WriteBusiness.net Online Blog

Posts Tagged ‘social media puzzle’

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