Marketing Simplified by Jan Clarke

l Jan qualified as a dentist in 1988 and worked in the hospital service and then general practice. She was a practice owner for 17 years and worked as an Advisor with Denplan. Jan now works helping dental businesses with their marketing and business strategy and heads up the Social Media Academy at Rose & Co.

Web: www.roseand.co Email: jan@roseand.co Facebook: Jan ClarkeTaplin Twitter: @JanetLClarke Instagram: janlclarkeacademy LinkedIn: Jan Clarke BDS FDSRCPS

BUILDING A FOLLOWING ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Another month on and we have more announcements about stricter guidance to prevent the increase in number of cases of Covid-19. However, a statement from the CDO shows there is no change to dentistry and how dental practices are being run. Generally this is to be welcomed and allows dental work to slowly increase and with that, your work load too, hopefully. There is no doubt these are tricky times and I don’t want to sugar coat that and tell you all will be well. My hope is that you use this time to develop your business in areas you may not have already developed. We discussed elements of marketing last month that you could look at and I thought we could spend a little more time looking at social media this month.

GETTING STARTED IN SOCIAL MEDIA I would encourage you all to consider activity on Facebook and Instagram, set up business pages and start from there.

Facebook is still the largest social media channel and still has the biggest growth. Instagram is owned by Facebook and these channels can be linked quite easily, when you’re starting out this can help with your posting and planning.

Appearances matter Yes, how your social media accounts look matter, take time to get this right before shouting about your brand. You will need to set up your profile images and header images. If you have a logo or strong corporate image then use these and incorporate into your designs. I’m fortunate to have a team of graphic designers to work with who use all sorts of design software but I am not a designer so need something a little simpler to use, I recommend canva. Canva is an app that can help guide you to design all types of work, I like it because you can make up the exact template for Facebook headers, Instagram profiles and so on. It’s easy to use and can produce quality images, visit www.canva.com to get started.

All businesses have different audiences but the basic principles remain the same!

1. Know your audience 2. Engage with your audience 3. Gain trust and social proof

READY TO GO… 1. Know your audience Who is your ideal client? What makes them tick and what are they looking for? This is an important step and remember, you don’t have to be everything to everybody, you can have a niche business that may not appeal universally. Once you are clear of your vision and audience then you work to..

2. Engage with your audience How do you engage with your audience on social media? The same way you engage with any person and gain rapport and trust – be yourself, be authentic, be honest. There is no need to pretend to be a big business if you are a small team, many dentists turn away from the larger labs to ensure a more personalised, consistent service. Then, as you post you will want your followers to trust you and see you as the go to place for information. By offering help and information rather than broadcasting or selling you will gain trust. Add in some reviews and recommendations from clients and your social proof starts to build.

3. Gain trust and social proof You will then start to see your page followers increase and the page take on a life of its own.

It’s important to note that this does not happen overnight. Building a good, loyal following will take time and commitment. There will be times that you will wonder if it is worth the work but I would encourage you to persevere as all the accounts I have worked with have had two things in common, consistent posting and persistent posting. That doesn’t mean posting every hour or even every day, although every day is my preferred timing. It does mean sticking to some sort of timetable, maybe 3-5 posts a week. There is nothing worse than a page with large gaps in the timeline, it sends out the wrong message to potential new clients.

WHAT TO POST? This is the big question that everyone seems to get caught up with and those new to managing a business account can sometimes get writers/post block.

I think it’s best not to overthink this and start to post. Consider a combination of posts to achieve a good variety on your timeline, posts:-

1. about your team, business, premises. People love to find out about your team and you will no doubt be surprised as to the engagement with this type of post. No-one can be that interested surely? Well yes they are, celebrate birthdays of your team, or just a typical day in the office, how you are coping with being socially distanced? These allow your new followers to really get to know you and understand what your business is all about in a very friendly approachable manner. This is how they will start to trust you.