Are you using your Social Media during the lockdown period?

There will be an undoubted increase in social media usage and as a means to help your patients pass the time here are 3 themes you can use as part of your content strategy this month.

A force for good 

We believe it is important to communicate messages of support and positivity during lockdown whilst staying true to your brand values.

This content could include:

– Quotes of positivity/messages of reassurance

– Highlighting support groups within your community 

– Reminding patients about dental emergency procedures

– Entertaining patients with videos inside your practice

– Fun challenges/puzzles 

Patients first

Understanding what your patients want to see from your brand is critical and we believe the following content could work well for you:

– Updates from your dental team

– Addressing frequently asked questions

– The new patient journey and patient safety

– Patient testimonials (ideally video)

– Oral health tips

Mouth Cancer Action month

Taking place throughout November, join thousands of amazing people who are raising awareness of mouth cancer within their communities and sharing the important message of being mouth aware. 

This content could include:

– Teaching how to spot mouth cancer early and regularly checking for unusual changes in the mouth.

– Educating on what is likely to cause mouth cancer and reducing risks.

– Reminding patients to act quickly when they see something out of the ordinary by visiting your practice.

–  Supporting/donating to a cause such as the Mouth Cancer Foundation and their annual Mouth Cancer walk which can be done at home www.mouthcancerwalk.org.

Stay Safe,

Kind regards,

Dom

Social Media Manager

The post Social Media strategy during lockdown (November edition) first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

Join some of the most prominent UK dental stakeholders for the most comprehensive webinar around key topics on life after COVID.

The post Dental Circle – Life after COVID first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

Are you using social media to protect the connection with your patients? If you haven’t already, now is the time for your practice to demonstrate leadership in your local community by showing your patients that you are still here and you still care by using the power of Social Media! I believe now is a critical time for your practice, people are spending more time online than they ever have before, so it does present your practice with a unique opportunity to deepen your relationships and increase your brand affinity. But of course, you also can’t just post content that is business-as-usual, or you’ll risk coming across as tone-deaf to the current situation. In the long term, your patients will remember who showed up, what was said and how you helped them, so it’s critical to build a lasting impression on your patients by either doing good or making them feel good.   Information on whether you are seeing emergency patients or providing telephone/video consultations Sharing what your practice is doing to help a cause or the local community Messages of positivity Tips for staying healthy at home/Oral Health tips Sharing critical information from trusted organisations such as WHO (World Health Organisation) or the NHS Film lists, reading lists, easy recipes, ideas to entertain kids, etc Sharing any fun activities you and your team are doing at home   – Sales – Special offers – Treatments – Case studies If you’re struggling for content, feel free to message me for ideas. If your practice doesn’t already have a Social Media account we are offering Dental Focus clients a basic set up for Facebook or Instagram to help you get started for FREE. It’s first come first serve so message me today for more information. Dominic Haslam SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER   Want to chat? Book a call with me today! Click Here TEL: 020 7183 8388    MOB: 07851 749480 www.dentalfocus.com

The post Connect with patients in response to the lockdown first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

If you have a Facebook business page you may have received a notification about impending changes to its layout. Don’t be alarmed, these updates are being made in favour of local businesses to maximise their exposure and utilise word of mouth!

So what’s new?

Recommendations

This is a new way for users to leave a review of your practice which can now include text, images or business tags. Recommendations will feature prominently & add to the credibility of your practice.

In case you were wondering how to combat fake recommendations, Facebook will give page owners the ability to report fraudulent, spam or paid for recommendations!

Business Tags

The biggest difference between a review and a recommendation is the business tag. Tags are a new way of understanding what a practice/business is known for and categorising searches.

An example is a question such as “Just lost a tooth! Looking for an emergency dentist nearby! Any recommendations?”

With this, your practice has the potential to appear as a recommended business on a map assuming you have the relevant tags.

