Table of Contents
- Digital Marketing for Dentists: Industry Secrets
- Let’s Begin with Social Media Marketing
- Measuring Reach, Relationships, and Reputation
- What is Reach in Digital Marketing for Dentists?
- How to Improve Your Social Media Reach
- Benefits Of Consistent Social Media Posting
- Improve Reach with a Content Calendar
- Building Relationships With Social Media
- Connection Before Conversion
- Building Your Online Dental Reputation
- Remember To Be Honest And Authentic
- Allow Patients To Help You Market Your Practice
- Before Your Start Posting Ask Yourself This Question:
- [Video Recording] Examples of Social Media Marketing for Dentists
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Why is digital marketing for dentists essential to practice growth?
- Do dentists need marketing?
- How do I do digital marketing dental clinic?
- How do you acquire new dental patients?
- How much does social media management for dentists cost?
- What social media do dentists use?
- Do dentists need social media?
- How do I market my dental practice on social media?
- Which apps should I use to market my dental practice on social media?
- How do dentists use Instagram?
- What to post on dental social media?
- What should a dentist post on Instagram?
- How is social media marketing done for dental practices?
- What should I post on my dental Facebook page?
- How do I promote my dental office on Facebook?
- How Do I Choose A Dental Social Media Marketing Agency?
- How should I use social media marketing for dental clinics?
- Which dental social media company is the best?
Digital Marketing for Dentists: Industry Secrets
Digital marketing for dentists is just as powerful (I would argue more powerful) than traditional forms of marketing. Believe it or not, today’s dental patients are most effectively reached through digital marketing tactics.
Patients use digital media outlets, like social media platforms, to create, build, and maintain relationships with local businesses. Potential patients make decisions about which dental practice they trust based on the validity of the practice’s online reputation, AKA social proof.
Let’s Begin with Social Media Marketing
How Does A Dental Practice Measure Social Media Marketing Success?
Everyone is talking about how dental practices need to be involved in dental social media marketing. But very few dentists and/or dental marketing managers know how to measure the quality of their efforts.
We all know that new patients are the end goal of digital marketing. But, do you know how many new patients you’re currently getting from your social media efforts? Most dental practices, don’t because they’re not sure how to track it.
There are essentially 3 aspects of social media marketing that you’ll want to look at to quantify the value of your social media. We call them “the three R’s of social media digital marketing for dentists.” They are; Reach, Reputation, and Relationships.
Measuring Reach, Relationships, and Reputation
Let’s discuss what the 3 R’s are and how it will show you how to measure social media digital marketing for dentists.
Reach is a measurement of awareness. The more people the see your content, the higher your reach will be.
Relationships has to do with improving the lines of communication and connectivity with your patients.
Reputation is all about improving how you’re perceived online and it has a lot to do with reviews.
What is Reach in Digital Marketing for Dentists?
Reach Is A Measurement Of How Many People See Your Content
To illustrate, if you’re scrolling through your personal Facebook page, every post that crosses the visible portion of your screen is considered an impression. Impressions are tracked in all social media business accounts. You can get to it from your admin panel.
Your Social Media Reach Number Removes Duplicate Impressions
Suppose that you post a meme in the morning to your dental practices Facebook page. One of your most favorite patients is following your practice and sees your meme. Let’s call him Maximus P. Gramaticus, or Max for short. Max sees the meme, laughs and then logs off. But, later that evening Max gets back on Facebook and scrolls through his newsfeed and comes across your meme again.
That situation would tally as Impressions = 2, and Reach = 1. Another way to think about it is that reach are unique views. You don’t want your grandmother coming across your posts ten times a day, well maybe you do. But I’m arguing that you want unique views on your content because this means that more people are being introduced to your practice.
How to Improve Your Social Media Reach
To reach more potential patients, you’ve got to have a healthy content mix. There are three types of content when it comes to digital marketing for dentists:
Team content. Patient content. Informational content.
