Social Media Marketing for the New DentistDr. Sam WeiszDentist in private practice

Keri KramerCommunications director, Chicago Dental Society

PresentersDr. Sam Weisz (@askmydentist) has reached more than a million people online by answering dental questions through his YouTube and Twitter accounts.

Keri Kramer (@kerikramer) oversees online marketing, including social media, for the Chicago Dental Society.

Agenda

• Overview of social media marketing with emphasis on the unique needs of a soon-to-be graduate

• Setting goals

• Deciding what tools are right for you

• How to measure

• Coping with online review sites

What Social Media Marketing Isn’t

• Magical!

• A silver bullet

• Free (It costs time)

• Easy to outsource

Social Media Is

• Opportunity to market yourself professionally

• Part of your online presence

• A way to benefit from your connections

Traditional Word of Mouth vs. Online Word of Mouth• Recent studies find that people more

likely and more often consult online reviews than asking family and friends for recommendations

• In 2011, the Internet population grew by 6.59%.

• It now represents 2.1 BILLION people.

How do you compete?

Corny but true:

Only you can be you!

Getting started...

• Start editing yourself now--be strategic

• Set goals

• Decide on services--LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook

What is your persona?How do you want to be perceived?

Editing Yourself

• Ask yourself, “Is this…– Funny

– Engaging or Social

– Kind

– Interesting or Thought-provoking

–Adding value to the conversation?

Be Social

Setting Goals

• “I want to…”–Get patients

– Find an apprenticeship

– Position myself as a thought leader

– Promote myself in the media

Using a Facebook Profile--Pros• Benefit from connections you’ve

accrued now

• Less friction--people more likely to friend you than like a page

• People relate differently and expect different things from a person than a page

Using a Facebook Profile--Cons• Facebook does not allow you to

promote your business on a personal page

• Fewer measurements available

• Trading privacy for findability

• Can’t advertise, although you can do promoted posts

Using a Facebook Page

• Robust ways to measure

• Less personal, totally public

• More opportunities for branding and search engine optimization

• Can promote your business without running afoul of Facebook

Facebook Page Best Practices• Ask short questions

to encourage conversation

• Post photos

• Post at least three times a week

• Tell people what you want them to do

Images Are King (or Queen)

How Do You Measure?

• In office

• Edgerank Checker

• URL shortening, like bit.ly or goo.gl

• Website analytics

URL shortening

Data

URL shortening with free service

Data with goo.gl

Edgerank Checker

• “Dentist” is one of the most commonly searched categories in Yelp

Embracing Review Sites

Online Reviews

• Are powerful

• Build instant trust

• Are almost as good as a direct referral

Negative Reviews Are Inevitable

• Do not respond immediately

• Keep an open mind

When Responding• Don’t violate

HIPAA!

• Show your responsiveness

• Don’t be insincere, defensive or hostile

• Keep it short

Versus“I’m sorry to hear of your experience and my office will be following up with you in the next 48 hours to discuss your concerns in greater detail.”

Resources

• Presentation at slideshare.net/kerikramer

• Send us a tweet--@askmydentist or @kerikramer

• Mashable.com