Action buttons

Pages will now have a set of prominently featured action buttons giving patients more opportunities to interact with you. For example you could have a button that enables a patient to book an appointment, send a message or write a recommendation. These buttons really benefit users on a mobile device because they reduce the number of steps to take an action.

Functionality

Visibility of page stories has improved to encourage more usage from brands. Stories can now be viewed on the business page by tapping the profile image.

It’s still too early to determine the specific benefits these updates will have but I will be keeping a close eye to see how they contribute to the growth of a page in the coming months.  

Follow us on Instagram and check out the latest content from Dental Focus!

Dominic Haslam

Campaign Executive/Social Media Guru

Have you seen the latest Dental Focus videos on Youtube or Facebook? Click Here

You can Call, Text or Whatsapp me on 07851 749480!

The post New Facebook page updates! 4 essential changes to be aware of.. first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

Would you like to achieve these results on your Social Media campaigns?

Here at Dental Focus, we are passionate about our clients achieving success on Facebook. Our Social Media Plan objective is to engage with your local community through various strategies to grow your social proof, relationships, PR & brand awareness.

If it is a priority for you to build your social media presence and you are looking for a way to achieve success on Facebook then please get in contact with Dominic and he will be more than happy to share the secret to success such as how one client on our Social Media Plan achieved 84 LIKES, 63 COMMENTS & 91 SHARES in one post!

Working with Dental Focus and the Social Media Plan has been really wonderful. It’s great to see the increased activity for our online community and the regular engagement for patients. As Facebook is constantly changing it’s nice to know that Dental Focus can help keep us up to date and relevant with new ideas and strategies. We hope to continue building our brand awareness online and the Social Media Plan is an important part of that.

Sarah Enright
Woodstown Dental Centre
Principal Dentist

Key facts: Did you know?

• Over 38 Million UK users.
• 60% of UK adults have Facebook accounts and 76% of those use it daily.
• Facebook is the MOST downloaded app on iPhones.
• Over 25% of Facebook users are aged between 25-34.
• Facebook can operate as a micro-website promoting your treatments, service, and culture.

Are you missing out on the opportunity to grow your PR and brand awareness?

• Increase your brand awareness to your ideal patients in the local community.
• Create relationships through engagement.
• Build a long-term connection with your patients.
• Promote the culture of your practice, and give back to your community.

What will the content be?

• Engaging visual content, to encourage shares and likes.
• Videos, either of your practice or the brands you work with.
• Testimonials.
• Case studies from your real patients.
• Special offers and promotions which we can then boost.

I have been working directly with Dental Focus, since gaining my new position of Marketing Coordinator. I had some ideas on how to promote our business, but I didn’t know where to start. Dental Focus has helped me through every campaign and event. Providing me with guidance and assurance and supporting me every step of the way. Nothing is ever too much, always a phone call or email away, and responses are always immediate. I hold the success of my role down to their invaluable advice.

Our business is thriving, we have strong social media marketing plans, an excellent google rating and our website is second to none. We have even been as lucky to purchase a new location! None of this could have been possible without the team at Dental Focus.

So thank you and here’s to continuing our great working relationship!

Becky Maguire
Liverpool Smile Studio
Marketing Coordinator

The post How to get 84 Likes, 63 Comments, 91 Shares in one post! first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

The two largest Internet giants are Google and Facebook, so it is no surprise that billions of actions occur on each site every single day. Through these platforms, there lies the opportunity to advertise your dental services to potential clients.

The most popular option is to bid on a click on your advert and only be charged for the click. The click is the action by the potential client accessing your site from the respective platform. This is the pay per click (PPC) model. Advertising this way can be very cost-effective if the right strategy is put in place, as PPC is trackable and measurable and can be focused on a specific geographical audience. Google PPC can also provide instant gratification; by this, I mean if you are willing to offer the highest bid per click you can appear at the top of the page.

