Social Media
3 Strategies to Stop a Common Mistake You Could Be Making on Your Dental Website
Our grandson is sharp. As a six year old he’s also incredibly random.
He blends his thoughts with the skill of a chef. And it’s most entertaining when his conversations shift-without-a-clutch as he jumps from one topic to another.
Yes, we laugh a lot when he’s around. Good times.
Randomness has me wondering. I don’t often rant in my posts…but today…well…here goes.
These days it appears that many dental professionals (and I suspect other industry pros as well) still don’t get-it when it comes to their dental web page content.
Cliche’ ALERT!
If I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it a thousand times from clients – “We want more substance on our internal web pages….Why bullet points…Where’s the (self-indulgent) information about our state-of-the-art thingamajig…??” Geez!
I’ll stop there. But I won’t stop my bold appeal – there’s a place for information and so-called substance and it’s not necessarily on your standard, internal web pages (Hang tight, I’ll clue you in shortly.)
Do your dental website readers really care?
That’s a good question. And you should give significant strategic thought to it.
As a copywriter and content strategist I certainly do. In fact, that question is where I live when writing.
Put yourself in the shoes of a potential new patient or a client (if you’re a dental business other than a dental practice). They find your website or content as result of a search.
Typically that search is driven by the use of a specific keyword or key phrase. But actually reading your content when they arrive is a completely different issue.
Is there more to online search success than SEO?
It’s not necessarily because you stuffed your internal web pages like the gluttonous rampage of a person on their third trip to the all-you-can-eat buffet line. Today’s search success (leading some to prophesy that “SEO is dead”) has more to do with usefulness and authority than it does keyword strategy.
Say again…?
That last sentence will perhaps get me in trouble with some. But I’m worn-out with crap content that attempts to game the search engines and funnel people into something more than it informs, educates, and provides solid solutions.
Maybe it’s because I’m not an SEO rock star (I’m really somewhat okay with that). But the more I learn and expand my bandwidth, the less inclined I am to be a “gamer” with my new-found knowledge and skill.
Mostly, I want to help people because I believe in the power of words to persuade, coach, help, assist, create breakthroughs, lead, feed, encourage, serve, promote, compel, on and on I could go. I love words.
And you should love the power of words too.
But not random, misplaced, or otherwise overused words. Who reads them?
And frankly…who cares?
1-Deliver value and your value will increase.
Design your internal web page content (Home page, About page, Services/Product pages, etc.) as crisp, to the point, and benefit oriented as possible. Trash the industry-speak, “feature-focus,” “est-syndrome (greatest, latest – you get the picture), and “state-of-the-art-cutting-edge” drivel.
2-Lose the idea that high word count (on internal pages – see above) is the ticket to search success.
Maybe it helps (and I said, “maybe”). But maybe you’re better served by serving your readers with more words on those pages that are capable of delivering the value you want to deliver. Internal web pages (again, see above) are for one purpose – to establish a credible call-to-action. For the dental practice that’s a scheduled appointment. For the dental industry business that’s a client lead, inquiry, or purchase order. Period. Why numb your readers/visitors with the sound of your own voice because you think you must?
3-Build your authority and increase your “word-count” where it has greater valued readability.
Blog, write informative articles, create high-value digital newsletters, podcast, use images, info-graphics, video, and social media channels. Words carry more weight there than they do tucked away on internal pages where people are numbed and disinclined to visit…much less read.
Web visitors and content readers these days are onto you. They know the gig, especially when clicking on a dental practice website.
One pretty, smiling stock photo image says it all. And the response is all too familiar – “We’ve been here before…Tell us something about your dental practice (or even better – your expertise) we haven’t already read a thousand times…”
Want to build credibility and authority?
- Be different than the dental practice or dental business down-the-street in your website content.
- Focus your site visitor’s and reader’s attention on information they can use and that’s packed with solutions.
That’s not random. These days it’s the most strategic thing you can do in your dental marketing via your website.
Try Free-Flying Content Creation and Watch Your Dental Marketing Soar
Sometimes you do it just for the sheer joy. That’s what came to mind as I watched the bird soaring overhead.
