Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

19Social MediaSeptember 12-18, 2011United Kingdom Edition appointment. Fred Joyal, au- thor of the book Everything is Marketing: The Ultimate Strat- egy for Dental Practice Growth said: “Offer limousine trans- portation to patients having ex- tra special treatments.” Think about things that wowed you at your last impressive restaurant visit or resort stay and brain- storm with your team. Once you’ve wowed your patients and given them something to rave about, it’s a lot easier to ask for referrals and patients are much more motivated to talk you up. Read more about the busi- ness of dentistry as a “relation- ship business” in James Gooln- ik’s book called Brush - Proven Strategies to Make Your Dental Business Shine. You’ll learn from James how to offer “what patients really want”... Most importantly reference the sec- tion about teams and how nur- turing and developing your team can help to motivate them. Remember a happy team is more likely to spread happi- ness to your patients. Today, digital reputations mean everything. So certainly spend some time taking action to grow your positive reviews. However, spend the greatest effort and energy on what’s even more important—showering your patients with pleas- ant surprises, thank you’s, and genuine appreciation. Set your intentions every- day on delighting patients and saying thank you. The positive word of mouth, refer- rals and reviews will then nat- urally follow. Online marketing that won’t cost a fortune For online marketing that won’t cost a fortune, consider social marketing. While it is free to open a Facebook or Twitter account, it’s important to note that your accounts will re- quire time and effort to main- tain them. Time is money and therefore you’ll need to have a plan in place before imple- menting these “free” tools. The most important thing to keep in mind with both Fa- cebook and Twitter are sys- tems, (although social media may seem like a task that can be done “whenever you have time”, it will only prove cost effective if you are organised). Here are a few tips to keep in mind for Facebook: 1Determine who in your office will be responsible for asking patients for Facebook “likes” 2Determine if you will of- fer incentives or hold a special promotion 3Determine how much time you want to dedicate to these tasks each week 4Schedule in specific days / times to handle this marketing 5Repeat, repeat, repeat. If asking for patient “likes” does not become a habit in your practice, your Facebook com- munity will perish Marketing on Facebook can provide your practice with amplified exposure. For exam- ple, a patient who shares your practice with their Facebook friends could potentially share hundreds of links that lead to your practice in a single day. Nowhere else do you have the power to reach so many people so easily; however, without an organised system and habits in place, you may find yourself wasting a lot of time in cyber- space. Likewise, when and if you decide to use Twitter, be sure to follow these tips: 1Utilise a good profile pho- page 20DTà ‘Set your intentions everyday on delight- ing patients and saying thank you. The positive word of mouth, referrals and reviews will then naturally follow