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Corporate Profile: Officite

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Technology is advancing at an incredible rate; for dental practices, a basic Web site is no longer enough when it comes to digital marketing strategies. To truly excel, a practice now requires a unified Web presence – this means social media, search engine marketing, reputation management, mobile marketing and whatever "it" technology unfolds tomorrow. Yet many dentists don't have the time or skill for this undertaking. Luckily companies like Officite work to maintain dental practices' entire online presence. 2012 marks Officite's 10th year in business, and we had the chance to speak with President Glenn Lombardi to learn about the increasing importance of integrated online solutions, and what it's like to work with the Officite team.

Is it enough for dental practices to just have a Web site nowadays, or is a more comprehensive strategy required?
Lombardi: Although a Web site is the driving force behind a dentist's online presence, today it does take more than a Web site to generate new patients and communicate with current patients online. That "build it, they will come" mindset worked for a while, but as the Internet grows and evolves, the need to leverage additional online marketing solutions becomes more critical. Patients are taking a more active role in sharing and engaging on the Internet, ultimately shaping the practice's ability to attract and retain new patients from the Web.

What other digital marketing sources should dentists consider to benefit their practices in addition to a Web site?
Lombardi: In more recent years, Google, Facebook and Yelp, among other major online channels, have emerged and evolved to shape the online landscape. Today, dentists need a comprehensive online marketing solution that includes a professionally designed practice Web site; a search marketing campaign for enhanced search engine visibility; a social media presence for increased referrals; a mobile Web site for reaching patients on-themove; and a reputation management strategy for acquiring patient reviews and building a positive image on the Web.

Can you elaborate on the importance of having that kind of integrated online presence?
Lombardi: No one marketing channel can perform at its fullest potential when functioning as a stand-alone strategy. Instead, a dentist's entire Web presence solution should be integrated, as its impact and reach will be far greater and infinitely more powerful. A Web site, for instance, will gain little if any exposure on the search engines without a search marketing campaign. And a site not optimized for mobile devices will have an increasingly difficult time reaching mobile patients who use their smartphones to access the Web, which is becoming more and more a reality every day.

What are the advantages of using Officite as opposed to dentists doing their own online presence management?
Lombardi: It takes a lot of work to build and maintain a successful Web presence – far more time, effort and resources than any one practice can handle on its own. That's why the most important step dentists can make in creating their online marketing plan is choosing the right partner to assist in the creation and management of their Web presence.

There are thousands of Internet marketing companies out there who claim to have the "secret formula" for getting dentists on the first page of Google over night; who promise to grow a dentist's online reviews by 50 percent in less than a year; or who pledge to generate 100 "likes" a week for a dentist's Facebook page. Who should dentists trust? And how can dentists ensure all aspects of their marketing strategies are working in unison to deliver a consistent message and measurable ROI for their practices?

There is tremendous value in choosing a partner who can create, manage and measure all aspects of a dentist's online marketing plan. Working with Officite, clients gain the benefit of working with an expert who truly understands all there is to know about marketing a dental practice online to generate new patients; it eliminates the hassle of having to juggle a multitude of vendors; and most importantly, it allows dentists to integrate all of their marketing solutions into one cohesive online plan that works together to grow their practices.

What can a dentist expect when they partner with Officite?
Lombardi: When dentists partner with Officite, they are paired with a dedicated Web Presence Advisor who takes the dentists under his or her wing – not only at the start of the relationship, but throughout the course of the partnership. Dentists can communicate their goals for their online presence, and the advisor listens and recommends a roadmap for success that best suits the dentists' needs and objectives.

Supporting the Web Presence Advisor is a dedicated team – a search specialist, client services representative, social media account manager and more – working together to advise and drive the clients' online presence throughout the course of their relationship with Officite. Clients benefit from having a single team who is personally devoted to their online success, making certain that the dentists' online presence drives measurable results throughout the entire duration of their program with Officite.

How and when did Officite get its start?
Lombardi: Officite started in 2002 after myself and a team of founders discovered there were no companies in the medical practice marketing space actively offering dentists a Web presence service that produced new patients and practice growth at an affordable price.

The concept was simple: create a robust Web presence marketing solution for a dental practice, making it inexpensive to acquire and easy to manage. Through superior customer service, advanced technology platforms and creative initiatives, an Officite client becomes a marketing organization over night, with a full-featured Web site supported by a complete suite of online marketing solutions.

Tell us a little more about the Officite team. What is the culture at Officite like?
Lombardi: As a young and vibrant firm, we have had tremendous growth in our decade of experience, growing more than 25 percent over the last few years. Thousands of dentists and health-care professionals have come to trust Officite's full suite of online marketing services as well as the company's position as an industry thought-leader in all things related to dental Web sites and Web presence solutions.

What sets Officite apart from the hundreds of other Web site vendors and marketing companies are the individuals that make up the company's experienced team. Officite employs highly trained specialists who are well-versed in all realms of Internet marketing. From search engine optimization strategists and social media experts to graphic designers, developers, copywriters and local search experts, dentists benefit from a strong group of experts who understand the marketing challenges faced by dentists and who execute successful strategies daily to combat these challenges for thousands of dentists. Our motivation is that our business is built on long-term relationships that create a win-win scenario.

