Marketing for dentistry can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to digital marketing. Social media platforms have many benefits, and offer a free tool for businesses, like dental practices, to engage with current and potential patients in a casual, patient-convenient setting.
Creating content for your dental practice's social media accounts doesn't have to be rocket science. With the right knowledge, you'll be on your way to creating branded, informative, and fun content that will engage your audience and help kickoff your dental digital marketing strategy.
Here are our top tips for creating social media content for your dental practice:
1. Branded Social Media is Best
Did you know that you can use social media to boost your dental practice's brand awareness and recognition? When you post on social media, your content has the potential to reach billions of users. Say 'NO' to stock images anyone can find on Google. Keep your post graphics original and branded with your logo, fonts, color schemes will help others recognize your dental practice among your competitors.
2. Everyday (almost) Can Be a Holiday
Are you stumped for post ideas? Check out if today is a holiday! Celebrating national holidays, awareness months, or other calendar dates is a great way to engage with your audience. The fun part about these types of posts is that they can be related to your dental practice, or they can be just for fun.
For example, if you're an orthodontist, a fun post about Bubblegum Day (the first Friday of February) warning your braces patients to avoid gum is a great idea. If your staff loves sweets, a post on Pi Day (March 14th) with fun photos of your staff and their favorite 'pie' flavor is another great idea. This website has tons of great ideas if you're not the best at remembering wacky holidays.
3. Share Your Content
Content marketing plays an important role in inbound marketing strategy. When you create informative content on a regular basis, you are helping to establish your dental practice as an expert in your field. Take advantage of the possible reach with social media and share your content on your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts.
Sharing your informative blog content on your social platforms widens your casting net, and increases the number of potential patients who will view your content, go to your website, become engaged with your brand, and eventually become a patient.
4. Link to Your Website
Sharing blog content isn't the only way to get patients to your website from your social media accounts. When you add a link to your social media post to your homepage, contact page, or any other website page, you are creating pathways for potential patients. Adding website links takes your post to the next level in terms of user experience, as you are giving the user more to engage with.
This is especially useful for social networks like Twitter, where characters are limited and sometimes you can't include all the information you want in a post. Be mindful that Instagram does not allow you to hyperlink URL's in your post caption.
If you still want to add a link to your Instagram post, you can add the link to your biography, or invest in Linktree to host more than one link in your bio.
5. Social Media for Dentists Needs Hashtags
If you're still confused on how to use hashtags, think of them as keywords except for social media platforms. When you use a hashtag, this basically links your content to the hashtag, making it easier to be found by users. Use branded and unbranded hashtags similarly like keywords in your blogs.
While it may sound like a good idea to use every hashtag under the sun, this can come off unauthentic and excessive. First, use hashtags relevant to your practice like #cosmeticdentistcharlottenc or #veneersbydr___, then narrow those down to hashtags relevant to the post itself.
6. Tag Other Accounts
Tagging other pages and accounts in your posts can help increase your post reach. Depending on their share settings, when you tag another Facebook page, or another Instagram account in your photo, the post will show up on their end either in their feed or tagged photos.
If your dental practice sponsors a local athletic team or event, tagging these accounts in your post is a great way to get your content in front of even more potential patients.
7. Timing is Everything
Your patients browse each social network differently, which is why you should be posting on each social network differently. Make sure you are paying attention to the days and times you are posting on your social networks. Each social media platform has different recommended posting dates and times, which are based on how each respective platform's users interact with content. Check out HubSpot's informative guide on posting dates and times.
HubSpot
8. Your Staff is an Asset
Around 40 million Americans have some kind of dental anxiety or dental phobia. A great way to offset this with potential patients and show them that dentists are people too is to post personable content. Posting staff photos celebrating office birthdays, holidays, and events, or even just office fun photos shows the personable side of your dental practice.
Other Helpful Social Media Tips
- Get official - If your social media account is acting as the 'official' page or account of your dental practice, make sure you take the necessary steps to look the part. You can verify your Facebook Business Page and upgrade your Instagram account to a Business account for free.
- Respond to your comments - Many social network algorithms, like Instagram's, will keep your content at the top of your audience's feed if you are active on your posts. Always reply to comments to show your followers you're there and listening, and to beat the algorithms.
- Be selective with your networks - When it comes to social media, you should practice quality over quantity. It is better to have one or two social platforms that you actively post, and create content for than to have accounts on 'all' social networks that you struggle to stay active on.
- Be organized - While some posts will be spur of the moment or unplanned, you should consider creating an editorial calendar for your social content.
Now that you have some of the best tips for dental marketing on social media, you can kick-start your digital marketing strategy with great content. If you're still feeling unsure about what to post, find a dental digital marketing expert you can trust. When you work with a dental digital marketing expert, you won't have to worry about social media editorial calendars, content brainstorming, or posting times. You can put all your focus on your dental practice, and leave the social media to the experts.
If you want to see double-digit growth, contact The Diamond Group. As a HubSpot Agency Partner, we believe in the inbound methodology. We are a marketing group that offers supercharged website design and inbound marketing solutions that maximizes your businesses potential. Whether you need a custom web design, a full inbound marketing strategy, or just want double-digit growth, The Diamond Group has your back.
