Are You Using Social Media to its Full Potential?

By: Noha Abou-Hashima

In order to stand out from the crowd, many dental practices smartly choose to take their business to their patients, rather than the other way around. They do this by utilizing social media. Why is this the smart thing to do? Because unlike your website, social media is an active platform that allows your patients to form a bond with your practice.

When you engage with your patients online, your practice becomes more than just another dental office. It becomes a familiar place where your patients know they can feel comfortable. Patient engagement online allows your patients to form an emotional bond with your brand, thus distinguishing your practice from the competition. But are you getting the most out of your social media?

It is generally a good idea for your practice to engage with patients on multiple social media platforms. But, do not make the mistake of treating all social media platforms the same. Not only does the type of content differ, but each platform also targets a specific audience with specific interests. In our previous blog posts, we have discussed how content like online reviews can improve your SEO or how you can capitalize on User Generated Content. This article will walk you through some of the more popular social media platforms, and how you can write content that caters to each platform and its audience.

Related article: 5 Ways to Reach Your Target Audience via Social Media

Twitter

Twitter is all about simplicity. The 140 character limit keeps users' feeds from getting too crowded with content. When writing a post for your practice's Twitter, keep in mind that your followers are looking for short, simple tweets that get the message across in a matter of seconds. See the example below of what a short and relevant tweet looks like.



Though short tweets are probably the easiest and least time-consuming to read, you can still use Twitter to promote longer content related to your practice. If your practice has a blog, you can link to it on Twitter, but remember that links are also restricted to the 140 character limit. Using a social media management tool like Hootsuite not only helps you schedule your posts, but also shrinks links to fit the character limit. Use relevant hashtags and an interesting caption to prompt your followers to click the link to your blog post.

Five Social Media Best Practices for Healthcare Professionals

By: Will Koziey-Kronas As a platform for promoting your practice, social media is a flexible, blank slate that you can take in any direction you want. That's what makes social media a powerful component of your practice's online presence - but that freedom can also make social media intimidating to manage. If you've ever felt unsure about how to best capitalize on your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, read on as we discuss five best practices for dental social media pages.

Find the right balance between personal and professional


First, the content. Social media is an excellent platform for promoting your practice and all things dentistry - dental news, tips, and special offers, for example. But don't neglect the "social": if you or your staff have personal news worth sharing, social media gives you the chance to share those experiences and build a human connection with your patients.

Is there an expecting mother? A new hire? A birthday celebration? Personal news may seem irrelevant, but according to our analytics, the most commonly visited page on dental websites (beyond the homepage) is the "our team" section - your patients want to know more about you!





A good example of engaging personal content from Maple Dental health



Just remember to maintain a balance between personal and professional content. If you only share personal news, you miss the chance to promote your services - and you may disinterest followers who rely on your page for dental info.

3 Things to Avoid When Designing Your Website

By Noha Abou-Hashima

A well-designed, well functioning website is important to online users. It should be equally important to you as a business owner.

Websites are usually the first thing customers will look at to find information about your business. A majority of these customers (a striking 93%) begin their purchasing decision process with an online search. In order to attract customers to your business, your website should not only be a reflection of your brand, it should also be designed in a way that makes it easy for customers to find the information they're looking for.

It's not uncommon to get carried away when coming up with a design for your website. After all, there are so many creative ideas and designs out there. Those who get lost in that world tend to end up over-designing, creating noisy or cluttered websites filled with flashy text or over the top colors, making visitors turn away from both the website and the business.

Related article: What Makes a Good Dental Website?

Let's walk through an example of a poorly designed website. This will give you a better idea of what poor web design looks like, and might help you to evaluate whether your website is well-designed.
This is the current home page of Yale School of Art (yes, the actual Yale University). Not very impressive, is it? Let's discuss why:

The first thing that catches the eye is the yellow highlight. I couldn't help but be reminded of my school days when I overused the highlighter in my textbooks (maybe that's what they were going for?). Still, while using bright colors to attract viewers is a common design principle, it is not executed well in this case.

