Chris Baker from Corona Marketing Limited looks at what you should consider when getting your dental practice involved with social media marketing for dentists…

Should I get involved in social media?

The question that I wish most practices would ask me rather than diving in without knowing why. Social media marketing for dentists can take time. The answer is yes but…. Social media can be a fantastic way of interacting and engaging with both existing patients and potential patients. HOWEVER! There is a lot of marketing collateral that needs to be in place first. DO NOT get involved before you have:

• A practice vision and mission statement about where you want to be in 5 or 10 years time; (believe it or not, the team needs to be aware of this and buy into it too! It seems obvious but it’s not unusual to find teams that have no idea of the Principal’s vision.)
• An effective website that generates a serious amount of enquiries – say 30 per month?
• A team (and I include the dentists and principal in this too) that can convert enquiries
• A marketing plan and objectives in place
• An engaged and involved team – social media needs a local feel and if your team don’t ‘buy in’ then it won’t work

Social media is an extension of your brand. If you don’t really know what your brand is or what it stands for, then time for a rethink.

I can automate all of this can’t I?

No! I speak to many dentists who view their dental marketing as something that they can ‘outsource’ to a company. This is true for about 80% of offline marketing but even then an agency would want to speak to a client on a weekly basis for it to be effective. With social media marketing, you need even more local input. Social media marketing for dentists will take some time and efforts – this isn’t something that you can set up and then leave! Whilst there are tools out there that can help you with automation (and used correctly, they are really useful), a team member (not you!) will need to spend some time each day reviewing the various social media.

What am I posting on Facebook then?

As a rule of thumb, this needs to be updated somewhere between 3-5 times a week. And, we should look at 3/5 of those posts being social rather than dental. In other words, around 60% of everything that you post will not be about teeth! It is about engaging with your audience and drawing them in. What does that look like? Some suggestions include:

• Local events – what is going on in the local community that your patients may be interested in?
• Schools/Parent Groups – most practices contain parents who can inform of what might be happening
• Team news – birthdays, anniversaries etc. The public love this stuff as it is human – one of the best responses we ever received for a Facebook post recently was for a team member who had just celebrated 20 years as a team member at the practice. Over 4000 people reached, 185 likes and 62 comments – we want to hear about people like us
• Comedy/Cats – make them laugh. And, if you can’t do that, do something cute with cats!
• Educational/Promotional dental material that is fun

With many of the practices that we have worked with, their Facebook page is becoming a ‘Virtual Noticeboard’ for the community.

Instagram

Instagram is now massively popular among consumers of all ages and genders. One of the reasons why Instagram is so popular is because it could be considered a simplified version of Facebook that has an emphasis on sharing visual content – perfect for dentistry. Users can also communicate, “follow”, and interact with one another by commenting, tagging and private messaging.

Our Top 5 Tips for successful use of Instagram are:

1. Hashtags. Many people can be confused by hashtags. The easy way to find out more is to check out Instagram’s Explore feature to find posts related to trending hashtags before publishing any post. The goal is to use trending hashtags that are relevant to your brand. You can even search trending hashtags by emoji!
2. Photography. Your Instagram account will only be effective if you use well taken and engaging images. Instagram also requires square photos – easy to do from your smartphone.
3. Mix it Up. One of the best and most effective ways to make the most from Instagram is to create a blend of content with both images and videos. As with all social media platforms, the right blend of education, humour and entertainment will encourage your audience to interact with you.  Videos can actually generate three times more inbound traffic to your website than written content.
4. Make your content worth being shared. You can add captions to your images as well as attractive graphics. If you combine this with a trending and relevant hashtag then you have instantly made your content easy to digest and share. Instagram is all about visual storytelling.
5. Work together with Facebook. The two accounts can be connected and will allow you to share engaging visual content quickly and easily. This goes for advertising on both platforms too – used in tandem, the two platforms work particularly well.

What does Twitter do for me?

Twitter can be a great way to reach out to those who have no connection with the practice. Interestingly enough, it is also a great way of reaching journalists and those in the media – so make sure that you follow the relevant opinion leaders so that you can feature in the more traditional media.

Twitter helps you get your message out to people who are local but perhaps have never heard of you, hadn’t really thought about dentistry and probably don’t know a huge amount about dentistry and oral health. It is a great way of educating people and making them aware of you so when they do want dental treatment or a question answered, they come to you.

 What should I blog about?

What drives you? What do you care passionately about? That’s what you should blog about. If dental implants are the thing that gets you out of bed in the morning then tell people and tell them why. Your passion will come across in your writing. Make sure that you blog regularly – set aside some time to do it every fortnight or so. Involve patient stories – all good marketing is about telling stories and delighted patients have great stories to tell.

How do I keep up with all of this?!

Well the honest answer is that as a dental practice, you may find it difficult! There are some key tips that can help you though:

• You can use automative tools such as Hootsuite (http://www.hootsuite.com) that will allow you to schedule posts. This doesn’t absolve someone of the responsibility to be checking on the social media and engaging with users. Without engagement, social media is pointless.
• Use a trusted agency that understands your business and what you are looking to achieve. They can take care of a lot of the day-to-day routine but you and a team member will still need to be involved for the campaign to be effective.
• Start with Facebook and Instagram and work from there. Make sure that you are doing those well before you move to other platforms.

 BAPD member? 

If you would like to work with an agency that can help you in your marketing goals, then don’t forget that BAPD members qualify for a FREE marketing and communications audit – including social media marketing for dentists. To find out more, please visit https://www.coronadental.co.uk/bapd-member/ or call us on 07947 470896.