Dental practices know that social media is here to stay, and for a good reason. Practitioners only need to look at the social media demographics across different platforms to realize that fact! Even if you haven’t optimized your dental practice’s social media presence yet, it’s not too late. And you will learn soon enough that the benefits will be worth the effort.
You can enjoy many benefits of nurturing your brand through social media. Primarily, it can help improve your engagement with your audience on a whole new level, build authority, reach new audiences, and drive traffic to your website. Furthermore, creating a practical social media strategy can drive business growth by fostering lasting and loyal relationships with your leads and existing patients.
To ensure your dental practice’s social media presence is continuously growing and adequately managed with consistency and quality, we will share four tips on best practices. Read on to learn more!
1. Check the current trends while choosing the right networks.
When sailing, you always want to have the excellent wind on your back. Likewise, you roll on social media to join the current trend, and the platform you’re in can get you in front of millions of users. You can think of it as getting free advertising for yourself and your practice. However, to achieve a successful social media campaign, it is best not to join any trending topic mindlessly but to strategize on how you can add value to the topic. Be creative and post something that might pique your readers’ interest to keep the ball rolling.
Additionally, social media has boomed since Facebook went public in 2012, and thousands of networks dedicated themselves to anything from connecting old acquaintances to social activism. With all of these options available at your disposal, how would you pick the correct networks for your dental practice? Most experts suggest that joining the most popular and choosing the right ones depends on your goals and audience.
2. Set a goal
Being active on social media offers various benefits for your practice, and there are many things you can accomplish with a solid social media presence. Things like performing customer service, generating leads, engaging with clients, expanding your audience, increasing web traffic, driving sales, gaining valuable insights and feedback, and more.
Yet, to achieve these with at least some success, you need to have a goal to work towards since you’ll need to take specific steps to establish a social media strategy to get there. For instance, your method for driving sales will differ from your approach to fortifying your customer service offering. That’s why it is essential to know what you want to accomplish.
3. Lay out a strategy
Establishing a goal for improving your social media presence is paramount, but it’s only the starting point. Once you know what you wish to achieve, a solid plan on how to get there is imperative. You may start by designating the people who will become part of your social media team and assign their roles and responsibilities so everybody is on the same page and to set proper expectations.
Also, you should decide on your posting frequency and make a content calendar that will help you plan your posts and don’t miss critical days. This kind of approach to scheduling is a massive part of your strategy, and you can use helpful social media calendar templates that lay out the following:
· Your target audience
· The topics and subjects your audience is interested in
· The kind of content you need to curate
· The usable content you already have
· The platforms where you will publish your content and when
The most efficient way to develop a strategy for your dental practice is to learn from the best. Consider asking for an expert’s advice to assist you in the social process and research to effectively find your audience and know exactly how to engage them.
4. Maintain a constant presence and brand voice
Social media is not a one-time deal. It takes time and a lot of patience to cultivate a reliable social media presence. As an ideal platform for recognition and brand building, every post must align with your image and brand voice. It can get challenging if you have multiple people on your team working on your social media channels, as each person may vary in tone and personality. Due to this, it is best to limit the number of people responsible for posting and see to it that everyone is aware of the voice and image you want to present.
Using automation tools effectively when posting can save you a lot of time and maintain your presence on your networks even when you’re not physically present! With the right tools, you can minimize the time you have to spend managing your social media channels, but a mere 15 minutes a day to monitor your channels and answer questions will suffice.
The ideal posting frequency depends on the platform you’re using. For Facebook and LinkedIn, limiting your posts to only once a day and five times a week is best. In comparison, Twitter is a fast-paced platform where the more you post, the better. With Pinterest, 11 pins daily are probably best, while Instagram users prefer 1-2 posts daily.
Grow your dental practice’s social media presence with us!
One last bonus tip: try to avoid posting about negative and controversial topics. Keep it light and fun! It is best to keep your pages appealing and approachable to all. Following the above tips may be the very door to increasing your social media game very quickly! Remember that authenticity is everything. Don’t hand your social media channels off to become a blanket post factory of generic noise. Post accordingly, but up the authenticity and value of your content.
Growth99 and its team of social media experts can help you better manage your dental practice’s social media presence. Join us and experience a partnership you’ve never once anticipated. Contact us today!