The Email Marketing Metrics You Should Know

By: Will Koziey-Kronas

Email marketing is a cost-effective and targeted way of promoting your practice. Even better, it's easy for anyone to track how their email marketing campaigns are doing - all you need to know are handful of key metrics. This article will cover all you need to know about email metrics in the world of healthcare, giving you the skills needed to analyze your email marketing campaigns with confidence. But let's start with a quick overview of email marketing for those who have not yet delved into that avenue of promotion.

What is Email Marketing?

 

Email marketing is the process of promoting your practice through email. Regular newsletters directed at patients are a good example of email marketing in the healthcare industry, but generally speaking, any email containing promotional content and/or offers sent en masse to a target audience is an example of email marketing, often an "email newsletter" or "email blast".

If your practice doesn't already run a newsletter, consider it: newsletters help maintain patient retention, ensure existing patients keep you top-of-mind, and forge a greater connection between you and your patients thanks to the increased lines of communication.

You may be wondering how to analyze your newsletter campaigns. Are they effective? What numbers and rates are most important? Statistics and other information, known collectively as analytic's, can give you valuable insights into your campaign, So if these questions sound familiar then read on - this is our cheat sheet and primer!

We'll first address the most important metrics used to judge the success of email marketing campaigns. Then, we'll look at the specific rates you should be aiming for in the healthcare industry.

How to Capitalize on User-Generated Content

   By Noha Abou-Hashima  

What is user-generated content? If you haven't already guessed it, user-generated content (UGC) is any content created by 'normal' users online. Normal users involve anyone not part of a marketing team, or a verified brand. Examples of UGC include comments, reviews, user-generated photos, videos, blog posts, and more.

Related article: Three Ways Online Reviews Could Improve Your SEO

But should you invest in UGC when you have a great marketing team creating content that you pre-approve? Well, if your goal is to have satisfied consumers, then you're probably doing your best to give them what they want. Now, with the ubiquitous popularity of social media, and the global desire for an authentic online experience, consumers expect to have a more personal connection with brands.

Millennials - who are quickly becoming the largest spending group - are not only different in terms of placing greater importance on people and social relations, but also in their shopping habits. 84% of Millennials report that UGC partially influences their purchasing decisions, while 86% said that UGC helps them determine the quality of a brand's product or service. And far more than their ancestors, 64% of Millennials (vs 53% Baby Boomers) believe communication with the brands they purchase from is an important factor for them.

If you've already got a marketing team, then you probably have at least one social media account for your business. You also probably use it to share news about your business, generate content that your consumers will find interesting, and use the platform to promote your products. That's all fine and good, but it may be little different than consumers getting all this information from a one-minute TV commercial.

All this to say: If you're going to step into the world of social media, you're going to need to be social.

Naturally, you won't be the first one to capitalize on UGC. In fact, you've likely seen, or even participated, in a marketing campaign that has utilized UGC. Some successful examples include Coca-Cola's 'Share a Coke' campaign, Starbucks' White Cup Contest, or Lay's' 'Do Us A Flavour' campaign. Not only did these brands execute highly successful marketing campaigns, but they also proved to their customers that they value their input and loyalty.

To ensure a successful marketing campaign that matches your goals, it will have to be custom-made for your brand and your customers. But perhaps the most important ingredient to having a successful UGC marketing campaign is establishing a personal connection with your consumer base.

Here are 3 ways you can utilize UGC to boost your brand:

Personalize



Social consumers don't like when a brand is too obvious with promoting its products. To avoid incurring their wrath, make sure you're being authentic - by not mechanically selling a product to a consumer. One way to do this is to encourage social consumers to engage with the product as Starbucks did with their White Cup Contest. Starbucks served drinks in blank, white cups and asked their consumers to design the cup and share a photo of it online with the hashtag #WhiteCupContest. This contest was so popular that Starbucks received nearly 4,000 designs in three weeks. At the end of the contest, Starbucks announced a winner. With this marketing campaign, consumers were given the chance to explore their imagination and share their designs with others online, all the while Starbucks' brand was at the heart of it.