While many dentists might have embraced Google PPC in the last five years, not many seem to be aware that there is a similar option available for Facebook. I am not referring to buying likes, which is actually more of a vanity strategy and does nothing to bring value to your patients. Why would one advertise on Facebook, you may ask? Consider that 890 million people (as of December 2014) log on to the social media platform, generating 4.5 billion likes every day. It is estimated that there are 217 million active users in Europe, of which 24 million are active in the UK alone. Worldwide, there are over 1.39 billion monthly active Facebook users. These are impressive figures.

With Facebook PPC, dentists can run trackable, measurable, location-specific campaigns as with Google. There is also a myriad of options to allow one to be more niched and specific. Specifically, dentists can target their audience based on their likes, habits, education, salary levels, and even the phone they are using. Imagine running a campaign for orthodontic treatments targeting Facebook visitors who accessed the site using the latest iPhone. Would it be safe to assume that they have expendable capital and are ideal patients in terms of ability to pay?

Facebook PPC is significantly cheaper than Google PPC. The difference is pennies on Facebook compared with pounds on Google. Aside from having a good call to action, relevant adverts and a strong landing page, dentists should have a responsive site to maximise their success, as the majority of Facebook (and Google) users will most likely engage with them via a mobile device, like a tablet.

Facebook has taken strides in developing the advertising side of the platform for the last two to three years. Ensure your success in online marketing and make sure you are not left behind.

For more information call 020 7183 8388, or visit www.dentalfocus.com

About the author:

Naz Haque, aka the Scientist, is Operations Manager at Dental Focus. He has a background in mobile and network computing, and has experience supporting a wide range of blue-chip brands, from Apple to Xerox. As an expert in search engine optimisation, Naz is passionate about helping clients develop strategies to enhance their brand and increase the return on investment from their dental practice websites

The post Online advertising: Why Facebook matters first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

As one of the big talking points in dental online marketing, social media has the potential to be an extremely powerful tool for attracting people to your practice, and improving the relationship you have with your patients. However if left neglected a poorly run social media presence has the potential to backfire, and won’t just reflect badly on your practice, but it might even send potential new patients looking elsewhere.

Before we look into the pros and cons of social media use, it’s worth pausing for a moment to consider just how powerful social media really is. According to some of the latest figures, as of December 31, 2012 Facebook had 1.06 billion monthly active users with daily active users in excess of 600 million. Though these figures do of course represent users on a global scale, there can be no denying that these numbers represent a remarkable amount of the world population. If these figures aren’t enough to convince you of the value to be found in social media, then consider this: if you don’t have a social media presence, the chances are your local competitors do, and if they don’t, they will have soon. If the Facebook usage figures tell us anything it’s that social media won’t be going away any time soon, and will only continue to grow and evolve in new and interesting ways.

So what’s the secret to good social media management? In one word: engagement. One of the most common mistakes that many people make it to see social media just as another ‘advertising board’ on which to post adverts about the services that they offer. Not only is this approach rarely effective, but it does not embrace the great potential that social media, and Web 2.0 have to offer. Ask yourself this: would you follow or ‘like’ a page that only posted adverts about products? Probably not. At the very least you would likely disable news feed posts from that page, and at worst you wouldn’t follow the page at all. So, while the people running the page ‘selling’ you a constant stream of adverts may think they are doing a good job, they are not taking full advantage of the social media platform as a tool for engagement.

Taking this lesson a little further, it is easy to see why so many dental practices, and dental businesses fail when it comes to social media strategy. Put simply, this is because they fail to appreciate that their customers (and potential customers) don’t want to be directly sold to by a ‘faceless’ corporate entity. The secret then is to see your social media platform as a means for you to openly talk to patients and engage in conversations relating to dentistry, or even the local area. Has whitening been in the news recently? Why not ask your patients what they think! Seen a scare story surrounding oral health? Write a response!

When patients see that as a practice you are made up of ‘real people’ who are open, friendly and committed to dentistry and the local community then your online marketing will really start to gain momentum. Remember, people don’t visit the dentist every day, and so won’t be on your social media page every day (well, some might!), but when they do need you, you need to be there with an active and vibrant social media presence that is regularly checked and updated so any questions can be responded to straight away.

What this all ties back to is something many people in business circles would refer to as customer relations management, and building your brand online. This ‘brand building’ starts with your dental practice website, and then extends to your social media platforms. Just because you are taking part in conversations in an electronic realm, does not mean that these things don’t matter. After all, there are real people at the other end of that phone line, and you should treat them as such. You wouldn’t neglect your in-practice marketing, so why would you neglect your marketing online?

Dental online marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways of attracting new patients and can provide a fantastic return on investment that far surpasses many traditional methods such as paying for adverts in the local press, employing PR agencies and so on. Through clever use of your website and social media platforms you have a way to connect to potential new patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Print methods just don’t offer this round-the-clock coverage, and can’t ‘sell’ your practice in the same effective way.

To help you online marketing efforts, the award-winning team at Dental Focus ® have all the skills and experience to help make your practice an online success. With over 500 dental practice websites to their name, and thousands of Rank 1 results for natural (organic) search, Dental Focus ® are the trusted experts to guide and support you in all your dental online marketing efforts.

For more information call 020 7183 8388, or visit www.dental-focus.com

About the author:

Alfie Jones aka the Guru is Project Manager at Dental Focus ® ‘Websites for your profit’. Alfie has worked as a web designer, copywriter, college tutor and charity fundraiser in his time, and is called the Guru because he has a ‘guru-like’ knowledge of the web. As an expert in social media and website technology, Alfie is the first port of call for any dentist who is serious about their online marketing.

The post Making The Most Of Social Media first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

‘Polling’ is a very powerful tool that dental practices can use as part of their social strategy (to market the practice).

Big brands often pay a lot of money to have outside services and companies survey customers to get product feedback. Others use social listening tools to see what people are saying about their products.

But dental practices can be more direct and go straight to patients on a social media channel.

Please see this (please just read ‘patients’ instead of ‘customers’):

http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2346906/5-Reasons-to-Include-Polling-in-Your-Social-Media-Strategy

The post Make Polling part of your Social Media strategy first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

Online marketing is a cornerstone of any successful marketing strategy. Once you’ve taken steps to establish your presence online, the next step is to plan how you intend to attract new patients to visit your website so they can find out more about your practice and the treatments that you offer. While you may have invested a great deal of money in your website, if it doesn’t appear high up on natural search results then quite simply your website isn’t doing its job.

A brief guide to SEO

Search Engine Optimisation, also known as SEO, is a term used to describe the process of making your website visible to major search engines, with the aim of pushing your website higher up in the page ranking.

One thing factor you need to be aware of here is that SEO is an ongoing process – one that never really comes to an end. As internet trends change, and as your rivals conduct their own SEO, you will find that your page ranking will fluctuate over time. The key then is to think of your practice website as a constant ‘work in progress’, something you need to work on to ensure your website keeps its place at the top of the Google ladder.

SEO basics

At its most fundamental level, good SEO starts with your practice website. Your website should be clean, crisp, and fast to load. Too much information can be distracting, and if your site looks unprofessional, this can easily put patients off. All of these things directly influence whether visitors to your website decide to click on for more information, or look elsewhere. Whichever option they decide you can be sure that all of the major search engines will keep a log of your user activity and will take this into account in your page rank.

Once you’ve got the basics sorted, the next thing to consider is your website content. Google loves fresh new content, and one of the best ways to boost your SEO is to write a practice blog. This blog can cover anything relating to your practice, but should aim to engage readers and encourage them to read on, or contact you for more information. You may for example like to give oral health tips in your blog, or discuss the latest ‘hot topics’ that have come up in the news. All of these things help you to engage with your readership and establish your practice as the authority on local oral health issues, while boosting your SEO at the same time.

