Dental Social Media: Retain Current Patients and Find New Ones Through Engaging Content
Dental social media best practices target a variety of platforms with relevant and tailored content to help retain current patients and attract new ones.
All dental marketing today begins or ends digitally and dental social media is at its core.
Social media is a powerful indispensable marketing tool for showcasing your dental practice. Word-of-mouth on social media matters more than you think. Social media could make or break any dental practice.
Billions of people including potential patients are active on social media platforms every day. Having little or no social media presence at all means you’re missing out on huge opportunities to engage with prospective patients and competing dental practices are likely already making their mark on the platforms.
Not convinced?
Some 62% of US healthcare marketers identified social media as the marketing channel with the most potential in 2020. And according to GWI’s 2021 Social Media Report, 95% of the online population use social websites or apps; 54% for researching products and services.
Social networks have indeed become an important resource for health-related information, and developing a solid social media footprint is essential to raise awareness about your dental practice, underline your expertise, and position yourself as an authority in the dental field.
In addition to strengthening engagement with current patients, social media is a sure-fire way to attract new ones.
Attract New Patients Through Popular Social Media Platforms
There’s been a massive increase in social media use since the end of 2019 at the start of the pandemic. The average American spent 2 hours and 8 minutes on social media every day during 2020.
What better way to reach thousands of people and attract new patients to your dental office!
A dynamic dental social media profile can also help to boost search engine rankings. And with younger people now using social media just as much as search engines to find information about brands, social media may well be the search engine of the future.
Registering more than 2.85 billion active users, Facebook is the world’s most popular social network, followed by YouTube (2.29 billion), WhatsApp (2 billion), Instagram (1.38 billion), Facebook Messenger (1.3 billion), and WeChat (1.2 billion).
Different social platforms appeal to different users. The trick is to identify just who your potential patients are and direct your content and marketing strategy accordingly.
For instance, if we look at engagement by age group, Instagram is substantially ahead of Facebook, especially with Gen Z. Moreover, content that works on Instagram may not be ideal for Facebook or YouTube.
Instagram is highly visual, and a great channel for sharing a patient’s before and after photos, as well as advertising cosmetic dental services such as teeth whitening, publicizing competitions and events, or reposting a patient’s dentistry-related pictures.
And as more than two-thirds of all Instagram users are under the age of 35, it’s the best route for promoting your dental services to this age group on your dental social media account.
As the go-to social media platform, Facebook is excellent for establishing online relationships and connecting with people in your community. Use it to update practice information, share reviews, answer questions, post links to local news articles and interesting blogs, and launch promotions. Be sure to include your practice’s physical address, phone numbers, and website link.
Facebook is also the place to invest in paid advertising about new products or procedures, as it lets you target prospective patients based on location, demographics, activities, and interests.
YouTube
YouTube is an ideal space to post videos; anything from dental tips, demonstrations, and educational content to patient testimonials and tours of your dental practice. And YouTube isn’t only about video sharing; it has the distinction of being the planet’s second-largest search engine. Optimize your content, use the right keywords, then sit back and reap the rewards of increased organic traffic!
Engage With Your Current Patients By Following Social Media Best Practices
Social media is all about reputation and brand, so even though you need to tailor content for different channels, it’s important to create a distinctive voice that runs through your messages.
Highlight Unique Offerings
Consider highlighting specific aspects of your dental practice; things that make it unique: for example, cosmetic dentistry services, oral and maxillofacial surgery-friendly, or pediatric dental services.
Build Trust
Trust is paramount. Patients need to feel reassured that they’re in good hands, literally, so use social media to demonstrate your expertise, authority, and proven track record.
Be Active and Engaged
The more active you are on social media the better—post pictures of your handiwork, share helpful infographics and articles, schedule Q&A sessions, and respond promptly to queries and comments. Positive online reviews and testimonials are rated as some of the top tools for patient engagement, and one of RevenueWell’s coolest features is how easy the system makes collecting and broadcasting patient reviews all over the web.
Build Connections
Use the opportunity to add a personal touch, connect with patients, and build relationships through friendly, relevant, and informative content. Educate patients, improve recall, promote sales of elective dentistry, and increase treatment acceptance.
According to a New York Times study, 49% of respondents will share informative content they believe will potentially change opinions or encourage actions. If people find what you post useful, they’ll be more likely to respond to it and share it with family and friends—which is great for patient engagement and growing your practice.
Streaming videos via channels such as Instagram Stories and Facebook Live is also a smart way to reach your patients and start new conversations. Platforms such as Instagram and YouTube are great for displaying the visual aspects of dentistry while demonstrating your professionalism and expertise yet still in a relaxed and friendly manner.
Utilize RevenueWell’s library of ready-made social media posts available to use at any time for accomplishing these goals.
Streamline Dental Social Media With RevenueWell
Now you know about social media best practices, what’s next?
Consider whether you really have the time and energy to juggle a full-tilt social media campaign on top of the day-to-day demands of running a dental practice. It goes beyond creating an ad-hoc strategy, it’s also about the time you’ll need to invest in managing a range of content across diverse channels—all against the backdrop of a constantly changing social media landscape.
Partner with the right social media agency, such as PBHS, and they’ll take care of everything; along with website design, dental reputation management, google advertising, SEO—the entire lot of your marketing! Contact the experts at PBHS today to find out how their customized solutions can improve your practice efficiency and drive growth.
Combine PBHS’s capabilities with RevenueWell’s all-in-one dental marketing software and platform, and you’ll have everything you need for a successful marketing strategy under one umbrella. Our cutting-edge solutions include an online practice portal, automatic appointment reminders, online scheduling, and patient forms, as well as the RevenueWell Phone system with 100+ powerful features that can be customized to best suit your front desk team and daily operations.
The big takeaway? RevenueWell has the experience, resources, insight, and professional know-how to help you reach your goals: happy and engaged patients, a streamlined front office, and a thriving dental practice.
Take it to the next level. Contact RevenueWell to schedule a demo, we’d love to show you around.
