Since the dental offices have been recommended to close, it has become more difficult for patients to get in touch with their oral health care providers at the office. To keep an open channel so that your patients can reach you easily, having a social media presence would be beneficial for both parties. This can also help potential leads find the office more easily when the RCDSO gives offices the go-ahead to reopen.
Here are three platform suggestions that will be the most effective at helping you stay connected with your patients and stay top of mind:
Monthly Active Users: 1 billion +
Who uses it? Men and women, ages 18-64 (majority under 25)
Good for: targeting younger audience, visual impact
This visual-focused platform is best used when you have office updates and/or new promotions running. Creating images that catch a viewer’s attention to the post is important, as many users tend to scroll through their feed mindlessly – stopping only when a post piques their interest.
Don’t worry if design isn’t your forté! One of the best tools to use to create visually stunning images is Canva.com. Even on a free account, there are many features for you to use to design that perfect post.
You can also look into using Instagram Stories and Instagram TV to showcase a virtual office tour and when you’re back in the office, you can show snippets of a day in the life of a dentist.
Monthly Active Users: 2 billion +
Who uses it? Men and women, ages 18-65+
Good for: Sharing links, new promotions and updates at the office, more in-depth captions
If you come across interesting or informative articles, using your Facebook page to share it can help you reach the relevant audience. Unlike Instagram, Facebook posts will generate a preview with a link directly to the article, making it convenient for your viewers to access.
Animated images in posts tend to attract the attention of more viewers, which can be used to your advantage. Include some animation in posts with important information or even for promotions and contests you’re running for the office!
Monthly Active Users: 330 million
Who uses it? Men and women, ages 18-49
Good for: quick updates, short messages, sharing links
Twitter is a great platform to share quick tips (there’s a 240 character limit) or retweet links that you find interesting. This is a test to write short, concise, yet captivating one-liners with show-stopping images. Although there are fewer monthly active users, Twitter is still a very accessible channel which people use for reading and sharing quick information.
Since retweeting good articles is almost second nature for Twitter users, this is a great way to increase brand awareness and reach a larger audience organically.
Other Tips
The most important aspect of these social media platforms is that your patients can reach you directly through each channel. You or a staff member will need to monitor these accounts frequently to ensure that you can respond promptly. Since the patient can interact with you on a more personal level, it’s a great way to build your patient relationships as well.
Including relevant hashtags can help increase your reach to the relevant audience. Here are some hashtags you can include:
- Services: #teethwhitening #teethcleaning
- Industry-related: #dentist #dentalclinic #oralhealth
- Location: #toronto #canada
- Your office name
Another way to increase your reach to a relevant audience is to pay for sponsored posts. This will help boost your post to become more visible on a follower’s feed. It also allows you to select the target demographics that you feel would find your post the most relevant.
Building a following and finding leads through social media can be time-consuming, making it the perfect task during this period of self-isolation. Promote your social channels when you send out your newsletter to patients to get the ball rolling.
Staying connected through social media gives your patients more options to get in contact with you and also open up a door for potential patients to find you. If you haven’t kept your channels up-to-date, now is the time!