I have a client who is a dentist. He asked me last week if his business should be active on Facebook.
Any help and feedback is appreciated! Thank you!
Why shouldn't he? As mister Rolando asked "What do people want to see"? In my opinion that has to be advises for treating your mouth, teeth, breath; how often to visit the dentist, simple explanations of all the dentist stuff that people aren't familiar with. It's simple, but needs time and regular info, posts, comments and feedback. If he is too busy stirring in his patients mouths then he needs someone else to handle the social media presence.
You can tie it up with a radio spot that directs listeners to the FB page. If they need some dentist articles, advises, theg go to this page. Or something.
This is my first post. Hope to be any help.
Yes! He should definitely have a Facebook page! I've seen plenty of dentists advertise on Facebook. Pretty much every business should have a Facebook page - at least consumer facing businesses. To initially get fans to his page he should invite his current patients to "like" his practice. He can also run Facebook ads to get more people to "like" his practice as well. Although the copy for these ads is important, just as in radio. He should also try to continually engage his fans by posting helpful information on teeth health, etc. to his status. He needs to not OVER share though - maybe three status updates a week. If he does it too often people will get irritated.
You can integrate a radio campaign as you would any other kind of media. However, he needs to understand the point of the Facebook page. It might not immediately get him a gazillion new patients - but rather it is a great way of keeping current patients, and getting potential new ones over time.
He is going to be the one in control of his Facebook page - is this something that he has shown interest in? He is going to need to dedicate time (or someone in his office dedicate time) to gaining and engaging fans.
One way that you can integrate radio is by promoting a giveaway to his Facebook fans for a free whitening or teeth cleaning for life (limit 2 cleanings/year), just something like that. Maybe EVERY new person that "likes" his Facebook page over a week gets a free teeth cleaning. You need to work with him to make sure that the promotion works logistically for him and is also compelling. Sorry, 10% off will not cut it - especially when a lot of people have dental insurance.
To answer the rest of your questions - I have heard that Facebook is on the decline - but in my opinion, its so huge that even it declines, it will still be very relevant for a long time. Its not going to be a myspace anytime soon.
More people are using Google Plus, but my personal opinion is it won't pick up. A lot of businesses use twitter - but I would hold off on that until he gets Facebook down.
My experience is in two top ten radio markets in sales - but now I work in marketing in NYC and have more interaction with social media.
Good luck!
Julie
I think every business should have a Facebook page, if used correctly. For the dentist, he could use it as more of an information page. Post articles on dental health, dental tips... things that people wouldnt neccesarily think about. If the dentist has a website.. it would be a good place for him to promote that as well.
I have a dentist who has a Facebook page. Again, as the other replies suggest, it must be used correctly with dental/health advice, etc. My dentist has also used Facebook as a vehicle for patients to book their appointments directly from his page. This is particularly interesting to a dentist who accepts new patients. The radio spot could ask the listener to like them on Facebook, look around and get to know them, then if they really "like" them, they can make an appointment. If your dentist is trying to attract younger patients and has a Facebook page, make sure he also has a dot.com. I know a lot of younger folks (especially Millennials and Gen Y's) have a rule of thumb that if the business they're researching doesn't have a dot.com, they're not going there.
Hope this helps! Happy selling
I'm just being a cynical backwards thinking average person, but...
Social media is social...not business. I personally can't think of a single business (including my clients) that I would "friend" on Facebook. In fact, I saw one of those annoying "friend us on Facebook" ads on TV the other night...from Kleenex. What could Kleenex possibly have to say day after day after day on Facebook that would carry any interest with most of the general population?
I have been on Facebook for quite a while...I'm addicted in my off hours and sometimes in my work hours...but I've never...ever ever ever clicked on any advertisement for anything on Facebook.
Unless you plan on having something interesting to say at a minimum of 3 times a day...like friends sometimes do...I would save the money that it would cost you in time and effort and run more radio commercials. You'd make more friends that way.
If you're really that hooked on Facebook...then I would suggest you encourage or pay your current customers to post nice things about you to their friends telling them in their own words how much they like you.
I recently purchased a new car and raved about it on my Facebook to my friends...but I am NOT a friend of the car maker or dealer I purchased it from. I guess what stops me from "friending" them on Facebook is that I know what I'm going to get...a bunch of advertising I don't want/need/care about.
So...in conclusion...I would say a sizable percentage of internet users are probably like me. Just think of all the things we do to avoid advertising on the internet...spam killers, firewalls, popup blockers, cookie cutters, private browsing, etc...
If you're going to be on Facebook to sell something, don't. If you're just using it to be social...go ahead.