Call it your “sweet-spot” or your “wheelhouse.” The expertise you have gives you a certain freedom that you can use to your dental marketing advantage.
The Mississippi Kites nesting high in the branches of our backyard tree “get it.” This species of bird, common to my region, appear to fly because they can but also because it’s such a joy.
I’ll sit on my patio watching them. They freely ride the thermals in the summer sky – dipping, gliding, soaring.
Freedom with no agenda
Marketing is a strategic endeavor. Seldom do you share content, a tweet, a Facebook post, or an email without an “agenda.”
What would happen if you took a “just-because” approach? And what would that look like?
The kite (bird) soaring above my neighborhood experiences a kind of “just-because” freedom you should pursue in your dental marketing.
Picture this…
When you have something to say or share, why not send an email, publish a blog post, post on social media for the sheer joy of doing so.
Share your knowledge and expertise without expecting anything in return.
That might initially seem like a waste. After all, you earned your position, built your practice or business with your bare hands and buckets of sweat. Right?
I don’t blame you for wanting some credit. And certainly the best credit comes in the form of compensated services.
These days, people flock (speaking of birds) to authority. This is vitally true in the online, digital space via your web content.
Let the R.O.I. (Return On Investment) take care of itself.
The R.O.I. of your online, digital content extends way beyond your intentions. You can SEO-it, measure it, analyze it – and I recommend doing that within reason.
But the ultimate test of your investment is how useful you are to your reader or page visitor. Once they give you their time and then their trust by returning for more of your content you are on the way to a new kind of marketing freedom.
I’ve said it before, the days of building a dental website, setting-it-and-forgetting-it are gone! You must return again and again with consistent, useful stream of content to see a return.
Why?
Web visitors are easily bored, overloaded with information, saturated with industry-speak, and hungry for useful, authoritative expertise.
It’s your “wheelhouse.” Grind it out!
I’m not suggesting that you make content creation a daily, heavy “grind.” Quite the contrary.
Rather, approach it like the Mississippi Kite soaring above my backyard. “Fly” free, my friend…!
Free up time and resources to freely create free content. These days nothing builds authority and showcases your expertise more than marketing via relevant, useful content.
- Launch, re-launch, or replenish your current blog or article page. Give more attention to your ongoing content feed than you do the eye-candy design temptations or word-count concerns common to dental website design. Consistent, useful content holds your readers attention and delivers value. If they trust your expertise they’ll more likely give you their time and business loyalty.
- Provide multiple channels of content access. It’s safe to assume that some are readers (blog posts, enewsletters, email, ebooks, Twitter, Facebook posts, etc.). Others are listeners (audio content, podcasts, audio chats, etc.). And some are viewers who prefer visual content (YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, webinars, etc.). Know your “tribe.” Patients and clients come in all flavors and so should your content (and how it’s delivered).
- Expect and ask for feedback. What you ask for can be measured. Reviews, shares, mentions, retweets (on Twitter) – these are votes for (or sometimes against) your services and the content you use to promote them. Ask, survey, and turn those nuggets of vital feedback into more useful content that serves your growing “tribe” of patients and clients.
Freedom isn’t necessarily “free.” But it is freeing to soar above the noise of today’s marketing landscape.
Freely create content or hire someone to do it for you. Whatever you do, give some “wings” to your expertise. The sky’s-the-limit!
13 Clues Your Dental Website is Leaking (And a Few Strategies to Fix It)
Words I don’t like to hear – “Honey, the carpet in the extra bedroom is damp.” My first thought: “We’ve had a ton of rain in recent days….,”
But that wasn’t it.
Perhaps you can relate on an entirely different level. Like, “Hey, our dental website doesn’t seem to be generating many leads lately.”
It’s a common issue. And it’s especially true if your site is one of those business “necessities” that you had designed and have not given much thought to since.
My household disaster culprit was much the same. The out-of-sight-out-of-mind hot water heater had begun to fail and slowly leak.
