Who Looks at Your Website?
Getting a grip on varied media target markets
I can't begin to tell you how many clients think their patients faithfully check out their website. Even sillier is the thought that people want to find and follow their dentist's clinical actions on Facebook. To see photos of dry sockets? Preposterous! All my "friends" know I've been in dentistry for over 30 years but none of them want me to show them pictures of teeth. Factoids* around health that relates to them — yes — a winner!
Your website is External Marketing. It should speak to people who are looking for a dentist — who don't know you. It should tout important brand names like Invisalign® or Lumineers® — you should even consider a portal**: something like InvisalignDentistYourCity.com will pull in people who don't know you, but want Invisalign from a practice in their city. Your patients will really only find you on the web if they need your phone number or have an emergency. Posted newsletters or blog entries on your website aren't necessarily for your patients but for people you want to become your patients.
It's about the same for Facebook. A number of patients may find you on FB to LIKE you. But remember, FB is a social and entertainment platform — the quickest way to be ignored is to use it as a press release environment. If you offer games and contests for prizes they're more likely to follow you for the giveaways. Do they want to see your latest and greatest dental miracle — frankly, not at all! But they may be very interested in a paragraph or two on something that affects their health or pocketbook. Facebook is also another way to reinforce you are the right dentist for them, their friends and family — mostly through passive referrals or an active ad campaign. Social media presence is valuable, but realistically, how many of the businesses you frequent do you follow on FB?
Internal Marketing is about how very nice you are to your patients. How you remember who they are and what's important to them. Put notes in charts and share known info about each patient at the morning huddle. Then talk to that patient about their interests during the appointment. Mail them a quarterly communication. Sure postage has increased, but now it's FOREVER — and so should your patient base be forever. Email, unless requested, is just junk that only takes a click to delete. (Next time, we'll compare the benefits of a physical newsletter vs an electronic newsletter.)
Marketing is all about a good mix of Internal and External Marketing. You just need to know what type of marketing reaches the audience you are trying to keep or attract. Call us — we can help you brainstorm your plan.
* Soon you can go to the Hycomb Library Online for short, engaging factoids on dentistry and general health to post on social media.
** Want more info on portals? Check out IDA's New Patient Portals
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