Blogs

If you're new to the whole social media marketing thing, you may be feeling a little overwhelmed. Social media is increasingly important in your overall marketing strategy.

There are more and more social networks gaining attention every day. It is important for your practice to maintain a presence on several platforms, in order to use social media to your advantage. The most widely used social networks that I have found useful for dental practices are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and google +. If your practice is not using at least 2 of these, then you are missing the boat on potential new customers.

But how do you know if social media management is right for you? Well, that is all dependent on the amount of time you have to spend maintaining your social sites.If you have a marketing manager you may not need a management system at all. If you are like many practices, without a marketing manager and you are spending too much, or not enough time on social media, this is where a social media management site can really come in handy.

Social media management can help your practice manage inbound and outbound online interactions in a time saving and efficient manner. They provide you with a simple way to communicate through multiple social media outlets simultaneously, thus helping to amplify your social media presence on several social sites.

Social media management also gives your practice the ability to integrate social networking activities with other marketing strategies. These include Web sites, marketing campaigns, and email marketing. You can also integrate them into your offline marketing programs, including events, white papers, and SEO's.

Now, you are probably wondering what social media site to choose? Again, that all depends on your needs. Sprinklr.com‎, Hootsuite.com‎, Spredfast,  and Sprout Social are a few management sites to look in to. The cost varies significantly depending on the site you choose, so knowing exactly what you want out of a management site is key to choosing the right one for you. If you are just getting your feet wet and want to ease into social media management (without spending any of your marketing budget) Tweetdeck is a free service that can help you monitor your twitter and Facebook accounts.

In my opinion, a dental practice would benefit from the basic $10 a month Hootsuite account!!!

Hootsuite allows you to use one location to promote your brand, generate leads, and increase traffic to your sites. As your social needs grow, you can add more features as you need.