Dentistry is a professional practice that is built on trust. It is a factor that is not easily achieved. As a dentist, you need to prove that you are trustworthy and that your services are worth the investment. Since establishing that connection entails a long time and a lot of hard work, marketing what you do poses a huge challenge.
These are some marketing mistakes dentists make:
- No marketing training, so they end up with inconsistent — and inefficient — approaches
- No monitoring of efforts and ROI, so the success (or failure) of marketing efforts can’t be determined
- Inefficient (or lack) the average lifetime value projection for patients, so there is no proper budget set for advertising strategies
- Procrastinating on building a strategy, since there’s an overwhelming amount of information, advice, and options
- DIY marketing, which is done in the effort to save money and may not yield adequate results
- Lack of expert advice, which can be detrimental to the campaign
How can dentists correct this long list of advertising mistakes? A good way to start is by tapping reputable search engine optimization SEO services in Canada. With a team to study the market and formulate the correct strategies for online marketing for business, they will thrive despite the competition.
As technical SEO is not a very easy task, you can leave it to the experts. If there is one thing that you can get involved in though, it would be through social media.
Why engage your clients on social media?
Social media marketing for dentists is still in its baby steps as not everyone is comfortable with it. However, especially in the midst of the pandemic, finding an avenue to connect with clients with little fuss emphasized the importance of having a Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram account.
You can ease the fears and anxiety of patients by providing an avenue to talk about appointments and dental procedures. Utilize the messaging function to address common questions using automated messages. The involvement will give clients more motivation to be updated with their schedules.
Dentists can leverage their social media by showcasing their expertise and knowledge while instilling confidence in visitors through their social media profiles. Create posts, share videos about the latest technologies you acquired, and share images and stories about your staff to create an environment of confidence even before the patients step inside the clinic.
How Dentists Can Brand Their Practice in Social Media
Creating a recognizable brand is the first step to properly market your practice. Branding gives a character to your practice and helps patients remember your business. Branding includes collaterals like colour pallets and imagery, tone, voice, and images that can be associated with you alone.
Social Media Tips for Dentist
1. Get to know your target audience
If you are a children’s dentist, your audience consists of parents who want the dental experience to be less frightening.
If you are a family dentist, you want to set your tone to accommodate every member of the family.
If you are a specialist, your audience is composed of people who are looking for information about their condition.
Your main reason for setting up social media profiles is to talk to these audiences to eventually convince them to come to you for check-ups and treatments.
2. Use languages and words that your audience will understand
The purpose of your social media profiles is to let the audience understand why visiting a dentist is necessary. Most of them have questions, apprehensions, and worries about visiting a dental professional. Bombarding them with words that they will not understand will defeat the purpose of your posts. Make information about dental procedures more understandable by using descriptive and layman’s terms.
3. Break complicated topics into several posts
You can use your social media profiles to educate your clients about dental procedures. To effectively illustrate their benefits, break down the topic into several posts.
For example, if you run a dental office in Guelph that offers a root canal, it’s more effective if you dedicate several posts regarding the procedure to answer the common questions and concerns. You may post about what happens during a root canal operation on the first day and then talk about postoperative care on another. This way, the audience can focus on a single message and have a better grasp on the matter.
4. Avoid gory videos and images
Videos and images are powerful, but many social media platforms flag accounts that post explicit content. Make sure to abide by the community standards.
5. Show up in some of your posts
Some dental professionals are apprehensive about becoming the face of their own business establishments which should not be the case. You best establish trust when your audience knows how you look even before they sit on your chair. Dedicate some time for a photoshoot in your clinic for social media use.
6. Always reply to comments and questions quickly
As suggested earlier in this article, social media platforms have messaging bots where common questions are answered instantly. You can turn this feature on to reduce the waiting time for a response.
On the other hand, some questions may need a personalized approach. Say, the patient is looking for answers about getting dentures in London Ontario. They may want to know the price or what to expect during the consult. Your goal is to make sure each of these questions and concerns are addressed as soon as possible. Allocate some time each day for this specific task or let a team handle it. Just always make sure that you address the client professionally.
7. Make sure that your social media profile information is updated
Social media profiles rank one of the highest in generating leads. When potential clients stumble upon your profile and are convinced that you are a good place to get treatments, they will turn to your About page to find out where to reach you. If the information there like your business address, operating hours, and contact information are not up to date, they will not waste any more time lingering around.
8. Humanize but remain professional
As practitioners of the field you may feel that you are not allowed to show your funny side. People have this notion that in order for them to look professional, they must always be stern, straightforward, and not smiling. Of course, that is far from the truth. Dental professionals, like everyone else, have a fun side to them so there is no reason to be intimidated by them.
This is also a good avenue to introduce your staff and endear the clinic to your patients. Seeing staff members and hearing some stories about how they help patients can encourage more followers to feel more at ease in their next visit.
9. Monitor your post performance and engagements
After setting up your social media profiles, posting, and engaging with your followers, it is time to take a look at the technical aspect of things – monitoring. Each social media platform comes with a monitoring tool that lets you see the progress of each post that you make and how this translates to reaching more prospective clients. If you are putting up ads, you will also see how each is performing for every dollar you spend.
The dental practice should not be limited to the four walls of the clinic. These days, you can harness the power of social media to effectively market your practice. Your posts do not just market your services as they too can educate the public about dental health and procedures.