Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

13Social MediaApril 23-29, 2012United Kingdom Edition 13 Level 4 and Level 7 University-Accredited Courses • Essential for both NHS and private practices • 9 days of face-to-face teaching • On-line and telephone support • Each programme provides 60 transferable credits • Each programme has 63 hours verifiable CPD We can help with: • Practice growth • Planning for a successful future • How to win an NHS Tender • Increasing treatment plan acceptance • Building an efficient team • Maintaining CQC registration and many other practice management topics! Talk to us today RegisteR by June 30tH to avoid fee incRease! 0161 928 5995 www.thedentistrybusiness.com “tiers of administrator” con- trols. Facebook claims this new option should become available soon. The new option should allow you to designate “ownership” of your page, as well as allow for limited ac- cess, or controls, for other ad- ministrators. This option is one of the most valuable upgrades as it will finally allow practice owners to protect their pages. This means you will no longer have to worry that a disgrun- tled employee could steal or delete your page. Facebook has also intro- duced a new message option for pages. This means that your patients or followers may now contact you in a private manner, using this message feature. Notifications about any new messages will appear in the right-hand section of your admin panel. The admin panel will appear automati- cally when administrators land on their Facebook pages... As long as you actively manage and monitor your Facebook page, I recommend you allow this new messaging. Only time will tell if poten- tial new patients or existing patients will find this a pre- ferred method of communica- tion. We are all aware of the growing popularity of society’s desire to type rather than talk these days. However, if the thought of allowing messages via Facebook is unappealing to you, you have the option to hide this feature from visitors. To hide the “message” button from your page wall, click on edit page, and then click on “manager permissions” and you will find a box to uncheck the option under “messages”. A fourth, and not-so-wel- come, change is the fact you can no longer generally set custom applications as land- ing pages. However, if you place an advert on Facebook, you will still be able to choose exactly where people will land and what they can expect to see when they get there. In the months to come I’m sure many people will begin exploring new solutions to try and regain their beloved landing page op- portunities. Whether you like the new Facebook changes or not, the one thing we can count on is that there will continue to be more change. Facebook claims this recent set of “enhance- ments” are in effort to further align with their mission, which is: “To give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected”. It is best to keep this mission in mind when setting goals for your practice Facebook mar- keting. The world of business, and dental practices, is becoming more and more transparent and connected. One way you and your practice can win in this new world is to commit to being open and connected with your patients and community. Be sincere and authentic in your patient care and in your Facebook communication. In turn your Facebook marketing efforts and the relationships you build via your Facebook community will continue to benefit you. DT 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 internationally. She has been published in many professional pub- lications. Rita is also Honorary Vice President to the British Dental Prac- tice Managers Association. Learn more at www.DentalRelationshipMar- keting.com or email rita@ritazamora. com. ‘Facebook has introduced a new message option for pages. This means that your patients or followers may now contact you in a private manner’