How Often Should Your Dental Practice Post on Social Media?
You’ve set up your Facebook account for your dental practice, landed on a Twitter handle, and maybe even posted on Instagram a few times. Then comes the million dollar question — how often (and what) should you be posting on social media for your practice?
It’s no secret that establishing a social media cadence is key to dental marketing.
Having an active presence attracts new patients, keeps current patients engaged, and drives referrals. But creating accounts and only posting sporadically doesn’t take full advantage of the huge marketing benefits social media provides.
Let’s get one thing out of the way. Contrary to popular paranoia, there really is no such thing as posting too much on social media.
Take Facebook — their News Feed algorithm does a great job at making sure users see a balance of what they care about both as individuals and consumers. This means a lot of content filtering by Facebook.
So while worrying about cluttering your patients’ feeds with posts is kind, remember that it's highly unlikely they will see every single post of yours.
Posting on social media for your dental practice all comes down to consistency and quality. Creating a regular posting cadence with highly valuable content gives your dental practice dependable visibility on the sites or apps your patients love.
Frequent posting also enables you to accurately test whether or not you're reaching patients.
Facebook Analytics and Twitter Analytics provide great tools to help you analyze the effect your posts have on engagement, but testing is only accurate with a consistent posting schedule.
Ideally, you want your social media plan to be like your patient schedule — full and organized.
So whether your accounts are set up and a little stagnant, or if you’re just getting started, these tips can help your dental practice up its social media posting game.
How often to post
1-2 posts per day
Having an active and engaged Facebook page is one of the easiest ways to market your dental practice. Odds are, it will be your most effective channel on social media. Therefore, posting at least once a day sets a good foundation for your page.
What to post on Facebook
Your Facebook posts should reflect your dental practice. Be informative, funny, professional, warm, entertaining — be you!
Your Facebook page is like a virtual waiting room for your dental practice. You wouldn’t want to walk into a waiting room that only had the hours and a list of approved insurance providers stapled to the wall.
Engaging dental social media ideas
- Use or create a hashtag for a weekly post. This is a great way to start building your post schedule. A fun picture of a patient smiling with #sundaysmile, or a quote with the tried-and-true #motivationalmonday, can go a long way while building a content library.
- Post on national and trending holidays. Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day, National Dentist Day, National Brush Your Teeth Day — all carry potential Facebook posts.
- Repost trending articles or topics. Adding commentary to current dentistry news or new potential services helps build credibility for your practice.
- Post behind-the-scenes pictures of your office and staff, or host video tours of your office. Photos and videos help create the feeling of a dental community rather than a stark business.
How often to tweet
5+ tweets per day
When it comes to tweeting, the more the better. A tweet's life cycle is much shorter than a Facebook post, as engagement typically drops off around an hour after tweeting. Shoot for five tweets every day, but don’t hold yourself back.
If tweeting from several accounts, make sure each has unique content. Twitter has recently cracked down on its spam policy, and will view duplicate content. Here are some guidelines, from Twitter's Developer Blog, that you should consider if tweeting in bulk.
- Do not simultaneously post identical or substantially similar content to multiple accounts.
- Do not simultaneously perform actions such as Likes, Retweets, or follows from multiple accounts.
- The use of any form of automation (including scheduling) to post identical or substantially similar content, or to perform actions such as Likes or Retweets, across many accounts that have authorized your app (whether or not you created or directly control those accounts) is not permitted.
What to tweet
Keep it short, informative, and use lots of hashtags. Even though last year Twitter doubled the number of characters allowed in a tweet from 140 to 280, brevity is still the soul of wit. Think about what would catch a patient’s eye in their feed.
Follow and share with other dental practices, major businesses, or educational groups in your area. Twitter helps you stay informed and build relationships, but it will also naturally give you endless content to retweet.
Engaging dental social media ideas
- Post daily updates from your practice. Are you offering new treatments? Did it snow and you took an incredible photo from your office?
- Share user testimonials. Create a hashtag for your office and encourage patients to share their positive experiences on Twitter.
- Repurpose your Facebook content for tweets.
- Follow trending dentistry hashtags, as well as national and local topics that are trending.
- Retweet reputable industry articles or blog posts that your patients would find interesting.
How often to post
1-2 posts per day
When it comes to breaking down barriers and creating a bond with your patients, Instagram is an ideal dental social media channel. However, posting once or twice a day is plenty for your dental practice.
Unlike Twitter, multiple Instagram posts in one day can appear spammy. For more frequent posting, use Instagram Stories. This is a feature that lets you post photos and videos that disappear in 24 hours.
What to post on Instagram
Each post should reflect your practice’s brand. It should also be curated in a style similar to your other social media feeds. Because Instagram is so integrated with Facebook and Twitter, it is an easy way to share pictures on multiple platforms.
Engaging dental social media ideas
- Pictures of your team — Instagram helps build a sense of community with your staff by sharing special office moments.
- Photos of smiling patents
- High quality before and after shots of patients’ smiles (emphasis on the high quality)
- Shots of your practice or any community events
How often to post
1-5 posts per week
Let’s get down to business. Literally.
Posting on LinkedIn is decidedly different from other social media platforms. The LinkedIn crowd is looking to network, get professional updates, and endorse service providers — like their favorite dentist!
Posting once a day during business hours is the norm, so set a goal of at least one post per week to stay active.
What to post
Since LinkedIn is more geared toward your peers than your patients, this is a good place to share professional development.
Post an interesting new study or particular article from a medical journal. Dentistry IQ and Dentaltown are always good for content, too!
Beyond networking, LinkedIn is a good place to post any job openings. Since 46% of LinkedIn users are college graduates, it makes for an excellent marketplace for talent.
Engaging dental social media ideas
- Patient testimonials or referrals — Again, LinkedIn is all about generating endorsements.
- Photos of happy patients
- A blog post you recently wrote for your site or relevant articles
- Job postings — An active LinkedIn account helps attract prospective employees.
Snapchat
How often to post
1-2 snaps per day
A disclaimer: we get it. It’s easy to brush off Snapchat when creating a marketing strategy for your dental practice. However, Snapchat has proved to not just be a passing millennial trend.
Studies report 158 million users last year, and major businesses and brands are jumping on board with great success.
Though the Snapchat audience is younger it still makes dental appointments! This demographic is much more inclined to remember and return if your practice is visible on the social platforms they use (like Snapchat).
Posting a snap to your story once a day, connecting with patients, and engaging with other community groups opens your practice up to a potentially untapped audience that other practices are likely missing out on.
What to post
Using Snapchat gives you a chance to be authentic and fun. Embrace the filters and show your practice's personality. Be informative while also entertaining your followers!
Engaging dental social media ideas
- Links to your website for patients to make appointments
- Updates from the office
- Special offer codes — Taking screenshots is a big component of Snapchat, and fun offers (like an extra free toothbrush on your next visit if you take a screenshot) make for great recall incentives.
- Create a branded GeoFilter for patients to use at your office — These customized filters cost a little bit of money but enable users to access the filter in specified locations, like your waiting room or operatory. Filters are fun for patients and create instant referrals for your practice.
Learn more about how RevenueWell improves case acceptance and creates more close-knit relationships between dentists and their patients.
