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Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

A m I doing social media right? This is a ques- tion I hear a lot these days. The reality of social me- dia in any industry is that it continues to evolve. New strat- egies are being implemented on platforms such as Facebook everyday. Unfortunately, there are some practices who’ve got social media all wrong. In fact, I’m often tempted to stop call- ing social media marketing “marketing” at all. Why stop calling these platforms “marketing” tools? Consider the fact that social media like Facebook and Twitter have become funda- mental forms of communica- tion for millions of people. Unfortunately some practices still see platforms like Twitter and Facebook as marketing tools (where they’ll run short term campaigns), rather than considering the long term val- ue these communication me- diums can deliver. Social me- dia platforms are now primary places people choose to spend their time not on television, not on email, and increasingly not even on Google. The problem with the mindset of social media being a short term marketing cam- paign is that people then see the use of Facebook or Twit- ter as temporary. They see Fa- cebook or Twitter as expend- able, of little value, while at the same time expecting fast results from their campaign efforts. In some cases prac- tices will do just about any- thing to get those fast results. Examples of trying too hard or too fast on Facebook are: • Resorting to posting things that don’t reflect your brand or core values. Example: a high end aesthetic practice posting silly photos which the doctor is unaware of. • Posting too often with the belief that more posts will mean greater returns. Ex- ample: a practice posting every day, or multiple times per day, when a few times per week would suffice. • Sacrificing quality for quan- tity. Example: a practice buying likes which are fake likes bought with the sole purpose of inflating their numbers. So who’s succeeding in social media today? It is the practices, people, and busi- nesses who expect that social communities will be around for the long term. For exam- ple, Harvard Business Review (HBR) recently published an article titled Marketing is Dead. In the article, one of the few suggested ways to survive in our new world of marketing is to use social media properly. The HBR author, Bill Lee said, “when you contemplate a major pur- chase, such as a new roof, a flat screen TV, or a good sur- geon, you’re not likely to go looking for a salesperson to talk to, or to read through a bunch of corporate website content. Instead, you’ll prob- ably ask neighbours or friends — your peer network — what or whom they’re using.” Mr Lee goes on to say how smart businesses should already be positioning their social com- munities to replicate these buying experiences. A specific example of what this looks like is having a Fa- cebook page which reflects your values and displays ro- bust positive patient com- ments or testimonials. This also means that you must put Social Media Marketing Rita Zamora discusses why some have got it all wrong 12 November 12 - 18, 2012United Kingdom EditionSocial Media