As the major social media platforms continue to evolve, we’ve seen popular sites like YouTube, Facebook, and others Instagram are moving from essentially free ways of communicating with patients to sophisticated money machines. Early and aggressive social media marketing resulted in massive followers, engagement, and community networking. Those who joined Facebook as a business in 2010 may have felt like one of the first miners in the California Gold Rush! While there’s still plenty of gold to be found in social media marketing in 2022, it’s a lot harder to dig up.
We used to hear dentists talk on Facebook and social media as if this was the solution to all their problems with new patients. More recently, it has been quietly recognized that social media is not the replacement for the phone book that so many were hoping for. We want to help you understand what today’s social media is good for, and perhaps more importantly, what it is Not good for.
An important clue: Here’s the difference between organic and paid social media: Organic refers to the content and exposure gained through free posts, while paid refers to content that companies pay to be seen, such as: B. Ads or boosted posts. Paid social media has many nuances and can be quite complex. Here I focus exclusively on organic social media.
What social media is Not
One of the challenges with social media marketing is that social networking sites were created to facilitate connections between family and friends. If we try to insert business news in the middle of a consumer’s newsfeed, we become intruders. Poorly timed messages are bad for a company’s reputation and the social media platform itself.
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Practical development of social media strategies
Early adopters of social media could post meaningless stock content and watch their following grow. These benefits are no longer available. A business can no longer create posts and expect them to be seen by all of their followers for free. Social media is also no longer a place where you can casually post something and expect it to work in your favor. Instead, you need to be very careful about what you post, as complex algorithms will penalize accounts that they believe consistently produce low-quality content. That’s right – if you post lackluster content, you’ll lose access to your own followers!
What social media is
We like to think of social media as an extension of our physical office. It’s a place for us to build an impression and reputation in the minds of patients. You can use your Page to provide a behind-the-scenes look at your team and company culture. Share birthdays, vacations, or five-star patient reviews—whatever your team brings to life. This presentation provides an authentic perspective and sets your practice apart from those lacking spirit and commitment. A clean, professional, and active social media presence sends a message to your patients about the care they can expect from your practice.
Dentists often ask if they can take an all-or-nothing approach. Who doesn’t want to go viral and get your practice millions of views and maybe even mentions on national morning talk shows? Planning for this type of outcome takes time, persistence, and mountains of charisma. Because of this, we do not recommend any dental practice to do anything that could produce these types of results. It’s a big gamble and most likely won’t pay off. For those few that do break through, I encourage you to consider the value of exposure to the virus when 90% of your patients likely live within 15 miles of your practice.
Instead, we recommend a slow and steady approach. Think of social media for dentistry similar to car maintenance. You don’t have to put gas in your car every day, but you shouldn’t ignore the fuel gauge and get stuck on the side of the road. When you’re proud of your car, you want to keep it clean and tidy. Your social media strategy should be the same. Fill up your social media tank by posting quality content weekly.
Quality content is all that engages your followers.
- An employee birthday, anniversary or a baby shower in the office
- A team outing or group training
- A gift from a favorite patient, sales representative or local specialist
- A beautiful before and after photo of a patient who received excellent care
Which platforms should you focus on?
Despite the recent exponential growth of apps like TikTok, Facebook remains the dominant social media platform with 2.91 billion monthly active users. We encourage practices to start there and once you have a healthy and manageable strategy, grow to some other popular platforms like Instagram.
If you’re considering an extension, don’t forget to rate YouTube. While not traditionally viewed as a social media platform, YouTube has 2.29 billion monthly active users and can be a powerful tool in giving your practice a positive online presence.
What is the truth about social media?
Social media may no longer be a get-rich-quick gold mine, but it still holds an important place in any dental marketing strategy. Think of social media as a way to make a positive first impression and keep your practice in the minds of patients. When you maintain a conservative and consistent online presence, you lay the foundation for a coherent and positive patient experience, from the first online click to the final checkout.
Editor’s note: This article appeared in the August 2022 print edition dental economics Magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a free print subscription. Sign up here.
