Social media isn’t just for cute photos of dogs and summer vacations anymore. It can be a powerful piece of your dental social media marketing strategy, too. However, social media for dentists requires more skill than just picking out the perfect filter. Here are the do’s and don’ts of executing a great social media strategy that will bring you followers and patients aplenty.
Don’ts
- Fail to Create a Social Media Strategy: It’s not possible to “just wing it” when it comes to social media. There’s so much to research and consider, from which hashtags to use to which social media platforms to frequent. It’s important to set goals, like reaching a particular audience and sending a specific message, before even signing up for a social media account. A robust dental social media marketing strategy can help you save time and get far more effective results than posting at random.
- Respond Negatively to Bad Feedback: Nobody likes being told that they’re doing a bad job, but when you operate a business, negative reviews come with the territory. Lashing out at people who leave bad reviews or comments on your social media pages makes your practice seem immature and difficult to work with, yet at the same time, ignoring the content shows a lack of concern for your patients’ experiences. Responding to negative content, while difficult, shows that you really do care and want to improve in the future, which allows people to trust your practice as one that is compassionate and committed to education.
- Spam People: Nobody likes getting junk mail, and the same is true for online content. Posting incessantly, tagging people in content in which they have shown no interest, and posting links to your website in irrelevant conversations makes your brand look pushy, out of touch, and greedy. Instead, it appears that you’re more concerned with marketing than with making meaningful connections and helping other people with their dental health questions.
- Buy Followers: While it may be tempting to buy followers in an effort to look more influential, this strategy is one that never works well. These followers typically do not interact with your content and often consist of spam accounts, businesses selling questionable products, and other companies your dental practice likely doesn’t want to keep. Taking a shortcut like this puts the integrity of your practice at risk — if you’re willing to cut corners with your follower count, what other corners might you be cutting in your dental practice? Focus on generating a strong following organically by posting engaging, relevant content instead.
- Skip the Analytical Data Tracking: Your social media strategy is only as good as its analytics. In order to truly improve, your dental practice should never simply implement a social media strategy and then ignore it. Tracking data can provide you with a trove of information that can be used to upgrade everything from your marketing plan to your services, making your content more relevant and your strategy more effective.
Do’s
- Establish a Target Audience: Not everyone uses every type of social media platform. For example, women are more likely to use Instagram than LinkedIn, and Instagram users tend to live in more urban areas. Twitter users, meanwhile, typically have higher salaries. This information can be vital to your dental social media marketing strategy because it tells you where your ideal audience tends to spend its time. Your practice saves both time and money by posting only to the most relevant social media channels.
- Post Engaging Content:People go on social media to be entertained, even if they’re viewing marketing content. Post videos, contests, surveys, and questions with which your audience can interact. Doing so not only holds your followers’ attention while you provide them important information, it also helps you position yourself as a knowledgeable source. This in turn will make your audience feel more comfortable when they become patients because they will trust that you are clearly explaining dental procedures.
- Set KPIs: Setting KPIs, or key performance indicators, gives your dental practice a yardstick by which it can measure its progress. Setting them for your social media strategy helps show what’s working and what isn’t, providing you with more information about what your audience prefers to see and who is viewing your content in the first place. You may choose to track the number of new patients you receive as a result of social media posts or, for example, measure fluctuations in your follower count to show what strategies are most effective.
- Adjust Campaigns Based on Prior Data: KPIs can also help you adjust your campaigns based on data. If a series of short, educational Instagram videos receives a high volume of comments and likes, for example, it would likely be worth the time to create similar posts in the future since people seem to enjoy them. Understanding what your followers enjoy seeing and talking about can help you focus on the information that’s most important to them, showing that you understand their needs.
- Interact With Other Users: Social media for dentists has the unique benefit of making it easier than ever to interact with your potential patients, so don’t ignore this chance. Interacting with people by providing them with helpful information, sharing posts, and otherwise keeping in touch humanizes your brand. This leads to increased trust and brand loyalty, as people will feel like your practice truly cares about them as more than just another paycheck.
Speak to a professional about social media for dentists to learn more information and to receive a free social media marketing evaluation. 321 Web Marketing’s experts in social media for dentists can help you develop a dental marketing campaign that avoids pitfalls and provides the best strategy for social media success. By understanding your goals, practice, target patient base, competition, and local area, their marketers aim to create a customized marketing plan that meets all of your goals and helps you grow. 321 Web Marketing monitors each marketing campaign after it’s launched, making any adjustments necessary to provide you with a steady stream of qualified leads within six months.