In our last article we covered the importance of using Facebook in your practice’s dental marketing plan and catching the vision for what is possible. -One more stat to add… Americans now spend three (3) times as much time on Facebook as they do on Google. Do you think we might miss an opportunity if we focus entirely on Google? Yes, is the correct answer.

After you have a vision for what is possible with Facebook and how you would like your practice to benefit from it, we need to understand our current situation.

Already have a Facebook page for your practice?

Let’s make sure we are saying the same thing. Did you set up a Facebook “account” or an actual “page” for your practice? Make sure you set up a page as it offers great benefits:

• It can be merged with a Facebook “Places” page later, allowing patients to “check-in” at your practice. This will show in all their friends’ news feeds. -There’s a couple bugs with this merging function, but they should be sorted out soon.
• Direct updates can be sent to all the fans of your page, for FREE. This is a simple and effective way to share news, update patients on new services, announce promotions, etc.
• Create custom landing pages for potential and current patients to see. Highlight specialties or promotions with style. With an “account” or “group” page you are limited to someone just seeing your wall.

No Facebook page for your practice yet?

Here’s where to get started: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php. Be sure to select the “Local Business or Place” option. Enter your contact information, agree to the terms of service and get started. If you are familiar with Facebook at all you should feel comfortable as you start customizing your new practice page. If not, you could pretty much bet that someone in your house or office is comfortable enough to help. Now, setting up custom landing pages can get a bit tricky, but it’s worth it to make the investment of time or resources here to increase the likelihood of people “liking” your page when they land on it. If you need help here, let us know. -We’re great at Facebook.

When you’re all done, take a step back and ask yourself if the page represents your dental practice. Is the branding consistent? Does it feel like your practice? Does it say quality?

Once you feel that you have a good base to build on, we can start discussing HOW you use your Facebook page—your Facebook dental marketing strategy.