Home Oral Health 5 Ways to Improve Your Social Media Game in Healthcare

5 Ways to Improve Your Social Media Game in Healthcare

by adminjay


With 40,000,000 Americans saying they’re scared of going to the dentist, attracting new customers (patients) isn’t exactly easy. You’ve somehow got to ease their fears whilst also convincing them that your practice is the right one for them. So how do you get the balance right?

Social media can certainly help. But social media can also be a complete minefield, and one wrong move could kill your marketing campaign off for good.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at 5 ways to improve your social media game in healthcare the easy way.

Knuckle Down on Instagram
While 40,000,000 Americans might be scared of the dentist, a whopping 63 percent of them use Instagram. This means they can be reached. And as long as you produce the right content, you can create a genuine connection with them.

When using Instagram, it’s a good idea to share photos of your location, as well as patient “before and after” photos (make sure to ask for consent first, of course). You could also use Instagram to
run promotions and hold giveaway contests.

Whatever you do, make sure to be a regular poster on Instagram.

Run Facebook Ads
Like Instagram, Facebook is full of potential customers. And the best way to reach them on this social platform is via Facebook ads.

Naturally, the last thing you want to do is scare customers off with your dentistry ads. But research has shown that more than 20,000,000,000 messages are shared between businesses and people each month on Facebook. This means that customers are willing to chat with you if you’re able to reach them where they’re at. In a nutshell, running a successful Facebook ad involves:

  • Defining your target audience
  • Setting a budget
  • Creating engaging copy/headlines/images
  • Nailing the call to action
  • Testing your results
  • Scaling

Make YouTube Videos
Does your dentistry have a YouTube channel yet? If not, it really should. YouTube is the second biggest search engine behind Google. Dentists can use it to create engaging videos that answer your
patients’ most popular questions and concerns while explaining concepts, procedures, and even exploring case studies.

For example, let’s say someone is concerned about dental abscesses. They want to know what one is, what one looks like, and how they’re treated. If you create a short video all about dental abscesses that helpfully and engagingly answers their queries, you can generate leads and land more customers.

YouTube videos are great ways to put a friendly face behind your practice. They build relationships, and they’re also great for SEO. If you go down this route, though, either make sure to put your most personable member of staff in front of the camera or work with an animation company to create animated videos.

Share Your Articles On Facebook
If you’ve got a blog, you must maintain it regularly. Google loves fresh content! More than that, Google loves educational content that adds lots of value to the end-user. For dentists, this can include all kinds of articles about dental implants, case studies, as well as information related to dental procedures. Therefore, it’s a smart idea to double down on helpful dentistry articles that include keywords, and which answer a number of your patients’ most popular questions.

What’s this got to do with social media?
Well, you can use Facebook to share your articles, whilst also encouraging your followers to share your posts, too. You could also break your longer articles down on Facebook by posting shorter snippets directly to the social media platform itself.

Go Live
As a dentist, you probably never thought you’d have to ‘go live’ on social media, huh? But going live is a great way to connect in real-time with your customers and build all-important relationships.

Twenty-five percent of users say they watch live videos to stay informed, so it’s a good idea to produce informative content when going live. For example, you could host a live Q&A session where
you answer questions about your practice, as well as dentistry in general.

You could go live on Facebook or Instagram (or both), but make sure to raise awareness of your planned live session in advance.

As a final point, it’s really important that you take into account the legal considerations whenever you post on social media. If anyone of your team makes a post (for example, a case study) that identifies a patient, make sure you have the patient’s authorization first. If not, you shouldn’t post anything that identifies any of your patients.

Any time you post or run an ad, you need to maintain the same degree of confidentiality and professionalism that you would in your practice itself. Ads can be used to promote your practice, but you still need to retain public confidence in it. Therefore, the language that you choose to use, and the types of posts you make, need to reflect your values as a practice.

Conclusion
For dentists, social media can be used to raise awareness, build relationships, and generally increase their online presence. If used properly, it can take your practice to the next level.

Use the tips in this article, but always be aware of your voice and branding whenever you put content out on social media. Speak in a way that connects with your patients, and don’t do anything that would rupture their trust in you.


About the Author

Dr. Fadi Swaida first graduated from the University of Western Ontario with an Honors BSc in Biology before graduating from the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Dentistry. He is an active member of his church and enjoys football and being by the water! His outgoing personality and fun-loving character will ensure you always feel welcome at Dentist North York.


RELATED ARTICLE: High Touch Social Media: Succeeding in a New Dental Era





Source link

Related Articles