social networking Archives - The Wealthy Dentist

Dentist Online Social Media: The New Dental Marketing?

May 27, 2022 By Jim Du Molin

Dentists are embracing social media websites for business networking and internet dental marketing. Over half of dentists (57%) report using Facebook, Twitter and/or LinkedIn for professional purposes.

Facebook is the clear leader; half of dentists use it professionally, and 4 out of 5 are on Facebook for personal purposes. One in three dentists uses Twitter professionally, and one in three is on Linked In.

“I believe they will and have had a great impact on dental marketing,” predicted one dentist. “It remains to be seen exactly how this will impact patients actually using these sites to select their dentists.”

“Social Networking is FREE,” raved a website designer. “It gives your dental websites visibility that they would not otherwise have. Most everyone under 50 use the internet for everything. Print is gone, and the internet social media is free right now, so why not take advantage of this?”

Here are some more comments from dentists:

“It seems a little non-professional, but I don’t knock those who do. I’m personally annoyed with my chiropractor’s posts, so skip over them. I imagine my patients would do the same.” (Texas dentist)
“Too new…not sure of impact.” (Pennsylvania orthodontist)
“I think all of these sites are a huge time killer!” (Alabama dentist)
“No online social networking personally or professionally anymore. Most of it is a waste of time. I’d rather spend the valuable time with my wife and kids.” (Ohio prosthodontist)
“I have begun to use LinkedIn for contacts across the nation for my orofacial myology business.” (Nebraska dental hygienist)

Filed Under: Dental Marketing, Dental Surveys Tagged With: Dental Marketing, dentist, Facebook, LinkedIn, social media, social networking, Twitter

Dentists Prefer Facebook For Their Dental Marketing

May 27, 2022 By Jim Du Molin

Facebook has turned into a popular dental marketing tool for dentists to attract more dental patients.

9 out of 10 dentists use Facebook as their preferred place to network online.

While Facebook is facing criticism over their often-disputed privacy policies, most of the dentists using Facebook use it for both professional and personal networking.

“We are at the beginning stages of our Facebook dental marketing. We are using it as an informational, personable and promotional platform. We are giving our patients useful information, keeping them updated on what is new in our office, and giving away prizes for liking our page. We also give patients $5 off their services when they check in!“ responded one dentist.

The Wealthy Dentist decided to survey dentists to ask what sort of social networking they do online, and whether it was for personal or business purposes.

Dentists use the following social networking sites professionally –

Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter
YouTube
Blog
Google Plus

And for personal use?

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Google Plus
LinkedIn and blogging were used the least

Here are some dentist comments:

“We have a business Facebook page which does well for us. I update it regularly and have a couple staff that like to write updates on the wall, too.” (Ohio prosthodontist)

“I haven’t yet figured out what to make of Twitter.” (General dentist)

“I still prefer word-of-mouth recommendations most of all.” (Arizona dentist)

“I really do not have the time or inclination to follow through with these media platforms.” (Massachusetts dentist)

With Facebook about to make a public of offering, which is estimated to bring in about 10 billion dollars, it is time for just about every dental practice that is serious about dental marketing to get on the Facebook bus!

Filed Under: Dental Marketing, Dental Surveys, The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: Dental Blogs, Dental Marketing, dental survey, dental survey results, dental surveys, dentist, dentistry, Facebook, Google plus, Internet dental marketing, LinkedIn, social networking, survey, Twitter, YouTube

Dental Marketing: Facebook as an Effective Internet Marketing Tool

May 27, 2022 By Jim Du Molin

Effective dental marketing requires that dentists keep up a regular presence with dental patients in order to ensure success.

Having a dental website, blog, newsletter, Google+ page and Facebook page are all important factors in keeping your dental practice in front of your dental patients.

Some dentists are still not convinced that Facebook is an effective Internet dental marketing tool.

Last week, Facebook started the process for its highly-publicized IPO. In anticipation, the online competitive intelligence service Hitwise just released their 10 Key Statistics about Facebook, comparing the Facebook audience with that of other social networks.

