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Posts Tagged ‘Internet Marketing’

Social meda is a powerful marketing tool, but if you’re not careful it can be time consuming and can become overwhelming.

Invitations to connect, invitations to events, join this group, attend this meeting, use this application and the list goes on and on.  It’s no wonder after awhile many social marketing sites just sit there gathering virtual dust.  The key?  You must learn to stay focused.

When first entering the social arena, you might only want to join one of the social platforms, maybe Twitter or Facebook.  Then as you get comfortable with that platform, move on to the next.

But if you’re going to be or are already using several of the social platforms, there are some short cuts you can use to help on days when you’re pressed for time.

The biggest time saver for social marketing is to automate using the  following: 

• Schedule Tweets to post in the future using HootSuite.com or SocialOomph.com
• Write and pre-load your Blog content
• Set up searches and alerts
• Link up feed content to RSS Feeds
• Create email autoresponders
• Use plugins like Tweetmeme.com for viewers to be able to “Tweet This”

The “Lists” you can create in Twitter help you follow certain people easier and your lists can be added to HootSuite making it much easier to locate certain people you like to RT or respond to.

These are just a few time saving shortcuts but whenever possible, take a few hours a week to maintain your social platforms for making contacts and building those all important relationships.   This is social media so the more posts and tweets are seen,  the better.  Remember, it’s all about connecting, engaging, and communicating.

What time saving shortcuts can you share?

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Building Business, Dental Marketing, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, social marketing shortcuts, social media marketing, social media short cuts, time saving shortcuts for social marketing, time saving shortcuts for social media

Today, 85% of consumers are looking online for who they are going to do business with.  They aren’t flipping pages in a telephone book, looking in a magazine, or scanning direct mailers, there’re  on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Google viewing what others are saying . 

 But what does that have to do with transparency and authenticity?  In these economic times, people are looking behind the brand to the person and watching closely what’s being said and what’s being done, therefore, whatever is done must be done with quality! 

Through social marketing platforms, consumers have the opportunity to see, really see, who they are doing business with.  They do this by viewing what others are saying about your business, about how you are viewed by your customers, and even by having an actual conversation with you or your representative on one of the social platforms.  

Are you a business that stands behind your products?  Do you support your customers?  Do you go the extra mile?  Do you make solving your customers problem a number one priority?   

Transparency and authenticity allows viewers to see through to the core of how you do business. All of this and more is available to consumers through the social platforms.  

You want to be specific, be informative, be approachable, and very importantly…always be genuine.  You must be transparent and authentic to be real. 

The old saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” does not apply in social marketing.  In social marketing it’s all about “who KNOWS (really knows) you!”  

What do you think, what does transparency and authenticity in social marketing mean to you?

Technorati Tags: Dental Marketing, engaging social media, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, social marketing, social marketing platforms, transparency and authenticity in social marketing

Due to our outdoor utility room being broken into, and after some research, we purchased a system from CPI Security Systems.  You all know the commercials, it’s the one that says “CPI Security, identify yourself!”

Everything, from the initial phone call, through installation, and then exiting the property was done with customer service in mind and going the extra mile.

Initial phone call:  From the beginning of the call “Brad” (identified himself as he answered the phone) walked me through a series of questions to determine exactly what our needs were, what we wanted from the system, and the type of system we wanted (our objectives). Based on my answers (he listened) , he suggested a couple of options for us to consider.  (Extra Mile)

Brad also stated once the “technician” came out, based on actually looking at our property, we could make changes if needed. 

• At your viewers initial contact ask your viewers questions (and listen) to determine their specific needs (their objectives).   This is not a time to just start off by giving them your “sales” speech and telling them what you think they need.

Installation process:  “Adam” called before the installation time to let us know he would be running about 45 minutes late.  Then when he did get to our house (was actually earlier than the 45 minutes), he sat down with us and went over what he would be doing based on our conversation with “Brad” and asked if we had any questions. 

We did have some questions since we have our cat Muffin in the house most of the time.  We told Adam what we thought we needed for additional security that would be additional expense.   Adam listened to our concerns and then offered some suggestions that were actually better security wise and less expensive.  (Extra Mile)

• After the initial conversation, and upon “digging deeper”, could you offer your customer/viewer something better, based on their need, even if less expensive than what you originally discussed?

Exiting the property:  Adam went through the entire installation process, drilling holes, cutting and running wires, equipment in and out, going into the attic (probably 110 – 115 degrees up there), and installing equipment.  Stuff was everywhere ~ neat, but everywhere.

As he finished his install, he said  he was going to “clean up and put everything back in his truck” and would go over the system with us.

To my surprise, Adam came back in with a vacuum cleaner and literally vacuumed every spot he had drilled, picked up all the loose bits of wire, and put everything back exactly as he had found it ~ except for the keypad, you couldn’t tell he had been there! (BIG Extra Mile)

• When completing your project, break out your “vacuum” and  make sure your customers project has all loose ends ”cleaned up”, objectives are reached, and most importantly… their information presented  expertly to their viewers.  Always give more than what was expected!

