More Stuff About Social Marketing

Using “Second Chance Tweets” To Increase Your Page Views by an Extra 50%

If you are no stranger to social media then you will have undoubtedly noticed how quickly a post, no matter how popular, will slip into obscurity, replaced by more recent updates to the social network sphere. You aren’t the only person that your followers follow, and you could find that if your patients don’t see your message within just three hours, they never will.

Why Three Hours?

This figure is based on a recent and comprehensive study from one of the most popular URL shortening website out there today, Bit.ly. Their study has demonstrated that in just under three hours the links within your Facebook and Twitter posts will have reached their peak, and that a quick decline will follow until the link is effectively buried, never to be clicked again.

This figure is known as the ‘half-life’ of a link. A link will certainly still receive clicks after it reaches its half-life, but by this point you know that its popularity is on the way out.

It is worth noting at this point that shortened links straight to a YouTube video do tend to have a slightly longer lifespan than those for other locations on the World Wide Web, with a half-life around the 7.5 hour mark.

So What Does All of this Mean to You?

By understanding exactly how long any links to interesting articles or your YouTube videos will stick around before the attention is shifted to the next greatest thing, you are in a good position to learn how to maximize your audience by distributing the information for a second time. A good proportion of your followers could miss your update simply because they haven’t checked their Twitter of Facebook feed within those all important first three hours. Repeating your post a few hours later opens the door for a new set of followers to find their way to your website.

The Light and Careful Touch

Of course, if you start spamming the same information out on the hour, every hour, you will certainly start to lose your followers. By being careful and just utilizing one second chance tweet a few hours after the half-life time of your original message though, you could see an extra 50% of viewers viewing your post, compared to the first time you posted the information.

Moderation is the key to success with your second chance tweeting strategy. Keep uploading information that is informative and useful and this idea will increase your sites traffic, and ultimately, new patients.

Follow @creceveur

It’s Nice to be “Liked”

Testimonials are a powerful tool when driving conversions on your website. It is always comforting to many potential patients to hear of good experiences from others in the community about a specific service or product, including dentists and dental procedures. It has always been a good practice to post testimonials on websites for this reason. Aside from this, review sites with favorable comments frequently show up on Google Place Pages and are always welcomed. A recent study by Harris Interactive and commissioned by CitiGrid Media has discovered a more favorable, easier way for patients to post “testimonials” — Facebook “Like” buttons.

The Facebook “Like” button has become the #1 way people share their recommendations

Surprisingly, 24% of study respondents said they pay more attention to Facebook “likes” than review sites and only 8% said that a “deal” or price is the number one factor when deciding which local business to use. (Being at the top of Google is still at the top of the list.) It appears that testimonials infer quality and assurance and Facebook “Like” is the preferred way to show this, along with it being one of the most trusted ways to determine which local business, including dentists, to see.

If you are not using Facebook you should be

Not only is it a good way to interact with patients, spread the good cheer about your practice and introduce procedures through links and videos, it now is a good way to build that one-word testimonial used and appreciated most often – “Like”.

But here is an added tip the study confirmed: When building your Facebook and web presence always include a personal message in the personality of the dentist. While drilling down into the decision making habits of the public, Harris Interactive found that 47% of people who view Facebook pages will take a business owner’s (insert “dentist’s”) messages to heart and will actually be more influenced by what they share on the site than they will by family or friends. Introducing yourself in a relaxed and professional style and describing a procedure or answering questions using video, for example, are all recommended.

Marketing a dental practice is a multi-tactical effort

There is no one silver bullet that can be used singularly to influence the public and make your phone ring off the hook. But the fact is there are things you can do to make your efforts tie together and drive up your ROI for your efforts:

If you don’t have a Facebook presence, build it.

Use personal messages, video or anything else that can make your practice seem less sterile but more personable.
Use the Facebook “Like” button. Don’t just put it on a blog posting and expect people to hit it; ask them to.

This is a one-word testimonial about your practice and it is taken seriously by your community members. In that regard it’s always nice to be “liked”.

Would you please “Like” this post and share it on Facebook?

Follow @creceveur

Posted in Social Marketing | Leave a comment

Online Marketing: A Vital Tool for Ailing Traffic

Let’s face it: without a website, your company is all but invisible. However, just having a website is not going to boost your success alone. You need to have visitors – traffic coming to your website from different locations on the Internet (search engines, social networks, PPC ads, etc.). Generating that traffic is no mean feat, either. While you might think that getting a quality website up and running is all that you need to do to start benefiting from this technology, there’s much more to it than that. Online marketing is the answer.

What Is Online Marketing?

There are many different aspects of online marketing, all of which fit together to create a seamless whole, much like the pieces of a puzzle. If you’re missing any of these vital pieces, you won’t have the whole picture, or in this case, the traffic that you need for the best ROI and profitability.

Search engine optimization is one of the most important parts of online marketing, and is able to turn your website into a magnet for customers through natural search results. No matter what else you do, optimizing your site with keywords and phrases is essential.

Social media marketing, or SMM, is also a vital consideration. As more and more people begin using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networks, having a presence here becomes more and more important.

Blogging is another part of online marketing, and allows you to create a more relaxed, personal face for your practice. Through your blog, you can make patients and other professionals aware of things that are going on in your own practice, talk about changes in the industry, explain processes and procedures, and more.