Social networking

Social media is one of the major ‘buzz words’ in online marketing at the moment, and can be a powerful tool to help you build your practice brand. As well as giving you the chance to engage with your patients in new and innovative ways, social media is also an excellent way to boost your SEO. By encouraging patients to ‘share’ or ‘like’ your practice website you are building a network of natural links back to your website which search engines will register. These help to boost your page ranking and also have the added benefit of giving you a form of free advertising to your patients’ friends and followers.

For further benefit you should encourage patients to share your blog posts as often as possible. If you write an informative blog about oral health, why not ask your readers to share it if they find it useful? Again this will build more links back to your website and will also help to establish your practice’s expertise.

Further tips

Good quality content is at the heart of all good online marketing. If your content is good, and engaging to read then you have a strong foundation to help boost your practice’s page rank. The secret is not to see social media as an advertising space, as no one wants to be bombarded with adverts all the time. As such it is far better to see it as a platform through which you can communicate with your patients and engage them in discussions about their oral health or other related issues.

Don’t underestimate the use of comments either. Comments can be an excellent way to boost your SEO, as an active comments section boosts your ‘social’ search ranking and will also affect where your post appears on news feeds. It is important here that at least one member of your team regularly checks the comments sections on your website and social media so as to encourage responses and answer any questions that may come up.

SEO for business growth

Search Engine Optimisation is a complex and involved task, but one that can generate huge returns for your practice if done well. With a carefully planned, well-executed online marketing strategy you can attract many new patients to your practice, who may spend hundreds if not thousands of pounds on dental treatment with you over the coming years. To help you make the most of your online marketing efforts, contact an experienced dental website marketing team today.

For more information call 020 7183 8388, or visit www.dental-focus.com

About the author:
Naz Haque aka the Scientist is SEO Project Manager at Dental Focus ® ‘Websites for your profit’. Naz has a background in mobile and network computing, and has experience supporting an A-Z range of blue chip brands from Apple to Xerox. As an expert in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Naz is passionate about helping clients build strategies to enhance their brand and increase the ROI from their dental practice websites.

The post Using Social Media To Boost Your SEO first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

Video is the best way to communicate on the web. Most people would prefer watching a video to reading plain text. And when they watch a video, they stay on your web page longer, spend more time browsing the web and it’s also more likely that they´ll book an appointment at your practice. Whether a video recorded mission statement, treatment advice, or a testimonial, people love it. 

Although often criticised for being too time consuming, it is one way to get viewers onto your website.

 There have been six key tools that have stood out as the most important when using video marketing. Which, if followed you can be sure that you are ticking all the right boxes.

 The first: Letting your personality out. This is key, as it will engage the audience onto your site, and encourage them to look around even more. A video with no real “spark” to it is a sure way to make viewers switch off and exit your website.

 Secondly, being on-going is also crucial. A constant stream of videos with new ideas and imaginative design will keep viewers wanting to watch them, almost as though they are wanting to know what is next. Having a regular supply of videos will help build up and keep your network of people.

 Thirdly, being relevant in your videos. When uploading videos, they must be constantly relevant. Although may seem tough at first producing relevant videos on a regular basis, the more you do it the more it will become easier and the more effective they will become. Videos need to be informative, creative and related.

For the rest of the key factors in video marketing, and more information we are providing you with this published article: http://www.sitepronews.com/2013/09/02/video-marketing-shouldnt-neglect-youtube/?utm_source=newsletter+-+2013-09-03&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Article%2BUpdate  

The post Video marketing on the web first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

Although users may not find this the best news, it seems that Facebook has its reasons to make the decision according to a new report released by Morgan Stanley. The report predicts the advertisements will soon bring in an estimated $1 billion and by the year 2020, Facebook could be raking in as much as $6.5 billion per year. A clear increase in profit for Facebook.

It is looking to be a slow start for the adverts to be fully added to Facebook, as reports show that the ads will start out in the U.S later this year. They then plan to hit European users in the later part of 2014 and will continue to reach different parts worldwide slowly. It is almost certain there will be different opinions emerging as the advertisements reach different parts.

With Facebook being used more frequently in today’s society, particularly with the rise of smartphones having apps available for these sites, no doubt users are going to be wondering what differences they will see on different devices and how much Facebook is going to change for them.

For more information on the ads coming to Facebook, including what will users see when they are on Facebook, and the first reactions on this idea, we are providing you with the following published article.

http://www.sitepronews.com/2013/08/09/facebook-expected-to-rake-in-1-billion-from-video-ads-in-2014/?utm_source=newsletter+-+2013-08-10&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Article%2BUpdate

The post Facebook: To ad or not to ad? first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

You have already used word-of-mouth to grow your dental practice this far. Now 50% or more of your patients use Facebook everyday, many times a day. Word-of-mouth now happens on a ratio of 1:100, not 1:1. You need all your patients to LIKE and join your Facebook Page so they can talk about you and share your special offers to friends.

If you also want to advertise on the most popular website on the planet (target by gender, age, relationship status, interests and location) then you must make your Facebook adverts link to your Facebook Page (not your website) in order to fully maximise your data capture and thus ROI. The secret is to keep Facebook users on Facebook so you keep them in their comfort zone.

Before setting up a free Facebook Page for your business, you will first need to register/login to a free Personal account. If you want to do-it-yourself, click below:

1. Register/Login on Facebook
2. Create your Facebook Page

The post How do I get patients from Facebook? first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.

I just posted my reply:

Great question Mark.

I call this the Facebook CC Risk Factor.

If your Facebook strategy involves getting all your patients to join your fan page or group then the risk is similar to sending an email shot and CC’ing your entire patient base and BCC’ing your competitors so they can get your list too. It only takes 1 bad egg to “reply all” and turn an open evening invite into a nightmare PR stunt.

I really hope dentists understand the risks before they jump on the Facebook bandwagon. Never before would dentists in their wildest dreams open their patient books to the public, revealing their patients to other patients and revealing their base to their competition. But now dentists are allowing angry patients, investigative journalists, and private detectives (fronts for solicitors) who wish to expose or sue a dentist now have access to other patients. Is this the rise of group litigation? Only time will tell but we are definitely exposing ourselves.

A lot of dentists are setting up Facebook groups without understanding the basics of Privacy settings. I don’t think dentists should allow anyone to write on their walls. You wouldn’t let patients write directly (unmoderated) onto your website, so why write on your Facebook wall ?

There seems to be different standards of privacy and access in basic Facebook marketing and this does concern me. Dentists do need to be guided and told the dangers – then the decision to go ahead is theirs and because the benefits of Facebook Fan Pages and Groups clearly outweigh the risks.

There are other Facebook strategies you can implement that involve no risk and do not publicly reveal your assets. You do need to have creative and innovative incentives for your patients to talk about you on their own walls – create a BUZZ. I see a lot of dentists talking about themselves on Facebook and very little patients talking about them… I think this is where the secret is – genuine word-of-mouth on Facebook by your patients, talking about you on their own walls.

I do wish that Facebook evolves such that dentists can hide their patients because the email marketing benefits of the fan page or group is obviously huge. I really look forward to hearing what others think and, at the end of the day, I hope through discussion we can educate the dental profession to be aware of these really important issues.  Visit the Dentinal Tubules forum

Krishan Joshi is “the Master” at Dental Focus Web Design.

Become his friend on Facebook – www.facebook.com/DentalFocusWebsites

Remember to subscribe to our Blog of Secrets so you can get the latest dental marketing ideas and video tips immediately by e-mail.

If you would like some free advice, Email Us or call 020 7183 8388.

The post Dental Marketing – Facebook CC Risk Factor first appeared on Digital Marketing for Dentists in UK | Blog by Dental Focus.