copywriting

The Use-it-or-Lose-It Factor That Attracts People to Your Dental Marketing

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Image courtesy: Pixabay

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.

  1. Keep your blog updated with fresh, informative content. Answer the questions your patients, clients, or readers are asking via your blog content.
  2. Tap into patient’s or client’s questions with responsive, relevant, quick & easy surveys. Develop your own surveys/questions instead of using standardized approaches.
  3. 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).
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

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2 Actions That Will Protect Your Dental Website from Being Left-Out-in-the-Rain

http://pixabay.com/en/people-walk-rain-tree-trees-fog-314980/My first thought was, “On a holiday at 6:30 p.m.?” But when I saw him standing there, in the rain, at the edge of my front porch, another thought occurred to me.

His chosen approach has much to do with how you reach your audience via your dental website.

My soggy, evening visitor was going door to door selling the opportunity to “…have a few minutes of my time…” He wanted to talk about my home security system.

A number of thoughts raced through my mind in the brief moments I felt sorry for him standing there, on my doorstep, rain-soaked from walking door to door in my suburban neighborhood.

One thought dominated them all.

“There has to be a better way…!”

I’ve always admired door to door sales dedication. Seriously, it takes a level of perseverance (or desperation) to do it (I can relate having done my fair share of it a few years ago for a variety of reasons).

I peddled everything from products to ideas. And I gained much from the experience that serves me to this day.

That said, technology has vastly improved the “sales” relationship. Say what you will about the grass-roots, guerrilla marketing, bootstrapping diligence of the committed few who knock it out door to door.

There IS a better way. And how you’re attempting to reach your audience via your website could be the door-to-door equivalent of my soggy, holiday, dinner hour salesman.

“You had ONE job…”

Your dental website has one fundamental purpose. And depending on your specific niche it could be patient related or product/service related.

That ONE job? Compel action from your reader.

Let’s define action. And let’s bottom-line it, shall we?

For the dental practice, most often your website’s sole purpose is compelling a new patient, current patient, or referral patient to schedule an appointment. I’m not going to argue the sub-categories of appropriate purposes. Let’s keep it simple.

For the dental industry service or product business, the common driving purpose is compelling a new client, current client, or referral client to order products and services from you. Again, corollary purposes aside, let’s stick with the basics.

What gets the job done?

My soggy door to door sales-guy gets points for effort. But more important, and he knows this, it’s a numbers game.

Every “No” gets him closer to a “Yes.” It’s common sales motivation.

Is this true when it comes to your website? Does every visitor who searches for dental services, arrives on your site, and leaves with a “No” get you closer to a “Yes?”

And if that’s true do you have the time to measure it? (Understanding, of course, that you can deep dive into your site analytics and get a boat-load of relevant answers to that question.)

I choose to deal in the realm of what increases the likelihood that they’ll not only STAY but RETURN again and again.

In this instance, it’s about relevant, useful information.

And speaking of a deeper dive, allow me to clarify what “information” I’m NOT talking about.

There’s more to useful, dental website information than standard, overly technical explanations of crowns, fillings, dental hygiene, implants, etc. And there’s way more than talking about your latest, state-of-the-art, high-tech equipment. You know, the equipment you’ve just completed hours of training or CE credit for the qualification to use it on patients who you assume are laying awake at night longing for the opportunity to sit in your op-room chair to experience it.

I overstate my case. But that’s the door-to-door equivalent on many dental websites when delivering information.

“Hand that dude a towel…” (so he can dry off and throw it in).

It’s time to renew your website, the kind of information you share, and how you share it.

As I earlier observed following my dinner time sales intrusion – “There has to be a better way…”

Do this…

1-Build your authority by being a reservoir of useful information.

These days information translates into trusted expertise. Notice I added the word “trusted.”

I don’t have to tell you that a search for “dentist” in your city/region will return pages of apparent expertise. Most are trustworthy and treat their scheduled patients appropriately – you included.

How and where you rank in that search determines whether they’ll give you the opportunity to show your trustworthy treatment approach. You can pay for that ranking via Google Ads, etc. hoping they’ll discover you to be everything they’re searching for in a dental provider…and then some.

Or…

You can show up consistently as result of useful information about the treatment, service, or procedure that they’re interested in.

  • Blog content, podcasts, video, and social media content relevant to your reader’s questions, problems, and concerns spotlight your authority in today’s digital media world.
  • Build a list of topics from the questions your patients and people you consult with are asking.
  • Create useful, easy-to-access content.
  • Make the content available on your website’s blog/article page, via a podcast button (linking to a downloadable audio file or an iTunes channel), or a link to your dental practice’s YouTube channel.

2-Be consistently available with answers to the questions patients/clients are asking.

There’s more to answering questions than filtering a select few through your website’s FAQ page.

  • Make your web page’s sidebar a billboard for where site visitors can get answers to their questions.
  • Create compelling content titles that capture their attention (make them scream, “Read me!”) in the “Recent Posts/Articles” section.
  • Show your interest in patients by making your content about them and their questions…not you and your latest technological advance, credentials, etc.

Trust translates via being attentive. Your attentiveness shows up in being useful via quality content.

Don’t get left-out-in-the-rain on your dental website. Persevere, sure.

But be certain that your diligence is, above all, useful to those you’re seeking to compel.

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