Episode #551: Video Confidence on Social Media, with Kirk Behrendt & Allison Lacoursiere

Your millennial audience is the largest consumer group. If you want to reach and connect with this generation, you need to be online! To help you build that familiarity and connection, Kirk Behrendt brings in Allison Lacoursiere, owner of Clear Coaching and Clearly IG, to explain video confidence on social media, why it’s critical for your practice, and how to do it. With a few simple systems and a lot of practice, you can be more confident in the online space. Start changing your digital reputation today! To learn how, and to hear more about Allison’s courses, listen to Episode 551 of The Best Practices Show!

Episode Resources:

• Allison’s website: https://www.yourclearalignercoach.com
• Allison’s email: [email protected] 
• Allison’s social media: @yourclearalignercoach
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Links Mentioned in This Episode:

Instagram University: https://www.yourclearalignercoach.com/instagram-university

Main Takeaways:

Improve your digital reputation by using video.

Stay relevant by using video in your social media.

Be intentional about the videos you create for patients.

Video is the best way to connect with your millennial audience.

Using videos can increase your case acceptance and conversion rates.

Quotes:

“When we think about video content, it’s actually becoming the norm for how people are interpreting, understanding, and learning about anything on the internet. And so, for a dental practice who, we’re business owners, we want to make sure that we’re representing ourselves well, in an authentic way, and helping people capture their attention to understand who we are faster. If we’re not using video content, we’re becoming irrelevant.” (3:50—4:14)

“[Video] has an 80% higher conversion than anything else on the internet. And so, if we think about that, if we want the best website, if we want the best SEO, if we want the best of anything for our own business, we have to use video to be competitive.” (5:13—5:27)

“I know in dentistry we never like to say that we’re selling. We’re educators. We’re educating our patients. But the reality is, when we’re selling something, it really is just helping somebody make a decision to say yes. And so, really, it is still sales. As much as we don't like to admit it, we’re still selling in dentistry. And when we’re selling anything, there are about seven to eight touch points for somebody to say yes. One of those touch points can be even before the patient gets into the practice. And when you have a video of the doctor or of a team member of a trusted person explaining the consequences, the risk, why something is necessary, even just explaining orthodontic procedures, it helps the patients have that one touch point already to say yes. When they come into the practice, already, they know you. They like you, and they’ve started to trust you, which is one of the ways that patients will say yes to whatever you're telling them that they need for their overall health.” (5:49—6:48)

“Familiarity allows people to trust you more. So, even though, not consciously, they're like, ‘Oh, you're familiar to me,’ subconsciously, you're familiar to them [from watching your videos]. So, their anxiety decreases, and they feel more comfortable when they get into the practice.” (7:07—7:20)

“A lot of times, my docs are like, ‘I am too afraid,’ or, ‘This is so uncomfortable.’ It’s kind of like listening to your own voice on the phone. But as soon as you start doing it again and again, you become better at it. You become more confident. And that is 100% what I would suggest, is to be the best beginner there ever was. Be the best beginner at creating video, and you will become great.” (8:37—8:58)

“When we think about the millennial audience, that millennial cohort is the largest cohort of purchasers and decision-makers that are coming into our world. They are our consumers. And so, we have to talk to them in a language that they understand. And oftentimes, now, if we don't have video content, if we don't have a social media presence, if our millennials can't connect to us in the way that makes sense to them, then we feel or seem outdated to them.” (9:42—10:09)

“There’s a lot of misinformation on the internet about dentistry. There's a lot of bad information. There are a lot of people out there scamming our patients on the internet because they're putting things out there, they're making social media content, and they're creating videos. And so, my hope and wish is that great clinicians and providers will also create videos and will also educate their patients so that our millennial consumer can have that true and real information that combats the rest of the noise and the misinformation out there.” (10:17—10:46)  

“Let's say somebody has recommended your dental practice to go to. The next thing a millennial audience is going to do is look you up online. And when they see you online, they're going to notice what your website looks like, if you have a YouTube channel, if you have an Instagram, a Facebook, what your photos look like. Your digital reputation is a way that you represent yourself on everything online. I know amazing clinicians who I would trust my mom to go to, who if I look them up online, I wouldn't know that about them. I wouldn't know that they're a great clinician. And so, it’s taking it from being unknown in your values, in your excellence, in your professionalism, internally to be externally known in your digital reputation. It’s more important than ever, and it’s not going away.” (12:06—12:53)

“Google yourself right now. Search everything that you can find about your practice, about you as a clinician, online. If there's anything that you'd want to change, then go ahead and change it because you have other people looking this up right now.” (12:56—13:07)

“If this is going to be the video that's going to be popping up immediately on your website, then it needs to be a bit more polished. You don't want it to be low quality. You want it to look really professional and nice. But if you're on social media or any of those platforms that is about authenticity, then show up as yourself. What I always say is, remind yourself that you know yourself. If you are a dentist and you are explaining a crown, or explaining your practice, or explaining why you love dentistry, this stuff is so known to you that you don't even have to think about it. So, I would say that's my first step for the confidence, is trust that you know what you're talking about — because you do. In fact, you probably talk about it a hundred times a day. So, trust that element. You know your stuff. You know what you're talking about. You do it all the time.” (13:37—14:24)

“I want to give you a hack or a tool. If you're just starting out, this is one of my favorite ways to do it because it helps you save time and you can repurpose your content across multiple different channels. The goal would be to take a higher quality video. You can use your MacBook camera, or you can use the camera on your computer, and film as much as you possibly can. And then, chop that up and put it wherever you have a presence. That's another conversation we can have about what presence should I have. But let's say you have a YouTube channel. Use that longer video on your YouTube channel, and then chop up the little pieces and use it for your Instagram. So, repurpose your video content as much as you can. And even in that, you can take quotes, you can take clips, you can take certain segments, and you can actually put that into a little writing and put that onto your social as a quote from you. So, repurpose your content as much as you can. As you are starting out, you want to make this time valuable.” (14:39—15:39)

