Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

Builder (visit www.wildfireapp. com). I often have team members approach me and say: “Yeah, but so and so’s practice is holding contests directly on their page...” This comes down to many busi- nesses, not just dental practices, who are either unaware of these guidelines or who are willing to take the risk. Be aware of the rules and determine how much risk you are comfortable with. If you have a thriving Fa- cebook community, it would be a shame to lose it for something you could prevent. Mistake number three - How focusing on numbers can mislead you What is your primary objective for being on Facebook or Twit- ter? Are you interested prima- rily in link-building, solely for search engine optimisation or “SEO” purposes? Perhaps you are interested in acquiring as many friends and people who will “like” your Facebook Page as possible, because we’ve al- ways been taught that more is better... A traditional marketing mind-set was to acquire more. Let the numbers show how ef- fective our direct mail piece was, how many new patient phone calls we got from our phone book ad, or how many hits we got to our website. However, without quality none of those numbers really matter. Some practices have had the experience of running a marketing campaign and getting a great response, yet then having a large percent- age of those new patients be unwilling or unable to ac- cept, pay for, or follow through with treatment... Those experi- ences painfully illustrate the difference between quantity and quality. It is our intentions that drive our actions. If we intend to build up a certain number of fans, whether it be 500 or 2,000 fans, we are focused on the numbers. On the other hand, if we focus on winning the interest, praise, and appreciation of our followers, we build stronger relationships that lead to loyalty and referrals. Remember that social media marketing is unlike any other marketing tool we’ve ever had access to. Discard your old mar- keting mind-set. Be thoughtful about your objectives. Consider what is more important to you — a high quantity fan base or a high quality fan base. I’m not saying you can’t have both, but in social media, typically num- bers as a primary goal can sabo- tage quality. First and foremost, set your intention to build trust and re- lationships with your followers. Strive to make your social me- dia platforms a place you can talk with your patients and fol- lowers. Imagine when patients come into your office. What is the social conversation you have with them? It is that type of ex- change that can make your so- cial marketing efforts a success. It may take more time and energy to consider what your ideal social media community could look like. The easy way out is to set a number as a goal and walk away. A better objec- tive—that will return more posi- tive word of mouth and referrals — is to put interaction, authentic “liking”, and relationship build- ing at the top of your list. Decide today what improve- ments you will make based on the information provided here — or what risks you in- tend to avoid; stay informed and take precautions to protect your communities. Take ad- vantage of all the opportunities that social marketing has to of- fer. Make human connections with your patients and potential new patients, focus on genuine relationships, and treat your ef- forts as you would a living gar- den — you’ll then find positive word of mouth and referrals will flourish. DT page 09DTß About the author Rita Zamora is an international so- cial media market- ing consultant and speaker. She and her team actively co-manage dozens of dental practices’ social media pro- grams. Her clients are located across the United States and internation- ally. She has been published in many professional publications. Rita is also Honorary Vice President to the British Dental Practice Managers Association. Learn more at www.DentalRelation- shipMarketing.com or email rita@rita- zamora.com. July 11-17, 201110 Social Media United Kingdom Edition R4Practice Management Software GIVES YOU MORE For more information or to place an order please call 0800 169 9692 email sales.uk.csd@carestream.com or visit www.carestreamdental.co.uk Carestream Dental © Carestream Dental Ltd., 2011. featuReS of R4 R4 Mobile Direct link to PIN pad Patient Check-in Kiosk Care Pathways Communicator Steritrak e-forms Patient Journey On-line Appointment Booking Text Message and Email reminders Clinical Notes Appointment Book Digital X-Ray Managed Service Practice Accounts STERITRAK - tracks your instruments through the sterilisation process Track your trays of instruments through the cleaning and sterilisation process so that you can prove compliance with CQC outcome 8. Easy to learn straight out of the box with minimal set up, Steritrak provides immediate access to reports showing the cleaning and sterilisation history of each tray of instruments as well as the tray history for each machine in the practice. With R4 you will also be able to record which trays of instruments have been used on each patient for each appointment, even if multiple trays were used. Standard reports within R4 will show which patients a specific tray has been used on within a specified period of time, as well as the tray history for a specific patient. Steritrak is another solution from Carestream which helps you achieve full CQC compliance and gets rid of the need for multiple paper log books and the pressures of ensuring information is updated regularly and kept secure.