In an article published on AssociationsNow.com, journalist Rob Scott covered the ASAE 2014 Conference presentation by Joe Pulizzi, founder of CMI and author of Epic Content Marketing. Pulizzi explained that non-profits should ask why they publish content on various channels, like Facebook, a blog, or LinkedIn.
This concept certainly applies to dentists, as well.
Plan for Success
As a content marketing specialist who focuses on dentistry, as well as medical copywriting and SEO, I appreciate Pulizzi’s concept. He explained further that content marketing requires a plan. This is the entire basis of Identiwrite Creative. My goal with Identiwrite Creative is to go beyond the service offerings of website companies, because today, effective marketing involves more than a website, metadata, and original content. To truly compete, dentists must identify topics that interest their potential patients, then create and implement an effective, consistent content marketing strategy aimed at these topics.
Blogging
I love infographics because they combine interesting imagery and text to present an organized flow of ideas. In addition, the human brain process images 60K times faster than it does written words. A picture is worth not a thousand, but 60 thousand words. On top of that nearly 2/3 of us are visual learners.
This infographic for copywriters relays some interesting data about content marketing.
- Over 80% of online consumers in the US believe the information they read on blogs.
- Over 60% of online consumers purchased a service or product based on a blog’s suggestion.
- Company that publish blogs average 434% more pages indexed by search engines.
Granted, those stats reference only blogs, and content marketing involves all text a company publishes online. Still, those numbers plead a good case for the power of blogging. A blog, then is a solid avenue for content marketing and should be included in a dentist’s overall plan.
Other Important Content Distribution Channels
I believe that in combination with original website content, a blog with multiple posts per week creates the foundation of a content marketing strategy. Supplemental channels include:
Social Media
Sharing information about your practice, town, and dental topics that do or could affect your patients
- Google+
Press Releases
Original press releases whenever something new occurs in the office (hiring an employee, purchasing new technology, offering new services, moving or updating the practice, completing a big case, participating in local or national events)
- PR Web
Articles
Original articles about dental news, services, and technology, as well as local hot topics
- Ezine Articles
- Online dental publications (websites, magazines, blogs)
Email
Eblasts to current patients OR quarterly newsletters featuring timely articles and news
- MyEmma
- Constant Contact
- Patient communication software (Rate A Dentist, Demandforce, Solutionreach)
Ongoing Website Growth
Adding pages to your website with regularity and purpose, based on predetermined navigation for expansion
Videos
From “welcome to the office” videos to patient education videos, there is no doubt that people want to see action online
- Integrate into website
- Publish on YouTube
- Embed in blogs and social media posts
Best Practices for Content Marketing
- Create target keyword list
- Analyze your website’s Google rank for those keywords
- Analyze local dentists’ marketing strategies and rank for your keywords
- Build a well optimized website with a minimum of 25 pages, each page containing approximately 350-750 words
- Install Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools on your website
- Create profiles on Facebook, Google+, Google for Your Business, Yahoo Local, Yelp!, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest; claim your Google Local map; join groups that your patients (not necessarily your peers) would join on Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn
- Integrate your social media profiles into your website with feeds or links
- Install a WordPress blog on your website, and include plugins that feed the blog to your social profiles
- Create a content marketing plan that includes a schedule for making posts to all of the channels listed above (see below for recommended frequency)
- Every 4-5 weeks, analyze your SEO data: Google Analytics data to determine traffic, your keyword ranking to determine SERP placement on Google Search, your Google Webmaster Tools data to make sure pages are being indexed properly
- Compare SEO data month to month and alter keyword strategy and content marketing channels accordingly
Content Marketing Schedule
Channel |
Small town dentist |
Suburban dentist |
City dentist |
New web page | Every other month | Two per month | One per month |
Blog post | Twice a week | Five times a week | Three to five times a wk |
Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ post | Once a week | Two to three times a week | Three to five times a week |
Twitter, Pinterest post | N/A | Daily | Daily |
Yelp! Reviews | Continually ask patients to leave reviews online | Continually ask patients to leave reviews online | Continually ask patients to leave reviews online |
Press release or article | Once a quarter | Twice a month | Twice a month |
Email blast (B) or newsletter (n) | B – every other monthN – twice a year | B – monthlyN – quarterly | B – monthlyN – n/a |
Videos | Three total, update every few years | Monthly | Monthly |
The information in this blog, in addition to my Dental Marketing Checklist, will help your dental practice create, execute, and maintain a solid content marketing strategy. If you need help or would like Identiwrite Creative to handle content marketing and video production for you, give me a call at 940-395-5115.
About Shauna Duty: As a copywriter, copy director, and owner of dental marketing companies, Shauna has worked with hundreds of copywriters. Today, she hires only those with high standards for excellence and quality. With her husband, Shauna owns and manages Identiwrite Creative, a content marketing agency that caters to dentists, physicians, and lawyers. Email shauna@identiwrite.com or call 940-395-5115.