‘Less is more’ was a phrase that was first noted by 19th century poet Robert Browning, but one that is difficult to achieve in today’s world of easy access to an overabundance of products and services. The same can be said for your practice’s digital presence. With so many ways to raise your profile online with digital marketing tips and tools, it’s hard to know when enough is enough. Now is a great time of year to take a page out of Marie Kondo’s book on tidying up. She proposes getting rid of things you don’t need and only keeping ones that are truly meaningful. Here are some ways to make your digital marketing less cluttered so it will resonate better with your audience.
Website
Let’s start with your website. We notice that most practices want to jam pack their site with as much information as possible thinking it will be helpful to patients. While we can appreciate your desire to present all the facts about your office and services, studies show that online users don’t want to spend time consuming lengthy paragraphs of content. Consider these questions and how they relate to your website:
- Is your website, specifically your homepage, too wordy? Break up your homepage with short paragraphs and graphics. It’s easier for the reader to scan for the information they are looking for.
- Is there so much information that it makes it hard to digest? Your patients visit your website homepage for specific information-make it easy for them to find it. Whether it’s your office hours or a service they are interested in, avoid cluttering your site to the point where readers can’t access particulars quickly.
- Does it offer benefit statements? Remember, your patients aren’t looking to be experts in dentistry. Avoid using technical jargon and focus on how your services are going to help them.
- Does the content hit on the pain points of your target audience? Patients can identify with symptoms and dental issues. Make sure to include these so they know you are the one that can solve their dental problems.
Social Media Platforms
Practices continually ask us if they should be on all the social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram. We always recommend two things:
- Where is your target audience? Your practice should focus on the social media platform that is most used by your target audience. If you are an orthodontic practice, you probably have a bigger audience of young people which makes Instagram a good choice. Aslo, given Instagrams focus on photos, it’s a great platform to show off before and after photos of your patients. On the other hand, if you are targeting a more affluent, older demographic then Facebook is more suitable for your practice. Facebook as well as LinkedIn are an ideal way to reach professionals. Think doctors, lawyers, business people.
- More is not always better. Trying to be active on all the major platforms could actually hurt more than help. Each platform is unique, and if you are simply posting the same posts, images and links across all of them, you are not speaking to the specific audiences in those places. Instead you are generalizing your practice rather than providing information that is helpful to your target audience. Again, less is more here. Practically speaking, most practices can’t generate enough content, images and videos to keep up with every single platform in a way that is meaningful. Choose one or two platforms and put all your efforts there so you can do a great job reaching your intended audience.
Social Media Content
What you post is more important than how many times you post. Your efforts will be mispent if you are just checking a box and posting 7x a week without a precise plan or message. Quality over quantity counts big time here. Post less times but offer more impactful content. Using candid photos of your team, doctors and practices rather than stock photos will catch the eye of your audience. Share real stories, before and after images, news and updates about your team and practice. People connect with people-not facts. These kinds of posts will have more of an impact than just posting third party blogs, like a Colgate article.
Paid Ads
Paid advertising can help your practice get seen by a wider audience, but are you trying to market all your services through ads? This might be another case where you can get caught up in trying to be everything to everyone. Why does less is more apply here, as well? If you’re running ads for cleanings, implants, fillings, teeth whitening and on and on you end up commoditizing your services. When this happens, you wind up competing on price. You might get a volume of interest but they might not necessarily be the right patient for your practice.
Instead, target your ads to specific services, such as Invisalign or Implants. You’ll want to make sure your Google ads are set to phrases that people use when searching for these services. Also, make sure your ad mentions the specific service, sends them to a landing page that only talks about the service, it’s benefits and how you solve the specific problem they have. If you are running a Facebook ad, again, make sure the image or video as well as the copy is specific to that service and sending them to a targeted landing page.
The key with less is more is delivering only information that your target audience will benefit from. This in turn helps make it easier for them to see and choose you among the hundreds and hundreds of messages they are bombarded with every day.
