What Does the Google+ Project Have in Common with The Blair Witch?

Rumblings were felt, rumors abounded, and seemingly daily dispatches pontificated on what will happen when Google takes on Facebook in the social media macrocosm.

Fresh out of the Google Skunkworks comes their newest foray into taking over the social search and networking world; introducing the new Google+ project. If Facebook and Twitter are still presenting mysterious implications for your digital patient communications, prepare for another perplexing area of dental practice social search intercourse.

According to their website, the Google+ social network is “Real-life sharing, rethought for the web.”

Circles, Sparks, and Hangouts are the names of the Google+ social networking game. Within these online environments, Google aims to simplify the social interaction that has become extremely popular throughout the planet.

With this increase in connectivity and enhanced application of improving technology, we as Internet users flock to these online environments every day; lots of us do so before we even get out of bed.

Via: Online Schools

How will your dental practice apply the new Google+ network to enhance your new and existing patient communications?

You can start by being there.

Although popularity has momentarily sidetracked the open release of the Google+ network, keep your ear to the street and your eyes on the computer (or smartphone) monitor. When availability opens up, stake your practice claim and jump in the deep end with both feet.

Having another online environment from which to shape and illustrate the patient experience in your dental practice can never be a bad thing. As with all of this SoLoMo digital dental practice marketing, any fears and what ifs will almost certainly occur anyway – in the absence of, or with the active participation of, your dental practice.

If people are talking bad about your work offline, do you think that makes it more palpable?

If the fear and happenstances are too overwhelming to the point of paralysis, a good look in the mirror is necessary before any practice foray into any dental social media efforts.

Being there is one thing, but active participation is a whole other realm of effective social media tactics for the dental practice.

Just as it goes for Facebook, so it goes for the Google+ dental practice presence. Let technology amplify your dental practice word of mouth, and enable your practice ambassadors to build the dental diplomatic discourse amongst their circles and hangouts.

Will participation actually have any impact on negative (digital) word of mouth?

Back to the fear again, but an important point to highlight…with the increase in positive digital word of mouth, the reduction and marginalization of negative digital word of mouth is a beneficial side-effect. By simply applying the tools necessary to broadcast and syndicate positive practice digital word of mouth, you are actively taking steps to diminish the impact of negative information at the same time.

Sounds like another win-win situation.

So…if you’re not an active participant in social media or local search, you are actually doing your dental practice a bigger disservice in your absence. By remaining on the sidelines in trying to prevent the negativity from metastasizing in the first place, you are only paralyzing the positive effects while still getting nowhere with the negative fears that are keeping you unavailable.

This is only a preliminary shot across the bow, intended to pique your interest and get your mind out of the fear funnel and into the circle of trust. Trust in yourself, and your practice.

More news, strategies, tactics, and results, will follow as the Google+ network recruits more and more dental practices as this thing + evolves.

How is fear an inhibiting factor in applying social media tools to your digital dental practice marketing plan?

Will Google’s latest socially adept endeavor resemble the Blair Witch Project – all hype and zero substance?

Given the market share, scope, breadth, and overall omnipotence of all things Google, we venture not.