Page 2
Quality Resource Guide –
Social Media in Dental Practice 1st Edition
www.metdental.com
There are different types of
Facebook
applications.
Facebook
“profiles” are for individuals while a
business would create a
Facebook
“page.” To
create a
Facebook
page, a current
Facebook
profile
user would initiate the page by creating it from his/
her profile.
Once created, any
Facebook
user could
“like” the page.
After the page has been “liked”
by a user, posts to that page will start to appear
in his/her news feed.
Any
Facebook
user can
create a page and it is the best way to promote a
dental practice on
Facebook
.
The creator is then
the administrator of the page and can add other
administrators with editing rights.
Administrators
can update the page or make posts.
Ideally
there should be more than one administrator to
manage the page, make new posts, and ensure
accountability.
4
Promoting a dental practice through a
Facebook
Business Page can be fun and exciting.
Sharing
pictures, community events and “giveaway
contests” are a few examples of ideas to post to
promote the practice and engage patients. Also, a
practice has the potential to reach new patients by
having existing patients interact with their page and
repost or “share” the page’s activity.
5
The office will want to optimize the items shared on
Facebook
and ensure that viewers will see them.
Here are a few factors to consider when posting on
a dental office’s page:
3
•
Highest traffic occurs mid-week between 1-3PM.
Consider this in determining when to post status
updates.
•
On Thursdays and Fridays, engagement is 18%
higher.
•
50% of 18-24 year olds go on
Facebook
when
they wake up.
Make the content in posts in the
mornings relevant to this age group.
•
An average
Facebook
visit is 20 minutes.
Keep
posts short and engaging so followers will read
and share.
A dental practice can pay to “promote” their
business page or “boost” their posts on
Facebook
.
Promoting a page is where an advertisement will be
seen by an audience in the right side of their news
feed and boosting a post is where a dental practice
would pay to have their posts show up higher in
their audience’s news feed.
By paying to promote
or boost on
Facebook
, a dental practice has the
potential to reach more viewers.
It does not mean
that everyone who sees a dental practice’s post
will interact with it, but the fact that individuals not
currently patients view it may resonate.
Paying to
boost certain posts, especially those that educate
people on an oral health topic, would be ideal.
These boosted posts can extend a message to an
audience that has never been reached before.
And
by expanding the scope, a dental practice may start
to see a return on investment by reaching more
people and engaging their community.
6
Instagram
With a few changes to the
Facebook
algorithm,
some businesses have found it easier and more
cost effective to post to
Instagram
instead of
Facebook
.
These businesses found that they
were not showing up in their patrons news feed
on
Facebook
, causing a slowdown in the organic
growth of their company.
A company’s profile
feed published in
Instagram
differs from
Facebook
because everyone who follows that profile on
Instagram
will see every post published.
Facebook
does not guarantee that followers will see every
post published.
7
Instagram
is one of the fastest growing social
media outlets for businesses.
Posting images
with an associated hashtag (ie. #ilovemydentist)
continues to gain popularity among many age
groups. Twenty-six percent of adult internet users
peruse
Instagram
. The largest group of users (53%)
is the 18-29 year old population.
2
This sets up the
perfect audience for a dental practice, especially
orthodontic practices.
Many orthodontic practices
have been successful with integrating
Instagram
in their social media plan.
8
Besides young adults,
women frequent Instagram.
2
A dental practice may
choose to share success stories of patients and also
promote community events that it is involved in.
7
There are a few keys to success for creating and
incorporating an Instagram account for a dental
practice:
7
•
Keep the pictures real and personal;
patients and followers want to see real
people and staff members.
It is important
to post pictures of patients (with their written
permission), doctors, and staff interacting at
the office or in the community.
Table 1 - 2014 Social Media Statistics for Americans
2,11
Social Media
Platform
Percentage of
Online Users
Appeals to...
Facebook
71%
Men and women of all age groups, usage among
seniors continues to rise annually
Instagram
26%
Young adults, ages 18-29, women predominantly
Twitter
23%
Men with college education or higher, annual income
>$50,000
Pinterest
28%
Women of all ages, increase recently in >50 year
olds
LinkedIn
28%
Men and women, mostly age 30-64, college
graduates, higher income households
Snapchat
14%
Mostly women, age group 18-24
