local to the practice, ideally within 5 miles
2. They are actively engaging on Twitter, not just with an account, but actively talking to others

Finding any old people to attract as followers is easy, finding targeted followers is harder and takes time and patience - what's more valuable to you - 50 local followers who are engaged on Twitter and live within 5 miles of the practice, or 1500 followers who live 500 miles from the practice? I know which I'd prefer.

So my advice today is to go for those high quality followers, talk to them, engage with them, share their content, hand out useful dental advice to help them keep their teeth for life - and when they need a dentist they'll remember the nice person on Twitter that shared their content and helped them.

Twitter for dentists is taking off... What's your experience on Twitter?

How much more performance does your business need?

Many businesses/dental practices are looking for a huge increase in performance in order to be the best. Many want to increase turnover by 00s% in order to 'beat' the competition. Businesses often think that this is required... but my question to you now is.... is it really required?

Here's an example of what I mean.

Sunday was the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and I missed it! GGRRR

However the wonderfully talented Lewis Hamilton won in 1 hour, 37 minutes and 11.886 seconds. Following 8.4 seconds behind (an age in F1 terms) was Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari. A totally conclusive win by Lewis with the second place driver a good distance behind... well done Lewis.

But let's look at those figures, Lewis Hamilton took 5831.886 seconds to complete the race, and Fernando Alonso took 8.4 seconds more... that's a difference of 0.14% WOW. Such a seemingly outright win was with a margin of 0.14%.

If Alonso's engineers could have got 0.2% more performance from the car he would have won.

If Alonso could have increased his performance by 0.2% he would have won.

It doesn't take massive increases to beat the competition, all it needs is consistently great results and constant improvement.

So what's the lesson for your business?

1. Start those improvements now
2. Start with any improvement, it's a start!
3. Accept that your competition are not actually that bad, and that a small % increase in every area of your business will have dramatic results
4. Start your next marketing activity now, stop procrastinating
5. Get on with Social Media - that small % increase is often enough to tip the balance
6. Start marketing with email and look for the tiniest area for improvement
7. Split test your website pages and go with the ones that perform better
8. Split test words and forms on your website and go with the ones that have the best % conversion rates
9. Look at your website analytics, which referral source gives the best % conversion? Spend time on that referral source
10. Look at your website analytics, which key word gives the best % conversion? Spend time with SEO to ensure  you are high on Google for that word/phrase
11. Break your marketing down in to a marketing system and look for every way to improve it.

If Ferrari could have got 0.5% increase at the weekend they would have won... what can you do TODAY to get that increase?

A Review of Aweber Email Marketing for your Dental Practice

A question I'm often asked is 'Will you do our Facebook page for us Mark?" My reply is NO!

My approach to Facebook is that it's part of an arsenal of tools that need to be employed together in one cohesive system to achieve an end result - more patients.

Facebook is great at building a community and generating a buzz about your practice - all good things, however if you are using a Facebook business page (which you should be!) any conversation that is started is in the public domain. So my intention is to use Facebook as level 1 of your sales funnel with the goal of always driving people to level 2 where conversations are more private and personal - and that is email marketing.

Email is a very powerful tool when done properly and a great way I find to use this tool is via a blog.

Your blog should be handing out relevant, free and useful information to your target market - this can then be sent directly to Facebook and Twitter AND to your email list - so how do I do that? Aweber.

Here's a video that explains how Aweber converts your blog post in to an email...



Please click the image below to find our more about Aweber.
Simple RSS to Email by AWeber Communications

Email marketing can be annoying, however when done right it is very effective and I see a good  £ conversion of enquiries in to patients for my clients. My most recent stats show a client spent £3k with me and saw £37k of business through an email marketing campaign.

So if you aren't using email yet, I suggest you give Aweber a go as it makes patient communication simple, measurable and effective.

What email system do you use, and why do you like that one?

Facebook Lists and Privacy Settings

Facebook's new privacy settings have been all over the news recently, and I have to say I quite like the new way of posting status updates.

Historically if one had a load of 'friends' on Facebook, but only 100 were 'actual' friends (in the old style meaning of the word) and the rest were just aquaintances or business contacts it was difficult to really separate the streams of content that each group saw.

Facebook's privacy has allowed you to block lists and individuals from seeing photos and updates for a while, but it was always generic - in other words if you block a list from your status updates then ALL your updates are blocked - not great really.

The new privacy settings now allow you to chose who sees what on an update by update basis - and this is direct response to Google +1 Circles I would imagine.

In this video I show you how you can manage this privacy setting, plus give a top tip for managing your list for business... enjoy...

And if you want more about Facebook for Dentists, do check out my website

If the video above doesn't display, click here to watch on YouTube

How to be creative - the story of naming a puppy

I've just bought a puppy. Yes he's very cute and, as ever, there's a story in it for a blog post!

So, new puppy arrives home and what are we going to call him? All the usual dog names get bandied about by the kids - you know things like Spot and Patch - but nothing seems to fit.

So as a family we start chatting about things we like, looking for inspiration, then my eldest daughter says "Mum loves Cornwall, it would be great to find a name that relates to there, wouldn't it?" - and it's true Mrs O has a deep love for Cornwall and we both intend moving there in the future...

So while the kids go through lots of Cornish place names I get out a Cornish dictionary (thank goodness for Google) and see that the Cornish for happy is 'Lowen' - that's it - sorted that's his new name.

So how does this relate to creativity?

When I did my MBA I spent 6 months doing a creativity and innovation module and I wish to share a few concepts with you - during that time of my degree we were told to keep these presuppositions in mind... all the time.

Cycle often and close late. This means during any creative process don;t come to conclusions too quickly, allow the creative juices to flow for a long time. The biggest killer for this is to tell someone their idea is no good - so if you want  a creative team allow them to cycle around the problem often and bring the creative session to a close as late as possible.

Build up don’t knock down: This is to build on people's ideas. A suggestion is to stop using the word 'but' and replace it with 'and'. When someone puts an idea forwards, add the word 'and' then add your input - by doing this you build upon the work of others.

Value Play: Children learn through play, and as adults we have this knocked out of us at an early age - one of the most amazing and valuable exercises I did on my MBA was finger painting! Value play and you get the participants to discover again like a child.

Explore the givens: Challenge what you believe to be true - companies will often say "we can't do that" or "That won't work" but why? Also, look at what you already do and ask why... nothing should be out of bounds to discuss when looking for creative solutions to problems.

Connect and be receptive: Connect to the people involved in the process and be receptive to their thoughts and opinions, remember build them up don't knock them down!

There were loads more, but I found these were the most useful in any creative problem solving issue I was tackling - and keeping these in mind while trying to chose the dog named helped to come up with a creative solution that truly meant something to our family.

And now comes a big one! Some people might say "But I'm not the creative type!" OH YES YOU ARE, all you need is the right environment and the right support - most people, even the most 'creative' can't just go off and sit in a  corner and 'be creative' - they need to get their mind in to the right state and use a system to help the process - if you think you are not creative it's not true,  all it is is the wrong state of mind and a lack of process!