The end of its usefulness
Websites, like household appliances, wear out. In our case, we got a ton more years out of this faithful water heater than should be expected.
It’s a good thing when your resources last longer than expected. And it’s better when you get a heads-up that a change needs to be made before more damage is done.
Is your website leaking?
A strange question, right? But a solid, up to date, useful website platform is essential to your digital marketing success today.
Let’s diagnose it for a moment.
Your website is “leaking” if:
1-The copy/content on your pages hasn’t been updated in, like, 2 or more years!
2-You rely on flashy, moving, revolving, explosive, eye-candy (shall I continue…?) banners to call attention to your pages.
3-Your page copy is a technical, wordy, encyclopedia-like collection of “dental industry speak” that only you and anyone with enough CE credits would understand.
4-You use fine-print to tell site visitors/readers the real “deal” about your services and promotional offers.
Your website is “leaking” if…
5-The word count on your main pages and sub-pages is bloated with more than 500 words each.
6-It’s so keyword dense that the copy doesn’t flow.
7-You use the words, “state-of-the-art,” “cutting-edge,” “Welcome…” and other basically irrelevant, feature-heavy words to describe your services.
8-The word “you” is rarely if ever used because your copy isn’t reader focused.
9-Your copy doesn’t offer compelling benefits focused on why your readers should choose your services.
10-There are few if any calls-to-action that guide the reader where to “click” or navigate to next.
11-The bottom-line of your site doesn’t compel readers to schedule, request more information, hire you, read more, or take some relevant action.
12-You say, “Blog?…What blog…?…I don’t have time to blog…?”
13-Or…”Social media buttons…what are those?…and what would I do with them if I had them?”
Any of the above mentioned true? If so, your website could be leaking as we speak.
Let’s fix this, shall we?
For starters…
- Make your dental website a platform instead of a digital brochure.
- Use your website as a content delivery machine. Update your content consistently via your blog or article page.
- Showcase your authority and professional expertise by having an educational mindset.
- These days information creates opportunity. Create an informational stream relevant to your specialty or services.
- Think blog posts, webinars, podcasts, downloadable simple, short ebooks. Answer your patient’s and client’s questions through these content sources.
Begin to plug the leaks in your website with these strategies. And ask for help if you prefer to stay in your wheelhouse of daily expertise.
Leave website copy and content creation to…well…those who do this all-day, everyday.
How to Build Your Dental Marketing Plan Like a Dance in the Summer Rain
I envied her the moment I saw her walking along the curb in the street outside my office window. Nothing was stopping this mom and her two preteen daughters from thoroughly enjoying the drenching downpour of a summer rainstorm.
What if you could free yourself from boundaries in your dental marketing? Being aware you have them is the first step towards a new era of effectiveness.
The mom’s and daughter’s laughter made me curious. And my curiosity was quickly turned to thoughts of how freeing it is to lift your arms into a summer downpour with no fear of getting soaked to the bone.
Everything in me wants to live that way. More of that freedom desire is in me for how I write, market, and run my growing dental content and consulting business.
Think free-range
Most of my life, I’ve been an outside-the-box, color-outside-the-lines kinda guy. Cliche’ as that sounds, the core value could be the difference in how you connect with your patients and/or clients through your marketing.
You build an audience these days by…
- Content that sounds like a conversation more than a used-car-lot sales pitch.
- Connecting with people in a social media environment more than an invasive, in-your-face marketing campaign.
- Compelling people to do business with you as result of your freely shared, easily accessible, useful knowledge and expertise more than dropping people into a sales funnel to see who survives the process.
What I’m saying is – untether yourself from how it’s always been done…how it’s currently being done (in some instances)…and get out there in the downpour of possibilities.
What’s possible?
Let’s get practical. You own a platform on which your services are the main course.
As a dental provider you’re known for providing treatment that helps people eliminate their pain, maintain their health, and look better. If you’re a supplier, consultant, or marketing firm you’re a connector that delivers the goods to help dental providers do their job effectively.
None of that’s ground breaking information, I’m guessing. But it’s a perspective that shapes a few possibilities you might have forgotten or not pursued in your dental marketing.
