Social media serves as a business’ first impression towards the vast users of the internet. Dental clinics are no exception — if a dental clinic does not appear presentable, professional, organized, or possess the personal qualities a dentist should have, social media users may not patronize that establishment. Even if they are the most competitively priced.
Dr. Amira Ogunleye, co-owner of Beautiful Smiles in South Florida, has over 200k Instagram followers. In an interview with Evident, she goes in-depth on why dentists should prioritize their online presence, as this could make or break a dental clinic’s business.
Having proper, organized, and presentable social media pages won’t just attract customers. The right social media strategy will also reinforce brand image, improve brand preference, increase brand awareness, and, as a result, increase conversions.
Dr. Amira mentions that 90% of her clients come from social media. That’s proving to be a great avenue of marketing for her business. In addition, social media spending seems to be a great investment for her clinic. Here’s how Dr. Amira has boosted her social media conversions:
Create a Website
Before beginning any social media marketing effort, dentists need a website. This website should serve as a complete introduction to the dental business, letting potential patients see everything about the business and what it has to offer.
Having a website will provide people with a good idea about the facility, giving them more confidence in availing services.
In addition, potential customers can book appointments and consultations through a website. This feature automates appointment booking by having leads fill up your calendar themselves.
Some things dentists can place on their website include a detailed description of their services, an “About Us” section, some photos of the venue, before & afters, list of services, and some testimonials.
There’s a proper way to outline the contents of the website. You can’t go wrong with having:
- A brief description of your dental office at the top
- A list of your services, plus some photos in the middle
- Testimonials towards the footer.
- The “About Us” and “Contact Us” could be separate pages.
- You may place your CTAs buttons (e.g., “Book an Appointment Now”) above the fold and towards the footer.
Once the engaging website is made, dentists can start marketing their business on social media. Having the website first allows dentists to place website links on their social media posts and ads, driving traffic to the site.
Speak to Consumers, Not Fellow Dentists
Dental service is essential. Everyone would eventually need some work done on their teeth, whether it’s general cleaning, an extraction, or wisdom tooth surgery. So, it’s crucial that dental clinics tailor their marketing to consumers, not fellow dentists.
It’s quite tempting to post on social media that you’ve acquired a new intraoral scanner. But if the caption reads something like “My new baby”, only dentists and dental techs would get that. A caption like that wouldn’t do much to cater to consumers.
But, if the caption reads something along the lines of “Made a recent investment. No more of that icky putty stuff in your mouth when you get braces,” then you’d be appealing to consumers.
A little tip, what seems like common knowledge to dentists is actually valuable information to consumers. For example, posting about how not brushing regularly could lead to heart problems can get a lot of people sharing it with their friends.
Once dentists have their audience narrowed down, they’ll create consistently good content. Speaking of content…
Remember, Content is King
Content is a critical element of marketing on social media. Social media, such as Facebook and Instagram, are platforms where people consume content, share content, and see what their friends are up to. So, it’s important that the planned content isn’t just selling the business, it’s also providing value to social media users.
That value could be informational, educational, or entertaining. Something as amusing as a funny cat video already provides value.
As a dentist, your expert knowledge is a treasure trove for valuable social media content. Dentists could post about tooth tips, like the non-aesthetic benefits of having braces and how to prevent early tooth loss.
Be Genuine and Authentic
Being genuine and authentic humanizes the brand. This allows posts to more effectively appeal to the intended audience. A more human brand has a presence people can reach out to, talk to, and trust.
Dentists may want to minimize overly-branded and promotional posts — the kind you see on billboards. Since the posts are intended for social media, make sure that the content blends well on social media; not like intrusive ads.
The best way to be genuine and authentic on social media is to use more phone-captured photos. Phones capture slices of life better than professional cameras can. (e.g., a freshly-printed crown).
Simply utilizing a phone camera can get dentists far in their marketing efforts. Using a phone also allows dentists to collect media assets more quickly, optimizing their business’ content creation.
Invest in a Photography Course
Just because we said dentists should be genuine and authentic doesn’t mean we should tolerate subpar photography.
Nailing down the fundamentals of photography will help the photographer convey an intended message. If dentists will be posting on social media for people to see, they should know the optimal angles to capture a subject.
They should know where to place their light source to get their printed veneers to shine. They should know when to use a close-up or a wide shot.
