Social media marketing helps dental practices connect with customers, cultivate new partnerships, and boost their visibility and integrity.
Social media plays an even more critical role in these daunting and unpredictable times. It serves as a tool for practices to share information, engage with the public, promote healthy behaviors, and educate both patients and caregivers.
Let’s look at some statistics that help explain the value of social media marketing further:
- 57% of patients decide when to receive care based on a healthcare provider’s social media activity.
- 80% of users who participate in social media are primarily searching for health information. Almost half are searching for information about a particular doctor or health care provider.
- 32% of posts US users share on social media mention their friends and relatives’ health experiences.
- 60% of doctors believe social media marketing helps boost the level of patient care they receive.
You have to build and share content that engages your current and potential followers if you want your dental practice to survive these tough times. We break down some of the most engaging forms of content, with advice about how dental practitioners can successfully use them.
Posts that raise awareness
Social media is a critical means of increasing public awareness of recent, developing, and annual health news and topics. Often this is as simple as reminding your followers of common sense dental hygiene practices. Also, if things are changing rapidly in a particular area, social media is vital to ensuring that the public is aware of the latest problems and recommendations.
One way to get the facts out to your social media followers is to exchange information directly. Another successful method is to use social media to steer followers toward reliable, current information sources. It may mean referring them to your social health pages or your website.
Raising awareness of credible sources makes it easier for your followers to combat false statements on posts from their social connections.
How-To Posts / Tips
Think about your patients’ concerns and find ways to help. It’s even better if the information were in a list form – in fact, some of Facebook’s most popular posts are lists, and they are regularly shared with others. Shared posts would put your practice name in front of an exponential number of potential new patients.
Posts about local events
There are lots of different community activities that you might get interested in and then write about:
- Host an online visit to an elementary school to teach oral health to youngsters. Share a screenshot with your followers.
- Highlight volunteer events that involve your dental practice.
- Host and support a charity drive.
Posts about news at your practice
Share photos of those people who make it possible for your practice. These are the people who keep your practice running every day. This helps present a human side to your business – which is a big appeal for social media!
The faces behind your services are of interest to your followers. They will see just who answers the phone, who cleans their teeth, and they will know what is going on behind the scenes. Sharing pictures of your workers would also boost engagement. That’s because images with faces get 38 percent more likes!
Share relevant news, birthdays for workers, and activities for businesses. Post pictures of you and your staff participating in organized activities. Is your dental assistant running a marathon? Let everyone know. Are you a champion of local restaurants? Share a picture of your favorite dishes and tag the restaurant!
Many practices have dozens of employees, which gives you plenty of chances to share new content with a new name.
Posts on patient successes
If your patients are open to it and give you their consent, share a photo and a short post about the outcome of their treatments. Note that medical details can be sensitive. Ensure you get permission before the story or picture of a patient is used, and do not share personal information.
Extending your social media presence in healthcare will bring more patients into your practice. It’s not easy to accomplish this, but your invested time and money are well worth it. If you need guidance with developing a campaign for Facebook, contact us today.