Build your dental marketing plan like a dance-in-the-summer-rain (Why it’s okay to free yourself from how you’ve always done it)
1-Get comfortable with creating useful content around your professional expertise and services.
The easiest and yet most ineffective thing about your dental website?
You can set it and forget it.
But forgetting it no longer has the effect it once had. Why?
Google values content…content…content. Not just any content, rather content that’s fresh, relevant, and useful to your market…and delivered consistently.
Keywords matter (don’t misunderstand) but they’re no longer the magic dust they once were.
Use them. Just don’t abuse them.
What do I mean?
Baiting your website with keyword data to get the search hits is old-school. And it’s especially confining (not freeing at all) if it’s ALL you rely on to get found in your local search results.
Pay as you go is another, still popular, option. Google ads are effective but their scalability is lacking if you want to invest available marketing dollars elsewhere.
Here’s your elsewhere…and it’s totally free-ing!
- Brainstorm all the topics you can think of that serve your patients/clients. Then consistently create blog posts, enewsletter articles, podcasts, etc and share them with your list.
- Listen to your patients/clients. What are they telling you about their pain, problems, need for solutions, etc.?
- Scan your testimonials and reviews for “nuggets” of info you can build content around.
And if all this sounds time consuming and out of your wheelhouse –
- Hire a copywriter/content writer to do the “heavy-lifting” while you stay on your game in dentistry.
Sound good?
2-Build relationships with social media and use the connection to help people with your expertise.
Social media isn’t all cat videos (those are hysterical), images of your latest root canal procedure (gross), or a group photo standing under your latest proclaimed state-of-the-art technology or service you invested thousands of dollars to promote at your booth at the recent industry convention (who cares…wait…that was rude…sorry – but you get my point…hopefully?).
Conversation is the essence of social media. And it’s dialog that often, if not most of the time, revolves around the sharing of knowledge based content – yours or someone else’s.
Social media is a wasted tool, if…you’re only talking about yourself and not helpfully engaging people in conversation around…wait for it…your “greatness.”
I use that term “greatness” loosely.
Face it, you ARE great. You have skills, expertise, authority…and by-golly people like you! Or they should, right?
Dance in the social media rain, my friend.
- Post useful info/content on your dental practice Facebook page.
- Link to your blog, latest podcast episode, or another industry colleague’s content via your Twitter feed.
- Picture your practice culture on Pinterest or Instagram.
- Tell a story with video on your YouTube channel.
And remember…
3-People do business with those they know, like, and trust.
Trust grows over time when you help people deal with their pain, problems, and related challenges. It’s vital to your marketing relationships (that’s what they should be) that you don’t give the you’re-just-a-name-on-my-huge-aren’t-you-impressed-with-the-size-of-it-list impression.
Lists are essential (treasure them). Marketing funnels work (careful you don’t abuse the privilege of your list trusting you to promote to them).
Marketing is ultimately about sharing information or services that help and potentially change people’s lives.
And you can do it with an effortless humanity that people feel more compelled to give you their time…and money.
Be that person. It’s the principle behind why I stopped working for a moment to watch a mom and her daughters dance joyfully in the rain.
- Lose the marketing tone, schtick, or whatever you want to call it. Be yourself by talking like a human being to other human beings.
- Evaluate your marketing copy and content by it’s dance-in-the-rain, conversational, realness. Write (and market) like you talk!
- Preserve people’s trust once you’ve earned it. Keep giving away content (blog posts, podcasts, newsletters, reports, webinars, etc.) because it helps them.
Then…
Enjoy the returns on your investment. Celebrate them like a soaking dance in a summer downpour.
2 Core Content Strategies That Give You an Edge in Your Dental Marketing
Our soon-to-be six year old grandson lives every moment full of anticipation. And we love the satisfaction of being able to respond to his hopes for fun.
You’re in a unique position to be responsive in your dental marketing. And the satisfaction of your patients or clients depends on you being prepared with a core content strategy.
All our grandson had to hear was the word, “Zoo!” The mention of that word signaled what my wife and I already knew would make him happy.
