As a marketer, do you know the profile of the perfect customer for your business?
Of course you do :)

Online advertising gives you the ability to target and retarget the ideal prospects you identify for your business.

When advertising online, you will choose a website or community where you believe that your perfect customer will be a user or reader. Online ads reduce the chances of advertising to the wrong group of people, thus wasting your budget and time. This means that your campaign can be targeted at your perfect customer and help you reach your desired target audience.

When it comes to social media advertising, retargeting will serve ads based on prior engagement, enabling you to identify your ideal customer profile. Once you know what your customers look like, you will know just who to target and where to find all similar users online, making sure they too are being served your ads. You can focus on customers based on their geographic location, gender, age, behaviour patterns on social media and special interests.

This means that when for example you want to attract women to your latest endodontic course, you have the ability to target a population as specific as women, age 40-65, who have endodontics listed as their profession or an interest. This will help to make your campaign extremely targeted and hopefully successful.

The ability to target your perfect customer, whether through a specific special interest website or through social media, gives you a whole variety of advertising options that have never been possible before. Popular options include display, search, email marketing and affiliate marketing. This gives advertisers the chance to communicate with the audience they want to target, using the right technique, whatever their particular objectives are for that campaign.


Thanks for reading.

Part 2 of our series on Online Advertising can be found here.

Part 4 - Creative Opportunities.

Insight: - "The capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something."

Welcome to part 2 of our series on online advertising. In this second blog, we look at insight and what an important element of advertising it is. Insight in advertising is seen as a huge advantage of modern day advertising.

We all strive for more insight in our lives, working out why things have gone a certain way, a certain decision has been made and looking to understand things fully. This is also true in relation of social media and advertising. The modern world strives for insight and analysis into everything we do and think.

Online advertising provides you with endless insight allowing you to become a more effective marketer. Marketers went from having no data 20 years to more data than we know what to do with. Online advertising has helped solve this problem because of the visibility and access to data and of course reminds us of the famous line from John Wanamaker:

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.

With online advertising you begin to get an idea of where your traffic is coming from and who is clicking on the banners or social media posts. This is the first major advantage of online advertising, it provides us with incredible insight and a stronger knowledge base than ever before.

Therefore, this makes online advertising unique. Running a campaign online provides us with the chance to show activity throughout the entire online consumer journey. Common activities include sales, newsletter sign-ups, the number of times an advert is displayed (ad impressions), the number of times people click on an advert to visit a microsite or landing page (click through), the number of times people have interacted with an advert, sign-ups and how much they have interacted on social media.

Although having more knowledge is not always beneficial, when we are looking to market our brand or product we want as much knowledge as possible. So therefore having access to a range of data and information about our campaigns is a fantastic improvement on marketing in the past and gives online advertising a huge advantage.

Thanks for reading.

Part 1 Here.
Part 3. Targeting.

As an online publisher we like to keep an eye on the stats on the site, how the banner ads are performing and also hope to increase the number of visitors and users of the site.

We publish a number of news and blog pieces a week, which all help to bring a steady stream of the target audience to our website.

The daily email digests, which get sent three times a day also keep our members engaged with what is happening on the forum and ensures the community spirit is maintained.

Since our mailing list was turned into a website and forum in 2008, we have seen the site evolve and grow. In early Jan we went past 20,000 threads created since mid-2008. Screenshot below of the most recent threads created and forum posts received.

The 20247 topics have received 229387 replies, which is around 11 replies to each topic, an amazing amount of input from the members of the site.

Below we can also see the amazing growth of the site in numbers since 2013, by using the month of February as a comparison, the growth in unique visitors and total visits made in each month demonstrates the popularity of the community.

As the site continues to grow year on year we have now also moved the serving of our banner ads to Google Doubleclick for Advertisers which we have found improves the serving of the banners and isn’t as susceptible to click fraud as other software. It has a number of advantages, with the main one being that an advertiser can book a certain space for a month and then advertise more than one thing in that space, with each banner getting an equal share of the impressions. Useful for a dental business that wants to advertise a new product as well as an existing service. You can promote both!

There are many ways we can work together to use differing formats for banners, HTML 5, video ads, and we have space ready for a new size banner, the Super Leaderboard.

Advertising is also available on our email daily digests which is sent three times a day to thousands of dentists, who have voluntarily subscribed to the list and use the digests to look at the latest news and forum posts on the forum.

