4 Great Reasons Dental Professionals Should Embrace Social Media
For most patients, dentists’ social media presence is a must, a recent DentaVox survey reveals. If your dental practice isn’t embracing Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other social media, then you’re missing out on conveying your hard earned professional authority to 1.74 billion people who use social media to determine which businesses they trust.
So it‘s definitely worth asking: if you haven’t already, what else do you need to know to help you understand the importance of building a professional brand presence for your practice on Facebook, Instagram, etc.?
Here are four more reasons to help you get onboard the social train before you miss out on all it has to offer.
1. A Vibrant Brand Presence On Social Media Builds Trust with Potential Patients
That same survey from DentaVox found that nearly half of all participants want to see testimonials from dental practices on social media (Facebook specifically). We agree, dental practices that embrace social media will reap many benefits while strengthening patient loyalty and encouraging ambassadorship.
The more you know about your current and prospective patients, the more power you have to enforce what patients like and change what they don’t. Social media more than any other medium, gives dental practices the ability to learn about potential patients, because you can focus your boosted posts and social advertising on a specific demographic of patients.
Dentists often think their “target audience” is anyone with teeth (of course they do), but social media has been around long enough to know “who” on each platform is likely to respond to dental imagery, words, authority, and services.
This can be accomplished in two ways:
1. If you want to tap into the market of the millions of people in your community, you need to try targeting a niche or specific group on social media.
Here’s an example of slimming down your audience from everyone to a niche group:
Everyone → People over 50 → Women with painful teeth → working professionals → women who don’t have time for health = Women who need to make a dental appointment with a new office that’s likely to be a speedy, pain-free experience
From this, you now have keywords you can expand on to create targeted social media ads, so when a working professional over 40 scrolls through Facebook, they’ll see your ad that explains how you can help them quickly regain a pain-free life.
And then 2., as you advertise to different audiences with the same message, you can learn “who” is responding and engaging more and then develop a more aggressive ad to target those people.
Plus, you must understand that Facebook wants you to succeed! They will absolutely have ideas and suggestions for demographics that they believe will benefit your campaign.
2. Dentists Who Use Social Media are seen as Innovative and Caring
Recent polls show, dentists who don’t use social media for professional purposes are perceived as traditionalists, while their counterparts are seen as innovative and caring.
By consistently building up a professional brand presence on Facebook, Instagram, etc., people will be able to recognize your practice and easily remember your professional brand presence when the need arises for potential patients to use your services.
Being in the back of someone’s mind is a powerful tool because when a dental emergency or need comes up, you move to the front immediately. That’s the power of a solid brand presence dedicated to professionally designed social media posts.
People don’t often think about researching dental needs in advance, but if they notice you’re a practice that constantly shares content, then when they do need something, you may become the first practice that comes to mind. Perfect!
Strong social presence will also likely encourage loyalty and top of mind awareness when a conversation with someone centers on their dental needs or desire to change practices.
3. Posting Positive Reviews Works Well on Social Media
There’s a plethora of review platforms and places for patients to leave feedback (Google, Facebook, Yelp, Demandforce, Birdeye). Every practice needs to understand that there is tremendous benefit to posting honest patient feedback on social media.
Positive stories and helpful information really help potential patients identify with a current patient’s struggles and the outcome they’ve experienced. And social media is a great platform to share those stories, because that’s the point of social media!
4. Social Media Helps Your Website Build Trust with Google
Anytime someone leaves social media to checkout a website, Google pays attention. The algorithm is always watching! This is how they determine the authority your brand commands with a particular audience. The more people engage your content, the higher you’ll rank in Google’s search results.
So, if you’re not using social media, your dental website might not even show up on Google’s first or second page of search results.
Increasing your brand presence by posting content on Facebook, Instagram, etc. not only increases your SEO but increases the likelihood that potential patients will remember you.
Conclusion
If you’re ready to unleash your brand or practice, then check out what Meteora can do for you! We’d love to help you establish credibility on Facebook and Instagram by creating a reputable and vibrant presence. You can learn how our platform works here or compare subscriptions here.