It’s a grandparent thing. We know him. And we know what fills him with hours of joy.
Start with what you know.
When you know someone you’re in a position of leverage. In recent posts I shared the true value of your website platform (PC) and what leverage means to your authority (AC).
Knowledge also equips you to respond.
People expect a response these days. You send someone a text and if you get the “bubble” (indicating they’re reading it) on your screen with no reply you think – “Hey what’s the deal?”
Or you send an email or leave a voice mail. Hours…days go by and no reply. Wow!
Customer service rises and falls on quick, adequate, satisfying response.
Responsiveness rules.
Think of your patient’s or client’s digital (online) presence as a sort of third “ear.” It’s where you apply your responsive listening skills through the use of what let’s call “Responsive Content (RC).”
You’re essentially in the problem-solution “business.” People search for you and your services because they’re in pain (problem), lack knowledge about maintaining their health (problem), or perhaps lack the resources to solve either circumstance (problem).
Communicate where people are listening.
What’s the quickest way to respond these days? And where do your patients/clients access that information?
It seems appropriate to respond digitally rather than using snail-mail or direct mail. If you want to connect in real-time you can’t beat the digital response.
Two digital content strategies you must be prepared to use if you want to master a responsive reputation.
Work your email list.
The most abused and at the same time under-used responsive content (RC) tool you have is e-mail.
Why abused?
Because you could fail to understand the intrinsic value of permission. And if you have permission don’t discount what it means to treasure it as a trusted relationship.
Certainly, you know what it means to be spammed. If not, scan your email inbox and evaluate those who emailed you.
What’s their relationship to you?
Someone you requested info from?
Someone whose content you find useful?
And while we’re on the subject of “usefulness,” here’s how to get the most from your email promotions.
- Be untypical. Inform your readers via a relevant story, idea, or theme.
- Connect the story, idea, or theme to the action you’re asking them to take when reading your email content.
- Ditch the formality. Treat your email like a one-on-one conversation. Write the message in a way that sounds like a casual conversation with one person (your reader).
- Avoid salesy words and common cliches’. The quickest way to get your emails spam-filtered is to sound like your “selling” something. Think about your language.
- Invest in your subject line. The key to emails being delivered (not filtered), opened, and…drumroll…read…is your subject line.
- Share a benefit in your subject line that compels them to open it.
And #2
Connect with social media.
The key is connecting. I hesitated to use the word, “engage,” because it’s often overused and has lost its impact.
That’s sad since social media is really about engaging (there, I said it!) your patients/clients in an online conversation with you via your content.
There must be more to your social strategy than contests, promotions, and images of office parties (important, don’t get me wrong) or dental procedures. Keep your social media channels “human,” but don’t miss the advantage of having a (hopefully) growing “fan base” because of your content value.
- Link to your own relevant, useful content. This is the importance of having a consistently updated blog or article page on your website platform.
- Curate and share other valuable, helpful content that’s relevant to your dental practice, dental expertise, and dental products or services.
- Balance content with the occasional (and I emphasize, occasional) promotion. Social followers are numbed when every other post is about your latest “Like”-our-page-share-our-page contest for a free give-away.
- Avoid violating privacy issues. But don’t allow your fear to keep you from legitimately and effectively connecting with your patient/client base on social media.
- Review and respond in as much real-time as possible to comments or direct connections on your social channels. If necessary, designate, or better, hire someone to manage your social media content and communications.
Responsiveness gives you an edge in today’s digital marketing. And timing is on your side when your mindset is aligned with two of the most effective strategies.
The Use-it-or-Lose-It Factor That Attracts People to Your Dental Marketing
We have two young adult daughters. The youngest (in her early twenties) was involved in a car accident that totaled her newly purchased vehicle.
Yeah. I know! Bummer.
The frustration she’s experienced reaching an acceptable insurance settlement is proof that having one thing matters.
Leverage.
And leverage is an essential reason why you must be in a position of authority in your dental marketing.
Two fortunate things about my daughter’s accident. One, she wasn’t injured. Two, it wasn’t her fault.