Pay Attention To Your Content Mix
Neophyte dental marketers sometimes believe that you should post mostly, informational content. The goal being to introduce the practice to the local community. But, and this is a BIG BUT, unless your informational content is super interesting and gets engagement, most people won’t see it.
You could be posting oral health content everyday and …. no one is seeing it!
One way to help direct your digital marketing efforts is to follow the content mix in the graphic above, where 70% of the content you publish should be about you, your team and your patients. The other 30% can be informational.
Improve Reach with Team Social Media Content
Team content are social media posts that are about you and/or your team members. This could be just for fun posts, posts that highlight things that your practice is doing to support causes, or giveaways that you are running.
There are things that you do in your practice every day that could be great content for your social pages (Hint: My Social Practice will give you ideas on what to do here.)
Improve Reach with Patient Content
Patient content is content illustrating what your patients are doing in your practice and the relationship that you have with them. Using patient content in your digital marketing for dentists shows that your patients are comfortable with you and that they enjoy their experience in your practice.
Improve Reach with Informational Content
Lastly, informational content. This content ranges from current events to clinical posts about dentistry.
Although the majority of your dental Facebook posts should be focused on your team, it is still essential that you establish yourself as an expert on your Facebook page and all of your social pages.
Informational content will not get as much engagement as your team or patient content. However, posting informational content is how you will be able to post consistently and build your brand.
Benefits Of Consistent Social Media Posting
For practices that don’t have a plan in place, posting frequently is nearly impossible. You never know what a day in a dental or orthodontic practice will look like! That is why we, at My Social Practice, provide monthly calendars for practices to know exactly what they are posting ahead of time.
Improve Reach with a Content Calendar
A Content Calendar Will Keep You On Track
For practices that don’t have a content plan in place, posting frequently is nearly impossible. You never know what a day in a dental or orthodontic practice will look like! That is why we, at My Social Practice, provide monthly calendars for dental practices to know exactly what they are posting ahead of time.
Building Relationships With Social Media
Increase Patient Posts And Limit Dental Graphics
Some dental social media marketing companies encourage dentists to post graphic after graphic of impersonal content on their pages. People can get the best graphic related information from Unlimited Graphic Design Service. We’ve seen many dentists give up on social media after seeing zero results with this strategy.
That is why My Social Practice developed the “50%, 20%, 30%” rule. We have witnessed this formula work again and again for dental and orthodontics practices all across the country. It’s a simple rule that helps to make digital marketing for dentists an easy task.
Focus On Emotional Posts
A well-known neuroscientist, Antonio Damasio, said;
“We are not thinking machines that feel; rather, we are feeling machines that think.”
Connection Before Conversion
Connection comes before conversion. Most dentist marketing their practices using deals and discounts to attract new patients. The problem with this type of marketing is that it does essentially nothing to build a relationship of trust. If you want loyal patients, you need to foster emotional and personal connections with them.
Always Stay Positive In Your Social Media Posting
Dental practices can improve relationships by showing team unity, being human and relatable, sharing dental advice, being optimistic and charitable, and supporting other local businesses in the area.
Find Opportunities To Show Empathy
During the 2020 pandemic, dental and orthodontic practices used social media to show empathy and connect with their patients during a difficult time for everyone.
Building Your Online Dental Reputation
Authenticity And Transparency Lead To Success
To be successful on social media, you need to be authentic and transparent. Here is a great example of being honest and transparent from Lake Oconee Dentistry.
Remember To Be Honest And Authentic
Content like this illustrates to your patients that you truly care about their well-being and the kind of experience that they have in your dental practice. When you apply an effective social media marketing for dentists plan to your marketing efforts your patients will feel more confident in you and your team when you are honest and transparent with them.