For further information about GDPUK and what we can offer companies looking to reach dentists, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or give Jonny a call on 07786571547.

Trade media has been slow to embrace digital but below you will find 8 compelling reasons why now is the time to embrace digital media. The way we all use and share content has totally changed, with the large majority of people under 40, using only digital mediums when looking for news, information or opinion. Dental publishing is no different.

This change is now picking up speed, with the number of dentists reading and joining GDPUK growing all the time. The start of 2016 saw the site go over 20,000 threads created on the forum, which has produced an impressive library of content and knowledge. As dentists spend the majority of their time online, the companies looking to reach dentists will also do so.

Below are our 8 reasons that you should start embracing digital media.

1. Lead generation / Data

For years advertising in magazines has been based on brand recognition but now with digital you can gather data from who visits your site, or who is interested in your product. The opportunities are endless. We are currently helping with a product trial in conjunction with a leading dental manufacturer who are offering products to our users on a trial basis, in return for feedback on the product. 10 dental practices were successful with their application and have now received the product. By encouraging engagement with our community, the manufacturer is also gathering data and generating potential leads as well as increasing brand awareness.

2. Back Catalogue

Online publishers are constantly publishing content, whether it's blogs, daily news or the 20,000 + threads created by our community. A monthly or weekly magazine, are very rarely stored by anyone for more than a few months and it’s not straightforward to search for a particular article or opinion piece. All our content can be found online.

3. Gain extra exposure

With over 4000 visitors a day to the site, we have a large number of eyeballs looking at our content. Online publishers receive a large number of readers on a daily basis, some of our news articles will receive thousands of views in a week. Instead of a banner being seen once, your ad will get seen numerous times in a month by one user!

4. Visit an exhibition every day of the week!

In the dental industry there are a number of events cropping up on a weekly basis which unfortunately crowd the market for the established shows. Sites like our own often have thousands of visitors a day which is like an exhibition every day of the week, so the value of advertising when compared to exhibiting is exceptional because you are getting thousands of eyeballs on your product or service a day.

5. Measure what works

The ability to be able to measure how many impressions your ad has received or which content is engaging users is an incredible advantage. Digital methods provide real-time results.

6. Experiment with content - Flexibility

Another amazing advantage of digital is the ability to experiment with your ad or content. With our software you can even run more than one ad at a time and advertise two products or services at once. Ads can be tweaked or amended at any time giving tremendous flexibility. Make changes quickly based on real-time metrics and performance. There is no need to wait 12 months to identify what is and what is not working.

7. Community

With a digital community content can be shared instantly. Obviously not everything is going to go viral but when your marketing efforts get shared, it is a great way of increasing engagement and exposure.

8. Control your Sales Funnel

With a well functioning landing page you have extra control in your customer's journey. When an ad appears in a magazine you hope they remember the brand or remember to call you, but with a well designed landing page, you can capture information in a much quicker and less random manner. I have written previously on the importance of a good landing page, read more here.

Thanks for reading, get in This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for further information about GDPUK.com.

Why Would Your Patients Want Your Mobile App?
 

When the developers of the dental mobile app first approached me this was the first thing I said to them. Let’s face it why on earth would anyone want to to got the trouble of downloading your mobile app?

First let me explain what a mobile app is. If you have a smart phone either Apple or Android, you will almost certainly have lots of apps on it. For instance to access the iTunes store, Google maps, etc. etc.

Apps are now the best way for all companies to communicate to their customers, but why would anyone want a dental mobile app?

The answer is you make it worth their while to download and use your mobile app!

Firstly you have to advertise the app, particularly in your practice. Patients can download the app simply by pointing their mobile phone at a QR code in your reception. But they need a reason to download it in the first place.

So here’s why they will not only download the app but use it.

Mobile app Loyalty Scheme

There is a built in loyalty facility on the app. Each time your patient comes into the practice they scan a QR code in reception and this puts a tick in a box for them. When they have a certain number of ticks on their app they get a reward from you, maybe an electric tooth brush or a free hygiene session of a bottle of wine, it can be anything. This feature not only guarantees that your patients continue to come and see you but they use the app every time they come to the practice. The app does all this for you automatically.

Mobile app Referral Feature
There is the most amazing referral feature on the mobile app. Did you know that the average Facebook user has between 50 and 100 friends on it? The apps referral feature will send a message to every one of their friends urging them to download the app. If just 100 of your patients do this for you, you’ll reach between 5,000 and 10,000 new potential patients.

