Whether you’re new to social media, or were born with a smartphone in your hand, it should come as no surprise that Instagram is a super valuable tool for small businesses to grow and gain new customers. From top brands to mom and pop shops, everybody wants a piece of this social media pie—including dental practices.

Investing time and resources into your practice’s social media might sound a little like pulling teeth, but with about 2 billion active users, dental Instagram marketing is definitely worth the effort—especially when you have the right tools to help you get results. 

As dental professionals, you can use Instagram to showcase your team’s talents and personalities, raise awareness about dental health, form a strong presence in your community, and grow a genuine following. The more authentic your content is, the more drawn people will be to your practice. 

If you don’t have time to come up with dental Instagram post ideas, enlist our help. We can do all the heavy lifting for you!

Social media marketing is essential for growing dental practices. All you need in your dental instagram marketing starter pack is a solid strategy, and a few tips from experts like us. Trust us—it’s easier than you think!

Our clients consistently report that one of the best ways to kickstart Instagram engagement is by sharing photos of team members. If you haven’t shared team photos as one of your dental Instagram posts, add it to the top of your social media priority list. 

Rather than simply posting stuffy professional headshots, share a pic in the office of everyone in their scrubs, a team outing, or try featuring a new employee each week as part of an ongoing series (more content, yay!).

Remember—one of the main purposes of a dental clinic Instagram page is to give potential patients an idea of the amazing experience they can have with you and your team. Show some personality in these photos! Have a little fun! 

Prospective patients are much more likely to schedule an appointment when they feel like they’ve gotten to know your practice a little. Plus, by sharing team photos, you can strengthen existing patient relationships—go team!

As long as you have proper HIPAA patient photo compliance, don’t hesitate to share posts that include your patients or other community members. By including patients in your posts, you can create a lighthearted, personable vibe for your practice online that draws new patients in, and keeps existing patients coming back.

Plus, taking the time to snap a picture with a fun prop, or show off a pearly white smile goes a long way in building patient relationships. By showing a patient you care about them as an individual, you leave a lasting impression, making them more likely to return.

Another post that typically performs well on dental Instagram accounts are before and after photos of dental work. Whether it’s an orthodontic transformation, a heavy-duty cleaning, or implants, people love to see a good dental makeover. (Again, just make sure you have patient permission before sharing any patient photos.)

One of the best ways to increase engagement on your dental practice Instagram page is to host a giveaway. Giveaways are a huge part of Instagram influencer marketing because incentives drive people to share, follow, like, and comment like crazy—all of which boosts your page in the algorithm.

Team up with a local business or influencer (or both!): Rather than hosting a giveaway by yourself, you can increase exposure exponentially by teaming up with businesses and influencers in your community. If you don’t have a pulse on who might be the best person to feature, ask around the office or poll your friends and family.

Come up with an enticing prize: The biggest part of a giveaway is, obviously, the prize your followers could win. Some ideas include teeth whitening for life, a new electric toothbrush or water flosser, merchandise with your practice logo, or something unrelated to dental hygiene like a pair of fancy headphones.

Follow legal guidelines: Instagram can be pretty finicky with giveaway rules, so be sure to follow their official promotional guidelines.

The Instagram algorithm loves dental video content, particularly in the form of Instagram Reels. Don’t panic—not all Reels are TikTok dances and voiceovers. You can take full advantage of this Instagram feature to extend your reach and connect with new followers with a variety of quick 30 second videos. Great ideas for easy dental video content include:

• A walk-through or time-lapse tour of the practice
• A “talking head” dental tip from your friendly local dentist
• Get goofy and try your hand at a trending audio 

You can find trending audio and sounds just by doing a quick scroll through the Instagram Discover page. Have your dedicated social media person spend a little time saving ideas for your Reels.

Once you have a few posts under your Instagram belt, you can focus on other ways to maximize your presence on the app. Ideally, you have someone in the office that can monitor your Instagram account every day. If not, you should at least be checking in once or twice a week, and following these tips.

Simply posting photos to Instagram isn’t enough if you want to build a following. The way you interact with people is a crucial part of Instagram marketing for dentists, and staying active on the app will build your credibility. Always respond in a friendly, professional tone, and be sure you’re following HIPAA guidelines.

• Respond to comments and direct messages in a timely manner 
• Follow patients back 
• Share posts you’ve been mentioned in

Allocating some of your social media budget to promote Instagram posts and story ads can go a long way. Because Instagram uses an algorithm that shows content to users based on how relevant it is, some people may never see your posts without promotion—even if they’re following you! 

The best dental Instagram pages put a little bit of money behind their posts, and use ads in Stories. Investing even $5 allows you to increase a post’s reach and get it seen by more people. Here are some quick guidelines for promoting posts:

• Start small. Boost your best post of the week for $5 and see how much it increases reach and engagement. You can decide to increase your budget from there.
• Include a call-to-action link in promoted posts. Normal Instagram posts do not allow a link in the caption, but promoted ones do. Link to your homepage, Facebook page, or a special offer. For best results, use the same link that you put in your Instagram bio.
• Boost posts that invite interaction. For example, if you run a giveaway that asks people to Like your page to enter to win, that would be ideal to promote.
• Run Story ads that grab attention and link back to your page or website.

Even though they’re older than an amalgam, hashtags are still relevant on Instagram today! Hashtags that include your location (#SaltLakeCityDentist), specialties (#TeethWhitening), and doctor names (#DoctorAllen) can all help prospective patients find your dental practice.

You can also add links. Check out this article all about Instagram post tips.

Even though Instagram stories disappear after 24 hours, posting stories to your dental Instagram is a great way to engage with followers. Unlike posts, stories can be less structured and more informal, allowing you to let loose a little and show off your personality. This is a great opportunity to give followers a tour of the practice, talk about new techniques, and provide fun facts about oral health.

Last but not least, another great tool is Instagram Live for dentists. Choose a time when more people will be available like lunch time, evenings, or weekends and hop on Live. You can do a spontaneous Live, or lead up to it for several days by letting your followers know in your stories. 

If all of this feels a bit overwhelming, don’t worry—My Social Practice is here to help you with all of your business Instagram needs. For more ideas on highly shareable content, check out our 101 dental social media caption ideas, Guide to TikTok and Instagram Reels, and the Dentist’s guide to 24 hour social media stories.

We’ve been heading the charge of Instagram for dentists and have written for years on the subject. To that end you may want to read up on some of our additional articles:

• 10 Easy Dental Video Marketing Ideas
• Instagram Dental Marketing Reels to do with Your Team
• A Guide to Instagram Reels for Dentists