Top 7 Dental social media marketing platforms and ideas to help you grow your business
Table of Contents
Introduction to dental social media marketing
As of July 2022, the total number of active social media users stands at 4.70 billion, which is 59 percent of the total population across the globe! This trend is only seeing an upheaval, with 7 users added every second, registering an annual growth rate of 5.1 percent.
Considering the rising number of social media users, small and large businesses are also using social media platforms to understand trends and make informed business decisions. With social media being an essential source of Business Intelligence, healthcare providers and organizations are also utilizing various social media platforms to acquire more customers, retain existing customers, generate feedback, and enhance their overall online presence.
Now the catch here is that healthcare professionals use social media because they know that there are people who are using social media to compare and avail healthcare services. As far as dental practices are concerned, nearly 52 percent of dental practices utilize social media for marketing purposes, particularly Facebook.
If you are among those 52 percent, then be assured that you’re on the right track to achieving your growth targets. If you’re not, it is time that you consider working on some dental social media marketing strategies to help accelerate your revenue and sales.
Importance of social media marketing for dentists
You run a dental practice that only those people know who frequently visit your practice. What about those customers who live near your practice but are availing dental services from any other dental practitioner? What about those customers who have to go to a dental practitioner who is a 30-minute drive, just because they do not know that you run a practice at a 15-minute distance from their place?
It is all because you have not made the extra effort to acquire those customers. It is quite natural though to not have every customer who is in close proximity to your dental practice to be your patient. You, as a dental practitioner, need to be proactive in not just providing the best care to your patients, but also having the right strategies at your disposal to ensure that you are tapping growth opportunities along the way. Without a doubt, maximum revenue comes from getting new patients on board.
So, why not make the most of the platform that is attracting maximum users who are in need of services pertaining to oral care?
Social media is a great source for you to gain the attention of your potential customers and keep your existing customers engaged. Not making use of social media to accentuate your growth means losing considerable revenue that you could have achieved otherwise.
Benefits of dental social media marketing
Social media marketing is not rocket science. It is something that you learn as you go, and it gives you the creative freedom to engage with your audience. Here are some key benefits that you can avail by incorporating dental social media marketing into your growth strategies.
- Higher patient acquisition: You acquire more patients by advertising your practice on social media.
- Cost-effectiveness: You save a lot of money as social media is free of cost in terms of posting content online.
- Enhanced online reach: Considering that people spend most of their time on social media, you also get to achieve a better online reach.
- Awareness: With the kind of content that you post on social media, you have the opportunity to educate your audience and create awareness of oral health.
- Better engagement prospects: You get exposed to engagement opportunities with people who have already availed dental services from you.
- Broader viewership: In sharp contrast to TV viewership which can be viewed at a certain time period, social media is accessible by the audience at any time they want.
- More impressions: How you post content on your social media handles governs your online presence, which further lands you better impressions.
Top 7 dentist social media marketing platforms to use
All social media aren’t the same. Each platform serves a different purpose, which is why you, as a dentist, need to align your content with that very purpose. So, as a dentist, which top platforms should you be targeting? We have curated a detailed list for you to implement your Dental social media marketing in the most efficient manner.
Considering how many leads a global social media platform like Facebook can help you garner, you need to have a Facebook page that shows who you are and what you do. By advertising your business on Facebook, you can draw your audience towards your services by creating stellar content. Unless you want to promote your content through paid ads, there aren’t any charges to use Facebook.
Here are some of the top use cases of Facebook:
- Patient feedback (Facebook reviews)
- Seasonal wishes
- ‘How to’ videos
- Posts on common tips regarding oral care, best practices, and things to avoid
- Information pertaining to the news about your practice
- Introductory post for your team
- News regarding networking events that you engage in
- Pictures and videos containing educational content
YouTube
Videos possess the ability to engage people in a way that no other form of content does. Then, why not make use of videos to promote your practice and educate your audience? Did you know that YouTube has a whopping 1.7 billion visitors on a monthly basis? Imagine how much value you can extract from the popularity of this social media platform.
Here are the best use cases of this platform:
- Uploading patient testimonial videos
- Videos explaining details of a particular dental procedure
- A tour of your dental office
- Videos of your participation in various networking events
- Educational videos for your audience
LinkedIn is an ideal platform for professional networking and building a strong online presence. The whole idea behind having a LinkedIn profile is to not acquire leads, but to demonstrate your qualifications, and how they have shaped your professional trajectory. With your profile, you can showcase your values and how you reflect those in your practice.
Here are the top use cases of using LinkedIn:
- Connecting with fellow dental professionals
- Sharing links of your online publications and other promotional content
- Sharing news pertaining to your practice’s development
- Being a part of dentistry forums
- Demonstrating your active participation in webinars, interviews, conferences, etc
Twitter is a platform that people use to be upfront with whatever is happening around them. From finance to politics, everything important is conveyed in a set character limit. Considering the fact that Twitter is used by a mature audience, you can use the fact to your advantage and have a Twitter profile to share information about you and your practice.
Here are the top use cases of Twitter that can help you amp up your dental social media marketing strategies:
- Seasonal wishes
- Creating brand films
- Sharing articles revolving around dental health
- Sharing news pertaining to your practice’s development
- Sharing links of your publications and website
This visual platform is the most common one for dentists and rightly so because the millennials and Gen-Zs are quite active on Instagram. You can create engaging content for your audiences, in the form of posts, live chats, and reels; and drive the audience to be a part of your dental network.
