Because social signals are becoming one of the most important ranking factors in Google’s algorithm, it’s important to have a robust social media campaign for your dentist’s office.
Unfortunately, using social media for your business isn’t the same as using it for yourself.
Social media is a huge resource for dentists, especially because the majority of your target demographic (whatever demographic that is) uses the platform at least once a week.
Most use it at least once a day!
But how can you know if your dental social media campaign is moving in the right direction?
Here are eight common dental social media campaign mistakes and how to avoid them:
1. You are not consistent across different platforms.
Social media platforms are just one more way to solidify your brand, but only if your message is consistent across all of the platforms you use.
That doesn’t mean you have to post the exact same content across these platforms, it just means that your branding and the tone of your communications should be cohesive.
Using the same fonts, pictures, colors, and logos, on all of your pages is a good place to start.
Including your mission statement, contact info, and objectives on all of these pages is a good way to make sure that you are portraying the right message to your friends and followers.
In short, all of your pages should have the same information and personality.
You’re not a different person when you’re on Twitter than you are when you’re on Facebook, are you?
No, and your business shouldn’t have a split personality, either.
2. You don’t understand the full power of social media.
If you are just using your social media page to post pictures of your office, you are probably not using your social media campaign to its fullest potential.
Many discount the power of these platforms because the exposure you get is free.
And while it’s true that social media won’t solve all your problems and it certainly shouldn’t be your only method of advertising, discounting the value of these platforms means you won’t be able to benefit from everything they have to offer.
Being active on social media is all about building a tangible social media presence, which builds your reputation and makes you easy for new patients to find.
It also helps up patient retention and satisfaction levels, which makes it ideal for a growing or established practice.
3. You’re trying to be on every social media platform.
With so many social media platforms available today, it’s difficult to choose just one or two to focus on. Most dentist’s offices either try to be a part of too many social media platforms or they swear off social media altogether.
Whichever tactic you’ve taken, you’re not taking advantage of what social media has to offer.
You’re either spread too thin or you’re not a part of social media at all.
Instead of trying to be on every single platform, choose just the one or two where you target demographic is likely to be.
Most offices have success with Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
4. You don’t respond to patient questions or concerns.
One of the biggest benefits of being on social media is being able to engage with your patients in a very personal way.
However, if you’re not actually using social media to address questions or concerns your patients’ voice on those platforms, then you are squandering your opportunity.
Most consumers expect their questions to be answered with forty-eight hours, with twenty-four hours being a much better response time.
You don’t just have to answer questions, you should also be responding to any post on your page.
Assigning this task to a single person can ensure that it gets done and that the tone of your answers is consistent across platforms.
5. You’re too busy marketing to be aware of current events.
If everyone else on Facebook is posting about the latest earthquake and you are posting your normal dental office update, your message is probably going to be lost in the noise.
There’s nothing wrong with either skipping a day when feel your planned update might conflict with the message of an important world event or simply posting a neutral message that relates to that event.
6. You don’t stay engaged with the conversations you start.
Start a conversation about a dentistry-related topic is a great way to engage with your patients, but only if you are going to stay and be a part of the conversation once you’ve started it.
Actually talking to your patients once they’ve answered a question or responded to your post is the actual engagement part of social media.
This means carving out time throughout your day to get back onto your platforms and checking in on any and all conversation that might be happening.
7. You’re not targeting your posts to the right demographics.
Instead of trying to engage the right demographic, you’re just trying to reach as many people as possible.
Focusing your message on people that actually want to hear it will be much more effective than advertising broadly and trying to attract new patients that way.
8. You don’t consider the needs and desires of your audience.
This is a mistake that far too many dentists make.
You run your office’s social media page like you run your personal page—you make the conversation all about you.
That’s fine for your own Twitter or Facebook account, but when it comes to your dentist’s office, you need to be focusing on your audience and making their wants and needs the center of your discussion.
You should be looking for a way not to just talk about your practice, but to ask your patients about their concerns, to answer their questions, and to improve their life through real tips and suggestions.
