Like all marketing, social media marketing in the dental sector must build trust, raise awareness, and help inform and educate. If you start with this in mind rather than trying to ‘sell’, you start in a better position than most.

 

Which platform?

I still have a preference for Facebook as the largest and still the fastest growing, but I am also considering using Instagram. These two platforms can be linked quite nicely to duplicate posts. Twitter (X) is now very busy but still a good place to connect with journalists, local businesses, and schools.

Sticking to one platform and consistently doing it well is much better than spreading yourself too thinly. See how the Perfect Smile Studios in Hertford are using Instagram https://www.instagram.com/theperfectsmilestudios/ 

Which profile?

There are still dental practices using personal profiles on Facebook – don’t be tempted to do this, as you’ll miss out on so many of the tools Facebook has to offer the business user. Plus, you risk having the profile shut down when Facebook realises what you’re doing.

Create a professional business page for your business and take time to make it look inviting. Create some personality with it; people love to know who is in the business, so use the profile picture or header to show people.

Stay clear of dental equipment in your imagery; the general public don’t care how fancy all your equipment is, they want to know you’re human and you can be trusted! Canva.com is a great tool to create your own headers and change them occasionally – perhaps make them seasonal or follow a campaign that may be on, like National Smile Month.

What should I post, and how often?

Facebook is busy so to be seen you do need to post regularly and frequently. Whatever you choose I would recommend you’re consistent with it, so if it’s twice a week, keep to that. My preference for a dental business is daily, making sure you have a variety of posts.

I would advise you to use a diary and plan your posting. Creating good content takes time and thought needs to go into how the post will look just as much as the content. What imagery do you have? Is it the right size? Again, Canva.com is quite good for creating images as the sizes are all laid out for the user.  

I like to use 123rf.com to purchase images; you will need good-quality images, so look at some of the image sites. Don’t be tempted to copy images from elsewhere – companies are trawling through the internet to find illegal use of images.

What should my plan look like?

Over a week, I would consider two posts for information and education linking to areas on your website, such as a treatment page or a blog page. Blogs can be reused so a regularly updated blog, twice a month, will start to give you a vast library of content over time.

Then, two posts about something personal to the practice – perhaps introduce a team member or someone at a sporting event, or maybe you’ve had a bunch of flowers delivered. Your last post of the week can be shared from another site, such as the Oral Health Foundation or National Smile Month.

I have a few favourites for shared information and you can either share from a Facebook post or visit their website and choose content. Always give the source credit by tagging if possible, and then add your own website address in too, to help direct some traffic to your own practice too.

How do I know if it’s working?

An easy way is to measure the enquiries at reception and find out where new patients first heard about you. The problem with this, though, is that sometimes patients will say the website because that’s where they ended up, so it’s not fail-safe. More.

Look at your engagement, the number of likes, comments, and reach. If engagement is low, try different content and different posts. That is the beauty of the business tools in Facebook – you can analyse what’s happening and adjust accordingly. You can also see what your competitors are doing and if they are more successful.

There is no doubt that to get a decent reach you will need to pay to get your posts seen on Facebook – what is known as Facebook advertising. The simplest form of this is to ‘boost’ your post to a target audience of your choosing. This is a great tool to launch an offer or an event. Dental advertising can be tricky and there are quite a few rules, but Facebook can help you choose the correct imagery that will be approved.

Social media should also be fun, so jump in, have some fun, be consistent and persistent, and see what works for you. Good luck!