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The web has changed – do you know what to do?
As a dental service provider or dental marketer, let’s agree you want a piece of the online action. But how does your web presence compete for the attention of today’s savvy web surfers.
And once you’ve established an online presence – that brings in business – how do you keep it?
You do know the web HAS changed…right!?
Securing that attention is both a technological AND content issue. The web presents countless waves of opportunity for dental industry and dental marketing pros like you.
Here’s a few reminders of how savvy, A-level dental marketers are strategically using the web for their front-line dental marketing efforts:
–>E-mail (Are you maximizing this tool?) – use product/service promotions, autoresponders (a series of strategically written email promotions that provide a click-through link to your website or promotional webpage).
–>E-newsletters or e-zines (Got one? – they work in ways you may not have considered) – keep your products/services front-of-mind through a series of articles and tips published weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.
–>Blogs (For some they’re better than an e-newsletter and…they’re more than a place to vent or rant) – stay on the radar of the your target market through consistent, relevant content that establishes you as an authority – or at least one with your finger on the pulse of your industry. See it…say it – that’s the power of having a go-to blog.
–>Social media (Seriously! What are you waiting for?) – think Twitter, Facebook pages, LinkedIn, YouTube, Foursquare, Gowalla, etc. I’ll be as bold to say – “Get on board or be irrelevant (that’s a kind way of saying you’ll go the way of the dinosaur)!”
–>Home pages (perhaps the most strategically under-utilized and ineffective website page) – set the pace for your entire website here.
–>Landing pages…squeeze pages (could be the difference between a customer and potential one) – warm up your market with a product/service promotion before they even get to your website.
–>Podcasts (if you’ve got something valuable to say) – be the voice with a portable…listen-as-you-go marketing tool (IPhones, IPads, Blackberrys, and the Android market of smartphones make this a slam-dunk)! Embed it on your website and build your subscriber list. For some hearing is better than seeing (reading).
–>Webinars (nothing to fear…much to gain when used right) – create an online educational system. Save cash-flow on training travel and related fees. Offer the occasional free webinar to build your educational tribe.
New and efficient forms of communication require fresh, targeted content. Design is a significant feature of your dental industry website for sure.
But without benefit-biased copywriting all the *pop* and *flash* technology risks diverting attention…and the web, brothers-and-sisters, preaches the doctrine of attention!
3 Fundamentals for Publishing an Enewsletter as a Follow-up Tool
The problem may not be your lack of follow-up but how consistently you lack it.
Think about it! You have good intentions when it comes to following up on prospects and potential leads in your dental marketing.
But how many times can you draft an email or hand-written note and keep doing it over and over. At some point you must somewhat “automate” the marketing follow-up process.
An effective way to “automate” your follow-up is through consistently publishing an enewsletter. And it can be as simple as repurposing a blog post.
In fact, that’s a good place to begin as a I offer a few tips to get started with publishing an enewsletter.
1) Start blogging
Your blog is the blank canvas to explore, explain, and, express your expertise (how do you like that “ex” theme I have going there?). It’s a place to log insights.
Lead with a blog. Many posts will “seed” other ideas and topics. These deeper explorations form the content that can be expanded through a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly enewsletter.
2) Show up regularly
Speaking of follow-up frequency…how often should you publish an enewsletter? Preferences vary. Some say weekly is best, others bi-weekly or monthly. I previously published weekly. Now (as I’m planning the 2.0 version of my enewsletter) I’m leaning toward monthly.
The advantage of monthly is you can use your enewsletter as a way to aggregate the numerous blog posts published over the course of a month into one issue.
You can expand a thought that a blog post simply introduced. You can incorporate the wisdom gained from comments to a particular post. Even social media feedback from retweets, likes and post comments (Facebook page) can improve upon a topic blogged about weeks before.
Bottom-line: consistency. Whether you promote your enewsletter as a weekly or monthly – stay with it. Your subscribers will drift (unsubscribe) if you lack consistency.
3) Open the window
I’m talking about letting people see into your life, practice/company culture, product/service stories, etc. One thing social media has taught us is that getting personal is okay.
If you want your enewsletter read and shared be unafraid to open up the windows a bit. Don’t be a life-voyeur or a verbal flasher. TMI (Too Much Info) applies here too.
If you’ve taken a trip, been on vacation, achieved a milestone, celebrated the milestone of a child or loved one, purchased a new gadget…you get the picture! And that’s what I’m talking about – give your readers a “picture” of who you are in addition to your expertise.
Authenticity opens the door to better business connections. It’s the basis for effective marketing follow-up – what we call “engagement” these days.
An enewsletter is a perfect follow-up companion alongside a blog and any other business communication you share.
A Tool to Jumpstart Your Dental Marketing
“The fortune is in the follow-up.”
That’s what Ali Brown, online entrepreneur and marketing expert says. In fact, it’s how she built her now thriving business and coaching career – one that led to her recent appearance on ABC’s Secret Millionaire spring 2011 finale.
But it’s not just follow-up – it’s the right kind of strategic follow-up that creates the relationships that ultimately lead to a fortune in business.
Brown tells business owners (I’m one who’s listened to her in recent years and used her program to engage my clients and leads, especially using the one approach I’ll get to in a moment) there are three ways – these days – you can effectively engage your list:
1) “Send a quick EMAIL to say “nice to meet you, here’s a link to my website, and let me know if you’d like to discuss further, etc.”
2) “Give them a CALL and try to set up a meeting or initial consultation to find out if it’s a good fit.”
3) “Add them as a friend on FACEBOOK and TWITTER, so they can get to know you and your services/products a little better.”
These approaches hopefully lead to a response. If one, or any of them do not, it can feel like you’ve reached out in vain.
Response is key.
But how do you help assure that you will eventually get a response? We’re accustomed to immediate response these days when we reach-out and engage others through text messaging, a tweet, a comment on someone’s Facebook page/wall, even a sent email.
Brown comments, “But in today’s online environment, it’s crucial that business owners recognize that a RESPONSE is multi-dimensional. A person isn’t ready to buy until they scope out your website, read a few testimonials, find you on Yelp, and check you out on Facebook.”
She adds that one of the most (still) effective tools out there to maintain that responsive relationship is with, what she calls, an ezine. Brown admits (and I had the same thoughts since we’ve been introduced to the power of social media) that it’s easy to dismiss an enewsletter as being so…well…”1999!”
Consider this from Brown’s research and expertise…
“According to a 2010 study by ExactTarget, 56% of U.S. Internet users interact with brands only via marketing emails, compared to 1.3% who interact only via Twitter and 0.7% by Facebook. (This doesn’t dampen my social media fires at all…it just reminds me how slow to adapt many are. And it’s those slow adopters that we’ll reach via other media. Just a thought…)
And business owners are responding… A 2010 StrongMail study found that marketing and business leaders still choose email marketing as the top area of investment growth (65%) in 2011, above social media marketing (57%) and search marketing (41%). Email is still very much a heavy hitter in the online marketing game.”
No doubt, having (or reviving) another tool in your client development toolbox could add dollars to your bottom-line. And in this economy you and I can use all the help we can get!
I’ll cover some of the keys to success that an ezine or enewsletter can bring to your biz in an upcoming post. Until then, check out Ali Brown’s resources. I’m a satisfied user!