Allow Patients To Help You Market Your Practice
Dr. David is both professional and genuine in the video. When Dr. David talks about feeling uneasy about reopening their practice, even though the state has allowed them to open back up, he is expressing open communication with his patients. This shows patients that this practice is honest, which translates to honest clinical care and billing.
Before Your Start Posting Ask Yourself This Question:
Does this content fall under reach, relationships, or reputation? If your social posts fall under one of these three categories then you can be sure that you are posting good content. If not, you might want to think again about what you are posting.
Social media posting is an effective digital marketing for dentists strategy and is key to your dental marketing efforts. It can attract more potential patients, build relationships with those patients and then turn those new patients into lifelong patients.
My Social Practice provides dental and orthodontic practices with the materials, tools, skills, and knowledge to build their practices using social media and digital marketing for dentists. To learn more about our social media management dental services for your dental office, talk to one of our marketing experts to get an idea of what your practice needs to grow.
[Video Recording] Examples of Social Media Marketing for Dentists
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is digital marketing for dentists essential to practice growth?
On average, 90% of customers read online reviews for local businesses before making a purchasing decision. Reviews are the first thing a potential patient sees when they search for your practice online. Online reviews can influence how patients research your business and trust you with their smile. Dentistry is an incredibly competitive industry that’s growing faster than most markets. As new dental practices continuously open, it’s important for your practice to stand out and be seen online. Dentists are competing in a digital world where patients can go anywhere with an internet connection to find what they’re looking for – whether that be a dentist or even just a simple search for “dentist near me.”
Do dentists need marketing?
Yes! Some dentists may think they don’t need marketing. They may think that since patients are already lining up to get in their chairs, that the job is done and there’s no digital marketing for dentists need. Or worse yet, they may think if they just have an “okay” dental website, everything will take care of itself. Let’s face it, without marketing, patients will never know you exist and they certainly wouldn’t think of you first when they need a new provider.
How do I do digital marketing dental clinic?
Digital marketing for dentists is a process that is unique to each dental practice. While for some it may be as simple as using Facebook and Instagram, for others it could include Podcasts; Twitter engagement; data-driven Google Analytics reports on website visitors; shareable infographics about teeth whitening; online video testimonials from patients. In short, practicing great digital marketing is about getting the word out to potential patients online using any and all channels you have available to your practice.
How do you acquire new dental patients?
There are countless ways to attract new dental patients. Luckily, the digital marketing world has provided even more opportunities for dentists to reach people in their communities. Acquiring new dental patients requires a combination of community outreach, a fabulous dental website, website SEO optimization, social media proof, and online reviews.
On the low-cost end of dental social media, patient management systems offer stock images that can be posted to your social pages a few times per week. This social media solution looks appealing because it requires absolutely no time from the dentist or team. Unfortunately, it does virtually nothing for your dental social media presence. These pre-made posts typically look like spam and don’t engage potential patients in a meaningful way.
On the more expensive end of the scale, dental practices can hire a marketing agencies to create and promote custom content for their dental social media pages and website. The cost of doing this regularly crosses into several thousand dollars every month.
This is where My Social Practice stands out. Our exclusive focus on serving dental practices has allowed us to streamline solutions at a low cost.
Depending on your needs and what your dental social media marketing goals you have, the total cost of your My Social Practice service package will vary, falling somewhere in the middle or low end of the scale.
We have everything you need to grow your dental practice online, in one affordable bundle.
The best dental practice social media marketing accounts are the ones that patients use to get information about local dentists.
Facebook and Instagram are the top two platforms in dental social media campaigns that potential patients are actively using. These two platforms have helped thousands of dental practices find and connect with local patients. In addition, you can increase your relevancy and reach by posting on Pinterest, TikTok, Linkedin, Youtube, and Twitter.
In today’s world, patients are looking for social media proof to help them make an informed decision about which dental provider they should use. Dental social media services like Facebook and Instagram give people a look into the culture of a dental practice, which in turn helps the patient feel comfortable about scheduling an appointment. Social media is a must for dental professionals looking to have meaningful, personal relationships with their patients.
