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Social Media Focus: Social Media from A to Z Brian Spaeth

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by Brian Spaeth

Since the publication of my last article "The Social Dentist," [Editor's Note: See Dentaltown Magazine, February 2010, p. 50] the feedback I'd received was what I'd call an "apprehensive acceptance" that social networking has some value. Theory and buzzwords only go so far, of course. With this follow-up article, I want to present a more detailed look at how to actually integrate social media into a dental practice.

I'm going to walk you through what I did for Dr. Daniel Araldi in Saratoga, California. While there are certain standards, tools, and strategies that always apply, nothing in the social spaces should ever be executed from a strict template. Don't let anyone tell you differently.

Needs Analysis
The first thing your office needs to do is figure out if you even need social media, because there's a perfectly reasonable chance you might not. How to do this? Talk to and/or run a poll of your patients.

If you were to find out only 20 percent of your patients are using social networks (like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter), it might not be the right time to jump in yet. Maybe 80 percent of them are on Twitter and Facebook, but they're not very active. Perhaps the key demographics of your patient base or geographic region aren't heavy technology users.

Those types of trends don't indicate that your presence on social networks is going to allow you to maximize the benefits of these platforms. That said, there's a good probability a high percentage of your patients are on social networks, which indicates other people in their networks and your area are doing the same.

In Dr. Araldi's case, he'd done his research and was ready to get his practice involved in social media – he just needed to know how to do it.

Capability Assessment
Determining what your practice's support staff can handle is an equally important part of the equation. Dr. Araldi was enthusiastic about blogging and bringing the social networking work in-house. This is the ideal – while outsourcing is possible, social media works best when forming a genuine connection between the business and consumer.

What if your staff is already overwhelmed? There are several options.

1) Start small. Maybe Twitter all on its own will have to suffice. Maybe it's just Facebook or Foursquare. Doing a single thing well is better than doing nothing. You can always add additional presences as the staff becomes more familiar and efficient with the tools.

2) Outsource. This is contradictory to what I wrote above, but outsourcing can be effective if done in a transparent and intelligent fashion. For example, I do social networking for a garage flooring treatment company. I'm not giving quotes or answering service questions. I function only as a connector and to expose the company to new customers, which is the goal of the program. I knew nothing about this business when I started working with them. In fact, the most compelling part of the blog content is how much I've been able to learn about what the company does (which, in turn, makes me an ideal candidate to connect with customers).

The danger of outsourcing is obvious – picking the right person. Of course, there's also room to have some work done inhouse and have other parts done by a trusted third party. Remember, your program is going to be the one that works for you – no templates.

No matter how you put your program together, there's good news: this stuff is not rocket science and it's getting easier all the time as the space matures. Your practice just needs a solid game plan, the right education and a determination to execute.

Blueprint and Execution
Time to put Dr. Araldi's program together.

1) Blog/Web site (www.saratogadentistry.com/blog): A blog is considered standard by now and no great revelation. The question was what to do with Dr. Araldi's blog.

Would it be written by Dr. Araldi, the staff, or some combination of both? Would we take a casual approach or make it professional news about the office and/or industry? Did we want to feature patient news or notable events in the area?

Ultimately, we decided to do all of the above. Daniel is an engaging guy with a variety of hobbies and interests. Bringing in his love of cycling and photography was a natural fit and something he was comfortable sharing. He's also a great dentist with a lot of passion and knowledge, which meant there was room to blog about this, provided we kept the same tone. A consistent "voice" is one key to a successful blog.

If nobody on your staff writes well, there are plenty of freelance writers available who can take your ideas and make them work. The best place to find them? Social networks!

(As far as blogging software, I recommend Wordpress. Blogger and Movable Type are two other leaders in the field.)

2) Twitter (www.twitter.com/saratogadentist): The famous microblogging site is a must as far as networking via word of mouth, engaging with the community, and searching out dentists. This third element is how we found Dr. Araldi a new patient on day two of his social network plan. We put in keyword searches across Twitter for things like "Saratoga dentist," "Cupertino dentist," and other combinations in his area. Logic said people using these keywords could be asking their network something to the effect of, "I'm looking for a good dentist in Saratoga, California. Any suggestions?"

That's exactly what we found. From there it was as easy as reaching out and introducing the office. People are out there looking for you on these networks – be there to help them find you.

3) Facebook (www.facebook.com/saratogadentistry): On Facebook we set up a business page, which essentially functions as another version of the practice's Web site. This wasn't going to be as active of a presence as Twitter, but there are many people who log on to Facebook at 7 a.m. and sign off at 10 p.m. It's also an excellent place to curate reviews and feedback from your current patients that their network and others in your area can see.

4) Google: We "claimed" Saratoga Dentistry's Google Place Page (on Google Maps) as part of this process, allowing us to upload photos and add additional links and information. This also became the primary place we drive patients to leave reviews. It's quick, simple, and Google is a valuable resource for people doing general searches.

Google also supplies a "QR Code," which is a custom symbol that can be scanned by a mobile phone and then automatically loads the Google Page on that device. You can put this QR Code anywhere, including your homepage. It's a convenient way for people to call the office quickly or get instant directions. (See the background of Dr. Araldi's Twitter page for his.)

5) Integration: Once we set everything up and got it running, we needed to integrate the social networks into any current marketing and communications. This included an e-mail blast to inform current patients they can follow the practice's social networks, as well as informing them of how they can leave reviews and testimonials on the Google Place Page.

In-office signage serves these same purposes, and a new policy to follow up appointments with an e-mail prompt for a Google review was put in place. (Additions to staff e-mail signatures, letterheads or other materials might also be warranted, depending on how your practice operates.)

These were the foundation of the program. Foursquare and other geo-location-based networks are things we're still playing around with for Dr. Araldi.

Location is one of the fastest growing areas in social networking, especially with the smartphone market exploding. Devices like the iPhone and Android phones are opening up all kinds of new marketing and promotional ideas based around people telling their social networks where they are.

One vital thing to note: don't unveil your blog or social networks to your patients until they've been in use for at least 30 days. It's going to take that long to get them running smoothly and develop a consistent voice and intent. Your patients (and potential patients) are going to feel more comfortable knowing this isn't something the office decided to do yesterday on a whim. Too many businesses make this mistake because it's just that easy to start a Twitter account.

Conclusion
What you've read here is by no means a comprehensive guide, but remember – there's no template to social media success other then having a reasoned plan and consistent execution.
Author’s Bio
Brian Spaeth is a social media consultant for TPT5 Social Marketing (www.tpt5.com). He works with a variety of small to mid-size businesses, and also has done social promotions for large brands. He can be reached at brian@tpt5.com.
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