Here are the top use cases of Instagram:
- Creating DIY tutorials
- Seasonal wishes
- Creating brand films
- Sharing news of your practice’s development
- Posts sharing before and after photos
- Connecting with fellow dental professionals
- Sharing educational posts
- Sharing news of participation in networking events
Discovering information on the web through images, videos, and gifs in the form of pinboards is what makes Pinterest special. It is where people discover ideas and explore inspiration. As a dental professional, Pinterest can prove to be a highly valuable platform for you to solidify your dental social media marketing efforts.
Here are the top use cases of Pinterest:
- Creating and enhancing your online presence
- Carving dental social media marketing strategies
- Finding inspirational ideas pertaining to dental marketing for content creation
Tiktok
People nowadays do not like content that is long-form. They prefer content that is entertaining but also doesn’t eat up a lot of their time. Tiktok is a perfect place for you to create short-form content that can connect you with your audience and also represent your brand.
Here are the top use cases of Tiktok:
- Doing a dental office tour
- Creating videos of dental procedures
- Sharing patient testimonials
- Creating demo videos
- Sharing videos that educate the audience
14 dental social media marketing strategies that will turn the tables for you
As a dental professional, it is more important than ever to use the power of social media to your advantage. To do so, here are some killer strategies that you can implement:
#1: Content creation is key
To be able to capture the interest of your audience, it is important that you keep showing up in their feeds on a consistent basis. Make sure that you create content on a frequent basis so that your audience remembers you. There is no need to post content too frequently, but just enough to subtly tell people about your practice, and how you are transforming lives through the dental care you provide.
#2: Consistency matters
Have a content calendar in place, in order to maintain a decent frequency of your posts. Doing so will bring you momentum with respect to posting content and help you engage with your connections.
#3: The Bio says it all
Do not take your ‘bio’ lightly. It is what people come across first before they scan through any profile. In the bio, mention a brief of what you do, and also ensure to include a CTA so that if people scan your profile and are interested in the services that you offer, they can easily contact you by clicking on that CTA.
#4: Incorporate customers stories
Make use of customer stories to showcase how your practice is doing. Demonstrating your brand through customer stories is a great way to engage with your audience.
#5: Tap every feature
Whichever platform you use to promote your brand, make sure to utilise every feature of the same. For instance, while using Facebook or Instagram, don’t just focus on creating posts, but also utilise the ‘stories’ feature of these platforms. Your stories can be a Q&A session, a poll, or an announcement of something that you’re about to share.
#6: Respond to comments
Posting content will also invite comments from people. These comments can take the form of questions or simply can be about the topic that your post reflects upon. Do make sure to respond to those comments, as soon as possible, to ensure that you have their attention.
#7: Be engaged everywhere
Don’t just stick to promoting content on your page. Rather, engage with other pages that are similar to your interests and can help you drive people to your practice. By doing so, you will be exposed to a wider audience to interact with.
#8: Create videos
Whenever you create content for your dental social media marketing, don’t just stick to photographs. Include different types of content, such as videos. Videos drive more engagement than still posts because they are the more preferable medium of entertainment.
#9: Timeless content will make all the difference
Post content that is not seasonal, but timeless. Since the content that you create stays on your timeline forever, people might look into it and use your services. DIY videos, patient testimonials, and educational posts are excellent examples of timeless content.
#10: Add your SM profiles wherever possible
Include the links to your social media profiles at the footer of your emails. Doing so will give you another window to gain followers and connect with more people through your existing contacts.
#11: Look at the data
After you post content, do make sure that you also take time to analyse insights and understand what is it that people are reacting to, or liking the most. Based on your analysis, formulate your dental social media marketing strategy.
#12: Have the same profile name everywhere
If you have your profile name as ‘SmileDental’ on Instagram, make sure that you have the same name across all social media platforms to avoid any confusion. Doing so will help your audience find you easily. Also, whenever you post something, there is a ‘share to’ option that you can use to share the content to all platforms at the same time. This will save time and effort on your end and will also create consistency with respect to sharing content.
#13: Train your staff
Since social media is quite easy to use, also train your staff about the same and encourage them to promote the practice by utlizing social media in every way possible.
#14: Represent yourself and your speciality
Define who you are on social media. As a dental professional, what is it that you specialise in? Create content around the same so that your audience knows what you do.
7 effective tips to manage your online reputation on social media
- Post content that is relevant and engaging
- Share your reviews on your social media handles
- Constantly monitor your social media
- Communicate your story and highlight what your brand stands for
- Engage with ALL customers who leave reviews
- Make sure to send review requests
- Emphasize tactics that give you value
Conclusion
In addition to the above tips, one more thing we’d like to focus on is patience. Social media presence doesn’t elevate overnight. As a dental professional, you need to be patient with social media as though it might not give you immediate results, it will prove to be beneficial in the long run. Enjoy the process of reaching out to people, building relationships, getting discovered, and nurturing your online presence. The day you become friends with the social media platforms that are governing the current landscape, there is nothing that can stop you from meeting your revenue goals.
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