are you marketing your practice on social media? Cally Walker advises on how to encourage patient interaction
Article as seen in Aesthetic Dentistry Magazine
Are you bogged down with the overwhelming task of managing social media? My personal take is if you are going to do it, do it right. Social media is a time vampire, it’s labour intensive, you have to sustain the content, the content has to be rich and relatable, and you have to get results from your investment (this is key).
Unless you have the best measurement process internally, you won’t be able to measure any of the above – and this is the big mistake a lot of businesses make. Social media is a platform for lead generation and, although in parts free, it’s a false economy if you are investing time and energy into it and can not tell me what your results are due to poor measurement processes. I advise you to look into this and get clarity on where your leads actually come from.
Ask yourself these three questions: are they high quality? Are they what you expect from your time and effort? Did they move forward into treatment?
Video Content
Take a look at your posts – are they really what your prospects and patients want to see? As dental professionals you may love nothing more than to see a big retracted mouth shot in detail showing every angle of your own work for your colleague and peers. This is not a bad thing, you should be extremely proud of every perfectly placed titanium implant screw, complex extractions and in-chair detailed procedures.
As much as you love to see these and show off your cases, this is not what your followers want to see. They want to see real people, real stories and real reviews. Here are some tips to think about. Why are you different? Why do you charge more? Yes, this is a good thing. Why should they come to you and not your competitors? The best way to do this is with video content (yes, I feel you rolling your eyes), but do you want more followers, more engagement and better content? It’s not going to be easy, but it will be worth it.
The most important thing to remember is it’s about your team. Your followers need to see everyone – nurses, treatment coordinators, therapists and of course the dentists. Our clients find that when using video, not only have they seen increased engagement, but also increased team bonding and confidence skyrockets in all team members. It’s all about building trust, influence and persuasion. You’ve got so much to share as your practices and teams are brilliant, so why not show the world.
Remember, prospects want social proof not glossy videos. WHICH PLATFORMS AND WHERE? You have Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Messenger to name the important platforms. Then, within those, you have hashtags, stories, highlights, insights, influencers, Instagram TV, Messenger, ad management – the list is endless. You then have to keep up with what’s new and relevant, how each demographic is using these platforms, and how this relates to the treatments or patient types you want to attract.
If you are trying to manage this inhouse, then I would suggest for you to use one platform to build up a process that works well and move onto another. Basically, do one thing and do it brilliantly, so you don’t get overwhelmed. The biggest mistake is to ask a younger team member to manage the role because they love social media.
This is a big no – team members are great to upload stories to the platform, but not to manage and measure your social media strategy. If you don’t get great results and struggle with this, then invest in advice from a professional. As mentioned above, it’s a time vampire. So, go out there and get those like minded patients who match your practice.
Good luck
P.S To find out how we can help you grow your practice and your team get in touch today.
Call the team on 0113 827 2249 or email vicki@connectmymarketing.com