Online video is another biggie – it’s a real powerhouse for marketing, and can generate major traffic (and vital conversions). Online video is a tremendous tool for highlighting expertise, and explaining products or techniques to prospective patients. Online video can also be embedded in your site, your social network pages and in your blog, too, boosting your return on investment.

Online Marketing Is No Silver Bullet

Many dentists are under the impression that search engine optimization, social media marketing and other marketing tools will change their traffic flow immediately. However, this is not the case. A good online marketing plan needs to comprise methods for both short-term and long-term success. PPC campaigns are good ways to boost immediate traffic, but will not offer long-term benefits. Search engine optimization is a great option for long-term success, but will not change your traffic flow and profitability overnight.

Follow @creceveur

Posted in Local Search, Mobile Search, Social Marketing, Video on the Web, Web Marketing | Leave a comment

Web 3.0 Books In!

We just got the first shipment of my latest book, Web 3.0: What Every Dentist Must Know to Thrive in The New Economy.

We ordered 100, and 37 are already spoken for from our $1 book offer.

As my gift to help you out, you can get your copy of our bestselling book for just $1 — until we run out. After that, they go back to the regular price of $49.97 + s&h.

Google has completely changed the game again.

It’s simply not enough to just have a website anymore. In this book, I’ll reveal the high-level tactics we use with our best and elite clients, to keep them at the top of Google and Bing, and keep a steady stream of phone calls and new patients coming into their practice.

Click here to grab your copy now. Don’t delay, we only have a few left for just a buck.

Follow @creceveur

Posted in Client Testimonials, Drip Marketing, Local Search, Mobile Search, Phone Tracking, Social Marketing, Video on the Web, Web Marketing, Web Site Design | Leave a comment

How to Quickly Fail at Facebook with your Dental Practice

Working with lots of dental practices every week, I see a ton of mistakes that dental practices and other “consulting firms” make alike when setting up their Facebook Pages.

In this blog, I’m going to reveal the Top 6 Facebook Failures that I see most frequently, explain to you why these mistakes are running your fans and prospects off, and show you exactly how to fix them.

#1 – No Custom Username Claimed/Setup!

When you setup your Facebook page, you get the option to claim a unique username for your practice. This adds to your brand, looks professional, and allows your visitors to easily type in and find your page.

Without setting up a custom username, you’re left with this big long blob of jargon and numbers…

How to fix: You can claim one for your page by going to http://www.facebook.com/username

Here’s two examples:

#2 – Not Maximizing Your Space in your Profile Pic!

We see a lot of docs that just upload a picture of themselves, or some stock art to be the “face” of their Facebook page. Truth be told, you have a HUGE area that you can stick a picture in, 180px wide and 540px tall.

Take advantage of this!! Put your pics, your complete office info, and anything else you want to be readily accessible to your prospects and fans.

How to fix: Simply hover your mouse over your profile pic, and in the top right corner you’ll see a “Change Picture” link, click on that.

Here’s two examples:

#3 – Not Creating & Adding any Extra Pages!

By leaving the pages Facebook creates by default, you are leaving a lot on the table! The pages like Discussion, Pictures, and Friend Activity add nothing to the value of your practice.

By removing these, and replacing them with pages like “Dentistry Secrets” which contains an opt-in to capture their information, and “Video Testimonials” you greatly increase the value of your Facebook page to your prospects and fans that browse it. It also gives you another avenue to get prospects into your Infusionsoft Follow-up Sequence.

How to fix: This is the most complicated of all the fixes, and it requires setting up additional applications and permissions in the Facebook Developers Area. The steps required to do this are simply too long to include in this short blog, but I’m glad to give anyone help that needs it, just click here to contact us.

Here’s two examples:

#4 – Taking Prospects and Fans DIRECTLY to your Wall!

This is how Facebook sets you up by default, so many don’t know any better!

When you take visitors right to your Wall, you are forgetting Rule #1 of Marketing: Always Have an Offer!

How to fix: After you add additional pages to your Facebook Page, you can click “Edit Page” then “Manage Permissions” to change the default page your prospect sees when coming to your Facebook Page.

Here’s an example:

#5 – Not forcing your Fans to “Like You” BEFORE they can View your Pages!

If you’ve been following my tips, by now you are almost a Facebook Pro! Now comes the more complicated stuff.

When a visitor comes to your Facebook page and they are taken to your customized page (see steps #3 and #4 above), you can force them to click your “Like Us” button BEFORE you show them the page!

This is CRITICAL to increasing your fan following on Facebook. It is very safe for a fan to do this, does not reveal any of their personal information, and is literally just a single mouse click to accomplish, so there are very few prospects who will not do this.

How to fix: Same as #6′s fix below…

Here’s an example:

#6 – Not capturing their name and email (AFTER you force them to Like You)!

The final step to becoming a Facebook Pro!

By not offering your fans and prospects an opt-in after they “Like You”, you are missing the MOST important part: Capturing their information so you can marketing to them!

For this doc, we setup the opt-in to send his prospects a free report, and then we stay in contact with each prospect about 15 times per year down the road. When that prospect is eventually in need of dentistry and ready to choose their provider, your name is in front of them, and you are the expert they want to choose.

How to fix: How you setup your Facebook to show different pages depending on if they are a fan or not is strictly a coding hurdle. Any competent web developer should be able to assist you with this, we are certainly happy to help you get your Facebook page streamlined and optimized.

Simply click here to read more about how we can help you, and if you’re ready to dominate social media just click here to contact us and get started today!

Here’s an example: