In a recent survey , over 54% of dentists reported to utilize social media as part of their marketing strategy.
As social media only continues to grow in its powerfulness, here are the top 5 ways we are seeing dentists utilize these ever-growing networks to attract new patients:
- Educating patients through easy-to-understand articles. Blogging is a great way to showcase your expertise and provide patients with helpful tips and advice. Plus, search engines like Google love new content – so blogging can also help increase your rankings. Through social media, dental practices can share their latest blog articles to maximize their visibility. Use pull quotes from the article as your post, and then include a link to read the full article.
- Learning more about their patients through poll questions. One of the best ways that dentists can learn what resonates with their target audience and patients is by simply asking! Dentists are using poll questions on Facebook to deepen their understanding of their patient base so they can provide more meaningful content, adjust processes and ways in which they do business – and more! Use poll questions to ask patients what types of topics they’d like you to write about, their appointment time preferences, reminder/communication preferences, and more.
- Promoting their services and special offers to drive more business. Not everything on social media should be promotional, but the networks do provide a great channel to reach a large audience at once – and offer new specials and promotions. Plus, offering specials on your Facebook page is a great way to incentivize followers to stay engaged and “Like” your page.
- Improving their online reputation through reviews. One of the best ways to build trust and credibility among potential new patients is through online reviews. Dentists can ask patients to leave a positive review on their Facebook page or website to help other potential patients see what it’s like to work with them. By actively responding and monitoring reviews, potential patients can see that the dentists takes pride in their work and cares about overall patient satisfaction. Ultimately this builds trust and encourages a potential patient to want to contact the practice for an appointment.
- Showcasing their work through before and after photos. Social media is very visual, so the more dentists are able to showcase their work on social networks, the better (with the patients permission, of course)! Dentists can also encourage patients to post their own before and after photos and tag the practice to reach an even wider audience.
To learn more about effectively marketing your practice on social media, download this social media toolkit.