In each instance above, going the extra mile didn’t cost a dime more, but the value add to ”company policy” setting CPI above the rest  was immeasurable.

What about you, what “extra mile” do you add that sets your business above the rest?

Technorati Tags: Building Business, following through, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, marketing in detail, service and the extra mile, the extra mile

Mashable released a great post by Jennifer Van Grove How Women Use The Web (Report) stating more women than men visit social networking sites spending as much as 30% more time on the sites and are more engaging with the sites than men. 

This ties right in with my recent post 4 Social Media Myths and relates to Myth # 2 – Social Media Platform Are Only For Teenagers.  Read Myth #2 here:

Myth #2: Social Media Platforms Are Only For Teenagers

Social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are no longer sites just for teenagers.  Businesses have found these networking sites to present an incredible opportunity for connecting with and engaging their audience.  

According to Inside Facebook, a Facebook tracking source ,the fastest growing demographic is Women over 55.  Women also comprised over 56.2% of Facebooks audience, and 45% of Facebook’s US audience is women over age 26.  

What does this mean for you:  Women make approximately 80% of the decisions concerning purchases for themselves and their families. 

What percentage of women are in your practice and what’s their average age…bet they fall into one of these two ranges above.  Women are extremely active on the Internet and social media networks.  When the phone rings at your office, well over the majority of the calls are from women scheduling appointments or getting information.  

Social marketing and women presents tremendous opportunities for your practice to be able to connect, engage, and communicate in real time. 

Unlike the old traditional marketing of placing a static ad in a telephone book, magazine, or direct mail out,  and once printed there was no opportunity to connect and engage.  Social network marketing sites are all about relationship marketing ~ connecting and engaging ~ which is what we’ve preached in dentistry forever. 

Cosmetic Dentistry in years past was thought to be only for celebrities ~ the rich and famous ~ however we all know it’s the trend, it’s here, and it’s not going away.

Like Cosmetic Dentistry, Social Media is not a fad, it’s not going away, it’s firmly planted and here to stay. 

With Facebook passing their 500 million active users and buinesses gearing up for even more social media  marketing, it’s time to realistically look at your marketing plans in terms of what can social media do for your practice, which social media networks will benefit your practice the most, and how soon can you get started. 

If you are already utilizing social media in your practice, you may be ready to crank it up a notch expanding on what you’re already doing. 

But if you are one of the practices not yet started with social media, don’t worry, it’s not too late…in fact, it’s really the perfect time, because most practices have only been using it for a few months, but it’s an incredible opportunity you don’t want your practice (or your bottom line) to miss out on!

How are you using social marketing in your practice?  What benefits have you seen?

Technorati Tags: benefits of social media, Dental Marketing, engaging and connecting, engaging social media, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, social media and women, women using social media

Twitter and Facebook and Blogs..oh my!  YouTube and LinkedIn and Amplify…oh my!  Are you wondering how to fit all the pieces of the social media puzzle together? Are you feeling overwhelmed before you even get started?

Social media doesn’t have to be overwhelming, you can keep it simple…yes, simple.   There’s all the talk about social network sites, all the technical programs available, all the tools, all the applications, and there’s video…it goes on and on.  Where do you start and where does it all go?  How does it all fit together?

Putting jigsaw puzzles together is a great past time and if you’ve ever put one together you know you start out with putting your outside pieces, your frame, together first.  This becomes your “template” and your guide for where the rest of the pieces fit in the puzzle.

When starting with social media think of it as your jigsaw puzzle.  You’ll need to define your objectives, define your target market, and create your strategy.  In other words, define what it is you want to accomplish by using social media (your objectives), who do you want to reach (your target market), and how you are going to accomplish those objectives (your strategy).

Do you want to become the “go to” dentist in your area?  Are you wanting to grow your “family” dental practice?  Maybe you want to become “The” cosmetic dentist in your area or want to grow your practice’s email list.  Just what is it you want to accomplish?

Your objectives, target market, and strategy become your plan of action and your plan of action becomes your frame…your puzzle template. 

Once these pieces are together you’re ready to start filling in the rest of your puzzle…choosing your social networks.  To do this, you’ll need to be clear on your target market and familiar with which social networks they prefer to use the most. 

Let’s put this in perspective:  If you work out of 3 treatment rooms in your practice and your patient is seated in TR 3 and you’re seated in TR 2 waiting for that patient, you aren’t going to accomplish anything…you’re not where your patient is.  In other words, if you are on Twitter and your target is on Facebook…see the importance?  You want to go where the “eyeballs” are…be known and be seen where your target market is.

Just like your regular puzzle, you add one or two pieces at a time.  When choosing your social networks, start slow with one, possibly two, of the network pieces.  Many like to start with Facebook or Twitter and a blog.  As you get comfortable with these pieces, you have the option to add more pieces to your social network.  But the key is finding and working within your comfort level.

Whether you’re putting together a 500 piece puzzle (a couple of networks) or a 2000 piece puzzle (most of the networks) keep working and soon your social media puzzle will all be together in one good fit!

Technorati Tags: Dental Marketing, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, overwhelming social media, social media plan of action, social media puzzle, social media puzzle pieces, social media strategies