But the no-fault issue isn’t without loads of hassle. Of course, I’ve been the supportive Dad (why wouldn’t I).
My unfortunate experience with auto accidents gives me a certain amount of leverage. I can use it on her behalf to get what she deserves from the at fault’s insurance provider.
Leverage is essential to getting what you want, what you need, or what you’re entitled to.
You have more authority than you’re leveraging as a dental professional.
- You’re educated.
- You have solutions to people’s problems and pain.
- You deliver a valuable and useful service.
The magic of leveraged authority
In a previous post, you discovered how to leverage your expertise via your Platform Content (PC). Revisit the post to understand how your dental website has essential cause and effect value.
It’s time to amp-up your website (PC). And your Authority Content (AC) is the energy you need.
Gone are the days when a mere website is all you need. Sure, it’s a start.
Search engines (e.g. Google) recognizes that you have one. But if you want to vault to a higher ranking as a dental provider you must…I repeat, MUST prove that you’re a useful resource worthy of people’s search.
There’s more to being useful online as a dental professional than common Services and Procedures web pages packed with dental keywords.
PC + AC = “Leverage”: How to leverage your authority into an ongoing stream of profitable relationships.
- Keep your blog updated with fresh, informative content. Answer the questions your patients, clients, or readers are asking via your blog content.
- Tap into patient’s or client’s questions with responsive, relevant, quick & easy surveys. Develop your own surveys/questions instead of using standardized approaches.
- Avoid “bait-and-switch” tactics when surveying and promoting your content on your website and through social media channels. Do it just-because and be up front about your reason(s).
- Re-purpose your blog content into a downloadable e-book. Offer the e-book (free) on your website or via a designated landing page. Share the download link every opportunity you get and you’ll develop a reputation of being a go-to resource.
- Start a podcast. It’s a fresh way to spotlight your “authority.” Check out these resources:
Pat Flynn’s How to Start a Podcast Tutorial
Rainmaker.fm – The Showrunner podcast
And who knows…
You might create a passive income stream out of your content development. And who couldn’t use that kind of financial and career leverage?
Stay tuned. In an upcoming post you’ll get the final content piece that increases your influence.
How to Make Your Dental Website More than a Digital “Brochure”
The squirrel was efficient, I’ll give him that. But as I watched him, I wondered about something.
And it prompted my thinking about the set-it-and-forget-it approach to your dental website.
These days a website is essential…but it’s far from enough.
The diligent squirrel outside my office window makes sure he has adequate food supply. He finds a food source, searches for a storage location, and buries it.
It’s fascinating to watch (and often a significant distraction). My question: does he remember where he buries all his resources?
That’s a question of survival for the squirrel.
What about you?
Will YOU survive?
I’m not talking existentially. What concerns me here is whether or not you’ll survive the online marketing landscape.
You were wise – however long ago it was – to bury (invest) a significant amount of marketing resources in your dental website. Having a website is as basic as…well…brushing and flossing is to your oral health.
But what good is a website, really?
For starters, your website home page and/or about page captures your reader’s attention. The unique benefits of your practice story and culture should compel readers to click through to the all-important reason they visited your site.
We’re talking treatment, right?
Your dental services pages highlight the benefits of your treatment expertise. And the copy/content should compel them to ultimately click to your contact page to schedule an appointment or connect with one of your team members via email (an ongoing gold-mine if you use it effectively).
Hopefully, your website copy is designed to accomplish those primary functions. If not, we should talk.
The bigger issue
I intentionally omitted what (these days and I suspect for a long time) is the linchpin of an effective online presence.
Be warned, if you’ve adopted my friendly squirrel’s approach – burying it and forgetting it – you’re missing something that will turn your precious website into nothing more than an electronic brochure (and we know what people do with brochures once they’ve read them…).
Back to your dental services – this is where your current and potential new patients often decide via their ever present smart phone or tablet to schedule. A keyword (e.g. dental implant, dental fillings, dental veneers, dental crowns, etc.) landed them on your site.
But here’s the scary part.
