Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

S ocial media is seen by many as an excellent new marketing tool. However, because it is new, many prac- tices are struggling to figure out how to use it properly. As with all marketing activities, it is best to be informed so you can man- age your efforts well and achieve desirable results. Here is a list of three common social marketing mistakes and how you can avoid or overcome them. Mistake number one - Social marketing delegation Use caution if delegating your social marketing 100 per cent. Why? It’s like telling someone to answer your phone, have con- versations with your patients, and then not bother to tell you what was said. The biggest benefit you get from using social media is the ability to connect with people on a human level. It’s simply not possible to connect — long term — with your patients unless at least one person within your practice is actively participating at some level. Be sure that some- one in your practice can answer the following questions: • What is being said on your Fa- cebook page or being tweeted on your behalf? • How to access your Facebook page — who are the administra- tors of your page? (Also know that administrators can current- ly delete your account with the click of a button). • How to access your Twitter ac- count. Do you know what your username and password is? • Who is responding to pa- tient testimonials and inquir- ies? What language is being used and what voice does your Facebook page or Twitter account have? Knowing what is being posted or tweeted on your behalf will develop the voice or personality for your social plat- forms. Most importantly, legal ad- visors recommend you moni- tor and be aware of activity on your Facebook page or Twit- ter account. Ultimately you, the practice owner, are responsible for your social communities. With that said you can also see how over-use of automation could be problematic. If you are going to participate in social marketing, know that it’s like a garden. What you get out of this type of marketing is a di- rect result of what you authen- tically put into it. It is okay to delegate part of your social mar- keting, however never delegate 100 per cent or you risk isolat- ing your audience — or worse, appearing as if you simply don’t care. Mistake number two - What you need to know about con- tests on Facebook Many practices are running some type of contest or drawing competition on Facebook. Un- fortunately, many of them are also breaking Facebook’s Terms of Service and risk having their pages removed. If you are run- ning a contest or drawing com- petitions on Facebook, or con- sidering running one, you must at least be aware of Facebook’s guidelines. See www.facebook. com/promotions_guidelines. php for the details. In short, Fa- cebook’s guidelines are clear — you should not collect contest or drawing entries or announce winners directly on your Face- book page. However, you may run a con- test using a third party applica- tion, such as WildFire Promotion Discarding your old marketing mind-set Rita Zamora discusses how to overcome three common marketing mistakes ‘The biggest benefit you get from using so- cial media is the ability to connect with people on a human level’ page 10DTà Make your marketing targets by resetting your marketing ideas July 11-17, 2011United Kingdom Edition 3384-1106©DirectaAB NEW! Work faster and safer ” NEW! Distributed in the UK by Trycare Tel. 01274-88 10 44 Protects the adjacent tooth and surrounding gingiva by major preparations such as crowns, veneers and inlays. FenderMate sectional matrix for preparation and restora- tion of primary teeth.