CDA North

Posted on September 8, 2011 by jmichaeldunn

As the summer draws to a close and some of the first hints of Autumn begin to caress the air, thoughts naturally turn to one thing…The California Dental Association Fall Session in San Francisco, CA.  In a previous post, I wrote about some of my favorite aspects of being a marketer in the dental industry.  CDA North is one of them.  So, with one of my favorite events quickly approaching, here’s a short list of a few reasons it is special to me:

  • Location, location, location.  San Francisco is just a great city, and September is a wonderful time to be there.  The W Hotel in San Francisco is an awesome property, and during CDA North you can always count on finding some cool dental folks there to hang out with and with whom to share ideas.  Plus it was in San Francisco where I first “performed” karaoke, so it holds a dear place in my heart.
  • Progressive minds.  Maybe it’s the climate or something in the water, but CDA North has always provided ample opportunities to speak with progressive dentists.  There is a certain attitude among these dental professionals that is hard to find outside of the Townies.  It always makes for very interesting conversations.
  • Time of year.  It occurs as we begin to wake up from our state of relative summer hibernation.  Not many product launches occur here, but it gives us a chance to try some new tactics in the calm before the show season storm.  It is also a great opportunity to spend some time re-connecting with your sales & marketing teams, getting everyone on the same page before the flurry of the fall activity.
  • It’s holding its own.  With all the buzz about the slow, painful death of dental trade shows, this one seems to be holding its own.  According to CDA, dental professional attendance is holding steady.  There’s also a decent percentage of dentists who attend.  For a self-proclaimed trade show fan like me, that’s good news.

These are just a few things I enjoy about the CDA North meeting.  The transition from summer to fall is a great time in the dental industry.  What do you look forward to most?

Posted in Dental, Marketing | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

What’s your SWOT?

Posted on September 1, 2011 by jmichaeldunn

I’ve been thinking quite a bit recently about the old school SWOT analysis.  As an aside, I’ve never really been one to go for the classic 4 Ps of marketing routine.  I’m more partial to Dr. Sunil Erevelles’ multi-faceted marketing model.  Digression complete, back to the topic of SWOT.  I do see tremendous value in the tried & true SWOT analysis.  Take any dental product/service and apply it.  Not only a great exercise for your marketing mind, but good fun too!

However, when was the last time you performed a SWOT analysis on yourself as a marketer?  I’ll admit I never have until the idea struck me this morning.  And that’s why I’m writing this post.  If you’re like me and have not SWOTed yourself, maybe now is a good time for some introspection.

Strengths –  Pretty obvious here.  What do you bring to the table?  Take a step away from your resume and really look deeply at what value you bring to the team.

Weaknesses – Again, obvious.  What do you need to work on?  How are you going to work on them and minimize them?

Opportunities – Put down the want ads (another aside, but does anyone actually use want ads anymore?  I only ask as it was a newspaper ad which was instrumental in bringing me to the dental industry).  What are your opportunities within your current team & organization?  What kinds of things can you do or do differently to create opportunity for yourself and your team?

Threats – Especially in a personal analysis, this goes hand in hand with the weaknesses.  What may be lurking around the corner to thwart your successes?  Keep in mind that corner may be internal, so do some looking in the mirror on this one too.  Most importantly, what can you do to eliminate, avoid, or minimize the threats?  As Sun-tzu was credited with saying, “It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles”.  But we’re all friends here, right?

I know there’s no rocket science, nor secret sauce in this particular post.  If you’ve never SWOTed yourself, give it a try.  You may learn something.

And, hey, thanks for reading by the way!

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Social Media for Dental Marketers

Posted on August 24, 2011 by jmichaeldunn

If you’re working in a marketing capacity in dental, first of all, thanks for reading!  I really do appreciate it.  By now you’ve most certainly begun to wrestle with how to incorporate social media into your mix.  Here are some simple tips for those just sticking their toe in the social media waters:

  • Adhere to any company guidelines around using social media on behalf of the company (and personally).  No one wants to get fired for doing something stupid in their exuberance for embracing social media.
  • Be professional with respect to competitive products/companies and other products/companies in general.  Dental is a small industry, and someone you poke fun at today could be in a position to hire you someday in the future.  Focus on what you have to offer rather than on what they don’t (or might not).
  • Be professional with respect to competitive products/companies and other products/companies in general.  Dental is a small industry, and you could easily be marketing another product/company someday.  Even though it may seem short-lived, what you write in public is there for a long time, and you don’t want to have to eat any words at a later date.
  • Be professional in general.
  • Promotion is fine, but ensure you also post, Tweet, share, etc. other things of value.  Consider regularly sharing an article or site with clinical tips relative to your category.  Dentists, our consumers, will appreciate that.  Constantly promoting some deal is a quick way to get un-followed, un-liked, and generally ignored.
  • Be careful with outsourcing.  Like most projects we face in marketing, social media can become time-consuming and bog you down.  Outsourcing the social media function can be a time & energy saver for sure.  However, you will still need to manage it closely to ensure the messaging is consistent with the rest of your mix and that your ROI is met.
  • Be careful with automation.  Automation in moderation is fine (like a paper.li daily or weekly).  However moderation is the key.  Automatically tweeting every FB update is obvious and the lack of personalization shows.  There’s a reason these media are called social.
  • Commit to it.  Don’t expect to see amazing results overnight.  If you start a Twitter feed for instance, it will take time to get quality followers and/or see an impact to your website/blog stats.  You have to keep at it with quality content at some degree of regularity.
  • Brand your sites consistently with your corporate/product imagery.  Unless your logo includes an egg, make sure your Twitter account is branded please.
  • Have fun.

Whether you’ve already started or not, be realistic with what you expect to get from your social media endeavours.  There’s no “silver bullet” tactic.  While it may be relatively “free” in terms of financial cost, be prepared to put some work into it.  As with most tactics, doing it right means doing it consistently and thoughtfully over time.  I look forward to hearing your tips & insights for using social media in our industry.

Posted in Dental, Marketing, Social Media | Tagged , , | 8 Comments