February 2019
Tuesday 12th March 2019In this Dental Focus Webinar, Chris Olson and Dominic Haslam simplify the website statistics behind Google Analytics.
Viewers of this webinar will discover:
- – How potential and existing patients use your website
- – If and where patients are engaging with your website
- – What changes you could make to improve website conversions
- – How to measure the success of your marketing activity
January 2019
Tuesday 12th March 2019Discover the secrets to award-winning dental websites.
In this Dental Focus Webinar, Chris Olson and Dominic Haslam discuss the elements that go into building an award-winning dental website.
Viewers of this webinar will discover:
- – What makes an award-winning dental website.
- – Why patients may choose you based on your website.
- – How your website can generate enquires.
3 Essential tips and tricks for Instagram
Thursday 3rd January 2019
In a time where over 50,000 posts are uploaded to Instagram every minute, finding out handy tips has become a necessity to stand out from the rest. With these useful tricks, you will feel like a seasoned Instagrammer, excelling in Social Media for Dentists.
- Promote your website.
A big frustration of Instagram users is that there is no option to post interactive clickable links to your website when you create a new post. However, there is a simple workaround. In your bio, you can type the URL to your website, and users will be able to simply click on it and will be taken there.
So when a post is created, it would be a good idea to drive people to your bio so they can be directed to your website.
An example is shown here:
- Hide your hashtags
The use of hashtags is crucial in drawing in as many users as possible, but often they look messy and cluttered. But there is a way to hide them from your followers, while still using their great functionality.
Method 1:
You can hide them under full stops separated by line breaks. This is not immediately easy to do on an iOS device as the ‘return’ key can only be accessed once tapping the ‘123’ key (shown below). Once you have around 5 lines of full stops, you are free to write as many hashtags as you wish, knowing that these will be hidden.
Method 2:
If you always receive lots of comments, this method may be easier. After you have posted, you can leave a comment with all the hashtags you want, and this will be buried by the other comments you will get, leaving them hidden from your followers.
- Monitor your comments
It is important when using Social Media for Dentists, that your profile remains clean and professional, as well as engaging. Fortunately, Instagram has a way of policing comments. You can go to the “Options” section and select “Comments” where you will be able to toggle “Hide Inappropriate Comments” on. Here you will be able to type specific words which you do not want to be posted on your picture.
Alternatively, you can delete individual comments which you do not like by tapping the speech bubble icon, swiping left over the text and selecting the rubbish bin icon.
If you wish to disable comments entirely for a specific post, then before you post, tap ‘Advanced Settings’ and then you can toggle on “Turn Off Commenting”.
Social Media for Dentists – 7 Steps to Success
Thursday 29th November 2018
Personalising your social media channels and ensuring the content reflects your practice will guarantee that you stand out as a cut above the competition. The 7P’s coined by Coach Chris Barrow will give you the tools to engage and connect with patients. This addresses Profile, People, Premises, Prices, Promises, Proof and Products.
Profile – The look & feel of your brand and all need to be conveyed on your social media. This persuades audiences your practice is right for them.
People – This involves individuals that work in the practice. Team photos and videos should be professional, happy and demonstrate good customer service. These are fantastic ways to showcase different personalities and characters. In turn, it forms a trusting connection with your patients and eases concerns.
Premises – Take advantage of social media by using photo’s & videos to reveal the level of quality your practice has by flaunting patient rooms, technology and more. This helps by offering a safe and familiar environment for patients when they visit.
Price – Transparency with fees is extremely crucial as it ensures you attract the right demographic for your practice.
Promises – There is no better alternative than Social Media when it comes to showing the patient journey. Present the quality and standards of the practice using video’s and/or photo’s to set the expectations of current and future patients.
Proof – An excellent way to show quality is to display before & after photo’s on your social media, as long as you have obtained explicit written consent from your patients. This helps to engage with more patients in your local community and helps to raise the profile of your practice to attract more patients.
Products – It is important to post about personalised treatments and special offers, which will differentiate your practice from the competition. You can engage with patients and build relationships through exclusive offers, running competitions, promoting new treatments and highlighting events.
Social media for dentists makes it easier to increase the visibility of your practice, connect directly with your patients and provide them with 24/7 unfiltered access to you.
