We've all been to the conferences and shows where there are oodles of companies selling "dental Facebook Management services". The vendor lures you in with the dream of you saving time and money, and offers you such amenities as "regular postings and interesting content", so you don't have to bother with Facebook yourself. My favorite ad from a "Dental Facebook Management" service was that the content they would post for the dentist was "authentic". No kidding. They had to put on their sell sheet that their product is authentic -- as if you both know that by having them manage Facebook for you -- in replacement of you -- that you are going to be pulling a proverbial "fast one" on your patients.
Now when done successfully, a strong internal marketing program can reap tremendous rewards for your office and for your bottom line - and this is coming from me -- and I build websites! And while Facebook is technically an "external" marketing avenue, I submit to you, that because Facebook is a more personalized external marketing avenue, it can help you take advantage of the trust that you leverage everyday in internal marketing.
Putting this all together, I then ask you. "If someone has taken the time to "like" your office on Facebook, and by extension given you their permission to market to them, why would you waste that golden opportunity by hiring a company to post impersonal content?" It makes no sense! If a patient in your office asks you, "Should I crown these front teeth?" are you going to smile and hand them a video about crowns and walk out of the operatory? Of course not! You are going to sit down with your intraoral camera and a mirror, listen to your patient, and help them along in the decision-making process. And why did they ask you? Because they trust you!
Facebook is amazing in that it provides you an unprecedented amount of access to people who have VOLUNTEERED to hear what you have to say! And the tough news is this -- you can spend all the money in the world on a Dental Facebook Marketing company, but those impersonal yet "authentic" posts aren't going to bring new patients into your office. Do you know why? It's because patients are smart. And patients know when you are marketing AT them, or marketing TO them.
So the next time you write the check or see the credit card bill from your "Dental Facebook Management" company, ask yourself if you want this potential goldmine of patients to talk to you, or to "watch the video".
