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Why your dental company or dental practice needs to be "mobile-friendly"

Jan. 17, 2013
Whether it’s an email or a Web site, more and more customers are looking to your business to fit into their lifestyle … and their smartphone.
Kevin Henry, Cofounder, IgniteDA.net

If you’re anything like me, you depend more and more on your phone for information. I know during a normal day I will check ESPN, CNN, and other sites for my daily dose of information. I’ve used OpenTable to make reservations, TripAdvisor to check out possible hotels and restaurants, and Google Maps to find my way around cities.

I’ve also been frustrated when I log on to a Web site and it’s the size of an amoeba on my iPhone. When a Web site isn’t optimized to work on my phone, I usually don’t stick around or try to expand the text to make it work (unless I’m just really, really interested in that site … I mean really interested).

Whether it’s an email or a Web site, more and more customers are looking to your business to fit into their lifestyle … and their smartphone, according to Michael Gugala, vice president for Karwoski & Courage Public Relations.

"When it comes to websites, e-mail, social media, and so on, what we're really talking about is engagement and content consumption," Gugala said. "Dental Company A wants to engage with its consumers on as many levels as it can -- because it wants to share information -- so being prepared to interact in whatever way the customer chooses is incredibly important."

"If that customer is on a mobile device, then Company A needs to make sure its digital presence (i.e., website, e-mail, etc.) is optimized for that type of interaction."

If your company (or dental practice) isn’t there yet, don’t worry, you’re not alone … but you’re falling behind quickly. I recently read an article in Direct Marketing News that addressed this growing chasm between the mobile “haves” and “have nots.” I thought it was a very interesting read and certainly worthy of your time to see why mobile marketing is becoming “a marketing priority.”

Click here to read the article.

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About the Author

Kevin Henry | Cofounder, IgniteDA.net

With more than 20 years in the dental publishing industry, Kevin Henry is the former group editorial director for Dental Products Report and managing editor for Dental Economics. Currently, he is the editor-in-chief for DrBicuspid.com. He has spoken to dental assistants throughout the world, in person and through the Dental Assistant Nation podcast series, reminding them of the important role they play every day in their practice. He is also certified as a DiSC trainer, helping dental practices learn how to understand each other better through personality assessments and training.