Dental Digital Marketing, Cont.
Social media management
Monitoring and managing social media can be challenging. It’s nearly impossible to put a value on having a professional manage your accounts for you. Not only this, but social media managers can help develop strategies and content that best fits your practice.
Part of a social media manager’s job is to engage with potential patients, answer questions, respond to comments, and create quality content. By using automated posting tools and scheduling posts in advance, you can save time throughout the week so that more time can be spent on other practice marketing tasks.
Another benefit of social media management is the potential for negative comments. When a post receives a negative comment, rather than responding directly to the patient, a social media manager can curate and craft a response from your practice that still answers the patient’s question or concern. Since you’re not replying to an individual person, it prevents any type of confrontation between patients and the staff responsible for handling social media accounts.
Website design
A beautifully designed website can bring together all of the pieces of your dental marketing puzzle. Websites can showcase your latest content and blog posts, as well as provide a welcome to potential patients. A dental website also allows you to register new patients and collect leads from visitors.
Although websites are sometimes overlooked in the world of dental marketing, they are an essential component to any dental practice’s growth plan. Not only do they act as a hub for all other forms of online marketing, but they also make it easy for potential patients to get in touch with you directly through email or phone if they want to schedule an appointment or have more questions about your services.
Dental practice management
Because the digital world is ever-changing, it’s also constantly changing your dental marketing strategy. For this reason, you need to have a team or group of people working with you on managing multiple aspects of your dental practice.
Typically, a good dental office management group will include :
Digital marketing manager :
handles content creation and social media posting tasks for the practice. Also manages paid advertising campaigns.
Digital media team member(s) :
develops and maintains SEO strategies and keyword strategies to increase organic presence in search engines such as Google. This person may also be responsible for monitoring analytics to determine the most effective keywords and strategies for your practice. Sometimes this role is combined with the digital marketing manager role.
Graphic design team member :
may also be part of the digital media team, or may handle all graphic and content creation needs for the practice. Or, they may work with both marketing and social media.
Search engine optimization (SEO) manager :
this is a separate role from digital marketing manager in that this person can only manage SEO strategies for your practice. Usually, the SEO manager manages content creation around SEO topics and answers questions about search engine optimization on behalf of the practice.
Webmaster :
ensures that all websites are updated with information about new services, as well as any future changes to services or forms/documents required for patients to use your practices. Webmasters also update the website with any new news, information and press releases.
Web development team member :
works with the webmaster to ensure all practices’ websites are up and running, are accessible by all devices and updated regularly.
Web content creator :
manages website content that is rich in keywords and copywriting that can be easily indexed by search engines. This person is also responsible for any long-form copywriting needed for print materials, like dental brochures or newsletters.
Web designer :
creates the user experience of your dental office’s website. This person uses wireframes to help determine interaction between users (new patients) and the practice website (your practice). They also manage the aesthetics and usability of the site.
Web marketing team member :
manages the daily content that is shared on various social media platforms. This role is responsible for creating, scheduling and removing content from social media accounts as needed, as well as writing up any tweet/status updates or blog posts that are needed or requested by the practice’s social media team.
In the United States, spending on internet advertising will reach $81.9 billion in 2018, an increase of 12.8% over 2017. This increase is largely attributed to increased spending on mobile advertising which is set to overtake spend on newspaper and magazine advertising for the first time in history during 2018.
A campaign consisting of patient testimonials and endorsements can have a major impact on the adoption of a new product or service by increasing credibility and sales volume. The use of humor in marketing has been growing as an effective business tool that not only helps boost brand personality but also can help drive sales growth through increased brand engagement.
Growth plans and marketing strategies for dentists should include the digital side of the practice. While these plans should have great content and good ideas, there is still a need for digital agencies that have the tools and experience to create and manage campaigns on several different platforms. Here are some tips for finding a digital agency to help grow your practice:
Once you’ve found a digital agency that specializes in your market sector, make sure you ask them how they’ll measure campaign performance. It’s also important to go over budgets before work begins so there aren’t any surprises later on.
Digital marketing is not limited to online campaigns only; although it does bring significant value in this area. A study by McKinsey & Company in 2015 evaluates the impact of digital media on consumers’ purchase decisions. The results of the study indicate that digital media has had a significant impact in changing consumers’ behavior and purchase decisions, particularly in new and emerging markets like India.
Digital marketing is not just a buzzword for dentists; it can be used to grow your practice’s organic visibility, which gives you more control over your brand and how people contact you for appointments. With the average person spending almost 3 hours online daily, it makes sense to harness the power of this consumer behaviour to increase your visibility.
Dentists should focus on the internet, television, radio and print to reach their target audience. Here are four simple principles that can help you understand how this form of marketing works:
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to online marketing for dental practices. It all depends on what your particular audience wants, how much money you have to spend and where you want your practice to be in the long term. There are also many options for online advertising that include display ads (ads that appear on websites), search ads (ads that appear in search engine results pages) and social media ads (ads created by advertisers to promote their products or services).
Dentists who are considering using an online marketing campaign should keep in mind that it is a delicate process. While digital media may be more cost effective than other forms of advertisements, the effectiveness and success of a dental practice depends on the online media chosen to create and promote its services.
Here are some tips for advertising online :
Before you start your online search for a digital agency, make sure you have an idea of what you’re looking for. You can ask friends, family members and colleagues to recommend agencies they’ve worked with in the past. Make sure you talk to at least three different agencies before deciding which one will be able to create your plan.