But why  would the do this for you? Because you reward not only the referrer but also the person being referred and the app does all this for you. When one of your patients gets let’s say five of their friends to download your app, they are rewarded by you, when a person is referred, they get something off their first appointment, you win, your patient wins, the new patient wins.

You can’t buy advertising like the mobile app

Why because just think of this, if you advertise with Google or Facebook, the press or any other media it is just that “an advert”. Whereby when your patients send a referral to their friends this is a thousand times more powerful. Because it’s word of mouth advertising, but on an industrial scale.

It’s estimated that 50 of your patients sending our a referral to all their friends is worth £1,000 of Google advertising, and that app costs just £50.00 per month. A fraction of the cost.

So don’t hesitate you need to call me on 01767 626 398 or email me at enquiries[at]dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk  or visit the website www.dentalmarketingexpert.co.uk or visit our Facebook page

The concept of digital dentistry is a three-legged stool. In no particular order, those legs are digital equipment, the tools used to make teeth; digital smile design, the way you treatment plan; and digital marketing, the way you get people in through the door.

I frequently speak about what is known as the ‘adoption cycle’. This is a bell-shape curved graph, and working from left to right you have ‘innovators’, ‘early adopters’, ‘late adopters’ and ‘laggards’. At the far left hand-side of the curve, you have the few people who are keen to try something new without any concrete evidence. The ‘early adopters’ are those who will try new things once some evidence of their success is made available, and the ‘late adopters’ will only jump on the bandwagon once solutions are tried, tested and refined. The ‘laggards’ tend to be those who are open to very little change, if any at all.

As a group, dentists are not brilliant at moving through the adoption cycle. The majority of dentists operate at the ‘late adoption’ stage of the curve, with the next largest group ‘early adopters’ and an ever-diminishing number of ‘laggards’. There aren’t, unfortunately, many dentists working in the ‘innovation’ phase either, although this is somewhat understandable – as trained medical professionals, they want to see clinical evidence of new products or technologies working effectively before they employ them in their own businesses. This does, however, make the process of innovation and development quite difficult in dentistry, as suppliers and manufacturers have limited options regarding who will trial their latest products.

Digital equipment

There is a growing range of dental technologies available on the dental market designed to facilitate the reproduction of natural-looking and functional dentition. Equipment has been advanced and refined over time to now produce clinical results of previously unparalleled accuracy and quality, enhancing the standard of dental treatment provided to patients, increasing their satisfaction and therefore helping businesses to grow. Technologies have also been developed to streamline the clinical and management workflows within practices, allowing more efficient daily processes for happier and more relaxed staff.

The umbrella term of ‘digital equipment’ now includes everything from milling machines to CAD/CAM software and 3D printers, but its place on the adoption cycle varies between countries. In the USA, for example, digital equipment is in the ‘early adoption’ phase, but the UK is slightly behind in the ‘innovation’ stage. This is an opportunity for the manufacturers of digital technologies in the UK and Europe to expand their market reach, and we will continue to see the arrival of more new equipment on British shores in the near future for this reason.

Digital Smile Design (DSD)

Here we start to get into the territory of Christian Coachman – a kind of ‘Photoshop on steroids’ for enhanced treatment planning. Once again, much of the developed world is currently moving into the ‘early adopters’ stage with regards to DSD, while the UK remains in the ‘innovation’ step of the curve. Deployment of the DSD concept may be somewhat slow here at the moment, but it offers huge potential for those who invest.

Digital Marketing

This embraces the lifecycle marketing concept that is now working its way through the dental arena. Following seven proven principles, digital marketing involves attracting new patients, encouraging them to return and encouraging referrals for new business from them. When considering Google, pay-per-click, adwords, search engine optimisation and effective website design, most dentists in the UK are probably towards the top of the curve, moving from ‘early’ to ‘late adopters’. Even the most cantankerous principals now widely accept that a practice website is necessary for the growth of a modern business. When you look at elements such as Facebook advertising, however, most practices will slide back down to the ‘innovation’ stage very quickly. This is a similar story when you consider CRM software, such as that available from InfusionSoft, and automated email marketing.

Don’t break a leg

It is essential for dental practices to look at all three legs of the digital stool in order to successfully adopt the concept and technologies and use them to enhance the patient service provided. This is particularly important for independent practices – corporates and large groups of practices will take more time to innovate and implement the changes needed as they have more management levels to work through. Independent, single practices have the opportunity, therefore, to get ahead of the game and distinguish themselves from the competition.