Social media marketing is about sharing the culture of your dental practice. A general rule is to focus 80% of your social media efforts on creating content about the people in your office. This includes the doctor, the team, and your patients. The other 20% of your effort should be about dentistry, which should be educational, informative, and some advertising content.
Social media for dental practices is easy when you start with Facebook and Instagram. These are free to set up and easy to learn. The second step to get started with dental social media marketing ideas is to create a calendar of social media content. Having a schedule to help structure how much content you’ll create is very important. On the Free Stuff page you’ll find lots of ideas to get started with including dental social media signs that you can download.
How do dentists use Instagram?
Instagram dental marketing can be used to build a following. By posting relevant and interesting photos and videos, a dental practice’s local community can become vested with the practice. Followers have the ability to like and comment on the dental practice’s posts, which in turn can be seen by the patients’ connections online. Instagram is a great way to be introduced to people in your community who are the friends of your current followers.
A dental practice should focus on posting content that their community and patients would find interesting. I find that most dental social media posts are about dentistry, and unfortunately most people (Other than dentists) are NOT interested in dentistry. So, posting good content is not as intuitive as a dentist would think.
A successful dental social media post should focus on you, your team, your community and your patients. Opportunities where you are helping your community are a great way to create content for social media.
What should a dentist post on Instagram?
When it comes to Instagram dental marketing a general rule of thumb would be one third patient content, one third culture related content and one third client before and after photos. Patients’ content would be photos of patients in the office or possibly patients testimonial videos. Culture content would be content about your practice and the people in the practice including the doctor. Before and after photos are a great way to promote the quality of your dental practice without seeming braggy. One note, don’t share bloody photos!
Social media marketing is a strategy that helps dental practices create awareness about their services, culture and mission. Successful social media marketing for dentists focuses on sharing the culture of the office through posting photos and videos to social media accounts like Facebook and Instagram. Learn more about dental marketing tips in 2022 here.
What should I post on my dental Facebook page?
A practice should focus their dental Facebook marketing on sharing information about the people that make their dental practice great. Sometimes it’s difficult for a dental practice to feel comfortable with this, but the reality is that your community is more interested in you, your team and your patients than they are about dentistry. The best dental social media post ideas are always going to be about the people in your practice.
How do I promote my dental office on Facebook?
Finding social media content for dentists is not an easy task. Get started by creating great dental social media content using content from our Free Stuff page. Once you’ve started taking photos and videos, all you need to do is start posting. The more engagement that you get on your post the more likely it is to be shared and seen by more people in your community. Facebook boosting and Facebook ads are also a great way to help promote your content.
How Do I Choose A Dental Social Media Marketing Agency?
Look for three things when choosing a dental social media marketing company. One, look for longevity. The longer that an agency has been in business the more likely they are to have a good reputation. Two, look for testimonials and client examples. If a social media agency is willing to share client examples and success stories, then you’ll be able to set proper expectations for your own social media efforts. Three, find an agency that is dental specific. The success of social media depends upon the quality of the content being shared by the practice. After many years of experience we’ve found that the more specific and detailed the content is to the practice the more likely it is to be seen by the community.
Obviously we’re a bit biased but…. My Social Practice has been providing dental social media services to dentists and orthodontists for more than twelve years. We provide dental posts for social media campaigns and also offer specific dental Instagram marketing tips and tricks. If you’re looking for a dental social media agency that has a stellar reputation and fantastic support, look no further.
About the Author:
Adrian Lefler is an expert dental marketer and one of the founding members of My Social Practice. My Social Practice is a dental marketing company located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Adrian is passionate about social media marketing for dentists. If you’d like to book Adrian or one of the other members of My Social Practice’s speaking team, you can do that HERE. Interested in learning more about the benefits of SEO for dental practices or our dental websites service, give us a call or schedule a consultation.