“Get really intentional about it. As a coach, I love to talk about the values of an organization, the things that matter the most to you. When you can film videos intentionally, talking about these things that really, really matter to you, the more people will get to know you before they come into the practice, or before they even decide to book with you. So, what you really want is to decide, internally, who are we, what do we do, what makes us different, and film videos on those topics.” (16:14—16:44)

“Whenever I'm coaching a practice, we write out the values, and then we create video examples about each of those values. So, let's say a value was service. Amazing. What are some video examples that we could film around service? That might be capturing somebody walking an elderly patient out to the car. It might be a home visit that you're doing. It’s evidence that this is your value, and [you] live it. You can be intentional about that, and people get to know you even before they meet you.” (16:45—17:13)

“If you are starting video and you feel unconfident, that is okay. Most people start there. Just be the best beginner there ever was. The first thing you need to know is that no one is going to be as critical about you as yourself. And so, make a promise and a pact to yourself that you're not going to criticize your appearance. You're not going to notice that your left eye is a little bigger than the right, that maybe your right ear is a little bit lower than your left. No one will notice that. And the fact that you notice that — it’s okay. But no one is going to criticize these things about you. So, first and foremost, leave that aside. Don't become perfectionistic about your appearance.” (18:22—19:08)

“This is not about you. This is about the people that you're meant to serve. And so, as soon as you can switch the focus from me to all of the people that might need to hear my message, or might be helped by hearing my message, or might come to my dental practice because I'm a great dentist — it’s 100% about them. It’s not about you. And so, think about the one person. If [even] only one person watches this video and makes a decision to be healthier because of it, then your work here is done.” (19:28—20:02)

“If we’re in dentistry, we care about helping people. And so, ground yourself into that. Align yourself to that like, ‘I'm here to help more people.’ That really is what marketing is. How do we help more people? How do more people get to know about us? And when you can really sit into that intention before you film, that's when you're going to feel less self-conscious and uncomfortable.” (20:38—21:02)

“What gets scheduled gets done. If we can schedule this into our marketing strategy for the year, it will get done. And so, what I would say is be prepared for the videos that you're going to film ahead of time. Make sure that you wear the clothes that you want, your hair looks the way that you want it to look, and then film as many as you can. Don't try to get on camera every single day in a different way. Just get ready and film as many as you can. Repurpose them across multiple platforms and schedule it so it will get done.” (21:24—21:56)

“A lot of people are like, ‘Well, what videos do I create? What do I even talk about?’ Think about the questions that your patients are asking you on a day-to-day basis and answer those questions on video. Those are ways that you know you're connecting right to your audience. They're already asking these questions, so go ahead and answer them on video and put them online.” (22:54—23:13)

“[Social media and video is] something that's worth getting comfortable with. If the reason why you're not on video and social media is because you're not confident, then we can fix that.” (24:20—24:27)

“You're the only one, as a business owner, as a clinician, that knows what's in your head and your heart, why you're there, why you do what you do. No one else is going to really be able to say it as well as you're going to be able to say it for yourself. As much as marketers love to create messaging, the best one is going to come from your heart and your head and from your voice. And so, if you can do that, you're going to be able to connect with people in a different way, in a more powerful way, so that they're ready to start dentistry when they walk into your practice.” (24:35—25:04)

“Just try it. Start today. If you're listening to this podcast and you're like, ‘Wow, this is one of the reasons why I don't get on video. I don't feel confident,’ my suggestion is to go home and film a video. And then, film another one tomorrow. And another one tomorrow. Because it will help you be that beginner and to get confident with this skill and this tool. It’s not going away, and we need to connect with our patients where they are, which is on social media, online, and on video.” (25:20—25:47)

Snippets:

0:00 Introduction.

2:05 Allison’s background.

2:49 Why video confidence is important for your practice.

4:15 Use video to be competitive.

5:28 How video helps increase conversion and treatment acceptance.

7:35 Be the best beginner to become great.

9:24 Connect with your millennial audience.

11:43 Digital reputation, defined.

13:08 How authentic should you present yourself?

14:25 Repurpose your content as much as possible.

16:04 Have your reputation precede you.

18:03 How to gain more confidence.

20:03 Focus on how you can help others.

21:03 What gets scheduled gets done.

22:11 Is audio quality important when getting started?

22:42 What kind of videos should you create?

23:15 More about Clear Coaching and Clearly IG.

25:14 Last thoughts on social media confidence.

Allison Lacoursiere, RDA, OA, CPC, ELI-MP Bio:

Innovator Allison Lacoursiere, RDA, OA, CPC, ELI-MP, is the creator of the Clear Aligner Systemization methodology. Allison helps dentists and teams streamline efficiencies to increase both patient and practice satisfaction and health.

A native Canadian, Allison moved to Bermuda at the age of 19 to work as a dental assistant and to seek adventure and try something new. She incorporated a system in that practice which generated $80K a month in clear aligner production.

With over a decade of dental practice experience, Allison is a sought-after mentor and speaker. She helps dental teams improve culture, increase production, and grow into their full potential. She is certified through International Professional Excellence in Coaching and is a member of the International Coaches Federation. Allison is a member of Toastmasters International and has trained with Dale Carnegie Speaking Institution. She is a Certified Transformational Trainer through LionSpeak.

Allison is passionate about fitness and wellness. She is an active team member and competitor on the Bermuda National Beach Volleyball Team. Allison is also a certified personal trainer and yoga instructor. Her passion lies in empowering individuals to achieve their ultimate potential and life satisfaction.