Social Media Marketing for Dentists
When you opened your practice, you probably relied on word-of-mouth advertising to reach new patients. Providing the best service in the area was enough to keep your office full of patients. Now, though, big-box dental practices have moved in, and they are trying to take over your business. These patient mills might have huge budgets, but you can still compete with online marketing. Social media marketing for dentists is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. With the right amount of social media exposure, you can reach more potential clients and connect with your community.
What Are Some of the Benefits of Social Media Marketing for Dentists?
Attract New Patients
If you want to attract new patients, social media marketing is a must. A study found that 41 percent of consumers use social media to choose their health care providers. You can use this to your advantage by creating a strong social media presence. Provide information about your practice, answer questions, and demonstrate your authority. Then, when people visit your social media pages, they’ll be likely to book an appointment.
Build Relationships to Reduce Dental Anxiety
All health care providers need to establish relationships with their patients, but it might be most important for dentists. It’s estimated that as many as three-fourths of Americans suffer from some degree of dental anxiety. Social media marketing can help you reduce anxiety by building relationships. Once you alleviate anxiety, people will be ready to visit your practice.
You can accomplish this with patient testimonials, office images of your smiling staff, and videos that explain procedures. Also, you can respond to messages that your patients send on social media to build relationships and reduce anxiety even more. The right social media marketing strategy will help people feel comfortable about going to the dentist.
Increase Engagement to Improve Patient Satisfaction with Social Media Marketing
You strive to ensure that each patient you serve is satisfied when they visit your practice. You can improve patient satisfaction with social media marketing. Social media breaks down the barriers between practices and patients. People can ask questions and receive personalized responses. This allows you to provide the best service, even when patients aren’t inside your practice. People will see you as more than a dentist when you utilize social media marketing. They will see you as a person they can trust.
Increase Practice Loyalty
Social media marketing can help you increase practice loyalty with your patients. When patients follow you on social media, they are more likely to use your practice every time they need a dentist. If you want your patients to keep coming back, social media is a must. It’s an excellent way to develop long-term relationships with your patients.
Glean Insights About Your Patient Base with Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing includes social listening. This is the process of finding practice mentions across social media channels. You can analyze each mention to find out what people say about your dental practice. You will learn so much about what people think about your practice and then make changes if necessary.
What Social Media Platforms Should Dentists Use?
With so many social media channels available, you might not be sure where to begin. As a dentist, you should promote your practice on:
- YouTube
Why is Facebook Marketing Important?
If you are on Facebook very often, you’ve likely noticed that many of your colleagues have set up practice pages. Facebook is the largest social media network, and it can help you reach your audience. Your audience can even help your practice when you have a Facebook page. They can recommend your practice to others, which can give you a huge boost. In fact, one out of three visitors uses Facebook to look at Recommendations and reviews. Facebook is also a great place to promote different kinds of content. You can upload photos, videos, and text posts and even promote your blog posts.
Facebook social media marketing does pose two challenges. First, you need to post often to get the results you want. Second, you must ensure your posts are engaging to improve the reach. Facebook’s algorithms bury posts that aren’t engaging, and over time, if none of your posts are engaging, no one will see them. Fortunately, a strong social media marketing strategy can easily overcome both problems.
Why is Twitter Marketing Important?
Dentists are often afraid to use Twitter to promote their practices, and that’s a shame. This social media platform is an excellent way to become part of the conversation. Also, with the character limit increased to 280 characters per tweet, it’s easier to get your point across in tweets.
You can use Twitter to talk about current events, such as industry trends. Health tips are also popular on Twitter.
Like Facebook, there are some obstacles you must overcome to gain a following on Twitter. First, this platform moves quickly, so it’s critical to tweet several times a day to reach your audience. Second, you must make good use of hashtags to stand out on Twitter. This goes beyond using #Dentist. A social media marketing company can research the best hashtags for your industry to help you reach followers.
Why is Instagram Marketing Important?
Instagram is the perfect channel to reach younger people. Seventy-five percent of people ages 18-24 have Instagram accounts, while 57 percent of those ages 25-30 use the site. This site is the best place to market before-and-after photos of procedures as long as you get a release from your patients. You can also upload photos of your staff and short videos of different procedures. Office walkthrough videos are also a good choice on Instagram.
You will face some challenges with Instagram marketing. Like Twitter, you will need to research and use the best hashtags. You also need to tell a story with your images. This can be difficult for some dental practices. Fortunately, a social media marketing company addresses and overcomes the challenges dentists face with this channel.
Why is YouTube Marketing Important?
Dentistry is a visual business. Your work shines through with the bright smiles of your patients, and you can highlight those smiles on YouTube, as long as you receive consent from patients. With consent, you can also use the channel to showcase patient testimonials. Also, use YouTube to upload videos of office tours, team interviews, demonstrations, and dental tips. Consider a combination of live-action and 3-D videos for the best results.
Video marketing has two main obstacles. First, you need to create high-quality videos that show that you run a professional practice. Second, you must use the proper search engine optimization strategy to promote your YouTube channel. This includes video description, hashtags, and more. A professional social media marketing company will handle this for you.
Let Us Help You Build a Social Media Marketing Strategy For Your Practice!
Your social media marketing strategy can help you reach new patients, boost engagement, and increase satisfaction. Social media marketing is different for each industry, which is why it’s important to choose Accelerate Dental Marketing for your campaign. Accelerate Dental Marketing works with dental practices to boost their online presence and increase leads. We can promote your practice on various social media platforms, and with 24/7 analytics tracking and a reporting portal, you can check the effectiveness anytime you want. Contact us to set up a free consultation. Then, you can begin marketing on social media channels.
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