They could have landed on any of the 100’s of dental websites locally. How do you stand out?
You tell me…you’re the expert!
I’m not being sarcastic. Actually, I’m paying you a compliment.
The missing element that sets your dental website a part from the crowd is content. Your expertise is the reason people schedule.
It’s also the path to how today’s search engines rank you. No longer is it enough to have a website.
You must have a reason for existing online. Being useful and helpful is first and foremost.
3 Basic Strategies to Prevent Your Dental Website from Being a Wasted Investment
1-Blog consistently
This is content-101. A regular channel that provides useful information is now a marketing essential.
But this is vital!
The content you post, publish, or otherwise share on your blog must be relevant and above all useful. Your blog content will be ignored and possibly penalized (by Google) if it’s lacking authenticity.
By authenticity, I mean – true to your voice, practice culture, expertise, etc. No longer can you post warmed-over, stale, keyword-baited “crap” just to “tease” the search engines (they’re smarter and for good reason).
Be useful! Enough said.
- Dial into the questions your patients are asking (are you listening?) and write blog posts about THAT!
- Make your content interesting at the same time you make it search effective.
- Give patients, site visitors something they can use at the bathroom sink when they’re practicing good oral hygiene.
- Provide first time site visitors something they can share with others about good dietary choices and their link to healthy teeth.
- Be the go-to dental expert in your local search area for not only good dental care but also outstanding dental information.
They find you by your dental keywords. They return by how well you create content around those words via a channel like your dental blog.
2-Showcase your authority with sidebar content (ebook, case study, Podcast, YouTube channel, Social media, etc.)
Think of this as the “something-extra.” Sidebar content is the mint-on-the-pillow (throwback to when 5-star hotels did this kind of thing).
No one comes to a dental website expecting anything more than smiling stock photos of pretty people, right? (That’s another post for another day…don’t get me started.)
Give them more than they expect.
Now, I’m not suggesting that people are reserving precious reading time for your 10 page ebook on teeth whitening. But, they will consider you above the norm if you provide them a compelling title and useful info to go with it.
Make it easy access. Ask for their email address (this is gold). Deliver content to their inbox or smartphone at the click of a sidebar button.
And speaking of smartphone – make certain ALL your online, delivered content is readable on a smart phone or tablet. You greatly reduce your reach and your relevance by missing this all-important benefit.
Use a variety of content products.
- An ebook (10-20 pages) on a frequently asked question (what are patients asking about – teeth whitening, veneers, non-metal braces, etc.?)
- A podcast or downloadable mp3 featuring you and a noted expert on a popular dental product (Sonic Toothbrush, oral cancer, etc.). Portability is key here. Many might not read your expertise but they’ll listen to it on a walk, run, during a workout or on a commute to work.
- Social media relationships. Set up and maintain an active Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Vine, etc. relationship with your patients and site visitors. And by active, I mean more than a random post every 4 weeks. Or only when you’re promoting an office special. And please stop gaming your social relationships with prizes (they get the angle and it makes you look…well…you get the picture).
Connect just because. And if you maintain an active blog presence you should have plenty to share and engage with via social media.
3-Use email better than most (newsletter, blog links, promotions)
This is why I earlier said the email address is “gold.” Once you have this resource you can communicate freely.
Be careful…
Don’t always be hitting their inbox with promotions, treatment specials, and product pitches. This will numb your readers and they’ll hit delete or unsubscribe quicker than you can rinse and spit.
Be intentional, strategic…and (once again) useful with your email content.
- Give as much thought to your subject line as your email content (this will make or break…open or spam your content).
- Balance your email content – less promotions, more usefulness (are you seeing a theme here).
- Tell a story in the first few lines to gain reader attention (like my squirrel story in the this post – you’re still thinking about that spunky lil’ guy arent’ you?)
- Transition naturally from your intro story to your reason for emailing and your all-important call to action.
- Link to your valuable, useful content (speaking of a call-to-action).
And about that squirrel.
He does remember where he keeps his food supply. I’ve watched him.
Instinct is a fascinating thing.