Having fundamental photography knowledge will allow dentists to capture visual, engaging photos, regardless of what camera they’re using.
Decide on a Posting Frequency
You don’t have to post every day.
Dentists are quite busy people. Though posting every day is ideal, it would be difficult given the bustling day-to-day of clinicians.
Dr. Amira recommends posts on Instagram two to three times a week. However, she posts IG stories every day, just like a lot of social media users.
Posting frequently lets the social media platform know that that page is an active one. Algorithms favor active pages more than those whose last post was two years ago.
It’s also better for potential patients if they see that a clinician’s page is consistently posting. It gives the impression that the business is active and bustling, just like the social media page that represents it.
Be On Top of Topical Matters
Clinicians don’t have to post about their business and practice all the time. Sometimes, it helps to post about relevant subject matters. Some examples are social issues, some hot upcoming movies, some motivational quotes, and other general areas of interest.
Dr. Amira would sometimes post motivational quotes, sneakers, and about women empowerment. Though these topics are miles away from her practice, they provide value to viewers and shed a different light on her business. These different passions also make her page appear more human.
But these types of off-topic posts should be kept in moderation. It’s still best that dentists develop authority and engagement within their niche.
Once dentists start creating more appealing content, they’ll improve their brand engagement. More people will interact with the dentist’s posts, giving their content a broader reach.
Market Yourself, Not Just the Business
As mentioned earlier, it’s best if social media pages are genuine and authentic. Take that a step further by naming your business page after you.
Dr. Amira named her Instagram page after her, “doctoramira”. Not “Beautiful Smile” which is her business’ name.
What this means is that instead of promoting the business, she’s promoting herself. So when she decides to put up a new one, she can easily market and scale that. Essentially, wherever she goes, business and patrons will follow.
However, this approach is essentially making yourself an influencer, to which you anchor your business to. While this is a highly-effective social media marketing strategy, not every dentist has the social media knowledge to grow themselves as an online personality.
But following our earlier “Content is King” tips will tremendously help.
Name Yourself Something Appropriate
It’s important that dentists acquire an online name that resembles their real name and is easy to read. Not something with tonnes of underscores and numbers, as if it was a randomly-generated password.
Dr. Amira’s “doctoramira” page is intuitive and easy to read. It doesn’t contain too many combinations of special characters that would make the IG handle hard to remember.
Boost Your Posts
Applying all the previous steps will get any social media page to look appealing and trustworthy. Once dentists are confident with how their Facebook or Instagram is shaping up to be, they may use paid ads to drive traffic to their website and/or social media page.
Using paid ads shows that ad to more people on your platform of choice. As a result, the social media page and website acquire a reach outside of the business’ following.
However, it’s important that dentists are precise with their boosting, not just willy-nilly boosting any post they have.
Here are some things to remember when boosting posts:
- Dentists should be boosting posts that appeal to a wider audience, not content that appeals exclusively to their existing audience. A wider audience won’t understand that.
- Dentists have the option of using an existing post as an ad or creating a new post to use as an ad. If there’s an existing post that has performed well (e.g., it acquired a lot of views and likes), that’s an indicator that the post is engaging. That post may be boosted for the eyes of a wider audience.
- Dentists should carefully select the audience they’re targeting. No one’s going to drive 100 miles just for a dental appointment. Detailed targeting options can be found in the Meta Ads Manager, the ad manager for both Facebook and Instagram.
Hire Social Media Managers
Social media handling is an entirely different field already. Though it’s an essential know-how for any business owner, there are people who specialize in social media marketing and can do it better than others.
In addition to that, dentists may not have enough time in a day to look after every critical detail of their social media page. So, if there’s too much going on that you can’t stay on top of your social media marketing, it’s best to hire social media managers.
They are an added operational cost, but having social media managers may be a great investment to increase conversions and patient visits. Socmed managers also free dentists up for more crucial tasks, such as learning about digital dentistry and how they can adopt a digital workflow to optimize their clinical business.
Digital dentistry gives dentists a fully-digital workflow for dental restorations. It minimizes chair time and reduces costs in the long run. You can get started with digital dentistry with an IOS scanner you can conveniently get from Evident.
At Evident, we prioritize your success. Our dedicated customer support team stands ready to assist you every step of the way, ensuring that your 3D printer is optimized for maximum performance. Start saving on operating costs today with the unwavering support of Evident, your trusted partner in digital dentistry.
