Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download
ePaper created 2018-02-22, 09:42:08 | version 1.38.0
Dental Tribune Middle East & Africa Edition | 6/2017 NEWS 31 ◊Page 32 ered by experts. Google changes its own goal posts regularly and the savvy SEO guru will know that and take appropriate action quickly. 2. Massively encourage the collec- tion of Google reviews, user reviews via Facebook and critic reviews via proprietorial sites like WhatClinic. com, NHS Choices and Compare- thetreatment.com in the UK. In September 2016, Google changed the rules twice, first by including ex- ternal reviews alongside its own in searches and second by altering its own search criteria to favour busi- nesses with in excess of 100 Google reviews. It is necessary that your marketing activity be adjusted to re- flect such changes. 3. Connect to your patients through a well-maintained social media chan- nel like Facebook or Twitter (and de- liver daily human interest content). Remember that those 1.8 billion photograph uploads per day include the inevitable selfies. Many of my cli- ents now take a patient selfie at the end of a course of aesthetic dental treatment. To quote again from Ha- rari’s new book: “If you experience something—record it. If you record something—upload it. If you upload something—share it.” 4. Build a website that engages the visitor through video and visual testimonials. Your most powerful marketing collateral is the stories that your patients can tell about the difference that you have made to their lives. 5. Collect visitors’ e-mail addresses and consent (to e-mail) via white paper marketing. A coffee shop, ho- tel or airport exchanges free Wi-Fi access for an e-mail address and per- mission to keep one informed. You can do the same by exchanging use- ful information (free guides). 6. Nurture long-term relationships with patients and prospects by pub- lishing a monthly human interest e- mail newsletter. 7. Deal with initial enquiries directed through the Internet, by telephone or in person in a polished manner. 8. Create a memorable new patient experience from initial consultation all the way through to treatment de- livery. 9. Employ a strict end-of-treatment protocol to capture reviews, testimo- nials and social connections (as well as plan membership). I have given you nine marketing actions designed especially for the smaller business. Actions that should be avoided by the independ- ent dental practices are seeking to gain attention by paying through the nose for Google or Facebook ad- vertising, broadcasting non-human interest material or selling services on price, discount or special offer. This is because every week I hear from dentists and their marketing teams that advertising to strangers, using jargon and cutting prices at best attract nobody and at worst at- tract bargain-hunters, priceshoppers and messers. “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention.” We end where we began. The challenge is for the mouse to gain attention without competing with the bull elephants. You can only do that by stepping away from the herd of elephants and delivering your story in a differ- ent way and a different place. For me, that means human interest, person- al service and recommendation, and so when I am working with clients on their marketing plans, we focus on and mobilise their most valuable asset: the goodwill of their existing patients. Editorial note: This article first ap- peared in Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition 8/16. Chris Barrow is the founder of Coach Barrow consultancy practice. An active consultant, a trainer and a coach to the UK dental profession, he regularly contrib- utes to the dental press, social media and online. Chris Barrow can be contacted at coachbarrow@me.com.