Can dentists still have an active role in their Web presence?
Lombardi: With Officite's strong product and technical background, the company is continually able to refine and incorporate new platforms and services into its product line, including a robust infrastructure and secure offsite-hosting facility. For this reason, dentists can play an active role in the management of their Web presence and easily manage their Web sites through Officite's proprietary content management system, Site Builder, which utilizes tried-and-true Web-based technologies to provide the optimal mix of features, speed, stability and flexibility. Further, Officite's Doctor Portal – a single source Web presence dashboard – enables the dentist to access and manage Web site editing, email accounts, Facebook presence, mobile Web sites, new patient appointment tracking, Google search activity and support tickets, all from one central viewing platform.

Tell us about the research and development of your products. How does that process work?
Lombardi: Officite continues to innovate in product development, introducing relevant and valuable services that align with the practice's ever-evolving industry trends and marketing challenges.

We regularly conduct research on patient behaviors and the ways in which they access information and communications via the Internet. Based on our findings, we design and build services that cater to these trends, helping dentists easily manage their entire Web presence to attract and retain new patients online.

Officite stays at the forefront of technology, offering social media and directory optimization, like Yelp and Google+. Further, our mobile Web site was one of the first-to-market to utilize HTML 5 technology as well as one-stop editing across all mobile platforms with the entire site converting to a mobile format – not just a few pages. Any edits made to a client's desktop site can convert immediately to their mobile site, making it easy to manage their entire Web presence across all digital platforms.

Describe your typical customer.
Lombardi: The majority of our clients are dentists looking for someone to take control of their fractured or ineffective Web presence. They come to us looking to build out their online presence, but with limited knowledge and direction on how to effectively do so. Working with their Officite Web Presence Advisor, clients are able to refine and enhance their Web site with other marketing solutions, such as social media, mobile marketing and search engine optimization over time.

We also have many clients who come to us with an existing Web site – usually developed by another company or a friend. The problem is that their Web site isn't producing measurable results for their practice and their online presence is weak. We help them design an all-encompassing Web presence including a new site that addresses their practice needs and integrates seamlessly with all of their other marketing channels to drive new patient growth.

What can a practice expect when it chooses to do business with Officite? Describe the experience.
Lombardi: One of Officite's greatest advantages is its breadth of services and its "client for life" philosophy, giving dentists a trusted partner for all of their Web presence needs and the foremost value from one company. Clients' dedicated Web Presence Advisor monitors the effectiveness of their programs throughout the relationship, monitoring progress and making recommendations for course corrections as new technologies and products are introduced in the marketplace. From Web site design and maintenance to domain transfer and Internet marketing recommendations, every client receives one-on-one guidance through every phase of the Web presence program's lifespan.

How do you work with your customers to ensure they are using your products in the best possible way? Do you provide customer training?
Lombardi: Officite recognizes that managing a Web presence is outside of the typical dentist's normal realm of expertise. That is why our three-tiered training process is set up to simplify and enhance the learning experience, providing the dentist with the proper training and tools to feel confident in their ability to manage their Web presence without assistance.

We offer many training opportunities and resources for editing, updating and tracking the performance of Web sites. Officite Client Services Representatives are available for a comprehensive walk-through of the client's Web site's features and editing capabilities. Dentists can also conveniently attend weekly webinars during a lunch break or after office hours for quick and thorough training.

Further, the Doctor Portal is always accessible for clients to view video tutorials, read instructional articles on how to use our self-editing software and monitor Web site statistics. To ensure dentists are comfortable and equipped to manage their Web sites, their dedicated Web Presence Advisor contacts the dentist at least once each quarter to review the site, answer questions and recommend areas for improvement or advancement.

What would you say is the company's most significant accomplishment to date?
Lombardi: Client satisfaction! Our biggest achievement to date would have to be the vast number of clients we have worked alongside to help jumpstart and maintain a successful online presence for their practices. We have generated more than half a million new patient requests for our clients and maintain an industry leading retention rate. Client satisfaction and success is our top priority – its no wonder the majority of dental clients who started working with Officite 10 years ago are still with the company today.

Any recommendations for readers who still haven't initiated their online presence or who need to update their current Internet marketing efforts?
Lombardi: Dentists simply cannot wait any longer to establish a strong presence for their practice on the Web. Patients are searching Google; they are spending hours on Facebook; they are reading online reviews; and they expect their dentist to have a website that delivers the information they are looking for whether they are using their work computer or their iPhone.

Maintaining a successful online marketing plan requires a lot of time, skill and resources. For that reason, enlisting the expertise of an outside source who can manage the entire process for the dentist will produce the best results – hands-down. As dentists quickly discover an increase in website traffic, phone calls and new patient appointments, they will realize that their Web presence was one of the best investments they ever made for their practice.

For more information or to get in touch with Officite, visit www.officite.com or call 877-235-1526.

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