Here is what Hitwise found —

1. Facebook captures 1 in every 11 Internet visits in the United States.
2. 1 in every 5 page views occurs on Facebook.
3. The average visit time on Facebook is 20 minutes.
4. Facebook’s audience skews slightly more female than the online population as a whole.(Female is 57%, male is 43%).
5. The ages of Facebook visitors are indicative of the website’s strength in the marketplace, with relative parity in distribution of its visit share by age vs. the online population (Ages 18-24 is 18%, 25-34 is 23%, 34-44 is 21%, 45-54 is 19%, and 55+ is 20%).
6. Facebook wins 499,949,430 visits from the most affluent income group versus YouTube’s 223,732,591 visits and Twitter’s 15,166,795 visits.
7. Facebook became the #1 ranked website in the US on March 9, 2010.
8. “Facebook” is the most searched term in the US and Facebook-related terms account for 14% of the top search clicks.
9. Facebook users are highly loyal to the website; 96% of visitors to Facebook were returning visitors in January 2012.
10. Internationally, Facebook ranks in the top 2 websites in every market except China, where Sina Weibo, Baidu Zhidao and Renren are the dominant social networks.

Hitwise further states that “Facebook is the largest website in the US and a top performer in numerous international markets. The fan base of the site is loyal and spends a significant portion of their time online on the social network. Facebook’s influence is seen in the presidential elections, digital shopping habits and beyond.”

Last June Hitwise concluded in their Facebook Fan Acquisition and Analysis that 1 Facebook fan is equal to 20 additional visits to a business website over the course of a year. If you have 500 Facebook fans, this means an extra 10,000 visits to your dental website a year.

Hitwise wrote, “The figure of 1 fan = 20 extra visits to a website uses a unique methodology that combines Hitwise data with data from social media experts Techlightenment. We took the top 100 retailers ranked in the Hitwise Shopping and Classifieds category and bench-marked visits to those websites against the number of fans those brands had on their Facebook page. We then also looked at the propensity for people to search for those retail brands after a visit to Facebook using our Search Sequence tool.”

Here at The Wealthy Dentist we firmly believe that your dental marketing plan should include a Facebook page. With dental patients spending more time online, dentists should increasingly be looking to use Facebook as a part of their dental marketing.

Facebook fans can play a role in dental patient retention and procurement by helping to drive dental website traffic, boosting dental practice awareness, demonstrating dental treatments or acting as a customer testimonial billboard.

Filed Under: The Wealthy Dentist Tagged With: Dental Marketing, dental practice marketing, dentist, dentistry, dentists, Facebook, Internet dental marketing, marketing, social media, social media for dentist, social networking

How Do Dentists Use Social Networking? (Video)

May 27, 2022 By Jim Du Molin

Do social media sites play a significant role in doctors’ dental marketing efforts?

Social networking has become part of the dental marketing landscape.

But not all dentists are tech-savvy or interested in social media.

“We have absolutely used social media to bring in new patients to our practice,” declared a Missouri dental office worker.

“I’ve decided to start asking patients for feedback and testimonials, and we’ve started to publish these testimonials,” said a California orthodontist.

Jim and Julie discuss what sort of social networking dentists do online.

Nine out of 10 dentists responding to this survey use Facebook for online networking, both personally and professionally.

One in three is on LinkedIn, one in four is on Twitter, one in five is on YouTube. Only one in eight is on Google Plus.

Only 13% of dentists in this survey have a professional blog.

There are a lot of ways dentists can use the internet to connect with potential new patients.

“We have 128 likes on our Facebook page. It provides easy interaction with patients who are active users,” offered a Minnesota dentist.

“We are at the beginning stages of our Facebook marketing,” said a West Virginia dentist. “We are using it as an informational, personable and promotional platform. We are giving our patients useful information, keeping them updated on what is new in our office, and giving away prizes for liking our page. We also give patients $5 off their services when they check in.”

“I really do not have the time or inclination to follow through with these media,” said a Massachusetts dentist.

“We have a business Facebook page which does well for us,” said an Ohio prosthodontist. “I update it regularly and have a couple staff members who like to write updates on the wall, too.”

If Facebook is something you’re doing anyway, it only takes a little extra effort to use that platform to promote your practice.

Internet dental marketing doesn’t just include dental websites. You need to consider find-a-dentist directories, business listings, and social media.

Filed Under: Dental Videos Tagged With: dental marketing with Facebook, Facebook, social networking

Facebook Dental Marketing: What Dentists Think (video)

January 30, 2013 By Jim Du Molin

Facebook dental marketing may be picking up steam, but many dentists still don’t know how to use social media for internet dental marketing.

In this survey, two out of three of dentists report having a Facebook business page, while only one-third do not.

“We are able to connect not only with our own patients, but also with their Facebook friends when they like or share one of our posts or videos,” said a Missouri dentist. “It helps us to get the word out.”

Check out Jim Du Molin and Julie Frey discussing the topic of social media marketing in this short video…

What are your thoughts on using Facebook for dental practice marketing?