If you want to increase engagement, build relationships and grow the visibility of your dental practice through Social Media, it is vital that you follow the framework of the 7P’s.
Would you like to talk to us about Social Media for Dentists?
Book a FREE chat with Dom – our Social Media Guru
CALL: 020 7183 8388
The importance of hashtags – Social Media for Dentists
Friday 9th November 2018A hashtag is a hash symbol that is used within a message to recognise a subject or keyword which many others may be talking about. They are mainly used to search for other posts which are using the same hashtag. Hashtags on Instagram work by collating photo and video content.
When talking about hashtags on Instagram, there are usually two sides of the situation. Some people that use Instagram dislike them and steer away from using them, however, the other half absolutely love them, some people even going crazy when using them!
You may be wondering why you should be using hashtags on Instagram? Posts with at least one hashtag have roughly 13% more engagement on Instagram compared to posts that have not used a hashtag. 7 out of 10 hashtags that are used on Instagram are branded which means they are unique to a specific business or marketing campaign. A lot of the time, they use the company name, the product being advertised or company tagline.
There are many places you can use hashtags, including posts, comments, bios and stories. You are allowed to use up to 30 hashtags in a single post, however, this is considering overdoing it. A recent study on the subject suggests that the optimal number of hashtags to use is 11, however, the rules on Instagram are always changing.
Recently, Instagram rolled out a new function where you are able to follow hashtags which allow users to look at posts using certain hashtags in a different way. Rather than searching for a hashtag, users are able to follow them where they can scroll through their own feed and see some of the posts using the same hashtag. Saying this, Instagram’s algorithm has always preferred certain hashtags over others and some are more relevant than others.
If you are interested in social media for dentists, there are many hashtags that you could use which are dentistry related, however we have found that the top 10 hashtags to use are #Dentistry, #Dental, #Teeth, #DentalImplant, #Invisalign, #Braces, #Smile, #TeethWhitening, #PearlyWhites and #Veneers. These hashtags can be topped off with a branded hashtag that is related to your dental practice.
Social Media for Dentists – How to make the most of Instagrams 2018 updates
Wednesday 7th November 2018Instagram has experienced phenomenal growth during 2018 with more than a billion active users worldwide and a ton of consistent updates, Social Media for Dentists on Instagram has never been more important.
We have compiled a list of 2018’s most important Instagram updates and how they could be of benefit to your practice.
IGTV
With research indicating the growing use of long-form videos on smartphones, Instagram has given users a chance to share longer vertical videos on Instagram.
How can this benefit your practice?
IGTV can be used to build the brand of your practice, connect with your patients and grow your audience. Content could range from elaborate videos in your practice to extended versions of previous popular videos.
Engagement tools
Until recently likes, comments and Story views were only available measurements of Instagram engagement. Until the introduction of interactive stickers for stories such as emoji sliders, polls and questions.
How can this benefit your practice?
These new tools have opened up new insights on how Social Media for dentists can adopt a new way of connecting with their patients, increase engagement levels and gather feedback which can help a practice redefine their customer service approach.
Instagram Verification
It is now possible for regular users on Instagram to apply for the blue tick verification, previously reserved for big-name celebrities.
How can this benefit your practice?
The benefits of this for a dental practice can include increased credibility, while also helping to stop copycat accounts.
Hashtags on profiles
Instagram provided the option to add functioning, clickable hashtags and mentions to bios.
How can this benefit your practice?
Your practice can now promote specific campaign hashtags in the bio of your profile such as an open day or treatment discount, allowing your followers to click on it and see all of the content other patients have posted.
@mentions
Instagram introduced the ability to add to your own story if another user @mention your account.
How can this benefit your practice?
It may not seem like a big deal but it provides you with a cleaner way of reposting mentions from your patients when they have (hopefully) had a fantastic treatment from your practice.
Looking for help managing your dental social media?
Get in touch with our Social Media Guru Dominic Haslam by calling – 020 7183 8388 – for a friendly chat.
For more information on our social media for dentists options contact our Social Media Guru Dom.
Book a FREE chat with Dom – our Social Media Guru
CALL: 020 7183 8388
Social Media for Dentists – Common Myths
Friday 2nd November 2018
Social Media has huge benefits for your practice and brand, from growing your community to keeping your patients in the loop of the latest news and events in the practice. At Dental Focus we provide affordable social media plans and would like to highlight some of the common myths we often hear about social media.
Myth #1 : Social Media is free.
Social media is not free. Using the Facebook or Instagram platforms are free in the sense there are no subscription or initial cost to join them, but think of all the internal cost spent on the labour you’ll need to setup, optimise, run and manage the platforms from content generation to regular activity.
Within the practice it is often all hands on deck and managing the social media account either becomes an afterthought, sporadically adding posts from time to time or left completely neglected. Our social media for dentists plan helps free up your staff and leave the posting to the experts. We have proven strategies in place, that we know will help grow your community and portray your business in the best light.
Myth #2 : More Likes = More Success.
Social media platforms encourage page likes and follows, and are often a vanity number for dentists who feel that if their local competition have more likes and follows they are falling behind. At Dental Focus our social media plan focuses on growing and creating a community of real local followers and existing patients. It’s better to have a smaller number of raving fans than a large number of likes/follows that are bots and people overseas who will never become a patient.
Myth #3 : Social media will generate leads for your business.
Many dentists think the no.1 reason to run social media is return on investment, and increasing enquiries from a marketplace of potential patients. The truth is that people on social media are often not in the mindset of ‘looking for a dentist’ they are browsing through, keeping up with friends and family and sharing opinions.
What’s the bottom line? Social media is a great way to build awareness for your practices brand, and an excellent way to build relationship with your existing patients. By creating content your existing patients like and share creates an online word of mouth endorsement of your services.
Why is this a benefit? When these friends and family of your patients are at a stage where they are ‘looking for a dentist’ or a specific treatment your regular engaging activity has left its mark with them and increases the change of them getting in touch and to start sharing and liking your content.
Would you like to talk to us about Social Media for Dentists?
Book a FREE chat with Dom – our Social Media Guru
CALL: 020 7183 8388
New Website Launch – Moonlight Dental
Wednesday 31st October 2018
We recently launched a brand new website for the wonderful Moonlight Dental based in Slough.
https://www.moonlightdental.co.uk/
Find out more about our dental websites, SEO services, and social media for dentists.
How to increase your follows and likes on Instagram – build your brand!
Friday 26th October 2018
Social Media for Dentists is the same as Social Media for everyone else, in the sense that when you need to increase your follows and likes, they both require dedication. Here are a few pointers to help you build your brand effectively and to help you gain followers along the way.
Participate in trends – be current
While it is important to use specialised hashtags to Dentistry such as: #Dentaltreatments #PearlyWhites #Smile, it is also important to use universally trending hashtags like #photooftheday or #instagood to extend the reach of your audience.
If possible, you can link your practice or treatments to current affairs or entertainment trends to boost your engagement. Ask questions where possible to increase interactivity. For example:
“Remain or Leave? That is the question among the teeth of Britain. If you are in the remain camp, visit our practice to keep your teeth IN! If you are in the leave camp, we offer Dental Implant Treatments for those whose teeth are OUT” #DentalImplants #Hygiene #Brexit”
“I bet Venom would use our Invisalign treatments to get his teeth looking straighter! Do you think the film would have been better if he had straighter teeth? #Venom #TeethStraightening #Invisalign”
The more controversial and entertaining your post is, the more engaging it will be. Always look out for how you can be engaging when using Social Media for Dentists.
Offer giveaways and competitions
If you are able to get your followers to tag a friend in the comments, not only does this help with your engagement but there is also a new potential follower who has been notified to look at your post.
A giveaway for a certain toothbrush could be held or perhaps a free consultation, and the only way to win would be by tagging a friend, following the page, and liking the post. With each new tag, they will want to follow and like and possibly even tag someone else! This is the best way to increase followers.
Use Videos and Live Streaming
Your potential patients need a reason to feel compelled to invest in your practice. The best way to do this is by building trust, and to build trust on Instagram, you need to show personable faces, voices and messages. According to Dan Zarella, you are likely to have 35% more likes from posts with faces in them.
The advantage of using live streaming is that it shows the authenticity of your practice and how effective the treatments are in real-time.