We at 7connections can provide any bespoke advice or information you might need to make sure you remain at the cutting-edge of dentistry, while also helping you optimise your business for maximum long-term success.

For more information about 7connections and the business coaching opportunities available, please call 01647 478145,

email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. or visit www.7connections.com

Since starting as a mailing list in 1997, GDPUK has evolved into one of the major digital publishers of Dental content in the UK. With around 6000 members regularly using the dental forum, plus a range of dentals news and blogs constantly being published, I want to look at the advantages of digital publishing, why we enjoy it so much and how the UK Dental profession is benefitting.

Instant news

As written in a previous blog, we have all become addicted to the latest news and information. As I write this blog, the football transfer deadline is looming with fans hoping their team will sign players or hold on to players. Fans follow the transfers on social media, through TV and on their phones either reading mobile sites or communicating with their friends. News is constant and moves at a quicker pace than ever before and dentistry is no different. GDPUK often publishes content in a matter of minutes, like yesterdays exclusive UK Graduate news. Publishing everything online means we have no print deadlines and can publish articles within a few minutes.

Content

A unique advantage of digital publishing is that you can constantly produce content. We do this through the news, blogs and forum. The forum has over 500 different contributors a month, which means that a range of opinions are expressed throughout the day and some fantastic, well informed debates take place. We have a number of bloggers as well, who write dental focused content for the site and this produces insightful, humorous and thought provoking blogs for the site. We also constantly publish dental news, with a number of exclusives pieces of news a year. This means that the content on the site is consistently evolving and staying fresh.

Interaction

GDPUK members’ interacting with each other is the lifeblood of the forum. Members enjoy engaging with each other on a regular basis, sometimes giving useful information, sometimes being critical, sometimes being provocative but all this interaction creates a sense of community. Members who read but do not post (lurkers) still get the feeling of being part of the community and read the posts on the forum with interest. Dentists are gaining information, insight, advice and education from the forum; we believe the ever increasing interaction between the members is great for the dentists and the profession.

Accessibility

As a digital platform the site can be accessed from anywhere. August a traditional holiday month in the UK was the busiest month in the history of the site, with our members accessing the forum from all corners of the world on a range of mediums. The eagerly awaited GDPUK app is nearly close to completion and this will give further accessibility to dentists who are looking for regular dental news & opinion on a tablet device. We believe that the site has become a central part of our member’s daily lives; they will check general news, social media and then GDPUK. This can be confirmed by a recent GDC report on Standards with the paragraph reading as follows on social media, “Social media covers a number of internet based tools which allow people to create and exchange content. It includes blogs, internet forums, content communities and social networking sites such as Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, LinkedIn, GDPUK, Instagram and Pinterest.” This small sentence from the GDC is a great example of how information is being accessed, 24 hours a day an this is certainly something the dental profession is embracing. Interacting with colleagues, suppliers and customers now happens through a number of mediums.

Numbers Show Interest

At GDPUK we are known for reciting stats and we pride ourselves on offering up to date numbers on how often the site is being used. We prefer to focus on unique visitors and number of visitors because they are seen as a great indicator of traffic to a website and that the content is interesting. The last 8 months has seen a huge rise in these numbers. Each unique visitor in the month is from a single IP address, the total visits in August show that each visitor makes an average of more than 4 visits per month, at an average greater than 4,000 per day. These stats show GDPUK has further cemented its place in the UK Dentistry landscape. We offer a unique place to receive news, information and opinion on the constantly changing world of UK Dentistry. The table below shows that the site has seen some great growth and we appreciate everyone’s support from the dental community. Keep spreading the word and we will continue to grow the resource and community together.

Passion!

As you can probably tell the GDPUK team is passionate about digital publishing and embracing the advantages I have listed above. Digital publishing is still evolving and that is why it is exciting to be part of. In the last few weeks we have improved the site further with a new modern template, plus introducing fresher advertising banners that give greater exposure to our advertising partners. As mentioned earlier in this blog we also hope to introduce a GDPUK App which further enhances our digital publishing pedigree.

How has digital publishing helped your dental business or dental practice? Maybe you do a regular blog or email newsletter? Do you agree that it has helped dentistry? I would love to hear your thoughts and how you see dental publishing evolving?